What theme parks can learn from GenCon

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From our studios in Portland and Tampa. This is Green Tag Theme Park in

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thirty I'm Philip. He is Scott
Swinson from Scott Swinson Created Development and Scott.

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Let's start off with the Q two
earnings we have. They're starting to

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trickle out, or at least whispers
of them. We have some of the

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Q two earnings from Universal and I
guess not a big shock. It has

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very good. The Parks division,
which is under NBC Universal, generated two

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point two billion in the second quarter, a twenty two percent increase over the

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same period last year. That is
twenty two percent, folks. The parks

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also posted record profitability within adjusted EBITA
of eight hundred and thirty three million,

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the highest on record. And of
course the biggest drivers for growth is the

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continued reopening and loosing up of mainly
the International Parks so Beijing in Japan,

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and the continued success of Super Nintendent
World At Universal Studios Hollywood. They did

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cite that Orlando posted lower revenue,
but it's still performing above the same periods

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in pre pandemic levels and whatnot.
And then they talk about Epic Universe incoming.

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So um, none of this I
think should be surprising. I think

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again it's a good reminder, like
we've been talking about that, you know,

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pieces of all the economies are jump
starting at different times. You know,

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the US is actually doing relatively well, and it's and it's kind of

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a restarting and jumping around, and
of course places in Asia shut down for

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much longer, so those parks getting
rolling takes longer. And then of course

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they had a lot of IP openings
a Super Nintendo in Hollywood. It was

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a big, big rollout for them, right and then um, you know,

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of course Epic is the next thing. But I was surprised a little

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bit of just the scale, like
twenty two percent is I know, they

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added two parks you know, to
that mix, or not added entirely,

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but you know, I had larger
summer operating hours for two two big parks

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during the first big travel season in
you know, in Asia. But twenty

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two percent is a chunk that is. Yeah. Well, and I also

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think it's important to recognize that,
you know, the US, you know,

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they talk about the the Orlando Park
are not quite performing to the same

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level as everything else, which makes
total sense. Um, and with with

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the Asia parks, you know,
coming back online, you know, you

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say it takes a little bit longer, but they were also down longer,

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so that means that the demand to
return um was even more, you know.

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And it's it's one thing when you
say, well we're going to cut

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back on on attendance versus we're going
to close completely and h So when they

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come back that that demand in the
in the Asia markets UM or Asian markets,

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really I'm sure you know, I'd
be I'd be curious to see,

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but I'm sure that that's just skyrocketing
because people are chomping at the bit to

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get back out and and to enjoy
this kind of thing. UM. And

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you're absolutely right, Supernintendent. World
is is gonna is going to of course

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bring in some a great deal of
attention UM to the parks and a great

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deal of attention to the brand.
And it's going to be, you know,

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just going to continue to be of
interest to the folks going to the

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parks. Yeah. Well, I
think in terms of takeaways not I want

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to bring up the second story.
I think comparing them is more interesting.

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So SeaWorld has not dropped their que
to earnings yet, but but they have

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kind of talked to the press and
talk people saying that don't expect them to

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be great. You know, they've
done that that classic thing, which you

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know it's gonna be really bad.
Anytime that they preemptively before they come out,

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they try and go around and explain
themselves preemptively to people, that is

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that is bad. So they said
that. Ahead of the earnings call,

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which won't be until August eighth,
SeaWorld or the SeaWorld Entertainment announced estimates that

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hint attendance and revenue both dropped during
the three month period ending in June thirtieth.

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The company attributed the decline to adverse
weather, including during peak season,

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but it didn't give specifics yet.
And of course it's you know, it's

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basically referring to the heat wave that's
been hitting the both California and Orlando areas

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because they've both been you know,
having their own versions of heatwaves. So

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I think, you know, looking
at comparing these two, I mean,

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here's the thing obviously universal, it's
still I mean, they're still located in

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California and in Orlando. They did
add you know, they did have the

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big Asian parks, right, but
I mean, essentially they're in the same

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climates and some of them are doing
much better than some of them are doing

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worse at the particular properties, right, And I think it's important to break

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down, like what the experiences are
in these properties. Because SeaWorld is primarily

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outdoor, They're primarily outdoor parks,
at least in the in the States and

