Wish List

So it’s a new year and most companies are ready to roll with their strategic plans. Disney is no different. They no doubt have a plan for the year. That leads me to wonder what would I like to see happen in the next year?

1. Future World Renewal – Future World is part great and part garbage. I’d love to see the Universe of Energy get a makeover. I’d also love to see the Imagine Pavilion brought back from the dead.

2. Finish the World Showcase – It’s been how long? Forget years, how many decades have you had to finish the world showcase? I was nine when the last pavilion opened. I don’t want one, I want two new countries! No actually I want as many as will fit over there. It’s time for some new countries.

3. Ease Off the DVC – I can’t afford DVC. Even if I could my wife would murder me if I bought into it. It seems like all of the new resorts are either non-Disney or DVC. Why not pull one of the old ideas out of your hat? There were some great plans back in the day. You’ve got the room.

4. Expand the Monorail – You know the worst part about the Animal Kingdom is getting there. Can you imagine if the monorail went there?

5. More Bang for the Buck – Over the last few years more and more has been stripped out of Disney and at the same time ticket prices have increased. Stop that! Just leave the prices alone and start adding stuff back in.

6. Roll Out the Booze – Alcohol doesn’t ruin the family atmosphere at Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or Disney Hollywood Studios so why can’t I get a drink in the Magic Kingdom? The Magic Kingdom would be a little more Magical if I could get a shot of Glenlevit somewhere.

7. Walt Disney World Explorer 2010 – I’d be very happy if you would do a new Walt Disney World Explorer. I loved that CD. It was the best. I wasted so much time on it, it’s embarrassing. I’d pay top dollar for it but knowing my luck you’d only release it on PC.

8. Castle Suite – I’d like to stay in the castle suite. Is that too much too ask? It’s not like its being used for anything.

9. Epic Mickey – Please let Epic Mickey be a good video game. Don’t wreck it by trying to please everyone.

10. Stich – Please put Stich out of his misery. Everything you have put him in has been a mess. If you can’t use Stich right don’t use him at all.

2009 – Disney Year in Review

2009 was an odd year. Instead of facing the normal news and stories normally associated with Disney we got hit time and time again with shocking news or news that didn’t fit Disney.

The year started poorly. Disney fired people left and right. No one was safe. From the top to the bottom people lost their jobs. Disney cut down to the bone and then got out the hack saw.

Disney cleaned their movie studio with a vengeance. Forget about service, loyalty, or longevity. None of it mattered. Things were going to change. The movies weren’t the only segment to change. The parks also saw their saw change with the heads of some of the parks being changed.

Other things changed that Disney couldn’t control. Roy E. Disney is gone leaving a huge void in the Disney community. Wayne Allwine, man who voiced Mickey Mouse also passed away this year. That kind of ran under the radar but was none the less a big loss. A lot of people forgot the connection between Disney and Britney Murphy. She was announced as the voice of Tinkerbell.

Some things changed but as the same time didn’t change. Disney raised prices again. Who’s shocked about that? They’ve done that every year. You can set your watch by it. The less for more mentality continued to dominate the business plan. Disney also pushed DVC hard this year. We saw two new DVC resorts spring up at existing resorts. That left me wondering when the Poly is going to get a DVC update. Don’t laugh it will happen.

The Tree House Villas made a comeback. They sound cool but they are too expensive for me. If you got a bunch of people together it might be worth it.

Some classic rides changed this year. Space Mountain got an overhaul. It may not have been up to peoples expectations but it was still a great enhancement. The Tomorrow Land Transit Authority also got an overhaul. Visually this was a good enhancement but many people have complained that the sound track cannot be compared to the original and really took a lot away from this ride.

Also in the ride change category was Stich. Stich was force fed to us once again. The first instance was his Supersonic Celebration. I’ve had sneezing fits that lasted longer than this attraction. If there was ever an attraction that DOA it was this one.

The American Idol Experience opened. I was happy about this because when this is showing the crowds will be less wherever I’ll be. Yes you couldn’t pay me to see this attraction but I enjoy anything that reduces my wait in line somewhere else.

Fantasmic was cut down to two nights a week. All I have to say about that is BOOOOO! I’ll never see it now.

Kim Possible exploded onto the World Showcase. People seem to like but I haven’t had a chance to experience this yet. I might try it on my next trip.

Disney decided to slap many people in the face and come out with its own official fan club. D23 hit and left a ton of people wondering: why would you pay that much to join? D23 could be huge but until Disney remembers a few of the classic business tricks it’ll stay a source of contention and not generate any where near the revenue that it could. The one thing people seemed to like about D23 was the expo. That was great if you were in or could afford to go to California. For everyone else, go pound sand.

2009 also had a lot of odd or shocking news. The biggest splash was Disney buying out Marvel. It made me wonder where that came from. It seemed to happen overnight. It’ll be fun to see what happens in the next year as far as Marvel is concerned.

Another shocking event was the monorail accident. It truly was shocking. Some people didn’t think so but when you consider how many people have ridden the monorail over the last three decades and when you consider there had never been a fatality, it was shocking. If you do the math you find out that the monorail is a safer form of transportation than walking.

