Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

[Sir.Mouse]

umm why does Thunder Ranch have a sponsorship?

[mainstreetcm]

Re: Why???

umm why does Thunder Ranch have a sponsorship?

Why pay for an attraction yourself when a sponsor can come in and cover most of the costs for you?!

Most of the attractions in Disneyland have been sponsored at sometime or another...

[thrax]

Re: Why???

Most of the attractions in Disneyland have been sponsored at sometime or another...

wasn't autopia sponsored by a gasoline company?

[Darkbeer]

Re: Why???

Chevron is the current Autopia sponsor.

It used to be ARCO (back then called Atlantic Richfield, Aka AR COmpany, now owned by BP, which used to stand for British Petroleum).

And you will find that Georgia Pacific sponsors a LOT of things in and around the resort, from a mention on the back of DLR napkins, signs near restrooms for toilet paper, signs inside the restroom to wash your hands and plug paper towels and certain areas, such as restaurants and attractions, such as the Big Thunder Ranch area.

Disney likes the extra money... it should help keep down admission fees, but nowadays, I don't think it as much of a bearing as in the past....

[Pressler69]

Re: Why???

As much as people, myself included, love to sing the praises of Tokyo Disney, EVERYTHING is sponsored there, much more than its American counterparts.

I can't think of one attraction that isn't sponsored there. Sponsorship isn't bad as long as it's confined to a small sign near the entrance and title of the attraction. "Presented by..." and so on.

Sponsorship is different from product placement, which is basically what Kodak is doing at HISTA and what those "HERES HOW TO WASH YOUR HANDS, STUPID" signs are for. Those are just pointless.

[JeffYardDog]

Re: Why???

umm why does Thunder Ranch have a sponsorship?

Seems like it's OK as long as it's appropriate thematically

For instance, Thunder Ranch could be sponsored by Bandini

[disneyfan07]

Re: Why???

Seems like it's OK as long as it's appropriate thematically

For instance, Thunder Ranch could be sponsored by Bandini

<<<<sorry folks I have to say this>>>>

sounds like a ****ty idea to me!!!! :lmao:

[Sir.Mouse]

Re: Why???

yeah so out of all the things that receive sponsorship Thunder ranch is included?? Not thats it's bad I just think it's a little extraneous. ya know? anyhow is Space Mt being sponsored at the moment?

[Tom Chaney]

Re: Why???

It's a time-honored tactic of business... especially in Hollywood: Finance your project with other people's money. Disneyland made particular use of this tactic, especially in its early days when money was scarce.

The client spends the money on a sympathetic cause expecting the general public will feel kindly toward their product and consequently buy their product.

The beneficiary (Disneyland) gets to build an attraction they can't otherwise afford. (...or just don't want to cut into their profits to pay for.)

The public (YOU) doesn't really care about the whole background of the project, generally ignores any signs or indications of corporate sponsorship and just enjoys the attractions.

Except...

Perhaps subconsciously the "brand" does worm its way into your mind, you are inclined to select the sponsor's product when you go shopping (although you really can't say why). "Gee, I don't know why I buy Richfield gasoline." The sponsor consequently gets value of its money, Disneyland gets to install a whiz-bang attraction for (all intents and purposes) free, and you (the guest) get to experience a superior attraction.

Everybody wins.

Any questions?

[PragmaticIdealist]

Re: Why???

It's important that the institutional patrons be matched well with their respective attractions.

Big Thunder Ranch used to be presented by Central Soya, which is, creatively-speaking, a stronger choice that made good use of the attraction's imagery.

[Pressler69]

Re: Why???

anyhow is Space Mt being sponsored at the moment?

No. The last sponsor was FedEx and the FedEx commer-, I mean, pre-show was awful and annoying.

This is a case where I wouldn't have minded the sponsorship, but I absolutely abhorred the product placement.