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the UNS. However, most of
the Universal Experiences, although they are considered

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outdoor parks, most of the Universal
Experiences are indoors and climate controlled. So

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there I would think they would be
naturally less impacted by high heat simply because

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guests will go, and the guests
will go knowing that they will have the

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rest. But when they go into
these indoor experiences um and again, the

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only reason I'm sensitive or cognizant of
this is having been, you know,

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in the in the Middle East,
having been in the UAE and going to

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Motion Gate versus Ferrari World or motion
Gate versus um Sea World Abu Dhabi and

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and recognizing, oh my gosh,
I don't want to be here at Motion

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Gate. It's very unpleasant and very
uncomfortable, and there's nothing indoors until you

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get back to dream Works and uh. And then when you when you're at

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Ferrari World. It's like, oh
no, I can go and just spend

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the whole day and be comfortable.
And so I really do think that the

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quality of the reality of indoor versus
outdoor experiences has something to do with that.

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I mean, I just want to
make sure that we're comparing apples to

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apples here, because they're not the
same kinds of parks. Um. They

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are. They are very very different
kinds of parks. And Sea World also

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has not well. First of all, Sea World has no representation in Asia,

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and second um Sworld had does not
have a new ip ip section opening.

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And in fairness, I mean,
I know this is there. There

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are those who will argue the opposite
with this, but I think with all

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the hype that Epic Universe is getting
here in Florida, UM, I think

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that is is reminding people of how
much fun they have at the Universal Studios

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parks, and I think that may
also be helping them with some of the

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attendants and some of the spend.
Well, I agree with everything you just

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said. I think it's um.
If I were to maybe try and put

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it in a pithy statement, I
would say it's becoming clear that Universal's parks

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are more future proofed in every sense
of that word. Right, they're investing

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in ips, they're looking at,
you know, investing in a big future

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product, like they're they're dripping out
these exciting pieces. They're like, oh,

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we have stuff coming. And whether
it's the Epic Entertainment or whether it's

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the Epic Park, or it is
horror Nites. I mean, look at

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we just talked about the taste of
Terror Latin, so so you know,

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now they're they're even previewing Horrornites like
they're trying to drip out these as well

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as as well as the New Texas
Park they're doing, as well as the

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New Vegas experience that they're doing.
You know, they're they're definitely expanding and

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keeping themselves forefront in the news.
And then the you know, the other

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element of the future proofing is that
they are designing, i think by design

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more places that are sheltered, that
are that have that have cooler areas to

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them. You know, they're they're
not you know, they're not designing outdoor

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pavilions really, you know, they're
they're they're redo the meaning, right,

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they just opened and I mean these
areas are all they have covered areas to

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them, and I'd say California maybe
has a little bit less you know,

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they the studio tours all outdoors.
It's it's tough because of the because of

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the way California is, because of
the fact that's a mountain. It's on

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a mountain. Yeah, it's it's
it's tough. That that's what makes it

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tough, right, But he eats
a little bit less intense there. So

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but I think, yeah, you
have your vast areas of places and stores

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and areas in Orlando that you can
go and cool down. Plus you'd have

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all the water stations there, little
things like that that people forget, those

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freestyle stations that are everywhere. You
get free water from them. You know,

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it's hard to find so much water
available at sea World. It's a

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little bit more hidden. So it's
I think those things like that. You

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know, it's like it's all about
future proofing the brand. And I think

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I would worry about where SeaWorld is
going to go in the next like three

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five years. You know, we
don't have that, we don't have that

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plan for where they're going, which
and we do for universal right and well

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and we may you know, after
the after the actual call we may have

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more details and be able to discuss, you know, what their plans are

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going forward. And yes, I
know some listeners are thinking, well,

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gosh, they just opened a brand
new park in Abu Dhabi, But do

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keep in mind that that is that
is a park that is not owned by

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Sea World, that is owned by
Morale and is in essence there is an

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agreement between Morale and C World to
utilize and maintain UM, the C World

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brand and the C World standards for
for animal care as well as educational UH

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commitment and educational quantity UM. But
again that number is not going to play

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into UM in a major way.
They're they're Q two success or failure that

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there will be some income for the
C World company for that, but again

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not a C World park the way
that UM. Some of the Universal parks

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are significantly more under universal control.
Yeah yeah, well well I I yeah,

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I think I would be from MISDI
mentioned too that there's UM. Of

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course C World is as well.
They're doing Halloween coming up, you know

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that they they've been on their own
machine, I think, you know,

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pushing some some promotions for Halloween and
making it ucemen's doing that kind of stuff.

