A Spirited Perfect Ten

Funmeister

Well-Known Member
I'm trying too hard because I'm trying to force this nugget of information called "nuance" into your brain. You're absolutely failing to see the difference between owned content and branded content.

Marvel at D23 means Marvel is Disney-branded? Okay, please explain to the reader the difference between that statement and this one: "Marvel attractions exist at Universal theme parks. Therefore, Marvel is obviously being branded as a Comcast product."

You don't see how absurd that sounds? Marvel is Marvel. That's its BRAND. Presence at or in events, places, or publications owned by various entities does not somehow negate that fact and make Marvel instead branded as whatever umbrella entity is organizing said event, place, or publication.

To support this...whenever you see Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker or Goofy as Chewbacca or Minnie Mouse as Princess Leia...those are great examples of Disney BRANDED Star Wars characters (or some could say Star Wars BRANDED Disney Characters). I guess if it is Mickey dressed as Luke Skywalker it is a Disney character branded as a Star Wars character and if Darth Vader is wearing mouse ears then he is branded as a Disney-esque character.
 

Funmeister

Well-Known Member
Yes, it would.

And the Shanghai film will make its debut at EPCOT sometime before 2018 (complete with unique ending/flyover WDW).

But, generally, I agree with you. Besides, WDI has crowed for years about how movie/simulator attractions can and will be changed out frequently for new experiences. How many times did Body Wars change? How about how many years did it take to update Star Tours? What about the new holiday versions of TSMM we were told about?

Anything to spin the project ...

Wasn't Mickey's Philharmagic sold the same way with interchangeable segments?
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The missing AA figures at least seem to have returned since you rode last week. There is youtube footage specified as having been recorded on the 24th by the uploader, from what I can tell with a quick viewing all the figures seem present again that were missing last week. I can't speak for the lighting and cleanliness however as it has been some time since i rode it personally. I would be surprised if they fixed those before yet another refurb. Would hate to see the problems pile up so the ride falls back into pre-2013 disrepair again.

I can only say what I witnessed and that was a week ago Thursday (so ... April 16th). The lighting on many WDW attractions is godawful. You wouldn't know this was the world's largest entertainment company. And having work lights on all day is a consistent problem at WDW now. I just wonder if the CMs staffing the attractions have a clue that they aren't supposed to be on.

Interesting to hear word that IASW is apparently looking better though. It has looked awful and dirty for years now. With tons of missing ceiling tiles even. Spaceship Earth was looking fairly decent barring some minor issues last October, I hope it is still that way. The rides i'd say were in the worst shape during my last visit that i rode were Maelstrom and Living with the Land, again last October. The former now gone obviously, seems management did not deem it necessary to keep up a doomed ride (as my final ride it was sad to see all the mold and water damage caused by the roof leaking, especially the gorgeous mural, and all the non working effects)... The Land had TONS of barely moving and stationary AA figures, particularly the rainforest scene. Air conditioning was very poor. The mechanical greenhouse doors were also stuck open, which may have contributed to the AC problems, certainly not good for the plants there. I hope The Land has gotten a bit better since i last rode, bit sad especially as i believe it still has a sponsor. Soarin i'm sure is still in the awful condition it has been in since i first rode it in 2010, i don't expect any improvements there either since they've got plans for a new film and expansion some time in the future.

Only rode Small World once as it was closed for most of my short visit. I would say that some things looked noticeably better than my last visit, but many did not. I'll also admit to not paying as much attention because there was a dude in the row in front of me with (yes, they still have them) an old fashioned mini cam corder and as soon as I looked in one direction, he'd move and hold the thing up and then I'd move (since we both had entire rows to ourselves) and he'd do likewise. If I cared more, I would have told the schmuck off. ... LWtL looked decent, but needs work.


I've said before, the most disturbing lack of cleanliness i witnessed during my visit last year was Magic Kingdom's bathrooms. Even the brand new ones at New Fantasyland. Gross details aside, filthy and disgusting.

Um ... yes. Same here. ... I also loved the less than friendly response I got Monday night when I told a CM working at a podium near where they store strollers for Fantasmic about a huge pile of vomit about 25 feet away that many people were walking into. But that's another complaint.

