Walt Disney Imagineering DISH ... Holy Smokes!

DISH begs the question: Could it be that Disney's slow hand when it comes to WDW attraction development represents a BRILLIANT strategy?

At Walt Disney World, the company has invested MASSIVE amounts of money in infrastructure, renovation and expansion. The Polynesian Resort is essentially being completely rebuilt -- from the renovation of the guest rooms, to the new high-end cabanas on the Seven Seas Lagoon, to the re-design of the lobby, to the new children's activities center, to the addition of Trader Sams. This represents a total renovation of (arguably) one of the most iconic and historic resort properties on the planet.

Likewise, guest rooms at the Grand Floridian, the Yacht and Beach, the Boardwalk and the Caribbean Beach resorts are all undergoing renovations. Disney Springs represents a total stem to stern re-construction of Downtown Disney -- involving civil construction (parking garages, roads and bridges) as well as clubs, restaurants and retail outlets.

In short, when the new WDW attractions drop (and they ARE coming ... a lot of 'em) the systems that will support their success will already be in place.

In the meantime Disney continues to tweak existing interactivity (NextGen) while partnering with Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilms (properties that they OWN) to envision the future of themed entertainment and explore advanced technology such as DISH.

If you are excited about Diagon Alley .... well, stay tuned. The very best is yet to come.

The Bloomberg piece was from yesterday. This is another clip related to the DISN/CAVE approach to modelling. Now consider the fact that They are using this technology in concert with James Cameron.

Looks cool, THC, but we want more princess meet and greets!

All that high tech gee whiz stuff can go to the overseas parks like Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland because we know that Disney doesn't make enough money on the American parks to afford to put it in the States. Maybe if they started charging for parking at the resorts like Universal does, they could afford to build the good stuff here, but current cash flows won't allow them to build parking garages and cool new rides at the same time.

(Chuckle)

I Think Disney next buyout will be: Lightstorm Entertainment. This company will put in a Library like Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm.

Oscar, what would be the point to Disney buying out Lightstorm? Disney already has rights to the Avatar movies for their parks, James Cameron isn't likely to give up the movie rights to Avatar, and the rest of their very limited library doesn't have much for Disney to capitalize on as far as merchandising and sequels let alone put rides in their parks.

Getting back on topic, I sure do hope THC is right about new attractions in the pipeline for the American Disney parks. FastPass+ appears to be money well spent, but it sure would be nice to have some new attractions to use it on in more than just the Magic Kingdom.

I've got another question for you THC. If OWNing the properties that they put into their parks is so important to Disney (and apparently you), won't Disney have to give up a chunk of the merchandising profits from the Avatar merchandise that they sell in Pandora to James Cameron like Universal will have to give to J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter merchandise?

Mr. Hillman writes: "If OWNing the properties that they put into their parks is so important to Disney (and apparently you) ..."

I respond: When did I claim that "OWNing the properties" was important to either Disney or myself?

Nice sidestep, THC, but it won't work. This is the second thread (both started by you) where you have pointed out that Disney stands to make significant profits from selling merchandise in the parks based on the intellectual properties that they own while Universal will have to split the profits from the sales of Harry Potter merchandise with J.K. Rowling. So, to answer your question, I merely point out that it was worthy of being mentioned by you in two threads, so it is possible to imagine that it must have some significance to you. As far as Disney is concerned, I think you've done an admirable job of pointing out how significant it will be to their bottom line to own the intellectual properties that they merchandise.

But you forgot to (deliberately some might say) answer my question. Why is it a big deal for Universal to split their Harry Potter merchandising profits with J.K. Rowling but not such a big deal for Disney to split their Avatar merchandising profits with James Cameron?

Oh, and by the way.... Oink!

Mr. Hillman writes: "Nice sidestep, THC, but it won't work. This is the second thread (both started by you) where you have pointed out that Disney stands to make significant profits from selling merchandise in the parks based on the intellectual properties that they own while Universal will have to split the profits from the sales of Harry Potter merchandise with J.K. Rowling."

I respond: Um ... no. The first thread was a posed as an open question ("Will the 'Frozen' Events Score More Net Cash than Universal's Potter?") It was meant to entertain a specific discussion comparing the 'Frozen' event scheduled at DHS to the new Potter attraction at USF. And (for the record) if you review my posts on the thread I never draw a specific conclusion related to the question. And I certainly never said that Universal would not make "significant profits" on the Potter attractions.

Further, neither in this thread nor in any other have I indicated that Disney should never look outside of its own IP holdings for ideas related to themed entertainment.

Regarding Disney's ownership of Pixar, the Muppets, Marvel and Lucasfilms within the context of this conversation (thread), I have not posted anything regarding those partnerships and profits. Rather (because Disney owns those companies) I think these partnerships have the potential to boost the creative and technological development of a variety of theme park attractions (both related to and unrelated to Disney held IP) -- both in the US as well as other countries. As was noted in one of the videos embedded in this thread Disney racked 108 patents for technology used in the construction of the Dwarf Mine Train.

"The way I see it, Disney is going make a ton of money, while Universal will use its apportioned slice of the revenue to re-cover its investment."

Your words from the opening post of the 'Frozen Events' thread, THC. Most people would consider that to be a conclusive statement.

I'm not trying to disagree with you on the vast majority of your statements in these two threads. I happen to agree with them, but what I keep going back to is the elephant in the room. You've rightfully pointed out that Universal has to split profits from the Harry Potter expansions in their parks, but what you seemingly ignore is that Disney will have a similar relationship with James Cameron when it comes to the Avatar expansion.

Why is it so hard to acknowledge that Disney will have to play ball with James Cameron like Universal does with J.K. Rowley? Will it affect that monthly consultant's fee that you get from the Disney PR Department? ;^)

I could quibble ... but then I'd be a complete schmuck.

Thus I will say, "touche."

I went back through my posts looking for references to "profit" and that one slipped past me.

Having said this ...

Mr. Hillman writes: "You've rightfully pointed out that Universal has to split profits from the Harry Potter expansions in their parks, but what you seemingly ignore is that Disney will have a similar relationship with James Cameron when it comes to the Avatar expansion."

I Respond (again): Neither in this thread nor in any other have I indicated that Disney should never look outside of its own IP holdings for ideas related to themed entertainment. Nor did I claim that Potter would be a money loser.

My real failure was to be clear defining the window of opportunity for raking in the cash. The 'Frozen' events are running through the end of summer. Had I been more careful (and more thoughtful) I would have noted that I was referencing the period of time the Frozen events were running. But I didn't ... And offering that clarification this late in the discussion certainly lacks credibility.

Thus I owe Mr. Hillman a beer ... or a Butter Beer ... which will generate revenue that will be split between Comcast, Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling.

Deal on the Butterbeer!

Sorry about hijacking this thread over what was in reality a misunderstanding of your basis for the "Frozen Events" thread.

So to put it back on track, once I got past watching Joe Rohde's left ear and earring in the Cameron/Rohde video on Pandora, I was impressed with Disney's plans for the Pandora addition to DAK. Disney may knock it out of the park if the land is half as good as the teasers.

Just thought I would throw this out there, one of the cast members at Animal Kingdom told me that a lot of, "ground-breaking, yet-to-be announced" things are coming to Animal Kingdom in addition to Avatar Land. She was very excited when describing it. Perhaps some of these things will be implemented.

It is better to get part of the profits from a great idea by some one else than all the profits from an ok idea of your own.