Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

Post-9/11 America at it's finest.

I am NEVER done ranting. Life ain't worth living if you can't draw attention to the vast inequities that exist ... it's scary, but I heard Suze Orman saying the same thing on CNBC yesterday during a talking head segment about gas prices. We don't have an economy that can sustain $3 a gallon gas, yet the oil lobby wants $4 or $5. It amazes me that people think folks can survive on $7.75 an hour (BTW, I heard the minimum wage in Austrailia is over twice that ... probably explains all the lazy drunk Aussies I've had to work with on my international teams).

So ... any blogger snag a picture of Georgie K yet?

Tests have been a disaster -- at best. Ops folks are so far gone they've started pulling other people's hair out!

This Next-Gen just sounds worse and worse the more I hear about it. I really hope that this dies a quick death. People just can't be this stupid.

When I said that people romanticize things like Pan, Snow White and Toad, I absolutely meant that they are romanticized in part by childhood nostalgia. It is a very real reason why their status is inflated amongst fanbois.

I look at the ride as a Journey through the music of The Little Mermaid and that should be the focus. While the music partially tells the story, it's not a full narrative. I obviously agree that the death of Ursula could have been better done, although I'm curious what type of grand effect could have been accomplished on a repeat basis for an omnimover attraction. That's for them to figure out and for me to enjoy.

I agree with your assessment that it is a perfectly fine addition. It's not an earth shattering attraction but IMO, it is the best ride in a land that has a lot of quantity over quality. In terms of scope it's only bested by it's a small world, and my labeling it as the best ride is a matter of opinion.

The problem that Mermaid faces though is the last thing you said, it's the first major addition in 20 years, and it simply isn't a sufficient follow up to Splash Mountain. It also doesn't make up for 20 years with no additions. As of right now, it is the principle attraction in the "biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history" and it simply cannot live up to that hype.

Well this site is downright awful to navigate. Any chance someone wants to pull the content and host the pictures elsewhere?

Agree.
Lots of pop ups and ads on there...beware!

Looks like some interesting photos though.

Not really. I'm just viewing it based on what an attraction attempts to do and what it succeeds (or fails) at. I don't romaniticize much beyond my Spirited sexual prowess. And since I don't have children, it might be creepy if I asked them what they liked better -- unless I become a Mommy Blogger. ... BTW, is it true that Disney has killed the InsidEARS project?

I don't find the classic Disney attractions 'cheap' but charming ... and the MK has the worst of the lot. Anaheim, Paris and Tokyo all have better-kept enhanced versions.

But I am not going to argue that Mermaid aims to be better and more complex. Sure, it has a larger scale, but so does an elephant's house. I just believe it fails miserably. It's cheap and plastic. And for over $100 million, that is inexcusable.

Nice to see that she earned he paycheck today ... maybe the Celebration Place Social Media Cabal team and food blogger Pam Brandon (Spirited disclosure: she is a very good friend of a good friend) can write a post 'splaining HOW in the world the Trail's End buffet is close to $30 for dinner when less than a decade ago it was somewhere around $14.99 BEFORE a 20% DDE discount.

You can trust the Spirit. He KNOWS what went down and has said so here in this MAGICal realm. ... There is spin and lies and truth and SPIRITED TRUTH -- and that's the one you want to go with.

On another subject ...

Is it a bad sign for Oz that James Franco and Co aren't on Letterman now, but Captain Jack is talking about playing Tonto?

It can't and it won't.

It's like when you are flying a jetliner and about to take off ... you have a very limited time to abort. For NGE, that time was about 2010 ... maybe early 2011.

Now, no matter the cost (the really scary part), this is going to happen. Could be not in the full vision TDO dreamt up, but it will be happening.

Yayyy!!! 89 days till my Fantasy cruise... Can't wait!

Thank you Spirit...this helps clear my head.

I was referring to a lot of the talk i have been catching up on with fellow peeps and on other Disney related fan forums...places i have not visited in ages...but thought i would have a glance at to compare notes.
Some of the comments i found there were insightful, but also at times many i found were disturbing from a appreciative Baxter fan perspective.
Always interesting to see how a story can be told so many different ways, with so many different agendas. Makes for interesting reading...but in the end it can leave one questioning what version of the story is the REAL version.

I thank you for you willingness to share your insights and opinions with us all here at WDWMagic.com...exspecially on this matter.

Have a GREAT cruise!!!

Headed to sea myself soon ...

Thanks for reading. And the nice comments.

I feel with Tony, a lot of stuff isn't being said (even on this site) ... and a lot of people are spreading/spewing their own agendas elsewhere. I saw that my old pal Lee MacDonald had suddenly risen from obscurity to take some more shots at Baxter on another site -- he might be better if he refunded folks the money for his fanzine that suddenly stopped publishing years ago. There's just a lot of mistruths and exaggerations and flat out lies and distortions out there.

And I'm saying that liking Tony personally, but damn well not saying the man is perfect and can't be tempermental and tough to deal with at times.

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Ah yes... nobody is perfect indeed, and creative types can often be difficult to work with, exspecially if they are very passionate about there own vision for a particular project.
It is either there way, or the highway...if you catch my drift.

I can relate to that, as i think anyone in any creative field can.

You can become so focused and engrossed about a project that you are utterly convinced that your way of executing it is the *best way* or in some extreme cases, *the only way*. People offer imput or suggestions, and you might not be open to that imput because of the above mentioned mental conditioning.
You might not even realize it, but it can make it very difficult for others to work with you if others are involved in said project and you do not let them have any imput, or make them at least feel like they are having some imput.

Having that strong vision in you head can really drive you to do great things, but if you are not careful, it can at the same time drive people away from you.

I am of course not saying this is the case with Tony...as i do not know him that well, on that personal a level.
I am just generalizing based on my own experience in the creative field.

I have a lot of respect for the man, and i am sure he has had his creative ups and downs like all of us do.
Mix into that the jealousy, grudges, political upheavals, and disheartening disrespect he has had to put up with over the last few years and it makes one realize that his strength of character and personal dedication to the concept was what kept his hopes up in what has become a very touch-and-go work environment.

Thank the CIA for being completely worthless. Since they blow at what they do anyway can we please take some of their budget and fund NASA!!!!!!!!

Of the two stories, I find the former one far worse than the the latter.

In one you have a child sexually abused. In the other you have a child inconvenienced. Hardly comparable.

I think in general the theme parks are losing there appeal to the company. I was just going my shareholder stuff for the up coming meeting and parks and resorts was a very distant second if not third to their media networks division. Iger being a network guy has built up the networks because that is what he knew. I can definitely see TWDC selling both parks and having a controlling interest. Disney is just another name in Igers stable, like Lucas, Marvel, and Pixar. The image of the company and Walt are slowing being washed away as people who remember the quality that Walt Disney once stood for pass on. I can honestly say that with in the next 10 to 15 years the company's name will be changed to just The Disney Company and Walt will truly be dead.