The Fantasy Land expansion was announced. It got leaked in advance but it still shocked a lot of people because of the size and scope of the project. I still can’t wrap my head around the sheer size of the new land. It’s hard to imagine.

The final shocker I’ll mention was the lady who sued Disney for making her stand in line to ride the Tower of Terror. If you didn’t hear about this one, let me give you some of the details. The plaintiff claimed the Tower of Terror is therapeutic to her condition and prevents her from having to have surgery. Her condition is a stomach ailment. Most people find the Tower of Terror to worsen an ailing stomach but not her.

In movies Up exploded and proved all the critics wrong. G-Force fell flat and showed money and a famous movie icon doesn’t make a successful movie. Not learning their lesson at all A Christmas Carroll fell even flatter when compared to its cost. The Princess and the Frog proved to be one of the most underrated movies in recent memory and for some reason people didn’t go out to see it in the throngs you’d expect. The 20,000 Leagues prequel was canned but a remake of the Black Hole was green lighted. Don’t think about that too long or you’ll get a nose bleed.

Buy 4 get 3 free was a huge success and drained a lot of the crowds out of the summer season. The free dining wasn’t as big of a hit because people didn’t see it as a value anymore. Despite that fact the crowds during December were higher than predicted.

“What Will You Celebrate?” was the promotion of the year. I really didn’t care too much for this promotion. It cost more than the “Year of a Million Dreams” and it seemed like people got less from it. If you couldn’t go on your birthday you really got nothing out of this.

There were a ton of other things that happened this year too. One could go on for pages and pages covering all of it. I’ll leave that up to Ricky Brigante. His 4+ hour podcast that was released through Inside the Magic covered everything.

In the end this year was a mixed bag. Not good but not bad either. Hopefully next year will be better.

The DVC Era

If you don’t know the worst kept secret in the history of Disney, I’ll fill you it. Disney claims it’s the Disney Vacation Club. If you don’t know what DVC is it is Disney’s version of a timeshare. It is arguably one of the best timeshares you buy. However, that’s like being the best proctologist. You might be the best but you still poke people in the bum. A timeshare is still a timeshare.

Basically instead of an actual timeshare location you buy points. The points can be used at any DVC location or can be used to buy non-Disney vacations. It gives you a lot of flexibility.

There are many pros and cons to being a DVC member. There are people who should be DVC members. If you go to Disney more than once a year, like to stay in a moderate to deluxe resort, can buy the points out right, and don’t want to vacation somewhere else, you should be a DVC member. In the long run you can save a large chunk of money by being a member.

Am I a DVC member? No. I’m an awful candidate. Here are some reasons why I should not be a member. I hope that people who match up to the following think twice about becoming members.

- On average I’ve been to Disney World once every five years with the biggest gap being ten years. I don’t go anywhere near enough. Although I will admit that if I was a member I’d go a lot more.

- I hate the fact that your maintenance can go up every year. You have to pay “maintenance” (aka a fee) on every point you own. Even though you already bought all of your points the fees and keep creaking up on you.

- I can’t buy the points our right. For the sake of argument let’s say you’re going to buy $15,000 in points. You don’t have the cash so you finance it over ten years. The financing for a timeshare is ridiculous. If you’re lucky you might get a 10% interest rate. So let’s figure that out. How much are you really paying to be a member? Try $23,782 give or take a few dollars. What if you have average credit and get a rate of 15%? In that case it would be $29,030. Let’s say you have a big family and need $20,000 in points. In that case you are looking at $31,710 and $38,708 respectively. What did you really save by becoming a member?

- When you buy you have to buy into a resort which determines your future fees but you get little in return. What do I mean? The benefits are really hit or miss. The only guaranteed benefit is that you can book that resort before DVC members who bought other locations. For example – you buy into the Wilderness Lodge and can therefore make a reservation there months before someone who bought into the Boardwalk. That sounds good but there is a chance that the other person paid less for their points, pays less every year in maintenance, and they could still make a reservation at your location when the window opens up. Now if your points went farther at your home location that would be a benefit.

- I like to go other places. A DVC rep would immediately inform me that I can use my points to go on a cruise or other trip. That’s true but what am I saving by doing that? Instead of paying up to 75% off at www.vacationstogo.com I’m now paying face value for that cruise. In others words, I’m paying through the nose.

- You don’t own anything. This is one of the biggest sticking points I have with DVC. With most other timeshares you own something. With DVC you own nothing. You’re just prepaying your vacations. Every resort has an expiration year. When that year comes you’re no longer a member. I hope you vacationed your brains out and got your moneys worth because the memories are all you have to show for your investment in DVC. Granted you may have saved some money if you did it right but, unless you stuck the savings in an account you’ll have a hard time remembering what happened to them.

At the end of the day the DVC is for hardcore Disney fans or people who didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. DVC is NOT an investment. Most people are better off taking their money and buying a CD or putting it in a Money Market. Make sure you do some big time research before buying into DVC. There are many invaluable resources out there if you want more info.