And wake me up when the monorails have all been brought up to proper condition again (I feel like i should be getting a tetanus shot prior to riding some of them), and when the Grand Floridian isn't 90% dark because all the trim lighting is either broken or switched off.

They are still filthy and ghetto, even if one I rode on had just gotten that retro WDW carpet on portions at the end of each cab. (Wonder when an idiot fanboi will cut a swath out and eBay it!)
 

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
I see my old pal @EPCOT Explorer somehow has reached 14,000 Twit followers after being the top poster here (and still is over four years after leaving the site) and then being the top poster on another defunct site. I don't know what it says about him or the Twitverse really. But if I were him, I'd make some advances to Dr. Blondie (no, not that kind, she's really not all that!) in terms of getting free stuff from Disney. He's got more followers than many bigtime Lifestylers and I don't think he pulled a Tom Amity and went out and bought a bunch (what many folks do to pump up numbers). Hey, EE, it's jennifer.j.fickley@disney.com. I could also supply her phones numbers.

She just loves talking to Dizzy World fans ;) The contact info for her boss that a certain spirit provided saw better results for me. Jennifer doesn't appear too keen on getting back to you if you aren't gushing about a post on the blog outlining the same old at WDW. Her boss on the other hand got back to me immediately...
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Being dumb generous enough to pay to use a free site does not give anyone superiority, nor would I think most feel that way. Sure, there might be a few, but just as many as the "regular" posters who feel they know more about (insert any subject here) and any other opinion is idiotic.

I don't know about superiority, but there are topics that some here clearly have more knowledge about than the rest (media, journalism, WDI, techonology, China, WDW history are just a few topics that come to mind where we are not all equal).

It happens all over the boards, on all topics. It's just more visible when someone has the little "premium" flag under their picture. I'm never personally trying to say that anyone who pays is better in any way than those who don't. I point it out because I know by people asking what the PML is, they are not aware of the fairly low cost. I do not doubt your value to the site, as many posters have been banned for less than a few of your more risqué fanboi jokes. You bring the clicks, so you can joke about the d-cks.

Except, my friend, that I don't joke about ''the d-cks'' ... . And I think the above is a bit hyperbolic on your part as it almost takes killing someone to be banned from this site. Look at that great troll Jimmy Thick as an example. It was obvious to anyone with a functioning brain just what he was, yet the powers allowed him to screw around until he blew himself up and in a torrent of lies about fake trips he took to TDR and UNI-FL and how terrible they were. The fact is people don't get banned here largely.

But I like alliteration so clicks and d-cks works for me.

I'm trying my best to step out of the fray a little, but since you and I have talked about this topic before, you might remember that it's a pet peeve of mine when the term PML gets thrown around as a blanket statement, just like I know that calling certain groups of posters in threads like these Spirited Sycophants or you Dear Leader isn't something that is going to generate anything but more animosity.

Yes. and you may recall that it's a pet peeve of mine when folks wish to discuss me instead of what I post. Look, I get that WDW is stale and has lost much of its relevance and folks here need something to talk about. I just think there are plenty of Disney/entertainment/media topics that could be discussed instead of me and my HUGE ...

I've missed a large chunk of what went on in this thread since I last posted, I'm too cheap to pay for international data and the "most exclusive country club in Paraguay" seems not to be exclusive enough to offer WiFi. When I last left, it was some folks joking around, so I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of it got zapped. I'm also too old and tired to be up this late, so I'll be catching up again in the morning.

Paraguay? Been to dozens of countries, but that isn't one. What's it like there? Are you vacationing or down on business?
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
She just loves talking to Dizzy World fans ;) The contact info for her boss that a certain spirit provided saw better results for me. Jennifer doesn't appear too keen on getting back to you if you aren't gushing about a post on the blog outlining the same old at WDW. Her boss on the other hand got back to me immediately...

