Disneyland General
Topic: LP Column: 5/5/08 Greg Maletic: Disney's Biggest Theme Park Mistakes

#	Author	Message
11	SFH Tue 5/6/2008 1:40a	Wow... that could possibly be the Best... Column... Title... EVER!!! Why didn't I think of that?!? Oh yeah... probably because I don't want to live with a bounty on my head. (Insert something about Han Solo here.) Anyway, I think the solution to the "all parks the same price" thing is to offer a pay-per-play system as an alternative, one that harkens back to the A-E coupons. I've already written about that here a couple of times a few years ago. If someone really is reluctant to buy a day at DCA or Animal Kingdom based on paying the same price as Disneyland Park or the Magic Kingdom, they could have the option of paying for just the attractions they want to experience and their plastic pass would only be good for a certain number of hours or rides.
12	davewasbaloo Tue 5/6/2008 2:51a	Oh my. So much a I agree with, so much I disagree with. And not enough time right now to comment. what I will say however, is I like the disney fake - edutainment and postcard creations of reality are why I fell in love with Disney (certainly wasn't the toons).
13	Mr X Tue 5/6/2008 3:03a	***The one I most disagree with is Same Price for all Parks.*** It's an interesting exercise to wonder about what would have happened if they'd kept the coupon books (though it's nice to just pay and go). Sure people flock to whatever is new and fast and exciting these days, but I wonder how much "longer" was considered as well when it came to coughing up an E-coupon. It would be rather discouraging if every E-coupon you ripped off gave you an entire 2-3 minute thrill (and with fastpass, you could certainly get those done post haste as well)...and that makes me wonder if people would just buy more tickets, OR if they would just get disgusted by how short all the rides are these days. Back in the day, an E-ticket was a lengthy "experience" that you could enjoy for quite some time. Spreading out the E-coupons was quite a bit easier.
14	leemac Tue 5/6/2008 3:14a	Barry Braverman pushed VERY hard for DCA to be a cheaper entrance fee to Disneyland based on the budget he was given. He had seen similar discussions around Disney-MGM Studios back in the late '80s fail miserably but he felt that being a second gate would be a harder act to follow than being a third. Ultimately TDA said that they could not afford to market DCA "at a discount" which is how they felt the public would perceive it. Value for money was not high on their agenda. WDI went through a series of gyrations to try to persuade TDA to adopt a new ticketing structure for DCA but they refused to budge. One very prominent imagineer on the project continued to work up ideas that were all shot down in flames. One that was very intriguing was the notion that purchasing a meal in the park from Puck, Mondavi or Soap Opera Bistro in advance would secure an evening pass to the park. This would have kept the restaurateurs happy and operating plus the bonus of keeping the park open later than 5pm. The key to your operating margin at a theme park is whether you have the metrics to keep it open during dinner hours - Epcot is immensely successful as a dining location first and foremost. DCA could have tweak its model but the inertia left the resort saddled with a park that they couldn't justify full admission for. Flexibility is the name of the game when you aren't meeting targets - just ask DLRP and HKDL. DLRP offered WDSP day ticket holders the opportunity to park-hop to DLP for the night when it had early close. HKDL has a complex ticketing hierarchy now to attract guests during the off-season.
15	Mr X Tue 5/6/2008 3:21a	Very cool article, by the way!
16	Mr X Tue 5/6/2008 3:26a	I'm sure I'll realize what this is the instant I hit "post", but what is TDA? All I can come up with is "the disney attractions"? :p
17	Mr X Tue 5/6/2008 3:27a	Duh. Team Disney Anaheim.
18	Mr X Tue 5/6/2008 3:28a	?
19	tomahalk Tue 5/6/2008 5:42a	Hi, I agree with many of your comments. But I wanted to point out that Disney launched the sign guidelines in order to make Anahiem a nicer place to visit, as they wanted guests to stay longer to visit both parks. T
20	Tiggirl Tue 5/6/2008 5:55a	Nice article, Greg. Like Dave, I too found a lot I agree with and some I didn't. I'm SO tired of seeing signs plastered ALL over the place for "Disney's Best Kept Secret". How about keeping it a little more secret. LOL I have to disagree with a lot of your criticism about Epcot. I love the place. And while I see your point about having a bit of a confused identity, its my favorite park and we always spend the most time there. I love the fact that there are things to learn, places to visit that I may never have a chance to actually go to, people from those places to talk to and a vision of a utopian sort of future. Not to say that there aren't some problems but I feel like Epcot still embodies Walt's vision for a family park better than any other Disney Park I've visited. ~Beth

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