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Please Remain Standing at All Times
A ride you have to drive yourself? And can't sit down on?
Hong Kong Reports a Profit, if you don’t include a bunch of costs
The Disney company appears desperate to make their Hong Kong Disneyland Resort appear to be a good decision. They’re now reporting that the park would be profitable if they didn’t include taxes, loan interest, amortization, and depreciation. So basically, they’re still losing money. Great.
Hong Kong Disneyland is, hopefully, the last example of Disney deciding to open small and hope the crowds come to justify expansion. The Tokyo Disney Sea model has instead proven to be the winner. Build something that people just can’t stay away from and they won’t.
David Westin resigns from ABC News President
As the NY Times reported that David Westin was resigning from his role as President of ABC News, a pair of emails were released from Westin and Anne Sweeney, President of Disney/ABC TV confirming the departure.
The first is from Westin:
Dear Colleague,
Fantasmic Dragon Falls on Stage – Video
Someone did manage to capture Murphy’s nervous breakdown on video:
Previously: Big Problems with Fantasmic at Disneyland.
The Relocated Tourist
To make sure I have a good feel for the state of the Disney fan community, I have a list of Disney blogs that I follow. Most of these are newsy type blogs or focused on some sort of sub-specialty. But there are also the blogs that are just people sharing their love of Disney. The Relocated Tourist is just such a blog.
Interview With Thierry Coup, VP of Universal Creative, Part 2
A Total Recall of his Forbidden Journey
Part 2 of 3: Does Whatever a Spider Can
In Part 1 of my interview with theme park designer Thierry Coup, Vice President of Creative Development for Universal Creative, he discussed his background in film special effects and his early years as a theme park attractions designer with Walt Disney [...]
Disney’s Changing Adventure: Maliboomed, Flopped Crops, Sunk Ship, ElecTRONica, and More
As Labor Day weekend comes to an end, Disneyland will enter a brief couple of weeks of a between-seasons lull. Off-season crowds will allow Disney to take advantage of this time to get some refurbishments underway before big crowds return for the wildly popular Halloween Time festivities. The holiday weekend also marked the curtain call for several opening-day fixtures in California Adventure, including the Maliboomer thrill ride and Pizza Oom Mow Mow and Burger Invasion restaurants.
Disney teaching English in China
I linked to a Reuters story on the practice last month, but now the Economist has come out with their own story on Disney’s latest move in China. The English-language schools run by Disney are seen by the families that enroll their children as a path to a better-life. That may be true, but what is Disney’s real motivation for opening the schools?
Interview With Thierry Coup, VP of Universal Creative, Part 1
A Total Recall of his Forbidden Journey
Part 1 of 3: From Films to Theme Parks
Recently, I spoke with theme park designer Thierry Coup, Vice President of Creative Development for Universal Creative and the executive in charge of all media production for Universal Parks and Resorts. He is the brains behind the new Wizarding World of [...]
Paul Ngeny, 31, of Auburn, CA wins Disneyland Half Marathon
Congratulations to Paul Ngeny, 31, of Auburn, CA, who led a record field of more than 14,000 registered runners Sunday at the fifth annual Disneyland Half Marathon, by crossing the finish line first with a time of 1:07:24, beating the fastest Disneyland Half Marathon time by 41 seconds.
“The course was very nice and comfortable,” Ngeny said. “I liked running through the parks and all the music. I could keep on going for a hundred miles.”