Bland Tommy or Lovely Leanne? And what, if you don't mind me asking, did they have to say to you?
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
By all means, if Disney won't add an attraction aimed at 14+ year old people, double down on stroller city.
Yes, I see the frustration, but, in spite of all the talk about how far the Disney Company has strayed from its winning formula, what people are asking for is to completely change that focus of family entertainment and tilt the mission to those that are the thrill seekers. There are plenty of places to go to get that adrenalin high, but, there should only be one Disney. That gives people a choice. Coasters are great, but, they are difficult to fit in the surroundings of a Disney Theme Park. They have done it with RnRC, Everest, Space Mountain... to a lesser degree, thrill wise, with BTMR and Splash Mountain, but, unless it can be themed to a specific story line, beginning, middle and end, then it just doesn't belong there. It's almost like going to a Toy R Us to buy a Music system. There's no reason why they couldn't sell them, but, why would they stray from what made them successful when other places specialize in music.

What we are dealing with here is the philosophy of Walter E. Disney. He could have easily filled Disneyland with high powered coasters, his organization even invented the tubular track system that made it possible for the super coasters to even exist, but, he also knew that wasn't what the focus of his park was to be. That is the formula that made Theme Parks a vacation destination, variety and moderation.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Spirited Back Alley Musing:

Used the MS 'bypass' as its come to be called. Guess what? It sucks. Looks terrible, bare minimum of trying to tell the story that you are in a back alley of MSUSA when you are in the back alley of part of a theme park where you should never be.

They could have done a major infrastructure deal and added an arcade a la DLP, but that would have cost serious change, so this cheap way of sending Guests where they don't belong was decided as the answer. It speaks volumes about how today's WDW Co. views show.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Rode Splash Mountain yesterday. Only thing that I noticed that wasn't working completely was the Brer Bear animatronic in the laughing place. His head was moving but not his body. Other than that everything else was working. Even the jumping water

Don't take this as an insult because it isn't intended as such, but I can bet there are things that you simply aren't aware of in the attraction. There's no way everything was working perfectly except for one AA. This IS the MK we're talking 'bout. ... Like I said, most CMs who work the attraction likely have no idea what is and what isn't supposed to be.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Come on, let's be fair - if Disney spent 4B on Lucasfilm and 4B on Marvel, and were not exploiting them as fully as possible, folks would be complaining that they weren't using their investment wisely.

I never said any differently.

That's the point: that these BRANDS are now part of the overarching Disney BRAND and some folks, this Spirit amongst them, would argue that too much of a good thing waters down everything.

I am not the only one who feels this way. I've heard Wall Street chatter about BRANDS like ESPN and Marvel being more valuable as stand alones and not under The Weatherman's umbrella of BRANDS.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
"Back in the day" there was a three man crew who were solely dedicated to replacing bulbs. They would aim to replace anything at 80% of life expectancy. They weren't always perfect but that was their job.

Public realm maintainence is on the up again it seems thankfully, at least in DHS and the MK, but is still less than it used to be.

It's still far, far, far, far less than it was say from 1971-1996. You can't even compare it as it seems like you're talking about two different companies (in some ways, you are!)
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
It looked terrible when I rode a week and a half ago.
A lot seems to have changed in a few months. I did notice some AA issues in November but I thought they would be fixed since Splash seemed to be getting kept in pretty good condition. Guess I thought wrong.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Because it fundamentally changes the publics perception of what "Disney" is. Whether that's good or bad is arguable. Is trading 77 years of brand building for a giant pile of cash good?

This goes back to a point I raised a few months ago now about what exactly is Disney today ...I'm sorry, but Jar Jar Binks and Iron Man don't shout Disney to me. Good investments for the company? I think you'd be hardpressed to say no. But good or bad long term to Disney itself? That's a whole different question and one most fanbois are incapable of thinking about rationally.
 

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
A lot seems to have changed in a few months. I did notice some AA issues in November but I thought they would be fixed since Splash seemed to be getting kept in pretty good condition. Guess I thought wrong.

Has Mr. Bluebird, the one on Brer Rabbit's mailbox at ride's end, ever get fixed? He wasn't moving last time I rode Splash (this was about a year ago).
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That's if you think you're "trading" something for your giant pile of cash. Tonally, I think they're both great fits for Disney.

And I think you're partially tone deaf.

Lucas can be argued much easier as, much like Pixar, a lot of Disney DNA has been involved in that BRAND and the IP has been in Disney parks globally since the mid-1980s.

Marvel?!? Not so much. Tonally, it fits perfect with UNI, which is why so many people love IOA's rides based on Spidey and the Hulk etc. It is darker and just doesn't mesh well with Pixie Dust and Princesses.
 

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