Whats Wrong with Disney?

[Bbodie83]

We all know Disney is capable of doing great things, and as I mentioned in my post there are several recent examples around the globe. I think the poster was clearly focusing on Disney’s efforts in Orlando – the so-called “flagship resort”.

BTW – Universal is currently building Hogsmeade/Hogwarts in both Hollywood (where they also are building Springfield and just opened Despicable Me) and Japan. They also (relatively recently) opened a park in Singapore, so I don’t think it’s fair to say Disney can ignore Orlando because it has to focus on its other parks.

Building the same park in different locations is pointless to me. I'm not a Universal hater, so don't take it that way. I hope both keep pushing each other to innovate, because I plan on visiting both companies parks quite a bit in my life.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Whats Wrong with Disney?

Lots right.
But, as for wrongs, in what order?
. . . alphabetically?
. . . numerically?
. . . top-down?

 

[basas]

Building the same park in different locations is pointless to me. I'm not a Universal hater, so don't take it that way. I hope both keep pushing each other to innovate, because I plan on visiting both companies parks quite a bit in my life.

But the Magic Kingdom is basically the same park, built in California...and Florida...and Tokyo...and Paris...and Hong Kong...and now Shanghai. I know they’re not all exact clones, but many of the attractions between them are.

Regardless, my post wasn’t defending “cloning”, it was to point out that it's possible for focus on more than one resort at a time.

 

[JimmyV]

This is not the last thing Disney will ever due and I would bet all my money that Disney is holding back Star Wars for the correct time / budget approval....

But let's not forget that the edict to stop capital expenditure came from the very top. So when you state that "Disney" is waiting for budget approval, since "Disney" is its senior leadership, it is hard to figure out who is waiting on whom. Where is this budget approval supposed to come from if senior management doesn't want to spend any more money? Also, let's assume for the sake of argument that Star Wars Land got green-lighted tomorrow. We wouldn't see a ribbon cutting before 2018 and that's being generous. That gives HP a very, very long head start.

As to respond to the statements above what about all the companies that failed? You forget that for every Apple there is a million PC alternatives that no longer exist. Also you forget that every single one of the things you stated above came with a shift in historical needs.

Sure, there are the Wang's and Gateway's that did not survive. But we are far enough along in the theme park war to know that Universal is the Apple/Nike of the equation and not the Wang/K-Swiss. You can write a company like Nike off as being a clothing company, but it sells way, way more sneakers than Converse. Take clothing out of the equation and Nike still surpasses the former king of the hill. As for IBM, that is a great comparison to Disney. IBM is doing great, and Disney will do great. But IBM had to hand over the PC crown and get out of the business altogether. Disney isn't going to get out of the theme park business and DIS will always be bigger than its rival. But we are just talking about Central Florida tourism dollars here. Again, Disney will probaby always lead in the aggregate. Let's not kid ourselves. But the OP was drilling down to a more specific substrata of the total market and that is the pre-teen, teen and young adult crowd. Will Disney always lead there? One can say: "It doesn't want to or need to. It will be king even if it comes in second with that group." And that might be right. But one cannot make that statement without first conceding that Universal is beating Disney at its own game, if only in that one slice of the market. Alternatively, many people might think (or hope) that Disney will always lead in every sub-category, teens included. But if Disney wants to lead in that area, it has to step up its game. Based on the time lag between blueprint and ribbon cutting, Disney is going to see its supremecy in the 9-20 market slip every year for at least the next 5 years. And as long as WDW gets the 7DMT while Universal gets attractions that the press is calling "game changers", the 5 year window could be more like 10. It needs to announce a SW project very soon and break ground ASAP.

 

[clsteve]

Also for those that heap praise on US for HP (Much deserved praise) let us not overlook the fact they have nuked many of their classic rides like BTTF, Jaws, Kong etc. Sometimes eliminating classics in the name of progress creates the opposite effect.

And Snow White,....20,000 Leagues...., Horizons...., World of Motion...., Mr Toads,.... Pleasure Island,..... etc.,?

Optimizing what you have in place is a strategy all Theme Parks employ, including Disney. The infrastructure is already in place, it maintains headcount, and reaches new audiences. And, it looks like that will continue with American Idol and others. It's just a sound business practice over which we can't beat either one of them up. Well, except over the Adventurer's Club.......

 

[jeepwreck]

I think Disney did a good job on the New fantasyland expansion

 

[cigar95]

...or did they? It was once inconceivable that the insignificant "little brother" could ever surpass the established giant. And yet.....

We are not in disagreement. I don't believe that Disney needs a response in the Summer of 2014. Over time, certainly continued evolution is needed. And there are indeed big things in the pipeline, working their way through Disney's Byzantine process.

The thing about Universal is that they've done Hogsmeade and London, I'm not sure what they have left. I don't believe there's room at IoA to build a version of Hogwarts itself that guests can actually explore, so other than the anticipated Hogsmeade expansion, the Harry Potter franchise may be close to tapped out.

Obviously, they'll go after other properties - but I can't think of anything out there that would have the massive appeal of Potter. There's talk of Lord of the Rings, but I think that the very faithful crowd that would love it is much more of a niche audience than HP is.

In short, I would suggest Universal has already hauled in the biggest fish in the sea. It will be hard to continue the momentum they have right now with such a built-in audience.

Universal will hopefully continue to do big new projects and do them well. But Buzzin made a great point that they're already being impacted by space issues. And I'm suggesting that none of the future projects may have the built-in audience clamoring to knock down the door the way Hogsmeade and London did.

Then it's up to Disney to similarly continue to innovate over time - not on a year-by-year, attraction-by-attraction response, but by being comparable over time periods of about 4-5 years.

