Heres a good NY Times article on Disney's 1.2 billion dollar rehab of their Southern California Theme Park that has underperformed the past 7 years. A few things that the article doesn't say; It says that California Adventure draws 6 million guests a year to Disneyland Parks' 15 million a year. However what most people do is go to Disneyland for the day and then at some point when the crowd is unbearable head across the promenade (literally 100 steps) go to California Adventure and ride the 3 big attractions there. This boosts California Adventure's attendance on paper, but the park is basically a ghost town for most of the day.
I point the finger (I won't tell you which one) at former head of Disney Theme Parks Paul Pressler who cut the budget to protect his own bottom line and then left the company to be the CEO of The Gap; and now its underperforming as well (Gap Kids anyone...).
However Disney can afford the fixer-upper as on my latest trip to WDW I spent way too much money and I can't stop going back.
2 comments:
Funny...we used to marvel at the $7million Wicked Witch of the West on Disney-MGM Studios' Great Movie Ride and that Mr. Potato Head price tag complete dwarfs it technologically and monetarily.
The digital age has made as much an impact in 20 years as the mechanical/electronic age did in 100.
If you get a chance, check out www.pbs.org/frontline and watch the "Growing Up With the Internet" program. Our generation is really straddling the pre versus post internet revolution and this documentary examines the latest generation that grew up after the world went online. It's very interesting.
I never thought I would see you put 'good' and 'New York Times' in the same sentence.
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