David M. Edmonds Jr’s Post

SeaWorld accused of deceptively charging 5% fee on visitors’ receipts   “Complaints about SeaWorld’s 5% fee occasionally popped up in online forums. Now there's a lawsuit.”   So I haven't heard much about this - how widespread are these complaints? Is this something that is going to turn out to have merit? Or is this baseless? https://lnkd.in/e23n74yk #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themeparks #seaworld #unitedparks

18 years ago, I set out to do something different than another year of college, and joined the Disney College Program for what was originally planned to be a 1 semester program in Florida. And then I never left.   18 years. I’ve chosen to highlight this milestone now, because I’ve passed the point where new CPs working in attractions have been / can be born after my college program. 😲 It’s truly a generation away from me now.   And yet, it’s also never left me, much to the chagrin of anyone who has to hear Jungle jokes on a daily basis.   Now this picture came early in my career as a Skipper on the world-famous Jungle Cruise (world famous for being world famous). I (silly me… I was new) thought Disney hadn’t given me as many hours as I was used to working so I picked up a shift on my day off. It was a serendipitous day in the Jungle, because Disney was doing a photo shoot with the full time Skippers, taking marketing photos for the Year of A Million Dreams promotion.   And I just happened to end up in the rotation that had the photographer on the boats.   The direction: let a kid drive and try to get low into the camera’s focal point at times. Well, this photo was captured as I was bravely saving the boat from crashing into Schweitzer Falls (which is why I never let kids drive…).   And since this was (apparently?) one of the selected photos for the marketing promotion, I received two copies of it. One I autographed and gave to my parents (true story) and the other sits in my living room.   Fun story? Yes. Do I have plenty of stories from my time in the Jungle? Yes.   (My favorite is Skippering the Miss America 2007 Contestants although… I never got a copy of that photo 😕).   Did it help my career? Yes. But that’s a story for another day. Today’s is for the fact that most of my close adult friends stem from my time at Disney, starting with my CP.   These friends have been there for weddings / Disneyland / Epcot days with the kids. I get to follow their professional accomplishments online, and even work with some of them in our day to day roles. All because of my CP and subsequent time at Disney.   So, the moral of the story is, today is a great opportunity to post a hilarious and entertaining story about the legendary Skipper Dave. But to also give a shout out to anyone considering the Disney College Program. There are a myriad of reasons to go do it: fun times, marketing photos, career setup, as well as opportunities to take boats full of tourists deep into the jungle and see how many come back.   But there’s also friends and life-changing moments. So, here’s to 18 more years of those milestones. #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #themeparks #disneyparks

St-Tropez: The town telling visitors to stay away this summer   “Once a sleepy fishing village, this picture-perfect town on the French Riviera has transformed into one of the Mediterranean's most overcrowded summer destinations.”   I’m throwing this out there to play devil’s advocate: how much of this sudden surge in discussing “over-tourism” is because tourism has really begun to overcrowd these places (and, it has) or how much of this is because during COVID these towns realized maybe they can survive without tourism (and, it has v2.0)?   I certainly never expected the cruise ship ban in Key West (sadly one of my favorite ports) to remain in place but seeing as they ripped the band aid off during an era of no tourism, I think it managed to stick.   And I have mentioned this before, but so much of the western world has transitioned to service-based economies – there isn’t industry in most cases to replace tourism. And I will acknowledge, most of these tourism hot spots truly are reaching their breaking point, I don’t want to downplay that.   But in a world where we’ve made high-paying tourists the lifeblood of economies, how do we walk away from that? We can desire the “less people paying more” model all we want, but it’s rarely worked out that way. We either drive people away and lose revenue, or we get so hooked on the increased revenue we start letting the capacity inch back up. These new initiatives (Venice, Juneau) have some potential merit – balance crowds without turning them all away. But not every city will be on board with that.   https://lnkd.in/ef5zKkiW #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #travelandtourism #airlines #cruiseindustry 

Imagination Gardens on the Disney Adventure So I hadn't expected a center atrium with interior balconies on the Disney Adventure - but that is the nature of buying a ship and retrofitting it. Frankly, I like it. Its different and will really make this ship unique. And it gives me Fantasy / Wonder vibes through the slight Art Nouveau influence. It's certainly not as literal as those ships, but its cute. Kind of makes me think of the old Enchanted Forest theme park concept. (I wonder if the topiary is the new "lobby statue"?) https://lnkd.in/ecYug2Fu #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #disneyparks #cruiseindustry

