Universal's EPIC Bet on Pricing

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From our studios in Los Angeles and
Tampa. This is Green tag Ting Parking

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thirty. I'm Philip and I'm joined
as always on my co host Scott Swinson

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of Scott Swinson Created Development and Scott, so I thought we'd start off with

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something that I don't I don't think
either of us has seen, but I've

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been looking at the pictures and it
looks gorgeous. The Mega Movie Parade that

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premiered this last week at Universal Studios
Orlando. It was in Techhursals for a

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little bit and it came out of
Tech Pearsals and so now it's officially fully

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opened, and it comes two years
after the previous daytime parade, which was

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Universal Superstar Parade, which closed in
June twenty twenty two, so almost about

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exactly two years after that. And
while that parade was oriented towards younger guests,

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this one more has a wider audience. So for the younger kids,

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it has Sang Kung Fu, Panda, trolls, minions, and then for

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older audiences that want nostalgia they have
to future Jaws, Ghostbuster, E t

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and Jurassic World. They also have
the new Parade mode for the little wants

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that they sell, which synchronizes with
the minions, trolls and Drastic World's floats,

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so like the flashing and coordinates like
glow with the show, but parade

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and it's and it's in the u
wand so I have been looking at the

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pictures and so here here's some things. I know. I know that some

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of the people who have worked on
it, and that are industry that you

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know, they they talk about some
of the technical issues and how like sometimes

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the marshmallowmand float has not made it
out every day because there are some issues

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with I mean, basically, there
are a lot of issues with the parade

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from a technical standpoint, and sometimes
the floats don't always go out and there's

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some back and forth. But again
I'm less concerned about that because I think

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that it looks great. And I
think to the to the person who doesn't

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know, i e. The average
guest, you know, then they don't

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know it's not supposed to you know
whatever. And I think that in bringing

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in the nostalgia with those back to
the future and with et and with those,

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I think that is a master stroke, just like with their their celebration

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and you know what, I think
the floats look great, and they kind

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of it is like good enough.
I always think I hate to like have

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that perspective. I think so many
people are upset it's isn't working every day

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the way it's supposed to. But
you know, neither did Harry Potter,

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Like nothing ever works in that way, right, And then you kind of

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like they slowly figure out a different
way to make it work and make it

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more sustainable. But any live entertainment
that's that is bonus, especially one that

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has nostalgic, multi generational factors with
interactives. I think all of this is

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coster celebration. So gold Star agreed
to one hundred percent, and like you

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said, you know we do.
We do have friends, actually different friends

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that have worked on this project and
a lot of like three of the floats

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were designed by a very good friend
of mine who I think is just brilliant

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yep and can grow. Yeah.
Yeah. And the the thing about this

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parade that I think is interesting,
Let's talk about it first from a brand

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standpoint, As you point out,
it is it is what is perceived as

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nostalgic. I also think it's leaning
into the ips that they have more control

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over, so it's it's building upon
it's not trying to it's not trying to

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create a legacy from new ips.
It's leaning into the ips that they have

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control over, that are legacy ips
that have been around for a while,

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that have already survived the test of
time. I mean, let's face it,

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you know, we just recently went
when this is being recorded, We

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just recently went past July fourth,
couple weeks ago, and the moment July

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fourth rolls around, everybody talks about
Jaws. You know, there are people

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who who talk about Jaws and expect
to watch Jaws and expect to experience Jaws

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who weren't born when Jaws came out. The Shark Con is another example.

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Every time Shark Con comes out,
the movie Jaws comes to the surface and

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and uh the stars come out from
it, and anybody who is affiliated comes

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out to be part of Shark Con. So they're leaning into those those ips

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that are really part of our lives. I mean, they're not just they're

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not just cool movies. They're they're
things that have formed really us parts of

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us culture, us pop culture certainly. And uh so I think there's that,

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and then as far as the the
glitches and the oopses that have happened.