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So it's not been like they've been
silent and they don't have those things

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coming up. I think it's really
just a combination of all this multiple things

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together right, A whole new park
is way more exciting than some of the

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seasonal events. And then of course
Horrornitz is the big person in town and

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so them doing previews, and then
you know the IPS too. I mean,

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I think the IPS are also a
big piece of it. They mentioned

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it in the releases, but people
were super Mario. The gaming IP is

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very popular, and I think that, I really I do. I know

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it's pr fluff, but I do
believe that that played a big role in

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it, because people lost their minds
in California about this. People that were

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not theme park people, you know, they were people more that are traditional

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gamers that were excited to go into
that because because because of what it was,

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so which I think lead us to
our next story. Exactly exactly I

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was gonna say, speaking of speaking
of gamers, Um, I am I

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have to start. I have to
start this story by saying right up front,

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I am not a gamer um in
any in any of the formats that

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gaming takes place. Um. However, because I was in Indianapolis this past

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weekend. UM for excuse me for
auditions for the Indianapolis Zoo, I had

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the I had some time during the
day, so I went and checked out

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gen Con. UM. I was
sort of like it was sort of like,

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uh, a Haunter in Wonderland or
a theme part guy in Wonderland,

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because I had very little idea it's
it's It was clearly it's clearly an adjacent

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industry to what I'm used to.
But I was in no possible way an

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expert on anything that was there.
So I decided to go to see what

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ips were out there and to see
the popularity of the gaming ips and UM.

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As I was telling As I was
telling Philip before we started recording this

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show, I said, I've never
been to such a crowded, um overwhelming

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convention. Um it was. It
is. So I was talking to some

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of the the convention folk, some
of the gen Con people, and they

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basically told me it was the largest
event to happen in the Indianapolis Convention Center,

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and it's the second largest event,
second only to the Indianapolis five hundred

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for the city. It brings in
somewhere between seventy and eighty thousand people for

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the weekend. And the way I
found out that it was happening is I

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was scheduled to go up there for
some work and I couldn't get a hotel

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downtown, and I was trying to
figure out what was going on, and

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then I found out, Oh,
it's gen Con. I guess that you

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know did it? And what made
that? And again in talking to some

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of the organizers, basically what gen
Con does, like so many large conventions

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do, is when they announced their
dates, they go and pretty much buy

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up every room, every hotel room
within a certain radius of the convention center

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and then rebroker them to the people
who are signed up to the convention.

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So my lovely little hotel that was
in walking distance from the from the Indianapolis

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Zoo was completely booked up because it's
right next to the convention center. The

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other thing that I found interesting and
how it impacted the city. And again

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this is something that is not directly
related to what we do in theme park

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industry, but I think it's interesting
to show that these kinds of events or

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elements or even theme parks, how
they contribute to the well being and the

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wealth of all the ancillary industries and
businesses in the area. But it took

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me almost every time I tried to
get an uber. It took me at

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least twenty minutes to get a car. One time it took me fifteen just

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to get a driver and then another
twenty to get them there. So it

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clearly brought in a ton of money
to the city of Indianapolis. The event

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itself was, in my opinion,
very well run. I got to see

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just how avid gamers are about their
brands and how certain things that were you

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know, either first released at gen
Con or gen Con exclusive releases, were

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creating. When you set up it's
it's sort of like when the Rizding World

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of Harry Potter first open and you
had Q lines for all the gift shops.

