Tuke

Now that is a very good question and one that cannot be answered IMO without taking into consideration Disney's long history but also that of the American family and Hollywood/Entertainment Industry. I don't believe its just due to becoming a conglomerate since there are some great benefits and examples there nor due to greed alone since some of the most greedy people and organizations are more often those without money and power. However, I will say in short that leaderships always are tempted into doing and becoming more vs. doing what they do best better. Unfortunately, in doing more; you o

I believe the answer is obvious, they (ESPN/Disney/ABC) are one in the same. And when you consider the recent Jemele Hill, the Weinsteins, Iger's presidential talk, shareholders' open protests, and ongoing daily examples of bias pervading Disney’s media outlets; anyone can see their core values more vividly than what's crafted between the PR and marketing departments. Add this all in to what in the least is a perceived decline in value and quality at Disney's theme parks among those most loyal and you have many looking for any option beyond ESPN/Disney/ABC.

To my wonderment, how do you justify the operation costs of bus services with what they knew IMO would be so few users? Once again I'm being extremely pessimistic, but this appears more like Disney's way of acclimating us to transportation fees. Brings up another question as to why there has been so little talk over the years of the monorail being expanded?

And I get that it's all earthy and nature centered but have a problem when conclusions are drawn, solutions are proposed, and essentially propaganda is disseminated, especially to children, based on fantasy and fiction. Evidence certainly would not suggests that Disney believes by any imagination their own story line being sold here. IMO Pandora brings a warped view and politicization of the AK that previously was much more subdued.

The more I see and hear of Pandora, the less I'm impressed and motivated to visit. I caught a quote from Jon Landau saying his hope is that visitors will leave Pandora with eyes opened to see their world different. As an environmental professional forgive my frustration with assimilating fantasy and science fiction with reality and Science. It's tough to draw accurate narratives and world views through the lenses of fiction. I question why Avatar World is even in AK to begin with.

Our family actually is much more willing and able to make the most of our time in the parks when we alternate days.

In reviewing the comments to the article, I noticed various commenters pointing out similar themes that the shift has become that upsells are currently the bulk of what Disney is offering as a product. I can't disagree.

I know this topic has become a dead horse but the author does an excellent job in summarizing much of what has been expressed here often. http://micechat.com/145982-disney-world-upsell/ ...Welcome to the era of Disney upcharges. Except in some ways, we’ve already been here for a long time. There’s a long history of upcharges at Disney parks. To put all this into perspective, let’s go all the way back to the beginning. In this case, the beginning means even before Disneyland itself opened. Walt was benchmarking amusement enterprises, shopping his ideas around, and the carnival and fa

IDK, it seems everyone has their favorites. Personally, I've heard nothing but great things from the EcoBoost engines and above and over the Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation system). I believe there is some confusion among fans and critics when comparing the different EcoBoost engines at the top or bottom of a model lineups.

I hope not but this is where we would likely disagree. Why is Disney the one of a kind entertainment giant? My answer is because they have built generations of loyal fans from almost birth. Unfortunately for Disney, there is some real competition emerging. My teens are a good example. While they love Disney, Universal is their choice right now. Some of it has to with Universal's older age image but regardless, Universal is the non-nerdy/"sexy" choice (for lack of a better terms) at this moment. So I don't think it will take something disastrous to knock Disney out but possibly time and who ca

Much agreed and but I think it needs mentioned that the responsibility to shareholders involves profits but also long-term growth. Many of these fees and rumors of fees and other price hikes and charges for everything may present an immediate boom but in doing so are they sacrificing the future? Are they deciding to become just another Orlando park? I certainly do not believe Disney is doing themselves any favors from the perspective of a traditional "right of passage" family destination.

I have to disagree. If crowd control and the immediate bottom line are the primary goals, I would argue that Disney has NOT gone far enough! There are a myriad of ways to provide a quick shot to the bottom line for most travel/destination businesses, but those have to be carefully balanced within what the market demands. I'm more than sure Disney knows the market numbers and consumer preferences much better than anyone in this business and I'm not second guessing them. On the other hand, enhancing guests experiences through pricing algorithms while accurate, is also very limited and can be ris

I think that's about right. But I'm not sure as to why Disney has become so bold and focused in pushing the limits of guests' purse strings versus untying those purse strings through the offering of a better product and service? Yes, Universal does it but that is why Disney has been my choice for all these years. An expensive experience, you bet! But it's still that one stop shop that avoids the inconveniences of being nickel-ed and dimed for every last drop of fun. Of course, it appears this too is changing.