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Let's be honest, anytime you are
pushing the boundaries of what has been

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done before, you're going to have
those And if you you know, if

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you don't ever, if you don't
ever push yourself past the part past the

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point of one hundred percent success,
you're never going to grow. So,

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uh, they're they're clearly trying to
make things happen in a way that has

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not been done before. Uh.
One of the things that's all the all

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the talk now is be in the
right place at the right time for the

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dinosaur or role. Yeah, you
know, because he's scheduled to roar at

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the opening and closing of the parade, and and and it's on the float.

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And this is a full sized t
rex for those of you who have

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not seen the photos of it.
So it's, uh, it's it's one

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of those things that we can't this
early on, we can't be too judgmental,

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in my opinion, you can't be
too judgmental of things that aren't working

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one hundred percent of the time,
because again they're brand new and uh,

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you know, several months ago there
they weren't even available for guests to see.

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And now they're out there and they're
they're working to they're learning from their

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mistakes, they're learning how they can
make things more consistent. And does that

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mean redesigned perhaps, but again not
being on the inside, I don't know

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that answer. But it also means
that they're they're learning to expand and grow

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on the technology that they can use. And so I think this is just

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all around a good thing and I'm
looking forward to seeing it myself actually in

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person. I think that to me, it's becoming a little bit more clear.

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We've talked about this in the past
a lot, and it echoes what

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you were just saying a little bit. Like I think we've talked about the

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kind of the different converging, not
converting, but the the business models between

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Disney Universal kind of becoming a little
bit different. And we also talked about

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the Six Flags one previously, and
to me it kind of seems like to

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me, I think a big problem
that Six Flags had and Cedar Fair and

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maybe you continue to have or you
know, it just keeps going because if

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we remember we just talked about the
Camp Snoopy thing, we have like the

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same things something with Camp Snoopy right
where like it opened late and then it

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was like, ah, you know, and there's all this talk about it

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going on, but I it seems
to me like what happened was, you

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know that they really they tried to
push the annual pass sales for both of

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those chains where you could you know, get so many multiple parks and all

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that kind of push that really hard, which really I think made it ultimately

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tougher because again, like what Disney
was trying to do right was was maximize

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the amount of single day, single
ticket guess it could get in, you

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know, and then you had the
complete complete opposite of that, which was

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the Six Flags parks that were like
just giving away tickets, you know,

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to get people in the door,
and in the idea that that you know,

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in park spending would would make up
for it, when it turns out

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it doesn't really. And what that
leads to is less of a budget for

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live entertainment and less of a budget
for those things that are the first things

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to get stripped, which are praise
and live entertainment and that kind of thing.

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So you end up with like kind
of just going into the you know

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where you hear and then versus Disney, which is like trying to maximize that.

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So I think these people who have
been pushing limits on each end like

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how you know, how low can
you go? Kind of like for the

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six Flags thing, which didn't really
work either because then you got that where

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they canceled a bunch of the stuff
live entertainment, and then for Disney obviously

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hitting the ceiling of like you know
that it's with the last time they raised

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the prices, you know, up
to sixteen hundred for the past that you

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know, the not even every day
anymore passed, But then they're trying to

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maximine the day gas. And I
feel like Universal is kind of trying to

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figure out their boundaries in the middle
of this of being like, Okay,

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you know, we still want to
bring in live entertainment, so we want

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to do this this float, but
maybe it doesn't need to have as big

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of a budget as some of the
ones in the past have and maybe you

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know, for a little bit less
TestU you know, where is that line

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of like we still want to do
new things to bring in the appropriate amount

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of day guess so that we still
have the revenue from them. But you

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know, it's that it's a difficult
line to walk. I sense they're trying

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to figure that out of you know, how, how what is good enough

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to bring in the day guests or
to entertain the passholder people, but keep

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a balance of the two because it
all leads back to the funding. I

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mean, you need the full priced
day guess, you know, to be

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able to pay for live entertainment.
In my opinion, I think that's how

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it is well, and it's it's
as long as I've been involved in the

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industry, it has the pendulum has
swung back and forth between do we make

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our money on ticket sales or do
we make on our money on in park

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spend? And the general rule of
thumb used to be, and again,

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I don't know whether this is still
true or not, but it used to

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be, you make your you make
your baseline on the ticket sales, and

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you make your profit on the in
park spend. So that's and again that's

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grossly oversimplified. I know it is
not like that. I know there are

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much there are much more intricate ways
of tracking revenue streams. But that was

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kind of the general rule of thumb
for many, many years. Because I'm

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not as involved with the operations of
parks as I used to be, I

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don't know whether that's still true or
not. I can't speak to that,

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but you know, they kind of
do this this push pull back and forth.

