[shawnp0001]

As I sit here during my lunch hour, I'm pondering what direction Disney will be taking. According to the Wall Street Journal, Michael Eisner is taking heat to turn the operations around, and there appears to be three areas of focus. 1) The parks 2) The television programming and 3) The movies. Here comes my editorial...

1: The parks. I love Walt Disney World and it has made me into the Disney lover I am today. With that said, I am concerned about over saturation of the parks (California, Japan, Orlando, Paris, etc..and I've heard rumors of one in Canada). It seems the newer parks (California Adventure and Paris Studios) have not met with the success that was expected (of course they are immature and it may not be fair to judge them yet). While these expensive new openings are financially behind projections, some of the decisions made in the WDW for instance have be scratching my head. New additions seems to be quasi-duplicates of other rides (Aladdin's Magic Carpets similar to Dumbo and kind of similar to Astro Orbiters), or ones that have been purchased (Primeval Whirl). While Universal Studios is also approaching overkill in number of parks, they have recently spent the capital to create some innovative new rides (Hulk and Dueling Dragons dwarf the Aerosmith Rock'N'Roll coaster, Popeye & Blutos Bilge Rafts are decidedly better than the Kali River Rapids and I do not believe any ride in WDW can touch Spider-Man for innovation). Certain rides seem to get closed or open sporatically due to smaller (but still substantial) crowds such as Horizons, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Legend of the Lion King and Carousel of Progress which end up with a huge following. Then there's the Journey Into Your Imagination debacle that was easily the worst update of a ride in WDW history (I refer to the 2000-2001 version, I haven't seen the recently opened version). I read today that corporate lawyers are likely shutting down Tom Sawyers Island for good in Anaheim because a couple of people have gotten hurt (I hope this doesn't happen in Orlando!). The oft-rumored Beastly Kingdom appears to be a step in the right direction; especially if they sprinkle it with some "Villain attractions", but no public announcement has been made. I believe Pressler (I know he's got responsibility for Disneyland...but not sure about Walt Disney World) does not have an easy job with the 9/11 aftermath and the increasing competition, but I just do not feel the imagination level is where it needs to be for park management. Interesting rides like Aerosmith's RNR Coaster, Test Track, Buzz Lightyear, most of Animal Kingdom, Alien Encounter where done in a relatively short time, but recent additions (Primeval Whirl--really not that bad, Triceratops Spin (Hmm...this looks like Dumbo), Aladdin's Magic Carpets (See Triceratops Spin), Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (brilliantly timed within 12 months of show's demise!) are all questionable rides. All in all, am I disappointed when I go to WDW....absolutely not! Do I think their innovative juices have slipped (or at least have been budgetarily restrained)...yes. Then again Universal may be following the same "Revamp, not add" mode with the announcements of the Shrek 3-D show (Yeah...I love the movie, but Boo...how can they get rid of the Classic Alfred Hitchcock show and leave the I Love Lucy exhibit!) and Rugrats (Yeah...my wife loves Spongebob although I don't care than much for him but Boo...how do you introduce Rugrats, Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron and do away with Jetsons, Flinstones, and Scooby Doo???).

What would I do....construct a sea-based ride with an Atlantis theme (not a lame 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride with plastic fish and fake starfish), create a JIYI type ride (car travels through multiple rooms) based on Monster Inc., follow through with the Beastly Kingdom, add another country in World Showcase (Hmm..how about Switzerland and add a Matterhorn-like ride!), bring back Early Entry and stop doing away with prescheduled eRide nights, put more money into the big two: WDW and Disneyland so they do not appear to suffer because of other offshore park openings.

Tomorrow---My view on Disney's programming plights.
Monday (I don't login much on weekends) --My view on their recent movies.

[mickey]

Nice insight.

I would build a 5th theme park in Orlando that was aimed at thrillseekers. It would be all rollercoasters and other themed rides that would attract the younger crowd. My problem with WDW has always been that there are several rides that are difficult to go on. EPCOT's only "thrill" ride is currently Test Track, and I have often seen it where the wait is 3 hours, and there are no fast passes available 15 minutes after park opening. Same thing goes for the other thrill rides in the other parks, but to a lesser extent. Building this new park would take a bunch of that pressure off of the rides in the other parks. I think it would also attract a new group of people that currently don't go to WDW.
I also think they should incorporate the resorts and the parks more, so that they seem more like part of the park rather than something totally separate. I love the Grand Californian at Disneyland, it seems like it is part of California Adventure rather than a monorail ride away.
I don't have a problem with WDW closing rides at all. I hated World of Motion and Horizons. Test Track is a far superior ride, and from what I have heard, Space will blow Spiderman away as far as innovation goes. Personally, I have been very happy with the rides produced in the last ten years. Tower of Terror, Test Track, Rock 'N' RollerCoaster and all of Animal Kingdom. I understand the proliferation of Dumbo type rides. Dumbo is impossible to get on during a busy time of year. This give parents an opportunity to ride something similar without the wait. Works for me.

