 Hello everyone and welcome to episode three of amusement insiders business banter. I'm your host Jasm and today I have three awesome new topics to bring to you guys for discussion So let's start with our first topic of the day parking pricing increases at Disney and universal What's going on here in recent episodes? We talked about ticketing pricing increases and now we're seeing the same in parking pricing as well What's happening with the industry and why are we seeing so many pricing increases? So this news has actually been around for a few weeks at this point But I wanted to hold off on our discussion around it because we had those investment calls happening with Cedar Fair and with Six Flags So we wanted to talk about those first and foremost, but I don't want to leave this topic behind So today I wanted to discuss those recent increases that we've seen to the pricing at Disney and universal So in about mid-October Disney raised their parking prices to twenty five dollars for standard parking and fifty dollars For preferred parking around the same time We also saw universal hiking their prices to that same twenty five dollar price point for standard parking And they only went as far as forty dollars for preferred parking But it's still a significant price increase and I know to some longtime Disney resort goers There was also a little bit of an upset because Disney announced that they would now be charging anywhere from 13 to 24 dollars per night for parking at their resorts Which is kind of unheard of for Disney usually it's kind of a package experience when you go to one of their resorts So to see that we're now being charged such significant prices for parking as well It's pretty big change for people who are used to their previous norm these price increases and additional charges are raising many Questions for park guests and industry experts alike I mean how sustainable are these increases as a solution to an industry-wide revenue problem guests simply won't continue to fork out More and more money for parking spaces over the coming years We definitely will begin to see an uptick in private companies profiting off of park guests needs to save money from Uber and Lyft to Taxis and buses it's likely that we'll see guests turning to alternative and more affordable ways to get to these parks So I want to know what will you do as these prices continue to increase? How do you feel about Disney and Universal using parking cost increases to supplement lost revenues in other areas? This also opens up a lot of other questions Like how can mega parks like these continue to improve their pricing systems for parking and ticketing in general? How can parks innovate in the area of parking needs and specifically for Disney? What do you think Walt Disney himself would think about all of this happening? I know he was the king of imaginary and of thinking outside of the box And I know when I hear about issues like this things like people mover and monorails come to mind and Disney was always looking to innovate and make Things convenient and easy for people and also cost-effective for both the guests and the parks as the ultimate Imaginaire what do you think his opinion would be on this and what do you think his solution might be? So please share your thoughts down below and as you do so I'm gonna move on to topic number two So topic two today is legacy entertainments rebranding. This is also news That's a few weeks old so bear with me if you've already heard about this one But I did want to just open up discussion about it and for those who aren't super familiar with how theme parks and the entertainment industry works I just wanted to introduce you to companies like this that exist Because I know a lot of people don't really think about this side of things So when visiting a new theme park or entertainment attraction around the world Have you ever stopped to wonder who designed this impressive crazy immersive experience? You know, how did this get to be here and how did it all come to life? Well legacy entertainment is one of the companies responsible for designing and creating such awesome works of design art Architecture and engineering an industry contender for 16 years now legacy entertainment has designed and launched over 40 Successful entertainment projects around the world including the studio city and galaxy resorts in Macau China as well as the Georgia Aquarium and many other theme parks water parks resorts Broadway shows and more if you've ever attended IAPA or IAPA which for those who don't know is an amusement industry Conference of sorts that happens on a yearly basis You may have seen legacy entertainment or other design firms present at the events and booths and conferences now with that said It's gonna be really exciting to see what legacy entertainment brings to IAPA this year because they just finished a rebranding Which is actually the first rebranding in their history. So it's a real milestone for this company So why is this a big deal for the industry because we see all of this change happening all around us There are parks that are expanding there are parks that are changing up their models We see lots of huge change happening in the industry in general right now and companies like this are gonna be a huge driving force in How that actually physically shows up in your experience. So definitely look out for legacy entertainment at IAPA 2018 Which by the way is happening November 12th through 16th So we will be discussing that in future episodes and what kind of announcements and excitement We hear from IAPA this year and I would love to hear your thoughts down below Did you even know that companies like this existed? I know many people know that Disney has their own imaginary department and research department But not all parks and not all attractions do so did you know about companies like this? What are some others that you know about and would like to hear a little bit about and do let me know if there are any other Parts of the experience creation aspect of the entertainment and amusement industry that you'd like to know more about