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It's it just depends on how you
are measuring success. Are you measuring

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success by clicks of the turm in
style or are you measuring success in dollars?

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Are you measuring you know, there's
there's so many and there's so many

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different business strategies that people much smarter
or much more educated than I have put

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into to play to figure out which
is better. Is it better to just

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get people in the park and get
them just money or is it better to

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just bleed them drive for every ounce
we can get out of them and they'll

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still keep coming. And you know, I think what's really interesting you mentioned,

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you know, mentioning Disney and and
and Universal. I think you're right.

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I think Universal is trying to find
it's it's its place in this in

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this turbulent ocean of attractions. But
I also think they have been watching what

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has not worked for Disney pretty closely, and they they're keeping an eye on

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it. But you know, I
think I think we are only going to

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in the next couple of years,
We're going to see how much of a

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game changer Epic truly is going to
be Epic Universe here in Florida, and

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I think it's going to be huge. There has always been a internal friendly

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slash not so friendly competition between Universal
and Disney. Disney was the powerhouse in

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Orlando for many, many years,
and Orlando just even even right after the

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first Harry Potter opened, Disney was
still the reason people came. And that

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is starting to shift. Yeah,
that's starting to shift, and I think

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Epic is going to be that straw
that breaks the camel's back. We'll see.

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Yeah, well that's exactly our next
story. So it's a great lead

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up with all this is context for
the next story, which is that Epic

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Universe did they have already put out
a statement. They put the same and

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out to third party ticket resellers,
so it didn't like it wasn't meant for

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the public per se. But of
course I'm sure everyone knows it was going

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to go to the public, because
that's how these things work. But just

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to clarify on that, they said
that when sales launch, in order to

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visit Epic Universe, guests must purchase
a multi day Universe or Orlando ticket package

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with a three day minimum, all
of which a lot only one day at

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Epic Universe and will not include park
copying tour from the new park. At

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launch time, there will be no
option to purchase a standalone single day Epic

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Universe ticket, which so this is
also one of those things that's gaining so

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much attention I think from the people
inside the industry, you know, like

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like ourselves that are really like upset
about this and blah blah blah. And

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I was like, well, to
me, it goes back to what we

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were just the conversation we just had, which is them trying to maximize the

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revenue you know, for the new
park. And also it's one of those

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things where it's I want to kind
of again, how do you be nice

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about these things? But like it, you know, it's not for us,

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you know, the like the new
theme park is not for the locals.

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The new theme park is to bring
people to Orlando that do not live

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there. And those people they,
you know, like they probably haven't been

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to the other so like, you
know, for them, it's I think

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a much less of a of a
you know what I mean. Like for

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them, it's like okay, well, we can go to all three parts

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and see, you know, see
all three of them there there. I

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think there are two theories at play
here. Number One, they have to

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control the number of people that want
to go to the new park. They

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have to find a way to do
it without without setting ticket limits, so

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because that always has a real negative
pushback, especially in an early park.

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What do you mean the park is
sold out and we can't go? You

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know, just know we've seen all
these everywhere we go. We see these

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ads and these billboards and this and
then that, and we still can't.

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So it's number one, it's to
control attendance at the new park because everybody

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wants to go. And the second
theory that comes into play here is theme

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parks are always concerned that when a
new park opens, it pulls revenue from

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the other parks, and and they
don't want to pull revenue from islands or

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studios. So by doing this,
they are in essence requiring guests to visit

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all three of the parks. Now, this is not going to last forever.

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Factly, it is not going to
last forever. This is an opening.

