Wow...check out Disney Seas "Indeejones"

[Captain Crook]

Good point, Yoho...

 

[mrtoadslastride]

I have stayed away from the pictures/info about TDS because their is very littly chance that I will ever make the trip to Tokyo, but after reading this thread I thought I would take a look to see what all the fuss is about. All I can say is wow! At the same time it is somewhat depressing to look at the pictures for this attraction. Why can't Disney build this type of attraction in the US. Japan gets TDS, we get DCA. Japan gets Indiana Jones, we get Dinorama. Japan gets complete parks, we get half complete parks (i.e. AK). Why doesn't Eisner et al understand that the current parks lack of attendance has more to do about the quality they offer rather than the current state of the economy. The last time I checked Japan was experiencing a fairly large recession and yet people are flocking to both TD parks. WDW is running the risk of becoming a been there done that for an entire generation. A park like TDS would reintroduce our generation to the Magic of Disney.

One last somewhat unrelated point. During our last visit (October of this year), I noticed that all most all of the kids in the parks were 12 yrs. old or younger. The only teens in the park were accompanying families with young children. Disney needs to do something to bring back families with older teens. Many of you have argued against "coaster" parks, but if Disney doesn't do something to grab the attention of the teen crowd, will they bring their families to Disney in 15 years when they have kids of their own???

 

[airlarry!]

And Captain – it seems that Disney is taking every step it can conceivably can to ensure that your future visits to WDW are unmarred by excessive wait times.

I just about died laughing when I read your post, AV. Post of the day in my opinion!

Cap, you said: "I think DCA was a novel approach and a valiant attempt...It was also quite obviously a failure. So this approach needs evaluation."

Pre$$ler and Ei$ner don't see it that way...because this is the third time that they have ignored Walt's philosophy...wait a minute...that's it....the problem with these parks is that Ei$ner fancies himself as not only Walt's heir, but as someone who can out-Walt Walt. And the only way for him to provie it, he thinks, is to open up something new, something "novel & valiant," and see it succeed.

But it hasn't. Mini-park, The Disney Institute, is finally closing its doors, it was recently announced. AK, DCA, and early-EuroDisney did not pull in the numbers they expected. In fact, financially, AK and DCA have to be considered failures (please remember that I love the AK concept and love much of what is there--I'm not slamming AK). BUT THEY KEEP TRYING THIS BUILD-A-SHELL-PARK THEORY OVER AND OVER. THEY DON'T LEARN. (I think they keep telling themselves that it worked with Disney MGM Studios).

They are opening a skimpy Disney Studios Paris. They are opening a Hong Kong Disneyland with something like THREE OR FOUR LANDS.

Cap, they are not evaluating. They don't see DCA as a failure. They don't recognize the risky, yes, but brilliant move that is Tokyo DisneySeas.

And I don't they ever will.

 

[JeffJewell]

They don't see DCA as a failure.

...I disagree. I do believe that Burbank views DCA as a "failure," or, barring the use of that word (no business likes to toss that word around concerning one of their projects), they at least view it as "achieving non-maximized profit potential."

I don't think anyone could be blinded enough to actually think of DCA as any kind of monetary success, given the results. I think Burbank knows that, so far, anyway, DCA has been a financial failure.

What I'm afraid they _don't_ get, is that the park being a financial disappointment is a direct result of the park being a creative disappointment (don't get me wrong, I'll never knock an Imagineer. But sows' ears and silk purses, ya know? If you're given insufficient raw materials, even genuine talent can only take you so far).

I'd have hoped the the (again, so far) runaway success of TDS would have been enough of a stimulus to fire Eisner's "you get out of a park what you put into it" neuron, but I've no indication thus far that it's happened.

Jeff

 

[airlarry!]

Fair enough, guys. Let me retract that and say, they don't see the concept behind DCA as a failure. I agree with your assessment that as accountaneers, they must realize that the park itself has not reached maximized revenue from minized investment.

But they haven't yet realized that their concept of how to build a Walt Park is flawed.