[darthstich]

Don't remember this mentioned yet on the site, but the Virgin Megastore has officially been replaced by a special exhibit about the Late Princess Diana. From what i've seen and heard, it is presented in a similar way to OMD, concentrating on her early life and her travel through the year. It feautres several gowns and items that belonged to the princess.

It costs $14.95 to go see and has been open to the public about a week.

IMO i don't think it will last long and seems like a temporary thing while they figure out what to do with that massive space that was the Virgin megastore.

[YoPaulie]

I think your opinion is spot on.


No WAY I'm paying to see this... not sure I'd see it if it were free.

[QuickGold]

This costs money to see? I think I'll pass...

[Eric]

QuickGold, on Jul 16 2009, 12:05 PM, said:

This costs money to see? I think I'll pass...

Behind in your podcast listening?

[Sleepless Knight]

I don't see this as being a huge hit for Disney. There's a lot of sadness near the end of her life (not to mention how her life ended), and I think that most guests unless they're huge admirers or fans of Princess Di will want to spend the time and money away from everything else WDW has to offer.

[darthstich]

QuickGold, on Jul 16 2009, 12:05 PM, said:

This costs money to see? I think I'll pass...

It;s at Disneyworld, of course it costs money

[HDLady]

The exhibit is scheduled to be at DD until 11/30 according to press releases. I'm not interested in seeing it even if it was free but it might draw some Brits on vacation as well as any Americans fixated on Princess Diana.

[IndyandMarion]

You guys get the popcorn. I'll get the beer. I see a one on one battle between the balloon and this "exhibit" for biggest "WTF of the Year"

Yes, that's right folks, Even Stitch's Supersonic Celebration couldn't make it into a bracket for this title against those two.

[YoPaulie]

I dunno.


The sightseeing balloon is big in France.







Like Jerry Lewis.

[chopsva]

But how will they work stitch in?

[HDLady]

chopsva, on Jul 17 2009, 08:33 PM, said:

But how will they work stitch in?

Maybe intersperse the Diana exhibit w/ "Hidden Stitches" or let Stitch pilot the balloon....

[Sleepless Knight]

Didn't they have a pirate and princess spinner pin of Stitch as both a pirate and a princess?

[Rodders]

HDLady, on Jul 17 2009, 12:17 PM, said:

The exhibit is scheduled to be at DD until 11/30 according to press releases. I'm not interested in seeing it even if it was free but it might draw some Brits on vacation as well as any Americans fixated on Princess Diana.

I seriously doubt that this would draw people at all. The majority of Brits probably wouldn't pay to see it and I can't imagine that this would affect anyone's holiday plans.

[surfpark]

I think the idea isn't bad. Its not often that a HUGE tenant leaves the resort on such short notice. They could have either left the building empty or try to recoup some money. In the retail business there is a formula. Each square foot is X amount of dollars per month. Assuming that Virgin had a rent agreement, that store had a cost attached to it.

Unlike a store or Disney-brand exhibit, these traveling exhibits come pre-made, fresh out the box. Cost to bring them over usually includes installation, maintenance, and insurance. Disney dropped some cash and made this happen fast. Even if they break even, they've accomplished a few things:

1. Avoid having a big empty space in Downtown Disney. Tourists remember these sorts of things.
2. Helps keep the flow of traffic moving. I imagine many people walk to the build or at least pass it to get pricing information.
3. Offset the lack of rent. For every ticket, Disney is peeling back its losses.

The problem with the space is that its SO BIG. What retailer is going to want to go there? Its larger than most retail spaces, even in big cities. Several book stores in NY, Chicago, and Philadelphia are about the same size, but the demand for them is much different than in Downtown Disney. There are not many big box stores that want to pay for all that space AND cater to the tourist market.

I've heard plenty of rumors of an Apple store, but I still think its wishful thinking, at least for that location.

[IndyandMarion]

Well lets see. Huge building. Downtown area needed a big "come to DTD again" location.

Original Imagination, Cranium Command/Body Wars, Horizons, World of Motion, Food Rocks!, Timekeeper, Alien Encounter. To name a few. . .

. . . All in need of a good home. Just saying.

[queenofthehouse]

surfpark, on Jul 24 2009, 03:36 PM, said:

1. Avoid having a big empty space in Downtown Disney. Tourists remember these sorts of things.
2. Helps keep the flow of traffic moving. I imagine many people walk to the build or at least pass it to get pricing information.

The problem with the space is that its SO BIG. What retailer is going to want to go there?

You have a good point. I won't be going to the exhibit but it's better then an empty space, especially one that big. It would be creepy. And who would want to rent the space? It's big enough to be a multi plex movie theater, but Downtown already has one. It's bad enough that Disney has closed down Clubs at PI. I'm sure the stop to that flow in foot traffic has hurt businesses.

[Jeanine]

I am probably alone in this, but I would totally go to a Costco there.

[darthstich]

Jeanine, on Aug 5 2009, 01:07 PM, said:

I am probably alone in this, but I would totally go to a Costco there.

Lol yeah and they could sell the Mickey Mouse Ice Cream bars in bulk

[D.gooky]

your pictures are very hard to read, especially for people with small monitors. Im going to need you to resize them some how to where it at least fits on the screen. Sorry. You could use photobucket, it lets you resize while uploading the pictures.

[QuickGold]

Welcome to Studios Central D.gooky!