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This is how the way it sounds
to me is this is how they

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are in essence doing their soft opening. It's this is how they are going

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to control crowds, figure out how
many crowd how many people they can actually

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get in, how many people they
can actually get through the attractions without creating

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any sort of negativity with the guests
or a limited or a reasonable amount of

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negativity from the guests. So I
think it's number one to control to control

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the population of the new park,
and number two not to Rob Peter,

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to pay Paul so that people don't, you know, if they if they

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decide, well, gosh, I
go to I go to Islands of Adventure.

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I'm local. I go to Islands
of Adventure every two weeks. But

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now I'm not going to go anymore. I'm going to go to Epic every

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two weeks. Well, then the
other park has some challenges and they want

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to make sure that they are not
only keeping all three of their well three

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of their park properties. I know
there's Volcano the yeah, yeah, yeah,

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you know they call it obviously,
don't call it a park. I

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call it a water park, but
they don't. They call it an aquatic

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theme park. Actually, but and
it is, I mean that's fair.

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But it's of the three major properties
let's put it that way. They're they're

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wanting to make certain that guests don't
forget that there are two other parks and

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that they are equally as wonderful and
equally as exciting, and so there.

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I think it's a very smart move. Actually, I like I said,

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I don't think it's going to last. Well, no, it's that's what

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you're saying, right about them planning
the crowds. So basically, basically they're

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like, look, we you know, we have we think we can fit

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X amount out. So we're going
to sell these three day picket ticket packages

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and see how well it sells into
that. And then as it gets closer,

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you know, they can open up
a few sales, single day sales,

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or just do whatever or or not. You know, if demands skyrockets,

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then this way, like you said, this way they get to push

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demand to all the parks equally,
and it does it doesn't hurt. I

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mean, you know, and when
when people come to visit for a week,

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you know, when people come to
Orlando to visit for a week and

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they go three days, they know
that they're not spending five days in Epic,

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They're spending one of three yep and
and then you know, the other

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two days they're probably going to do
Disney. Quite honestly, Yeah, I

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again, I agree with you.
I think this is a great strategy and

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I actually don't see anything wrong with
it because I think we have to remember

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that, like the it isn't for
us. You know, that sounds terrible,

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but like you know, the new
park isn't for the locals, despite

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what they say, even Universal says
it's really not. You know, it's

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to bring in people that wouldn't normally
have gone because just like you said,

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if they were going to go anyway, that doesn't really help them at all.

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You know, they want, like
basically what Universal wants over they want

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overall, someone to add an extra
day to go to Epic. That's what

248
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they want overall, is for them
to do their Universal plus a day,

249
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right, And that's been and that's
been. That's what I was doing.

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Yeah, Yeah, everybody who has
multiple parks on the same property, that's

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what they want. They want you
to go to multiple parks. It also

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encourages overnight stay. It also encourages
you know, and I'm I'm going to

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guess I don't know this, but
I'm going to guess just based on what

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Universal has done in the past that
with a hotel stay there will be some

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additional perks as far as getting in
early, staying late, whatever. So

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it's going to not only keep people
spread out throughout the property. So it's

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not you know, the studios and
islands are empty and Epic is packed to

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the point of being uncomfortable. They
don't want that for the opening, so

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they're going to keep people spread out
throughout all of their properties. And it's

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Yeah, I think it's really smart, and I think it's also, like

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I said, going to help hotel
stays. I think there's there's nothing wrong

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with this. It to me,
it is a much wiser way of doing

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things than just limiting the number of
people who can go to Epic each day

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yered percent. Yeah. Yeah,
in many ways, I actually think that

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it would have been if Disney had
done something like this, it would have

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actually been better as well. I
mean, you know, and I just

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think back to when I was going
to Fantasy Springs trying to get in,

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like as a tourist again, you
know, going to that thing. I

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would have gladly gotten a three day
thing and then done or a two day

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or whatever. I would have.
I would have gotten a combo ticket gladly

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and then spent the time there.
You know, even if I didn't stay

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locally, but taking the train,
I would have taken the train over.