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That's exactly what was going on.
There were cues to go in and

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spend a ton of money. And
the way gen Con is set up,

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it's there's a fee to attend,
and then each game that you want to

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participate in is an additional small up
charged, tiny up charge two to six

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bucks to participate in the gaming um
not even tournaments, just gaming gaming on

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the floor and some of the gaming
tables are open twenty four hours, which

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I thought was very interesting in order
to accommodate the crowds, but there are

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also cues. I mean I waited
in one location, I waited who gosh

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what fifteen fifteen minutes to buy a
T shirt and just waiting in a que

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of them to slamming people, slamming
through people. So there is a commitment

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to these ip that is that surprised
me. And again, as a non

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gamer, I'm sure they're listeners who
are going no Scott you should have figured

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that one out, But as a
non gamer I was. I was shocked,

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and there were some part of the
reason that they actually did these small,

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small priced tickets for each of the
game setups was because they people would

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wait for hours and hours and hours
and then be denied a seat at the

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table. So basically the ticketing,
and especially the pre ticketing, is what

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guaranteed them a seat at the table. And then you can also buy stand

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by tickets, which you can use
anywhere, but they don't guarantee a seat

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at the table. So if a
seat opens up and you have a stand

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by ticket, which is generic and
can be used in any of the gaming

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setups, you can then use those
to fill in the seats, so the

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seats were always full. That's the
That's the thing I think was most important.

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The other things that I recognized about
the convention that surprised me were the

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number of the number of CAUSE players
who were there representing their favorite game IPSUM.

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And you know, when we think
of game I piece, if you're

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old like me and you haven't followed
what's going on in the gaming world,

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we think, oh, okay,
dungeons and dragons and what else. Um,

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But there is there is a gaming
IP for just about anything you could

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ever be interested in, anything from
um politics to dogs versus gophers. I

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mean it runs, it runs the
gamut from really heavy and intellectual to really

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silly and stupid. Um. There's
a game that came out they called it

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was called Stupid Ways to Die,
which I just fell in love with the

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name. UM. So there's a
bunch of a bunch. There's a huge

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variety within the gaming ips that I
think is something that's very important to recognize

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for us in the theme park industry, and that is, if you are

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looking at the possibilities of investing in
an IP or expanding an IP, don't

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just look at movies and TV shows
take a moment to look into some of

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these these up and coming games,
because there are at gen Con, there

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were game designers who were of course
the huge players that would have major presence

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not only on the main trade show
floor, but also have their own separate

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gaming rooms, also having their own
separate sales floors in various other ballrooms around

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the convention center. There are also
people who have just invented a board game

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in their garage and they're at gen
Con to try to kick it off.

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So it looked to me, and
again I was not there to negotiate any

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intellectual property deals, but it looked
to me as though there was a very

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wide variety or a very wide range
of price points for these ips. I

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could see, for example, a
really cool up and coming game that people

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are just starting to discover might be
very interested in having their game represented a

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park. Um, and whether that
is a long term experience or a short

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run for a seasonal event. Um. You know, there was there was

249
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a game. There was a game
called Christmas Geeks. So you know,

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if if you want to look into
those kinds of things, um, the

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gaming world just might be a good
place to to poke your nose into and

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educate yourself, um, significantly more
than I was educated. Let me put

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it that way. UM. So
it was. It was an amazing show

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and the in talking to some of
the one of the the people there,

255
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UM, I was shocked to also
here because they are such a large event.

256
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Um they are. They hold a
great deal of power and sway even

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within the government, because there is
a huge LGBTQ plus representation um in in

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gamers, which which surprised me.
Um. And they are very inclusive.

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It is very, very important that
people who come to gen Con are are

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free to be their true selves and
free to live the way they want to

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live and represent themselves the way they
want to be represented. And there was

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some discussion and some legislation that was
going to happen, and I don't know

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the details, but he basically said, when that came up, this legislation

264
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that was not friendly towards the LGBTQ
plus community, gen Con basically said,

265
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if you pass this legislation, we
leave, and you take the seventy to

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eighty thousand people that it brings into
the city for one weekend, and you

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multiply that by all of the hotel
rooms that are sold by all of the

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ubers that are taken by all the
cabs, by all the airlines. I

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mean even even the airport had gaming
tables set up in the airport for people

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who were either coming to gen Con
or on their way back from gen Con.

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And when I flew back, I
actually saw people playing the games that

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they had purchased at the convention at
the tables in the airport. So it's

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it's a much bigger industry. It
has a lot of sway, certainly in

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Indianapolis where this convention is. And
I guess my takeaway from this. Sorry

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I've just been rambling, but I
was shocked as to what I learned.

