Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[Pumbas Nakasak]

''.'' Gary Buchanan of the DPB at the Mommy Bloggers Whorefest at the DLR.






(OK, that last sentence I just added, but I am sure Gary thinks that!!!)

Is this a hard ticket shindig or is it invite only?

 

[PhotoDave219]

I make my money from illicit activities is their anything you could recommend to make it righteous again? And ideally pay no tax.

You're a very good dancer…

 

[Captain Chaos]

It is really easy to avoid the kind of posts that you both say you don't like - stay out of this thread. There are MANY threads throughout the forum that are extremely positive and may be more to your liking. Seriously, stay out of threads that you don't like - it is in the best interests of everyone.

Not only that, people need to stop falling into the trap of answering others back... Gotta learn our lessons i guess... I know I have, IGNORE works wonders...

 

[Mammymouse]

What is this "middle class" that you speak of? I only know of such concepts from foreign lands like Japan and Singapore. Don't see much of that here in Florida. Here we just have "rich" and "poor"

If you think Florida is bad you should be in New England. I moved to FL in 2006 from RI, and I don't know how anyone is keeping the lights on in RI right now. Midd'lers are an extinct breed there now.

 

[Cody5242]

I'm at Universal now and it looks like they still have quite some work to do still before May 20th. I guess a lot can change in a month and a half

 

[Cody5242]

@WDW1974 Few questions. Do you know if they've even started vertical construction of Avatarland and do you know of any information about nighttime entertainment for Shanghai Disneyland? Will they have a daytime and a nighttime parade?

 

[wogwog]

Funny

What better place than this random thread to share Hitler's reaction to FP+

Funny and sadly true. Watch it before Disney gets it pulled.

 

[marni1971]

This is so perfect I don't even know where to start. It just is. Sadly, the spirit disciples will just counter this by piling on the conceit and call you a duster.

Spirit disciples? Dusters? From a newbie?

Who's believing the hype now? Seriously.

Until you actually understand what's being discussed and why, Steves comment is a valuable piece of advice.

 

[WDW1974]

Were you as bothered by the April fools Lutz post as I was? I found micechat relatively late and even the tail end of Lutz was usually balanced in appraisals. Yeah he had an agenda, but it was clear it was for the "fans" and of course for him. I'm going to cast some aspirations on him but he liked the power of being "in the know" and being the "voice of the Disney fans". Who wouldn't right? For the most part he used that voice for the better of the parks and the fan community.

I don't know that I was 'bothered' by it. But I didn't like it. And I do wonder who really penned it. My understanding of Al's condition is such that I would find it difficult to believe he was able to do so.

I respect Al more than anyone who has even been a true voice in the fan community. He used social media before people had a name for it and brought about positive change with a blunt take no prisoners attitude. He didn't care about people losing jobs. He didn't care about hurting fanboi feelings. He cared about Disneyland. He cared about Walt's Legacy. He cared about the product people were paying for.

Because of his honesty, integrity and fearlessness (going up against Disney isn't fun, they do have scary lawyers who they use as muscle), he became a 'go to' source for legit mainstream media around the globe.

Did he have an ego? Sure. Do I? You bet your , I do. When did having a healthy ego and knowing how valuable your voice is become a bad thing?

DLR is a far better place today because Al Lutz cared ... and bitched ... and called people out.

I respect that ... greatly.

I wish people knew some of the execs, like George Kalogridis, like I have. They'd realize how absolutely ordinary and mundane these individuals are.

But read between the lines of what the online community is posting these days. There is no outright truth or truthiness* in most that is published today. Everything is along the company line, no one ever wants to publish the ugly truth lest it disconnect them from the teet that dispenses that sweet company graft. I hesitate to call people out for a hobby that they love and enjoy, but at this point it may be a job right? If they are getting paid for BS, then maybe I shouldn't feel bad about it.

Well, it all depends on whether there is something in it for an individual. If you have a Disney fan site that in any way (not talking banner ads) gets 'favors' from CP/TDO, then you are much less likely to speak honestly. We can all be bought. We're just not all cheap whores. Most of what exists in Disney social media circles today could be described that way.

Full disclosure you notice I post primarily on spirit threads, I like to know if I bother to add a pithy comment it will be read.

You are a smart individual.

 

[WDW1974]

It was sent to outlets and Cast Connection almost as suddenly as it appeared.

My outlet here in SoFla had the stuff out for well over a year and it never seemed to sell. One day it all disappeared. I am guessing either Disney sold it to another liquidator or stuck it back in one of their many warehouses in LBV.