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I mean, yeah, I think
that's exactly what trying to do. But

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in related news, to kind of
add add one thing in their one another

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piece to this thing, not necessarily
Epic, but so the Halloween Hornites tickets

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for this year at Orlando, there
was news that broke this week as well

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that essentially they did release the multi
night tickets, which again, again come

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on, it's same strategy people they're
following here. You know, at first

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it was just a single day and
the tours following Hornites, and then they

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did release this week they released the
multi night tickets, you know, which

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is how it works. You know, I think I think the same thing's

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gonna happen with Epic. Basically,
it's just kind of where they release them

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in tears. But pretty quickly after
they released the multi night tickets, news

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broke and that the express version of
those multi night tickets is sold out on

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all of the multi night tickets,
and now they've even added to the ticket

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page like Big Big Red lettering on
them that says it like the express stuff

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is sold out. So so essentially
they they're offering four multi night options for

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Halloween WHRN nights in Orlando, and
only the first one, which is like

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you know, the first few weekend
to pass, but the ones that run

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the entire season are also that of
Express, and that one I am wondering

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because I know that the tours are
also selling out. So is this the

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case of them trying to tamp or
correct express demand, you know, because

293
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the line's getting so crazy previously,
or is this truly a case of it

294
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sold out because demand is so high
And that's so that's why I want your

295
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take on, Scott. But one
more thing to add for the audience listening,

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They did rot They did increase the
ticket prices for those about twenty percent

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for the express things. I mean, so it was one thousand dollars,

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you know for a multi night express, So we're talking about thousand dollars tickets

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here for a Halloween event that are
sold out. So what are your thoughts,

300
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Scott? Well, I'm curious.
You know, I can see this

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appealing to two very distinct but very
different audiences. Number One, you know,

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obviously people are going to say,
oh, well, this is obviously

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for locals, this is what the
locals want, and I'm gonna I'm gonna

304
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say, yeah, there's probably quite
a few. However, I think even

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more than that is the people who
have to plan vacations or tours or trips

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to come down and experience Halloween Horonites. And you know, instead of coming

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down and spending you know, coming
down from the North to say the Chicago

308
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Land area, coming down to Orlando, and instead of spending a five day

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vacation and only being able to go
one night, now they can go every

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single night. You know. I
think that's really the I think that's really

311
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where these have sold out is that
once once those and Philip you know these

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people, we both know these people
personally that will they spend their entire life.

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There's the whole Halloween season traveling from
one haunt to the next to the

314
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next. And there are some who
are such Horror Nights fans that they just

315
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you know, they'll they'll drop down
a grand to be there for you know,

316
00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:21.240
the four nights that they're in Orlando. Yeah, so you think it's

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authentic, like it's authentically sold out
basically where even though they bumped the prices

318
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up on the Multi night Express,
that they maybe they reduced the inventory of

319
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the multi night Express and they bumped
the tickets and and so, and do

320
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you think that's going on, that
they authentically sold the multi night Express.

321
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I do. I do. And
that's just knowing, that's just knowing who

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the target audience is or target audiences
are, because yes, the locals,

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the locals are going to dive in
on that, like, you know,

324
00:22:53.079 --> 00:23:00.400
immediately, interesting, immediately. But
now I'm not saying that they won't release

325
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some other mutation of a multi night
ticket, you know, who knows,

326
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:15.599
who knows. But again, what
I would caution, and what I hope

327
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they're planning to do, is not
over sell the event to the point where

328
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it is just completely unpleasant. That's
honestly part of the reason that I don't

329
00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:29.599
go very often anymore, because to
me, it's not fun. I find

330
00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:33.200
nothing enjoyable about going to Halloween Hornit's
and it's not because it's not a quality

331
00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.680
event. I just don't like the
creature comforts. I don't like the fact

332
00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:40.039
that I am shoulder to shoulder the
whole night. I don't like the fact

333
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:45.000
that I have to wait forty five
minutes to buy a drink. I don't

334
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:51.279
like the fact that even with express
pass or even with a tour, there

335
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:55.200
is a queue. There is a
weight. Now. Granted, when I

336
00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:00.319
was going regularly or at least every
year, at least once a year I

337
00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:04.119
was, I was going as a
guest of somebody who was working there,

338
00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:11.799
so I was spoiled rotten. But
I just I think, you know,

339
00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:14.480
if that is, If that is, I'm going to say it, I'm

