Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

re: Monday Mouse Watch: The West Side Waltz

Jim Hill — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:31:55 GMT

Ya gotta love Rasulo ... he's such a predictable suit.

"I firmly believe that location based entertainment is the future of this company! Now prop up the only example we currently have, because it's failing badly and I don't want to have to close it and make it look like I don't know what I'm talking about."

Sheesh ... what a way to run a company ...

re: Monday Mouse Watch: The West Side Waltz

Jim Hill — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:04:28 GMT

The problem with DisneyQuest is that it was a prototype that no one was willing to tinker with. The Chicago store was a virtual clone of the first DQ...a mistake in my mind.

If DQ would bust out of its black box/warehouse mindset, allow for some outdoor adventures, and push away from its video game positioning, I think Disney could have something really nice.

Honestly, I think Disney would be well served to go back to the Old Man's initial premise, that there outta be a place where kids and parents can have fun together. There are so many places in big and medium markets where there's an audience hungry for that kind of together-time. An amped up video game warehouse doesn't answer that need--not by a long shot.

re: Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

Jim Hill — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:12:21 GMT

The problem with DisneyQuest is that the technology in there quickly went out of date. Virtual reality helmets? Oh please, gimme a break. Digital 'paddles'? I can do that on my Wii. All the games and attractions in there need updating, then it might attract a few more people. It's getting to look like the old Communicore in there!

re: Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

Jim Hill — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:05:46 GMT

So, Jim...what are the chances, assuming that Cirque wants to renew, what are the chances of Disney "requesting" that they bring the Beatles' "Love" show to Downtown Disney? As someone who normally can't stand Cirque, that would be one show that would get me back in that theater again.

re: Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

Jim Hill — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:41:27 GMT

All this is going while, Flamingo Crossing is just getting off the ground.

Is there anything happening over on that side of the resort? Have they started breaking ground? Will there be a big name store or "weenie" of some kind over there to lure the masses?

re: Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

Jim Hill — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:45:39 GMT

longaway: In my view, Cirque would NEVER even consider recreating "Love" in Orlando. First, it would erode ticket sales for that show in Vegas. Second, the theatres for each show are fundamentally different. ("Love" is theatre-in-the-round and "La Nouba" is a procenium theatre.) And, given that Cirque is now both a financial powerhouse and a household name, they certainly don't need Disney to expand their empire.

I've seen many, many Cirque shows. I saw "Love" last December and thought it was fantastic. That said, however, I don't think it would translate well to WDW. It relies most on the Beatles music, combining it with dance and theatrical characters. It does not have much in the way of acrobatics. Therefore, I don't think the show would have much appeal to children. Additionally, the show is somewhat dark (at least until the end). Some of the characters would be quite frightening to kids.

That's my take on things.

re: Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin

Jim Hill — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:46:14 GMT

First of all, let's look at the world outside WDW: Virgin Megastores have closed entirely all over Los Angeles leaving huge empty buildings to fill for real estate owners--why? Not because they were bad record and video stores--far from it. Because the future of music and video purchases is DOWNLOADING, not shelved inventory. And if I can suck something down the high-speed 'net connection from the privacy of my home, why should I drive to Sunset Blvd, let alone fly to Florida, to buy a clunky box? So..to the degree that a LOT of retail will change very quickly now that big-pipe net is a reality for more and more people, so will change the purchase of books, movies, and music any and everywhere, let alone in theme parks. Heck, even clothing and shoes get bought more and more online thanks to liberal return-if-it-doesn't-fit and free shipping policies at places like Zappos.com and the like. That's not about WDW...its about modern LIFE. Thrown in the streaming video watching that Netflix is converting to, and, well, if for $16.95 a month I can watch virtually ANY movie, old or new, in realtime streaming and connect it to my big plasma or LCD flatscreen direct from my modem, all on demand and make my own popcorn....why should I even dedicate a single SHELF in my home to all those admittedly-slim boxes full of soon-to-be-obsolete disks?

So where does that ripple into the WDW financial universe? Simple: Disney becomes the equivalent of a mall or strip-center owner with empty floor space to fill and revenue to replace. They may replace the revenue via direct sales online and probably will (and let's face it--Disney will have a higher profit margin streaming or downloading you the newest Cap'n Jack Sparrow adventure direct from its own website than they ever made manufacturing, shipping, and then wholesaleing the physical disk to Virgin so they could re-ship, mark-up, add employees, lights, a/c, and insurance to the process and then re-sell it to you while you rested between coasters in Florida.)

Now as to Cirque Du Soleil--their deal for "Love" IS exclusive for MGM-Mirage, who know, for example, that even their oldest shows have an ongoing value for many more years than La Nouba has been playing Disney. One example is "Mystere" which has been wowing audiences at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas for nearly 20 years or so and has not a slightest chit-chat about replacement or revamping. When you do it right, AND when you keep it EXCLUSIVE and sell it properly it keeps on going and going. If DIsney is seeing a fall-off, it is probably less because "everyone's already seen it" any more than 'everyone's already ridden it' works as an excuse for ride attractions, and much MORE LIKELY because Disney sells it as "See Cirque Du Soleil w/o having to go to Vegas!" i.e. as a GENERIC quality of Cirque-ism, rather than "This is the ONLY place to see THIS show!" not to mention a "See it again and relive the fun!" campaign to past visitors.

Or...horror of horrors, they could lower the price a tad, start a "Cirque Club" for people who've seen it once to get a newsletter and a discount on a re-visit, and all the other marketing tools at their disposal IF THEY WANT TO DO THE DEED. And THAT is about whether they are trying to intentionally make it seem "weak" in order to re-negotiate their terms with Cirque.

I'm just saying....there's money in all this folks, not just fun. Whether retail, live entertainment, or theme park attractions: Sell UNIQUE experiences UNIQUELY, and the world beats a path to your door. That's the "better mousetrap" that Walt created...and one thing Walt WOULDN"T Do is build another CItyWalk and call it "innovative" or "new!"