Written by Russell Meyer
Published: January 19, 2005 at 9:42 PM
Viacom Shopping Around
Variety 1/16/05
Viacom is looking to pull a similar move to Vivendi, as they have begun shopping some of their lower valued properties, including publisher Simon and Schuster and Paramount Parks. While this move seems very preliminary, it could be disastrous to one of the most improved theme park chains in the world. Paramount Parks has recently added a number of highly rated attractions with one of the most anticipated attractions in the country, The Italian Job Stunt Track, coming this season. New owners could potentially destroy everything Paramount Parks has tried to create over the past 10 years by neglecting the monumental efforts the company has made to improve its parks during that time. Potential buyers have not been identified, but perhaps Daniel Snyder, who was rather vocal over the mismanagement of Six Flags, would like to take another stab at the theme park business. King’s Dominion is only 45 minutes from Snyder’s base of operations in Landover, MD, and anyone in the area will attest to PKD’s superiority to Six Flags America.
Captain Jack May Get You High
Jim Hill Media 1/12/05
What happens when you make an incredibly popular movie about a classic theme park attraction? You get guests flocking to that attraction wanting to relive the experiences of the movie, and see all of their favorite characters. Unfortunately one of the most interesting and beloved characters of recent movie history, Captain Jack Sparrow, is nowhere to be found in the attraction that inspired the movie and its upcoming sequel. Johnny Depp’s performance really made the movie a success, and people expect to see the unique character in the attraction. Those guests may just get their wish as Walt Disney Imagineers are working on a Captain Jack animatronic figure to be placed in Pirates of the Caribbean’s final scene in Orlando’s version of the attraction. The addition would be completed during its rehabilitation due later this year, which would have him in place in time for the sequel’s world premier in summer of 2006. Making this addition to Walt Disney World’s attraction is a good idea, and does a good job on capitalizing on the popularity of what may be a very successful movie franchise. However, purists will scream sell-out in fear that the much beloved Disneyland version may follow Orlando’s lead. I think WDI has enough sense to not screw with one of the most popular theme park attractions in the world. Making the change to the lesser Florida version allows Disney to still allow the movie tie-in without touching the original classic attraction.
Extra Magic
Screamscape 11/17/05
Disney is tweaking its on-site guest “magic hour” policy. Currently, Disney offers on-site guests entrance to a specific park an hour before everyone else. The magic hour is great for both on-site and off-site guests, because on-site guests get an extra hour to explore a park, and off-site guests can know which park most of the on-site guests will be at on a particular day and avoid that park. The new policy also allows on-site guests to remain in selected parks up to 3 hours after the park is closed to off-site guests. Now that’s a perk! 3 hours could allow enough time to ride just about every e-ticket in a park, so that guests could take it easy during the day, especially in the hot Florida sun. Guests must get a wristband to indicate their on-site status to remain in the park. Also, not all attractions will stay open, and not every park will stay open for a full 3 hours every day. However, the extra time at the end of the day seems like a much better advantage than getting in early. Not only can you see things you may have missed during the day, but you can sleep in an extra hour, or have a nice breakfast before rushing to the park. Some families with little ones may have some trouble with this, but a nice mid-day nap should get those families to the end of the day and all the excitement of the attractions after the nighttime spectaculars. Throw in Disney World’s new baggage delivery service, and staying on-site is really become an attractive option when visiting Orlando.
So, if they are doing 3 extra hours at the end of the day for all resort guests, does that mean no more E ride nights? It's nice that you don't have to pay extra for the privelege to stay late, but if the option is open free of charge to all resort guests, that's still a lot of people. I'm thinking there will still be lines for the major attractions.
As a result of this new FREE perk to resort guests, E-ride nights at MK will obviously be phased out (why pay for it?). Although in theory this means more people probably going to MK for these nights, A LOT more attractions are open during evening EMH than were ever open during E-ride nights...so that helps balance the crowd problem out a bit....
