Disneyland Resort Project Tracker II

[Ice101]

Oh my goodness, Ariel's new costume is beautiful! Much better and very fitting compared to the older version. Great job to whoever made the switch.
‪Disneyland, Mickey's Soundsational Parade‬‏ - YouTube

[disneylandfan95]

^ Yup! That's the one I was talking about.

[NintenDisney]

Well, .... there's cupcakes ....




‪Pinkie Pie's Cupcake Song‬‏ - YouTube

O-oh god....they're...RAINBOWY and you attached Pinkie Pie's cupcake song.
Thank you for putting some revolting images back into my head.

[JerrodDRagon]

Ya, I just noticed it last week when I was in the park, but I figured it was an effect that was just not working for a really long time. It's really cool.

Alice and Snow got some upgrades, but now it's time for Pan, Pinocchio, and Toad to get theirs.

What Happened to Alice? I hear they were going to add stuff to Alice back when added stuff to Snow White but I dont remember anyone saying about any upgrades

[AtomicBear]

What Happened to Alice? I hear they were going to add stuff to Alice back when added stuff to Snow White but I dont remember anyone saying about any upgrades

Of course they still need to fix up the outside safety issues, but a couple years ago Alice got video projection additions. a)Caterpillar Smoke b) Cheshire Cat appears c) Hedgehog ball d) supposedly they had projected smoke effects as you enter the second building with the Cheshire Cat (but if this is true it does work or show up with the lighting anymore).

I think that some of the other rides should some changes first. My vote for new additions would be for:

1) Pinocchio
2) Peter Pan
3) Toad

[nonob88]

Comparison photos of Ariel's costume in the Soundsational parade

Old costume:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillo444/6016646007/

New costume:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillo444/6024571883/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillo444/6024572281/in/photostream

source: armadillo444 @ Flickr

[disneylandfan95]

^ Thanks for the side by side comparison!

I think I like the new one more! It's much more whimsical and stylized, keeping to the look of the parade. Yet, you can still tell it's Ariel. Good change, Disney!

[F!an]

Comparison photos of Ariel's costume in the Soundsational parade

Old costume:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/6016646007_eeda6dc0dc_z.jpg

New costume:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/6024571883_7d6da93bc8_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/6025127600_47e0a9077f_z.jpg

source: armadillo444 @ Flickr

Links are bad.

[Mr Wiggins]

... It's the same reason malls get crammed with more and more carts in the center of their halls. The mall owners can't charge more rent to their tenants without losing them so they jam more tenants into their floorspace because investors want constant growth.

Bingo. Which is exactly the mall philosophy Pressler pitched to Eisner that got him the presidency of Disneyland -- and later touted as Eisner's potential successor.

Disney does this by cramming the parks as full as they can be year round.

And, per Pressler, by cramming every nook and cranny with generic Disney merch at high markups; packing the Park with high-ROI ODV carts; and swapping table service restaurants for mall style high-ROI food courts.

Although Pressler is long gone, his business model for Disneyland as a high-volume franchise brand marketing mall lives on at the DLR today (minus, mercifully, his "run every ride until it breaks" philosophy).

[Trevor]

[...]

And, per Pressler, by cramming every nook and cranny with generic Disney merch at high markups; packing the Park with high-ROI ODV carts; and swapping table-service restaurants for high-ROI mall-style food courts.


[...]

While I agree that the park does need another good table service location (or two or three) and I respect your post, I do think that the massive crowds that decend on the park daily have something to do with the need for "food court" type locations. Having at least a couple of them is more of a logistics thing.

That being said, I share your opinion regarding the ODV carts (aside from the traditional snack stands including popcorn, ice cream and churros, which I have no issue with). The park doesn't need to deteriorate into a mess of glow-stick selling carts nightly.

[bfdf55]

Bingo. Which is exactly the mall philosophy Pressler pitched to Eisner that got him the presidency of Disneyland -- and later touted as Eisner's potential successor.

And, per Pressler, by cramming every nook and cranny with generic Disney merch at high markups; packing the Park with high-ROI ODV carts; and swapping table service restaurants for mall style high-ROI food courts.

Although Pressler is long gone, his business model for Disneyland as a high-volume franchise brand marketing mall lives on at the DLR today (minus, mercifully, his "run every ride until it breaks" philosophy).

Does Disneyland get a cut from the Vacation CLub kiosks, or does all their revenue go to corporate?