Royal Caribbean shares key news on its plans to go small   The cruise line has very slowly shared information on its plans to build what it's calling "Discovery-class" ships.   I think its my inner old Italian grandma, but it hasn’t been a surprise when talking about Disney Cruise Line that I prefer the older, smaller ships.   Now I am not sure this should be the only driver for the smaller ships, but it certainly helps: "It's more about where those ships can go. It's getting them into maybe some of the more unique and bespoke destinations to further diversify our footprint around the world." But let’s not forget the overall experience and intimacy that comes with a smaller ship, especially between the passengers and the crew on longer sailings.   https://lnkd.in/ec8yfB85 #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #royalcaribbean #cruiseindustry

"Burners eat big losses in desperate race to sell unwanted Burning Man tickets" The era of overpriced mega festivals seems to be wrapping up. How much are people willing to spend, and how much are they willing to put up with? I stand by my sentiment that festivals like Lollapalooza do well because they're in the heart of an urban area, or that Welcome to Rockville makes (more) use of the infrastructure and hotels of Daytona. The chance you camp in the middle of nowhere to get stuck or get rained out doesn't have the same cachet it once did. https://lnkd.in/eSqmrsUr #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #liveentertainment #concerts #festivals

D23 Roundup - Disney Cruise Line I saved this one for last as it was the surprising announcement: Disney Cruise Line announced 4 new ships were in the works at D23.   This brings the fleet from the current 5, plus 4 others that had been announced, up to 13 when we count all these new ships. That is growing from 4 ships to 13 ships in a decade, having taken over 2 decades to get to just 5 ships. I usually lean into a more conservative approach for expansion, but clearly Disney feels there are new markets ready for new ships, and / or markets ready for year-round deployment. They could be taking the Hollywood / Streaming approach - willing to spend / lose money to grow the overall brand rapidly, or they really feel they’re leaving money on the table regarding their industry share. I expect these ships to create permanent new New York / Europe / West Coast home ports, as well as to go to new markets a la Singapore, but we will have to wait to find out.   #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #themeparks #disneyparks #cruiseindustry

D23 Roundup - Nighttime Spectaculars Continuing my theme this week, how about that slew of nighttime spectacular news for Disney Parks? New shows for Paris, additional information on Tokyo’s upcoming show, and the biggest news of all, a new nighttime parade coming to Magic Kingdom: Disney Starlight.   I have three personalities that are reviewing this idea:   ✨ The fan has missed light parades since the demise of SpectoMagic. ✨The designer knows that technology has come so far since SpectoMagic (and even Paint the Night) that I am excited to see what this parade becomes / pulls off for new tricks. ✨The old parade trainer in me knows the complications of closing off Main Street for a parade 1 to 2 times per night for this – bless the cast members that are going to retrain guests on how this park functions with a night parade after a decade of attendance growth.   But in the end – this is great news. Any of the night shows are cool – but as a Florida local, the premier of Disney Starlight will be my main focus.   #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #themeparks #disneyparks

D23 PIXAR Roundup I want to take a break from theme park news and talk D23’s PIXAR releases. Because before the theme park announcements became the focus, these gave me thoughts.   First, with Inside Out 2 becoming the top grossing animated film of all time, we cannot be surprised that PIXAR would go down the path of more sequels. However, out of 4 upcoming films, 2 of them are originals, which is a pretty good ratio. I am always curious for the next original feature from PIXAR.   So instead let’s focus on the sequels.   While Incredibles 2 didn’t do it for me, The Incredibles is my favorite PIXAR film by far. And the story has never been tied up definitively - both films left room for “more”. So, PIXAR deciding to bring back Brad Bird for “more” still feels natural. If the story is there, there isn’t anything it would contradict from the last 2 films, so I am excited and curious where it goes.   Toy Story 5 however…   I admit I need some convincing for Toy Story 5. The story has been neatly wrapped up twice already so how do you top that? Now, did I expect PIXAR to have a great story for Toy Story 4? No, and they blew me away. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. And the artwork, showing kids in the digital age refusing to play with analog toys, there is a powerful story thread there. It just remains to be seen how Woody comes back without throwing away his amazing character arc and fitting conclusion he received in Toy Story 4*.   https://lnkd.in/eHcWn7MH #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #pixar #animation #disney #filmandtelevision

D23 International Parks Roundup   My first thought: that art seems familiar... but I am getting ahead of myself.   Once again, the name of the game is expansion, with most of these experiences being purely greenfield. Disneyland Paris continues to be one of the darlings of the Disney portfolio, with more news about Disney Adventure World’s transformation and new nighttime spectaculars. And in Asia, there is a Marvel – and specifically Spider-Man – focus.   Some of these (coaster plans) had leaked last spring, other had been in the rumor mill for a while. Its nice to see a variety of new experiences coming to each of these parks – and I am most curious about the what / how of the new attraction for Hong Kong.   #letsmakeplans #themedentertainment #themedesign #themeparks #disneyparks