[shawnp0001]

I must admit that my perspective is a wholly selfish one. My wife and have no children yet, so we are focused on what we want!
A fifth park with thrill ride coaster would be excellent; I do like some of Disney recent rides, just not all of them. I haven't been as fond of the closings though (except for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which I agreed with). While Test Track is better than World of Motion, I wouldn't mind keeping both. I used to like Epcot more than any other Disney park, but my favor has eroded a little bit...either that or Magic Kingdom (alas and Universal Islands of Adventure) have passed it by in my eyes. I do anxiously await Mission:Space next year though.

[PiratesFan]

I wholeheartedly agree that a 5th WDW park should consist of a thrill ride theme, as I have echoed in another post. When I first went to MK in 1975, I was 9 years old. Having grown up with Disney, I can see then trend in the same age group as wanting to experience more of the thrill rides that have since been invented/developed. This goes hand-in-hand with the current generation wanting to experience the thrill of the movies in ride form, aka. Spiderman.

I have seen the MK respond in small ways to the current youth after witnessing skateboarders and stunt bikes employed in some parades, something you would have never seen in the 70's, also note the Disney Channel and Radio Disney. Disney needs to commit to this market fully.

In order to accomplish a 5th park of this nature, they absolutely must pair their attractions with their movies (think Terminator)where they will have to re-design their movies to, IMO, have a slightly harder edge. I have always felt that Disney's current non-animated films seem to only reach mediocrity, where Disney seems to be OK with that. This must go. There is no reason they can't produce more edgy action type movies like some of their animated films. If they can accomplish this, they could have a continual source of new attractions.

The money to do this new park should come from any and all other non-Orlando schemes. There is no better movie-going audience than the good 'ol USA. I thought Euro-Disney was losing money? I am not a supporter of any foreign Disney based parks at all. I, like many of you, have seen too much neglect in DW from what it once was, especially in current economic conditions, to endorse any foreign enterprise.
:)

[stingrock23]

I dont' think Disney should build a 5th park. They need to focus on existing parks. Instead of making a thrill park, just put some thrill rides in the other parks. I mean, there's no need to keep building parks like they have. By doing this, the quality of the park experience goes down because things are put together too quickly. I would prefer if they made additions to the other parks, like beastly kingdom at Animal Kingdom, and maybe something at mgm. A coaster park would be fun, but i think disney should wait and devote time to the existing parks.

[brumcg]

I have a rather simplistic view of the entire Disney corporate conglomerate... They are focusing on short term objectives to satisfy stockholders. Whenever you do that, the quality of the product suffers, which will negatively impact everything in the long term. This applies to the parks, TV, and movies. Of course, this isn't just a Disney situation - it's in EVERY business.

My opinion is that you *should* focus on quality which is a better long term strategy. I'm more worried about the Disney 5-years from now than I'm worried about today. I've noticed a decline in their service and quality over the past 5 years, and that's not good.

Bruce

[shawnp0001]

Brumcg: Reading your post about some of the CMs which appeared to act disinterested was disappointing. One of the things that separates WDW from another park like Six Flags, Cedar Point, etc... is that they the place AND people associated with it generally ooze enthusiasm and good-cheer. If this were to go away for any reason, that would be a huge tarnish for the corporate reputation. As you mention, short term goals that don't tie in well with a long-term strategy will doom the company into being "just another vacation spot". I hope it never digresses to that level.

[brumcg]

shawnp0001,

There were definitely moments when I felt like I was at Six Flags instead of Disney - both from a Cast Member and a guest perspective. IMO, and this probably isn't fair, I think a WDW guest has a responsibility to behave in a particular way.

An example which I haven't mentioned in my Trip Reports was the amount of trash on the ground in the queues. I'm not sure if I can put the blame on WDW for not cleaning it up; why are the guests throwing it there to begin with?!?

Bruce

[jgriff2388]

One of the things that separates WDW from another park like Six Flags, Cedar Point, etc... is that they the place AND people associated with it generally ooze enthusiasm and good-cheer.

I have to agree with shawnp0001. I live less then a one hour drive from Six Flags Great Adventure. Now there is a park with rude employees. On my trip last week to WDW, I personally did not find any CM that were less then sweet. It always amazes me, because I don't know if I could be that nice all the time. One thing I did notice was there were more people over the age of 50 working in a lot of the Disney stores and restaurants. May be it was just an obervation because I'm getting older.

Another observation, I think for Disney to compete, they will need to build a thrill ride theme park, only because I feel that most of todays teens and 20 somethings enjoy those rides far more then Disney's attractions. I know of several families this year that stayed on site at US and bipased Disney all together. There motto was been there, done that. A lot of the teens have told me their favorite park is Islands of Adventure. I personally love Disney, and do US as a side trip. But more and more people at least in my area appear to be going to US.