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And I guess my biggest takeaway is
if you are looking to expand and incorporate

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an intellectual property, the gaming properties
might be something that still could be affordable.

278
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Like I said, I wasn't there
to negotiate, but still could be

279
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affordable for smaller parks if it's a
smaller IP and and have a growing fan

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following. M wow. I mean, I have never been to gen Con,

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but I've been to other fanta jacent
I am a gamer, so I

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come from that. I've done a
lot of tabletop games and a lot of

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E gaming. World Warcraft, I
know, bouldered cages came out and people

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are excited about that. You know, there's a lot of um so I

285
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have witnessed that. And even at
the Animaxpo, you know, an expo

286
00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:03.559
is over hundred thousands of people and
I go to that every year and there's

287
00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:10.160
a whole gaming hall, basically a
whole hole that is dedicated to just you

288
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:12.279
know, E gaming and tabletop gaming. I mean, so it's just to

289
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illustrate. Even at anime, there's
so many crossover games that involve characters in

290
00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:19.480
some way that they're like, we
need to dedicate a whole to this,

291
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a whole hall for it. And
it's always full, and it's open until

292
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midnight every night. People are there
gaming until midnight. So I think what

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I want to underscore, which is
something that I think we might lose perspective

294
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of because we are in our little
world and we're talking about you know,

295
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it's like we're talking about Fantasmic closing
and the Dragon Catchy on fire, and

296
00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:44.880
we're talking about what you know,
Super Mario opening Hollywood on these little things

297
00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.200
theme parks. You know, it's
a pretty niche relatively speaking, in the

298
00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:53.519
entertainment space. It's it's a niche
thing and something. You know, It's

299
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:56.920
always that difference between you know,
we talked about haunts too, and how

300
00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:00.640
niche hans are. You know,
how many people sell the Halloween and don't

301
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.720
go to haunt houses? Same thing
with theme parks. How many people never

302
00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.319
go to a theme park or don't
go as often as we do when we're

303
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obsessed with it in this niche you
know, and you look at we're really

304
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even the stories you talk about today, we're only talking about two cities.

305
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:17.599
We're talking about Los Angeles and Orlando, right, and what about the rest

306
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.079
of the country. And you know, you know what is not in every

307
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city a theme park? But you
know what is a game, right,

308
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.920
you know? And and you know
what everyone can do no matter where they

309
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:27.720
are, is they can do e
gaming. And they can do meet with

310
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friends and play tabletop games even if
they don't have a computer, you know,

311
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or they don't have anything. You
could just sit around with your friends

312
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and do a home brewed game and
not have to buy anything, you know.

313
00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:44.200
I mean, it's it's it's such
an accessible form of entertainment, just

314
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.680
like theater and just like live entertainment
in that way that it's so many more

315
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.640
people can engage in it. I
think that's what really, that's what I

316
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:53.680
think an artist, I think people
whose sight of is we're so focused on

317
00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:57.640
our niche, but it's really it's
a niche interest when you look at the

318
00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:03.359
masses of crowds that gaming draws,
and just the revenue as well. You

319
00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:07.240
know, there was a big shift
because I remember back in my day,

320
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right it was it was really it
was, it was much more niche.

321
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And then the evolution of e gaming
and esports that really and then also the

322
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:21.640
micropayments that the developers started bringing in
to games that really skyrock died the revenue.

323
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So, I mean, I think
I'm not sure we talked about on

324
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.799
this show, but it's it's been
a couple of years. But the big

325
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story was how gaming and e gaming
has has overtaken movies and overtaken sports and

326
00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.359
overtaken all the revenues for all these
industries because of these milestones micropayments, and

327
00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.079
because of the ways to monetize.
You know, your mobile phone now has

328
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.440
games on it and you can monetize
those. There's all these ways of monetizing

329
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.160
that we didn't have back in back
in my day, it was like Dungeons

330
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:49.519
and Dragons and you would buy you'd
have to buy all the books. You

331
00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.759
have to buy all the stuff and
all the dice and all that. But

332
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it wasn't anywhere near what it is
now with the micropayments and the special footprint

333
00:23:56.599 --> 00:24:00.400
of it. And I know some
of you maybe maybe listening, well,

334
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.799
how can I include a game as
part of a theme park experience? Well,