340
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.119
too old for it. I don't
want. I don't I do. I

341
00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:22.599
no longer find the joy. I
don't find enough joy in the well crafted

342
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:30.519
haunts, the event itself to deal
with the crowds and the difficulties, the

343
00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:33.559
lack of creature comforts. Yeah,
but that's my own opinion. So that

344
00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:37.160
has nothing to do with the quality
of the event. So please don't think

345
00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:38.880
I'm dissing Halloween Hornites. I don't
want to get letters saying, oh,

346
00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.279
scot Hey, it's Halloween Hornites.
No, I don't. It's just not

347
00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:47.440
the event I want to go to
anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

348
00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:52.599
I yeah. And it could be
what we were talking about when we talk

349
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about this, But the concept of
you know, it isn't for us,

350
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:59.240
you know, you know, I
think sometimes the in part people you know,

351
00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:00.559
we get into little things whatever,
but you know, it's not for

352
00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.839
us. It's for the general public, and that's what matters. It matters,

353
00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.400
you know, if they want to
stand in the lines or not.

354
00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:11.519
I mean again, I think universal
it's all about testing the limits. What

355
00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:15.519
is the limits for horror nights?
You know? And that seems to me

356
00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:18.680
like them testing partially. So maybe
they did release the inventory and that's why

357
00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:22.400
it sold out, or they restricted
the inventory on that and that's why it's

358
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.400
sold out so quickly, and because
they found out, well, you know

359
00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:30.480
what, like the regular audiences will
just stand in line. I don't know,

360
00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:36.319
because because I was talking to somebody
just recently about this was funny,

361
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:40.240
and they were asking about how they
should experience horn nights or whatever, and

362
00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:41.039
I think I said something similar.
I was like, well, if you

363
00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:44.960
go for just one night, you
have to get expressed because there's no way

364
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.599
that you're going to experience it otherwise. And they were like, well,

365
00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:48.440
that's crazy, Like how do you
do it? And I was like,

366
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.599
well, you know, I buy
the multi night and then I go for

367
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:56.799
like five nights throughout the Haunt season, and I show up at like eleven

368
00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:00.200
PM or midnight, and I'm there
for two hours, and I get like

369
00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:03.680
two or three haunts done. And
you know, if you're in line at

370
00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:06.279
you know, one for five in
the morning, you know, the wait's

371
00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:07.359
probably you know, five or ten
minutes. And they're just looking at me

372
00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:12.000
like, are you insane, Like
like you are literally like you're spaying four

373
00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.279
nights where you're showing up at midnight
just to avoid the lines. And I

374
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:18.319
was like, ah, yes,
if you put it that way, I'm

375
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:22.799
insane. That's I am insane.
Yes, yeah, But I mean that's

376
00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:27.359
but you're you're a perfect example of
why this this ticket media sold out so

377
00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:32.039
quickly. Because you think you're the
only one doing this, Philip, you're

378
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:37.279
not, and you know, and
and it's I don't know, I think

379
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.039
it's I think it's it's very interesting
to see that, you know, when

380
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.279
they've learned, Okay, yes,
this is this is where we're gonna max

381
00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:51.119
out here, it is quite possible
that they have a second we'll call it

382
00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:56.319
a second wave of a different type
of multi night ticket that they have in

383
00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.240
the in the pipeline you know in
the in the pipeline that will come up

384
00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:04.240
will be a flash sale or a
you know, something mid mid run,

385
00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:10.640
just to keep people talking about the
event. You know, there's nothing wrong.

386
00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:15.559
There's nothing wrong with trying to make
make bank while you can. You

387
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:21.640
know, the event has a limited
currently has a limited limited timeframe, so

388
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.079
they have to make back that investment
and make as much profit. There's nothing

389
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.440
wrong with that. There's nothing wrong
with that. The only thing that I

390
00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:33.160
would question is just make certain that
for your audience now, which does not

391
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.759
really include me. Although I do
go, it's not that I sound like

392
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.240
I never go. I do go. But if for those people who are

393
00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:45.759
willing to stand in lines of any
kind for four or five nights in a

394
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:51.119
row, you know, how long
is that line and what are they willing

395
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:52.759
to pay for it? And what
is the breaking point to when they say

396
00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.880
nope, too much? When do
they turn to old man Scott? You

397
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:02.000
know? The it's it is.
It is a unique it is a unique

398
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:06.720
situation to be in. How do
you manage success because it's actually I think

399
00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:08.960
it's actually easier to manage failure because
you know, well, this isn't working.