[bluejake01]

Re: Why???

yeah so out of all the things that receive sponsorship Thunder ranch is included?? Not thats it's bad I just think it's a little extraneous. ya know? anyhow is Space Mt being sponsored at the moment?

Taking care of all those animals isn't cheap. I think I may be one of the only people I know that can spend hours in the petting zoo...it's one of those really great, quite corners of the park that offers a traditional, beloved, childhood, educational experience...only done much better. They don't feed the animals in the guest interaction area nor do they sell food pellets (a way that a lot of petting zoo's help offset costs that the sponser is helping with) for guests to feed them, so they don't associate guests with food.

[techskip]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

I clearly remember that at Tiki we were required to say the sponsor's name in the official spiel. I guess in a way that is what they pay for... name placement... but it seems like a lot of sponsors pull out making it seem as if it doesn't work so well for those shelling out the money. I don't know.

[DisneyIPresume]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

but it seems like a lot of sponsors pull out making it seem as if it doesn't work so well for those shelling out the money. I don't know.

I think the pullout is more mutual than one would think. While the sponsors didn't want to shell out the money, about 15 years ago Disney didn't do too much to keep these sponsors either as they wanted more control over the products being sold.

[thejoshualee]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

their advertisements don't work on me sparkle paper towels.

[sir clinksalot]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

Wasn't pretty much EVERY attraction on opening day sponsored?

This isn't something new, in fact, if anything, sponsorship has gone down in recent years.

I remember when AT&T sponsored Indy and they gave out those cool cards with the translations.

[aashee]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

Sponserships have been happening since the park opened. In fact there were much more sponserships back in the old days. So if the question is "what would Walt do?", the answer would be "I'd sell the damn ride sponsership to whoever is willing to pay!".

[thejoshualee]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

As long as they energizer batteries don't try and sell things to me I'm fine with it.

[Opus1guy]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

This isn't something new, in fact, if anything, sponsorship has gone down in recent years.

Correct.

And you want to talk about product placement? In Walt's day (and for many years after) many of the sponsored attractions were practically all advertising or product placement heaven for the sponsors' product or brand name! Anyone remember General Electric's Carousal of Progress? Or Bell System's American the Beautiful? Or Kaiser Aluminum? Or Monsanto? And on and on. Hawking everything from Asbestos to lead based paints!

General Electric's Carousel of Progress had more product/brand placement than any movie or television show you've ever seen! America the Beautiful had the all-phone-company pre and post show, along with a plug for long distance in the Hawaii scene right in the film (remember the telephone company's "Long Lines" ship and the narration?). When Monsanto sponsored American the Beautiful in Florida, they even force-fed a crummy smoggy grainy shot of St. Louis into the film, just because that was where Monsanto's headquarters were located.

And elsewhere in Disney's world things like Delta's Dreamflight.

If anything...overly blatant commercial advertising in attractions has gone way down in recent decades, IMHO. With perhaps the exception of static exhibits (like Innoventions or Boudin). But then again so has the amount of money that most sponsors are willing to pay. So these days it seems most sponsors of major attractions don't pay for much more than a sign over the door (or the toilet paper holder, as the case may be).

Theme park sponsorships don't have as much bang for the buck like they used to have. Companies have determined that while it's still perhaps a wise use of advertising dollars still...it's not like it used to be and they feel there are now many more mediums where their advertising dollars get more mileage. Back in the old days sponsorship of a Disneyland attraction or shop or restaurant or food product was a huge deal. If Frito or Heinz was sponsoring in the Park...you could bet all across America their packaging would be tagged, "The Official ______ of Disneyland!" It was a big deal back then being associated with the Disney name. Not so much today.

Still...if you're willing to fork out the major dollars...pre or post show can be yours almost anywhere (re: FedEx and Space Mountain).

And I believe toilet paper sponsorship would definitely fall into the post show category.

[mouseinphilly]

Re: Why??? [Sponsorship of rides]

And don't forget Parade of Dreams is sponsored by Sylvania and the fireworks are sponsored by American Honda.