Tag: theme parks

OM Podcast #21: An Inside Look at Building a Theme Park

In our latest podcast Barry Render interviews Simon Philips, former President at Marvel Entertainment, former EVP at Disney, and current President at Falcon’s Beyond. Falcon’s Beyond (https://falconsbeyond.com/) is a global leader in theme park master planning. Barry and Simon discuss the latest announcement about the massive new Dragon Ball theme park in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia, as well as other operations at Falcon’s Beyond. Dragon Ball is said to be larger then Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom here in Orlando.

 

Did you know our podcast is now available on Apple podcasts? Just go to your Apple podcasts app, search “Heizer Render OM Podcast,” and subscribe to get all our podcasts on your mobile device as soon as they come out!

Transcript

A Word document of this podcast will download by clicking the word Transcript above.

Instructors, assignable auto-graded exercises using this podcast are available in MyLab OM. See our earlier blog post with a recording of author and user Chuck Munson to learn how to find these, or contact your Pearson rep to learn more! https://www.pearson.com/en-us/help-and-support/contact-us/find-a-rep.html

OM in the News: Capacity Planning Issues at Disney

Disney makes billions of dollars by persuading people to watch its movies and TV shows, play with its toys and games, and visit its theme parks. Yet the entertainment titan did its best to discourage fans from visiting the new Star Wars area in Disneyland, California last quarter, pushing attendance at its domestic parks down 3%. (Disney had been expecting a surge in guests to visit the new attraction).

A second Star Wars themed land opened Aug. 29th at the Disney park here in Orlando. But this time, Disney hopes it learned from the May opening at its California version, reports the Orlando Sentinel (Aug. 30, 2019). There, guests had to be staying at one of the company’s hotels or sign up for online reservations that quickly filled up. Fans in California may also have stayed away because they thought Disneyland would be too crowded. Local hotels raised prices. (Both new lands are opening with only one of the two main rides finished, something that may have further discouraged guests).

Restrictions that limit access for many annual-pass holders are ending this week, allowing more guests to enter the Florida attraction without paying extra. That wasn’t the case in California, which opened at the start of the peak summer season when many annual-pass holders couldn’t use them. Fans in Florida were able to come inside the park as early as 4:45 a.m., 3 1/4 hours earlier than the regular opening time. Crowds were at capacity, with some Star War loyalists lined up at 3:30am, only to face lines that reached 5 hours for new rides. Discounted ticket prices were offered for guests to wait until noon to enter. Orlando-area hotels are also offering discounts timed to the Star wars opening.

Disney took a big bet on Star Wars this year, whose expansions cost $1 billion at each of the two parks. But for theme park devotees, Thursday was the equivalent of Black Friday shopping — a controlled chaos that was enjoyable nonetheless.“I’m still on the high,” said a New Jersey guest who hadn’t slept in 24 hours.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What tactics discussed in Supplement 7 did Disney employ to impact capacity in California?
  2. In Orlando?

OM in the News: Smart Queues at Disney

Toy soldier characters greet Disney visitors
Toy soldier characters greet Disney visitors

It’s one of theme parks’ biggest challenges, reports the Orlando Sentinel (Oct. 12, 2014): finding ways to ease the pain of waiting in line. Disney tried something unusual last week, when it required FastPass reservations for anyone boarding the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. Amusement parks have plenty of motivation to lessen waits, or at least make them less boring. Guests leave happier — and are more likely to return. Shorter lines at popular rides mean tourists have more time to visit secondary attractions. And time not spent in line means more cash at the registers in a park’s shops and restaurants.

A few years ago, Disney created a new underground center here in Orlando in which employees monitor crowds via computer and video camera, then decide which congestion-fighting weapons to deploy. A ride might launch more vehicles, for example, or a restaurant could open more registers. The parks’ arsenal of crowd-control tactics also includes distractions, which have grown increasingly elaborate. At Disney World’s Fantasyland, for example, kids frolic in an indoor playground until buzzers alert their families it’s time to board the Dumbo ride.

Disney has also encouraged more widespread use of the passes through its MyMagic+ billion-dollar technology project. Guests can now reserve rides and shows up to 2 months before their visits: 75% of Walt Disney World guests use FastPasses now. But don’t expect to see a lineless theme park anytime soon.Ushering guests through too many attractions too quickly, and a new set of problems is created. Visitors might get bored if they see everything too fast. “The flow within a park assumes a certain number of people will be standing in line, more so during peak periods than nonpeak periods,” says a former Disney VP. “You take them out of line, and where do they go?”

Classroom discussion questions:

1. Why are queues such an important OM issue at all theme parks?

2. What other options does Disney have for capacity planning?