I know we've heard this before, but if everything that's part of the current strategic plan (at the corporate level, not just in WDI) gets greenlighted, WDW fans will be very happy in the next 10-15 years.

 

[mindygirl5238]

Agreed that Avatar Land is a HUH? move. I don't think the OP is questioning Disney's success over all vs. Universal, just the addition of Avatar Land. Which quite frankly, I can't even say without laughing. I think Disney will always lead when it comes to families & small children. But they are most certainly the K-Swiss to Universal's Nike when it comes to older age groups.

Now, I am far from being a Disney veteran. This upcoming trip will only be my 3rd. But, I've been in every stage of my life. Once as a child, once ast a teen (almost 20s), and now as a 30-something parent. I'm all for updating to remain relevant, but it seems to me that it would have been just as advantageous to revamp Camp Minnie-Mickey (if it even needed revamped, I have no idea); than to devote an entire section of a park to a crummy, 'Fern Gully', knock-off. I'm in no way a fan of Harry Potter either, but there is no way Avatar is gonna hold a candle to HP when it comes to drawing in $$. So why sacrifice an area centered around (if even in name only), your two most signature characters?

I like the idea that Disney originally had for AK having a mythical creatures area. That seems like it would be a broader draw for the public, than Avatar. To me, replacing Camp Minnie-Mickey with Avatar is MUCH MORE blasphemous than the rumored changing of the Maelstrom to a Frozen attraction. I know that the Camp area was nowhere near as sentimental to folks as the Maelstrom may be. However, if we're talking updates in the name of profit, I think Frozen has proven it's here to stay. Avatar, not so much.

 

[cigar95]

So why sacrifice an area centered around (if even in name only), your two most signature characters?

Ooh, there was an AnnaAndElsaLand??? Dang, we missed it!

 

[OKW Lover]

Harry Potter is now open for another beautiful expansion
and what is Disneys answer.... Avatar Land? HU?

Perhaps you missed the announcement about the New Fantasyland?

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I think Disney did a good job on the New fantasyland expansion

I do too...I love it...and I'm just going on New Fatasyland *before* SDMT. I can't wait to ride it next year.

We have to put Avatarland into a little bit of context here. If this new land feels a little underwhelming to you please remember that it is going to transform the entire Animal Kingdom park. That's huge! It becomes a night-time park with all that entails and a night-time safari. I'm very excited about it and hopefully many of the naysayers will be pleasantly surprised when it opens.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

...and like Pete keeps pleading with people to understand on the podcast..."James Cameron is involved! How can this suck?".

 

[wunkmom]

I guess what confuses my on a consistent basis is the difference in speed of completion of attractions at Universal versus WDW. To me it seems like SDMT took forever to open, but Diagon Alley when up faster than you can wave a wand. And we're talking one ride compared to an area. Am I the only one who gets this general impression?

 

[illinidp]

Diagon Alley took 2 1/2 years to construct.

 

[disneymac000]

Just because James Cameron is involved doesn't mean its going to be good? Disney can't even get their latest and greatest AAs working right (SDMT and EE), how the heck are they expecting to maintain these 64 axles of movement based Navi AAs. They also have live plants involved which can caused a whole another area of problems if they find out the bio-luminescence qualities from genetic engineering are not compatible with the area or soil etc.

 

[DOOM1001]

The pictures and videos coming out of the Diagon Alley media day preview are incredible,in all honesty the theming is being called better than Tokyo Disney Sea which is about as good as Disney has put out.I mean the original Potter area was great but the critics would say it was two re-themed rides,a new state of the art ride in an amazingly themed castle and a bunch of tiny stores with a restaurant.This area however is much bigger and highly elaborate,and a direct quote from someone who's ridden the Gringotts bank ride is that it is a "game changer".

 

[wdwguy50]

Disney parks in the United States, Europe and Asia made up nine of the top 10 parks and held 11 of the top 25 spots. Universal Studios' theme parks came in a distant second with just one park in the top 10 list and four in the top 25 list. SeaWorld held two spots. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/04/travel/most-popular-theme-parks-world/index.html Not seeing much wrong with Disney besides WDW is on the wrong coast.

Ditto!!!!!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Bertnie20]

Would love to see Pixar land!

 

[Planogirl]

I'm not a big fan of the FL expansion either but I don't think that it was aimed at me.

As for Avatar, let's see what they build first. If it's awful I'll be the first to boo it but I'm going to give it a chance first.

By the way, where parks stand in attendance has nothing to do with whether Avatarland will be any good or not. Being so far ahead could just make Disney go the cheap route but let's hope not.

 

[JimmyV]

Ditto!!!!!

Those who live in the today, will be crushed by the tomorrow.

Go back 30 years and look at which companies were in the top 10 in:

Computers
Automobiles
Sneakers
Airlines
Gasoline
Beer
Vodka
Watches
Banks
Investment Banks

...And look at the results today. Not only are the industry leaders from 30 years ago gone from the Top 10, many of those companies folded altogether. Anyone remember Eastern Airlines? E.F. Hutton? Lehman Brothers? Plymouth? Casio? Wachovia? Being in the Top 10 today is not a guarantee of future success if you aren't planning hard for that future. When the CEO says: "No more capital expenditures", does that sound like a good plan for the fututre? When it takes 5 years (or more) to get a new "land" up and running, and three years to get a single attraction open to the public, it is not illogical to be thinking 20 years out. Or better, said, if you aren't thinking 20 years out, there is a real problem. Let's hope that there is a concrete 20 year plan on the books, and it just hasn't leaked out yet. That thought gives me far more hope than 2013 park attendance statistics.