Disney allowing on-site guests to stay three hours after is a brilliant move. Nice to see that they are doing something right. It probably puts a little strain on the night crews, but I suppose that if it boosts hotel room bookings, than more power to them. Just one question....Does it cost anything?
--No, the evening EMH is free to all on-site resort guests at WDW.
In addition to shooing out disappointed guests who were not allowed to stay in the attraction areas past closing, we also had to deal with many resort guests who, in their infinite wisdom, chose to completely ignore the documentation they were given instructing them to obtain wristbands identifying them as qualifying guests at either City Hall or the Tomorrowland Arcade.
Then there was the fact that resort guests always seemed to expect a little more from the cast members thna usual and tried their hardest to push our buttons.
The last thing we wanted to hear 11 hours into a 14-hour shift that ends at 3 in the morning is how some rich asswipe who managed to get himself a reservation at Yacht & Beach should be able to take his newborn onto Space Mountain because, quote, "I pay your salary".
Mine was a middle-aged dad who decided that the best way to recapture his early-teen daughter's admiration was to buy the enormous stuffed Mickey Mouse we kept up on the ledge at Mickey's Mart in Tomorrowland. This was 1987, but the thing cost, like, 400 bucks even back then. The daughter, needless to say, was mortified. But Dad kept going on about how buying this showed what a great dad he was, and how much he loved his "little girl."
It took every calorie of our energy to keep from busting out laughing in this guest's face. But we enjoyed a good one while we drove Mickey in a golf cart through the tunnel for the guy to pick up at the front gate. (He was too big for the guest to carry on stage.)
Lord only knows how the guy got him home. I always envisioned Mick stuffed in a dumpster off 192 the next afternoon, after Dad recovered from the hangover and Mom and daughter laid into him a bit.
To answer your question, Derek, the resort guests are instructed to go to City Hall or the Tomorrowland Arcade sometime before park closing, where they flash their room key and receive a colored wristband. After normal close, guests without wristbands cannot board an attraction unless they were already in line at close. Otherwise, they are instructed that normal business hours have ended and that they should please make their way back toward main street.
And you don't know HOW many times I got berated by offsite guests because they felt this wasn't fair.
Seriously though, the easiest way would be for it to work much like On-Site Universal Express, where on-site guests would have to flash their room key in order to get in line for any attraction. You wouldn't have to push off-site guests out the door, and they could contiue to shop in the stores and restuarants (spending more money), and it would open up the attractions to on-site guests without having to evacuate the park and re-admit them. It would also avoid confusion for on-site guests who do not understand that they need to go to the front of the park and stand in a line to pick up a wristband. Disney could place signs in front of every attraction and just deny access to attractions to guests who cannot produce a room key. No need for wristbands, stamps, tatoos, or funny hats. If you're on-site, you have an active room key, and flashing it should be sufficient. The only possible problem would be people taking their room keys home with them after staying on-site and flashing the key on their next visit. That problem could be easily fixed with simple magip readers that could allow CMs to tell whether a room key is active or old. A minor investment, but undoubtedly cheaper than millions of plastic wristbands.
The three hour after policy just seems like it would be a PITA to manage. A lot of disappointed kids getting push out of the park. Sounds to me a simplier approack would be to add a second park to the early opening schedule, leaving the 2 other parks to the non resort guests. Also MK should open 90 minutes earlier, more time for the younger kids who are up at the crack of dawn anyway and want to do character breakfasts in the park. Maybe you would actually get a chance to ride Dumbo.
I still prefer to stay on site at Universal. The scale is much more manageable and the Express entry policy is the best perk around. Disney still has too many transportation problems getting people around their property.
Sad to hear about Paramount. The Italian Job is a ride that would get me to leave NJ to visit Ohio. Between Paramount and Legoland, seems a lot of assets are up for sale. Maybe some firm would see the logic in picking up both at the same time.