[Mr Wiggins]

While I agree that the park does need another good table service location (or two or three) and I respect your post, I do think that the massive crowds that decend on the park daily have something to do with the need for "food court" type locations. Having at least a couple of them is more of a logistics thing.

I hear what you're saying Trevor. However shuttering table service restaurants and replacing them with mall style, limited-menu food courts and ODV snack carts was a strategy that Paul pitched to Michael before he took over Disneyland: its advantages are smaller staff; employees who need less training, can be payed lower hourly rates and are more replaceable; less costly physical plant, cheaper raw materials, customers are seated a shorter time, and higher customer volume.

Fewer table-service restaurants and more food courts aren't a response to increased crowds, they're part of Paul's overall business model of Disneyland as a high volume "marketing mall with rides and entertainment." Its success depends on papering the park with large numbers of repeat customers, by lowering the per-day admission cost to locals with aggressively marketed Passports and promotional come-ons.

Other Pressler strategies included removing a hefty portion of Disneyland's ubiquitous benches (Mall Marketing 101: people don't buy when they're on their butts); opening rides late and closing them early, or removing them completely (people don't buy when they're on rides; closed rides don't cost money to staff and maintain); giving the appearance of new product with shows and parades instead of expensive attractions; replacing unique, low-markup merchandise with generic, high-markup merchandise; replacing non-Disney brand with Disney brand wherever possible (especially on attractions); aiming your products at the mall demographic; minimizing employee training and pay; and slashing maintenance to the bone.

With the exception of maintenance, all of those techniques are S.O.P. at the DLR today. The tactics of NexGen, although not a Pressler innovation, are a continuation of his basic mall model of maximizing customer throughput (getting more gold from the goose by making it digest faster).

The park doesn't need to deteriorate into a mess of glow-stick selling carts nightly.

Bingo. Unfortunately, it's already happened.

[nonob88]

Yeah, sorry - the links were messed up when a mod edited the post Here are the links:

Old costume:

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

New:

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[mickeyfan42]

Yeah, sorry - the links were messed up when a mod edited the post Here are the links:

Old costume:

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

New:

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Mickey's Soundsational Parade: Ariel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I'll take the skin tone of the old costume with the seashells and fins of the new one

[Trevor]

I hear what you're saying Trevor. However shuttering table service restaurants and replacing them with mall style, limited-menu food courts and ODV snack carts was a strategy that Paul pitched to Michael before he took over Disneyland: its advantages are smaller staff; employees who need less training, can be payed lower hourly rates and are more replaceable; less costly physical plant, cheaper raw materials, customers are seated a shorter time, and higher customer volume.

Fewer table-service restaurants and more food courts aren't a response to increased crowds, they're part of Paul's overall business model of Disneyland as a high volume "marketing mall with rides and entertainment." Its success depends on papering the park with large numbers of repeat customers, by lowering the per-day admission cost to locals with aggressively marketed Passports and promotional come-ons.

Other Pressler strategies included removing a hefty portion of Disneyland's ubiquitous benches (Mall Marketing 101: people don't buy when they're on their butts); opening rides late and closing them early, or removing them completely (people don't buy when they're on rides; closed rides don't cost money to staff and maintain); giving the appearance of new product with shows and parades instead of expensive attractions; replacing unique, low-markup merchandise with generic, high-markup merchandise; replacing non-Disney brand with Disney brand wherever possible (especially on attractions); aiming your products at the mall demographic; minimizing employee training and pay; and slashing maintenance to the bone.

With the exception of maintenance, all of those techniques are S.O.P. at the DLR today. The tactics of NexGen, although not a Pressler innovation, are a continuation of his basic mall model of maximizing customer throughput (getting more gold from the goose by making it digest faster).


[...]

I hear you too. The intentions behind what Paul did were bad (read awful). The entire package really did set Disneyland back and I don't support the decisions.

However, the lines at food service locations are bad enough. Having the options for faster service is needed, but it must be balanced with sit down options. I wish that the Village Haus would be converted to a table service location as well as somewhere over in the Tomorrowland area. That way there would be a good balance between the two. Something we both will agree there is not at the moment.

We got the maintenance.. Now bring on the merchandise, benches, and somewhere to sit down and be served. I hope Disney can find a way to capitalize on the "premium" aspect of themed merchandise and full service restaurants.