That is a good question but I would have to guess that the answer is that there are negligible effects at best. As the RV industry taken some major hits over the lasts several years, we noticed that campgrounds in our area have remained full, if not packed, simply due to the economics of camping in general. However, when WDW lodging continues to be at such a premium price, $100+/night for a campsite looks doable; especially for larger families. Sorry, just realized I responded to a much older post.

Disney's Imagineering continues to say that the show has struggled with technical difficulties and new technologies being used. From the PR dept, it sounds really complex if not impossible to explain in an article. Nevertheless, talk on the street suggests Disney is simply trying to overcome the physics involved with projected light shows (vs pyrotechnics) where it's only impressive from a limited number of perspectives; perfect angle and from a very limited number of seats. IMO, Disney is aware that they must get this, along with the World of Avatar, right the first time due to the public's c

LOL! That's really cool. I remember something about the fond memories made by the staff and executives during the wave machine's initial test runs.

Groomed white sand beaches? No, it was both dredged from the lakes' bottom and trucked in. Also, photos from Bay Lake prior to Disney show mature vegetation to the shoreline. Some of the sediments seen around the lakes are remnants of the wave machines' damage to the Poly's original Beachcomber Beach that contained a many metric tons of white sand. It was Dick Nunis that pushed hard for what became the forgotten half million dollar boondoggle. The wave machine comment was a joke as the machine only ran either a single day or a matter of a couple of weeks according to varying Disney employ

Follow-up: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-attendance-earnings-20160809-story.html It appears Disney is doing what they intended to do and that is increase spending per visitor. Certainly, I'm not predicting the decline of Disney or even frowning on the articles posted above. However, just my personal experience here but there has been a dramatic mentality shift among our Disney loving family and friends in the last couple of years when considering the value of the Disney Park experience. For several families, that annual or biannual week long vacatio

They're not trying to deter gators but guest from the shoreline. As a former wildlife biologist, I have to assume DW has a very aggressive Nuisance Alligator Program that they are keeping out of the spotlight following Harambe the gorilla and Cecil the lion. Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon's shoreline will return to a more natural setting, which are not sandy beaches but carpets of aquatic and other riparian vegetation. Due to the aesthetics and inaccessibility, I don't think many are going to appreciate it for the better. Haha! Maybe with all the erosion control effor

Ha! I probably shouldn't considering I remember ads from the late 80s early 90s (maybe) that showed guest riding galloping horses on the beach.

The internet and popular use of social media has changed all that and even us as consumers. Instead of marketing viewing technology as the perfect tool to learn their customers,customers use the media to seek out the marketers. You are correct in suggesting that they have to make something a must-have or extraordinary to sell the product. Nonetheless, the current marketing techniques offer this must-have or extraordinary product in a subtle way or humorous way (i.e., beer and the gaggle of bikini clad ladies); with a few exceptions. Now the consumer controls the message and honestly/authentici

I hate buying ice! We've always went with a mini fridge and supplemented with a 5 day Coleman ice cooler. This allowed us to have a place for perishables upon arrival before the mini fridge was plugged in and cool. Before last year's week long June (90+ degrees) trip to the Beach and on to the Fort, I put the entire cooler in the freezer the day before and packed it with ice just before leaving. As a result, we purchased only one 10lb bag of ice at the Fort for the ride home so I wouldn't have to hear our remaining soft drinks slosh around. The mistake most often made with multi day cool

Actually, there is a big difference. Dumping grey water into bushes or into soils allows the soaps and other organics to peculate and absorbed through the soil slowly. This allows plants and other microscopic organisms to feed upon or directly fertilized by the grey water compounds. There are many companies now offering residential grey water reuse systems, which are great for landscape irrigation. On the other hand, dumping your grey tank into a "ditch", which is likely a storm water drain or dry ephemeral stream, is illegal and for good reasons. These dry ditches serve as direct draina

Good question. Of course, it appears that there's a large separation between what they thought the magic bands would be and what they actually are. Especially the tailored guest experience as initially advertised has been very limited and costly. My guess is that Disney knows that there are a variety of other ways to do what they are doing now.