335
00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:11.200
tabletop gaming, especially RPG games are
basically the ground plan or the blueprint

336
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.599
for a walk through immersive experience,
I mean or a or a ride through

337
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.599
a dark ride or And then they
did it at at at Comic Con they

338
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did a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon,
right, a little theme to par look

339
00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:27.119
at again, look at these gaming
conventions and see what kind of immersive experiences

340
00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:30.079
they do, and they can give
you ideas for you know, what type

341
00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:33.240
of extensions you can do in the
park and then see if you can get

342
00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:37.759
ahold of someone. Because I agree
with Scott one hundred percent on that,

343
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:41.720
like I think it's it's a definitely
an And again it's not to say there

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00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.680
haven't been people in our industry thought
leaders that have been talking about this.

345
00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:48.720
There's been a lot of people talking
about e gaming and whatnot and that,

346
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:53.640
and I really think that the barrier
is more connecting, like connecting the person

347
00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.519
that can answer that question at the
game with the gaming IP and the theme

348
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:03.319
park people, you know, because
it's not it's not as easy, it's

349
00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:06.039
not as developed, those partnerships are
not as developed. So I don't you

350
00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:08.799
don't have It's like we just talked
about the Crayola story, right, We

351
00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:11.839
talked about the Hasbro and how now
Hasbro has someone in charge of that,

352
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:17.039
but most of these the game companies
do not have someone who's in charge of

353
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.160
doing you know, the in person
experiences, and they have never done it.

354
00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:23.480
And also it kind of doesn't matter
because it's not as profitable. You

355
00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:30.480
know, it matters if they care
to engage fans in that way, but

356
00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:33.119
they could also go do it at
gen Con and make a great immersive experience

357
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:37.039
at gen Con or at Comic Con, right and arguably reach more people in

358
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.519
one weekend that are closer to their
fan base than at a theme park.

359
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.920
Right. So it's it's kind of
a little bit like where the smaller people

360
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:47.000
in this space and just be aware
of that, you know, when going

361
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:51.279
into the conversations is like where where
the smaller place and the revenue and for

362
00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:55.759
the for what they're getting from the
time spending with us is probably not worth

363
00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:00.279
the revenue. You know. It's
easier for them just to make a new

364
00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:03.240
skin for a new outfit and put
it out on for two dollars that people

365
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:06.200
can buy. Then it would be
to do something with the name park.

366
00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:10.279
Well, yes, and and and
I think it's also important to recognize that,

367
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.759
um there has been some discussion about
why would they go to theme parks

368
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.359
to experience their their tabletop games when
they can play them at home? And

369
00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:22.039
I was I was one hundred percent
in on that until I saw the people

370
00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:26.680
who were just chomping at the bit
to dress up as their favorite gaming character

371
00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:32.559
or their assigned character and come to
come to Indianapolis. And they did come

372
00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:34.599
from all over the world. I
met people from all over the world while

373
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I was there. And so I
think the desire is there, um I.

374
00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:45.640
And I think that just like some
of the other intellectual properties that we

375
00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:47.880
have seen, you know, I
think Wizarding World of Harry Potter is probably

376
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:52.559
the most obvious, but people who
wanted to where the where the robes of

377
00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:56.359
their houses and and and show up
at the park. Um, I think

378
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:57.880
that I think there is something there
to tap into. And yes, I

379
00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:02.920
realize that I may be very late
to this party, but it was.

380
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:04.960
It was a great eye opener.
And I figured if it was an eye

381
00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.680
opener for me somebody who's been in
the industry for over thirty years, there

382
00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:11.319
are people out there who it would
be an eye opener that they're just kind

383
00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.359
of writing it off as Oh,
that's just gaming, that's just tabletop gaming.

384
00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:17.960
Um, there's no way for us
to include that in the theme park.

385
00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:22.599
And I think there are so many
ways to include that in the theme

386
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:25.559
park if you want to. Yeah, it's much more expensive than that it

387
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:27.359
was. I think that was my
point is much more It's it's broadened out

388
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:30.400
a lot. And and we've talked
about these stories in the past. Is

389
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:33.480
what the candy crush, um,
you know, pop up museum and all

390
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.559
that. But yeah, well let's
see we have time for one more story.