Is there anything that you're curious about any things that you don't know how they are created or how they come to be? Let me know in the comments down below because we'd love to talk more about these kinds of things in the future So this brings us to our final topic of the day Disney's budget cuts and research investments We're kind of seeing a duality here in what Disney is doing with their budgets and their funding right now So in recent months, we've seen lots of budget cuts specifically to Animal Kingdom following a spat of low attendance Overall in their parks going into the fall. So even though Animal Kingdom has been recently beating out Epcot in terms of attendance We are seeing lower attendance overall in their parks So with that in mind, they've made some budget cuts But it's interesting that they chose to make the budget cuts to Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot So some of those cuts that we're seeing at Animal Kingdom is Rivers of light is actually downsizing and they're cutting all live actors in the shows and that's been happening since September In addition to that, we're also seeing Kilimanjaro safaris cutting their evening route and closing as early as 6 30 p.m This month in November. So with the sort of flip-flopping that we're seeing at Animal Kingdom How do you think guests are going to react to that? People are just getting used to having these evening attractions available and they've been getting really great reactions And now all of a sudden they're being taken away and it's something that guests may not understand the reasons why So how do you think people are going to react to that and how do you feel about it? So with those budget cuts happening, it's been really interesting to see over the past year So Disney actually investing a lot of money in different research technologies and even patents This is that duality that I was mentioning where we're seeing cuts in some areas But increases in spending in other areas specifically in the area of research and development So with that said Disney research recently published a report on a new in-painting technology that allows a system to Automatically imprint a costume or outfit onto a photo of a person So this is sort of a pseudo augmented reality type of experience that will allow guests to have a photo taken and Immediately see themselves in a costume in the photo So just imagine a little girl having a photo taken of her at Magic Kingdom in her regular everyday part clothes and Immediately seeing that photo print out with her wearing a beautiful Disney princess's dress. It's just like magic, right? So I know technologies like this have existed for a while We've definitely seen it in the past with systems like the Microsoft Kinect But Disney research developments are really taking this technology to a whole new level now with that said earlier this year Disney also came up with a new conductive paint technology Which is really cool and can actually make any painted surface a completely interactive experience in addition to that They are also working on technologies over this past year that can go into clothing such as like a jacket or a vest that will allow You to feel sensations that accompany what could be happening in a virtual reality environment around you So picture you having your virtual reality mask on or in some kind of immersive ride or attraction experience and actually Feeling on your body the impacts of what could be happening in that experience for those of you who have already experienced virtual reality You know how immersive that experience can already feel now imagine feeling the sensations actually on your body as well It really brings you into a whole new world and it's really cool that Disney is looking into these types of technologies So let's take a second and look at all of these different areas of research and development from the past year as a whole when you look at the Photo technology of actually you know putting clothes on you immediately in a digital world Then we look at the paint technology that we're using and the clothing technology It's kind of creating an overall picture of how Disney is researching virtual reality and virtual systems and augmented reality and Really looking into what technology can potentially bring into their parks and into their experiences It seems to me like Disney is gearing up to introduce virtual reality on the level and on a scale that we've never seen before So definitely share your thoughts in the comments down below Where do you see Disney taking these new technological advancements? What kind of attractions and rides do you see these being used in in the future? And is it something that you think guests will respond well to is it something guests actually want and is it something you actually want? Are you excited to see this kind of technology being researched and potentially entering in a more prominent way in the theme park industry? We've seen many flops both with VR on roller coasters and and different attractions and rides of different sorts We've seen it tried in different ways But what do you think Disney is about to do with this technology because Disney is known for going back or going home And following those questions my final curiosity with this is you know with all of this in mind Do you think that the budget cuts we just discussed at Disney parks are in preparation to invest in these new technologies in their parks instead? So are we simply seeing a shift in investments here? Are they removing old-school attractions and expansions that they've done in the past in order to make way in the budget and in the parks for these new Attractions and inventions and investments coming in. What do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comments down below. I'd love to hear them So that's it for our business banter for today. Let me know what you think down below I can't wait to hear everybody's thoughts and opinions and if you have any suggestions for future episodes again Please share we're happy to hear them. Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next week