RE: BGW Attendance Drops 3.4%
Shafor said:
My point about the "decline in the quality of shows = lower attendance" argument is only that MIX and CF are incredibly popular shows vs the shows they replaced. On busy days those shows are near capacity. So while some people in this thread may think they suck, I can tell you based on attendance and buzz that that is a vast minority opinion.
This is going to be a bit long:
Not to sound like a jerk, but that's an unqualified assessment. You're saying that your subjective experience indicates a universal truth. Here's a subjective example: The two times (a small sample, I know) I've seen Celtic Fyre, the theater has been half empty. True story. On the other hand, I never, honest-to-God never, sat in a theater for EB/IT where I wasn't encouraged to 'move to the center of the theater' to allow the packed house a place to sit. Nearly all of these visits have been weekdays, as I almost refuse to go on weekends. My point is not that you're wrong about the quality of the shows, just that you're wrong to say "well I've heard the buzz, and trust me, this show doesn't suck."
Now, on your personal assessment: Mix It Up is a decent show. I don't personally like it in the space that it's in, and I think that it detracts from theming, which hurts the park overall in the long-run, but I agree with your view that it is likely better for the family w/ kids than the show it replaced AS IS. As far as Celtic Fyre, on the other hand, I disagree. The show is less interesting than the old show...there're no pretty lights or colorful costumes. No strange settings. It's just some people in some ratty old clothes singing unintelligible songs about Ireland. I do not think that kids would prefer this show to the old one, and I do not believe that I am in the minority with this view. There is a bird act that kids would like, for sure, but the rest of it?
I have no problem admitting that I'm in the minority on some things...but I don't try and push those kinds of changes when I see them. I really don't care for the big, crazy roller coasters, but I understand that they attract a huge audience and wouldn't rally against them. I also understand, however, that good content producers do not depend on audience pools or buzz, because it is very difficult to get a realistic picture of what the audience likes. Look at it this way: the average person can tell you what movies they like, but given the same budget and personnel, would be unable to write/produce a movie they would, themselves, enjoy. This is why you don't "listen to the audience" when coming up with content: their job is to enjoy the content, your job is to produce content they'll enjoy. That said, the best producers aren't the ones who make shows the audience tells them they will like, they are the people who can predict audience responses and craft shows that pleasantly surprise people. In my opinion, on that front, Celtic Fyre is a poor show, because it is not in any way surprising or eyebrow raising; it is, in fact, completely mundane and routine. In my view, the older shows were better productions in every sense of the word, and because I don't have accurate polling data (and even if you had park polling on this issue, I wouldn't trust it, because while some people indeed MUST like it better, pollsters tend to ask people who give them visual clues that they are going to be providing a favorable review), I have to go with my own assessment of the quality of the show and opinions on what people will like. If I were the one producing the content, and it were my job/money/contract on the line, I'd produce shows that were more in line with EB than with CF, because I think audiences would prefer them.
I reject completely that I am in any thing close to a "vast minority" in that view. And, given the fact that attendance was down last year, and some indicators say that it's down again this year, maybe I'm not wrong.