391
00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:41.799
Let's see if we can we can
speaking of eye openers, maybe that's

392
00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:45.960
a good Segutorum. So Disneyland is
expanding it's it's alcoholic offerings. And I

393
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:49.440
just thought this was an interesting one
because on Wednesday, Disney announced new menu

394
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:52.960
changes that were coming to reverbll Terrace, Karnacian Cafe, and Cafe or Leans,

395
00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:56.960
which included the fresh rival of alcoholic
previages You're a member. Prior to

396
00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:00.319
twenty nineteen, there wasn't It was
a dry park. And of course in

397
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.599
two thousand and nineteen we had the
opening of Olga's canteen. It was Cantina,

398
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.559
which we it was part of the
Star Wars expansion, which we talked

399
00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:11.039
about what a great immersive bar experience
that was and so cool. And now

400
00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:17.079
now they're just adding alcohol to other
restaurants at Diszealand, which is um,

401
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:18.359
I'm not you know, I don't
know. I want to get Scott's take

402
00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:22.079
out. I'm not sure where to
think about that. I think, Um,

403
00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:23.160
it's kind of the things. I
guess if you're going to have it

404
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.680
in Oga's, kind of what does
it matter? But you know, at

405
00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:30.400
least in Oga's it was a them, it was part of the whole theme,

406
00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.880
the experience. Just adding it to
Riverbell and these places, as you

407
00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:37.599
know, UM, I don't know, but again it increases. It's devenue

408
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.359
revenue. It's definitely a revenue driver. So it is, it is a

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00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:42.759
revenue driver, and I think it's
important to recognize. You know, we

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keep saying things like, well,
Disney, it's it's family entertainment. That's

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00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:49.960
true, but mom and dad are
part of the family too, and um

412
00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:56.119
so so our aunts and uncles,
and uh, it's what we've discovered,

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00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:59.000
you know, in talking to parents. In talking to parents, I hear

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it quite often if there's an opportunity
to do a play date with other kids

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00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:07.200
and other parents where the parents can
have a glass of wine while the kids

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00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:12.160
go off and play, it makes
it significantly more appealing to the grown ups

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00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:15.519
who are the ones who actually have
to drive the car and spend the money.

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00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:18.759
So you know, they always say, if you can, if you

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00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:22.000
can, if you can make mom
want to make the decision, then the

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00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:26.559
rest of the family will follow.
Moms are traditionally traditionally I don't want to

421
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:30.559
be I don't want to oversell this, but traditionally moms have been the ones

422
00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.039
who make the decisions in the family. And if mom wants to have a

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00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.079
drink while the kids are going off
and running out and having a good time.

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00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:40.359
I don't think there's anything wrong with
that. And you know people are

425
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:41.279
saying yes, but you know,
we don't want to fill up our We

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00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:44.960
don't want to fill up Disneyland with
a bunch of drunks. Trust me,

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00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:48.039
with the amount they're charging for alcohol, you won't. It's not going to

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00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:52.119
happen at the cup point. That's
a great point, you know. It's

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00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:56.359
it is. It is the ability
to to be an adult while the rest

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00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:03.000
of your family is being their age
appropriateselves and so I don't see anything wrong

431
00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.519
with it as long as obviously it
doesn't become the forefront. But let's be

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00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:12.079
completely honest here. When you look
at at Halloween Hornnits, that is a

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00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:17.079
giant bar that has a few haunted
houses in it. So let's let's just

434
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.079
be realistic. It's nothing new.
It may be new to Disney, but

435
00:30:19.079 --> 00:30:22.440
it's certainly not new to theme park. And I think that's I think that's

436
00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:26.400
an important an important topic to look
at. So it's it's been there for

437
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.359
a while, Speaking have been there
for a while. We've been here for

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00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:33.519
thirty minutes already. This episode has
absolutely flown by for me, so I

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00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.200
hope you've enjoyed it. We've talked
about a lot of stuff and hopefully we've

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00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.079
sparked some interest in some new topics
that will create discussion amongst you and your

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00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.960
compatriots back at your park, etc. On behalf of Philipernandez and myself Scott

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00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:48.680
Swenson. This is Green Tag Theme
Park in thirty and we will see you

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00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:49.359
next week.