400
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.359
Let's try this but when you're having
success and you go, well how

401
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:17.200
much more can we you know,
how much more can we get without coming

402
00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:22.440
across as greedy and without undermining the
product. So that's that's really the science

403
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:26.920
that they're playing with here, And
I've always been a proponent of I would

404
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:32.359
rather see things sell out, especially
things like an express pass. I would

405
00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:37.000
rather see things sell out than to
keep selling them to the point up to

406
00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:40.640
the point where they have no value
anymore. Yeah, so it undermines the

407
00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:42.680
experience. Okay, we have one
minute to get to our last story here.

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Basically, but I feel like everything
you just said applies to this,

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so hopefully we'll give you a So
basically, Disney is changing Lightning Lanes,

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and I think this goes can handles
what you're saying, because again it seems

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like they're trying to balance the demand
and figure out how much they can push

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or not push on it. Essentially, this change is going to roll out

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in about ten days and they're going
to rebrand it for Disney. Genie Plus

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will be known as Lightning Lane Multi
Pass and so one is a rebrand.

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So in California it's going to be
only the name is changing. However,

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in Orlando. What's going to happen
is essentially they're adding like extended reservations for

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it. So visitors who purchase Lightning
Lane will be able to book three Lightning

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Lane multi passes experiences in advance of
their theme park visit starting in July.

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Guest staying at the Walt Disneyrul Resort
hotels will be able to book return times

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and dates for their visit up to
fourteen days, starting seven days in advance

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of their arrival. So other theme
park visitors will be able to book return

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time starting three days in advance with
their visits. So so really they're making

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again the planning so much more intense
because you can you can book not just

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dates but also times for it if
you're staying at the hotel, and in

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a week at least in if you're
staying in hotels. So it is maybe

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there again I think maybe trying to
manage that a little bit and seeing what

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they can push on it. But
it's also adds a lot more work,

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I think to the theme park planning
or to the vacation planning process now because

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00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.160
now you gotta choose that are going
to do every hour of the day.

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00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:25.000
I've shared my view on this since
it started, and I applaud the people

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00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:30.960
who have the patience and the desire
to work that hard to relax. But

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that is just that is again once
again my opinion. Clearly it works.

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00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:38.599
I've talked to many families who have
children and they say it is a God

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00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:42.440
send because they don't have to wait
in the god awful cues that they waited,

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00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:45.279
the two hour cues that I waited
in when I was seven years old

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00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:51.079
visiting Walt Disney World for the first
time. So there are pluses and minuses.

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And again, as long as they
can find that what that balance is

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00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:00.279
more power to them. Hopefully they
can they can expand it to the point

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00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:04.960
where it is profitable and yet does
not impinge upon the guest experience. So

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00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:08.319
it tips the balance to all of
a sudden, everybody wants it, so

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00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.759
they're gonna pay. They're gonna pay
a premium. They're gonna pay a premium,

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00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:15.079
and now they've paid the premium,
it's impacted the experience so negatively that

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00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.440
nobody wants it. So that's the
tipping point that they have to just be

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00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:23.279
aware of, and it's a hard
tipping point to find. So they have

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00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:27.000
to continue to play with that.
So I'm hoping that this is helping them

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00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:30.799
generate revenue. I'm hoping it is
helping them move people around the parks in

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00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:37.200
an appropriate manner. But just don't
get greedy, because the moment you get

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00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.599
too greedy and you go too far, it basically slaughters the hog, and

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00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:48.319
you don't want to do that.
I didn't say it so anyway, as

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00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:51.880
Philip said, we are out of
time. We've actually gone over on behalf

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00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.039
of Philipernandez and myself, Scott Swinson. This is Green Tag Theme Park in

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thirty and we look forward to seeing
you next week