 

[JimboJones123]

As to the Bands, what did I think of using one (other than feeling like a dorky 12-year-old who is struggling with puberty)?

Mine worked perfectly. It was easy to use. No issues. Changes were made on the fly (at kiosks as I am not letting Disney into my phone).

But did it fundamentally alter my way of visiting? Not at all. Did I see more/do more? Not at all. Did I spend more? No, actually it allowed me to spend less.

It did preoccupy me much like having meal ressies does at WDW. I was thinking things like 'My Soarin window opens in two hours and I am on I-Drive' ...

As to observing others, I heard some complaints from other guests (many about the app and making changes on their Siri Jobs devices), others loved them.

CMs?

Without offering any negative or positive feedback when engaged, a good four out of five CMs ripped them, talked about what a waste of time and money NGE is, said the tech is not stable and often (at bars and restaurants) results in huge amounts of people being comped when the system goes down (since the Band does everything, you can't expect anyone to have backup payment on them etc).

Two phrases were used consistently without any prompting from me when asked about the system ''creepy'' and ''Big Brother-like'.

People still congregate outside FP return entrances looking like they've just woken up after being dead and not quite sure where they are or what they should be doing.

I have visited the parks over a dozen times since MM+ opened to APs.

# of meals eaten in the parks, 0.0.

It s simply too easy to get a bite, spend your 2-4 hours in the park, and then leave to get food off site.

Stand by lines are too long to make anything outside the 3 FPs and a few stops in between to make it worth hanging out longer.

My average park visit spending has dropped by 75-85%.

Thank you MM+.

 

[WDW1974]

I guess it depends how you define "successful." Having someone in the parks 24/7 might have made the catalog of grievances more accurate, but I don't think it would've forced TDO's hand at improving things.

The Sentinel has published stories about the Yeti and other decreased maintenance, and nothing changed. The Sentinel probably has a bigger megaphone than a fan site.

Like I said, I don't think online protests are effective except for the really important stuff like getting the Duck Dynasty guy back on TV or getting MSNBC anchors fired. ( in case it wasn't obvious)

No, you don't get things accomplished by posting them here per se. You get them accomplished when certain eyeballs from media members to execs to Imagineers read things here and then take up the battle cry ... that does work.

 

[WDW1974]

Our first look at a promo with a Marvel character next to a Disney castle:

It's just for a M&G starting a week today (and for some strange reason ending mid-July), but if you ever wanted to see the juxtaposition, there it is.

Yes, Spidey is making his Disney debut in, of all places, DSP.

BTW, DLP's Spring Festival looks beautiful and the Rat area is really coming along as we race toward the opening of a $200 million E-Ticket and full serve themed restaurant at the ugly park.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Just an FYI, Amazon has "The Art of Frozen" back in stock. Hopefully no one paid an arm and a leg to a reseller here!
http://amazon.com/The-Art-Frozen-Ch...qid=1397344673&sr=8-1&keywords=frozen+artbook
Also, the Walt Disney Family Museum store has their Mary Blair exhibition catalogue available for purchase.
http://www.waltdisney.org/content/magic-color-flair-world-mary-blair-catalogue

 

[WDW1974]

It was ceaseless negativity as was witnessed at the LP forum that ruined that place and not the mouse. Too many people are deluded into thinking the Disney experience of their childhood can be recaptured. We live in a much more cynical society thanks in large part to social media that is not based in reality. Too many people live with a false worldview.

Quite frankly, JT, yet again you have no clue what you are even speaking of (not that it ever stops you). I don't know why you wish to discuss LaughingPlace.com, but if you do, then I know I am in a far better position to talk about the place as a longtime member of what was once a thriving online community.

The fact it is dead now (I firmly believe the only reason it exists in any form is because Doobie is a fan and has the finances to keep it up) speaks to losing many powerful voices, including mine. By the time I opted to leave for good in 2011, the place already was fighting to keep the tumbleweeds away. The fact the site died had little to do with any negativity. It had to do with losing important respected voices.

It also had to do with Disney giving Lee MacDonald an ultimatum involving his contract work with the company in Asia that resulted in LP shutting down their fantastic Tales From the LP fanzine so as not to compete with Disney's inferior D23. If you'd like to discuss it further, then I'd be glad to. But don't presume to understand things that you just do not.

But I do agree that social media allows people to live lives not based in reality. Indeed, that is the enabling factor I bring up when discussing mental health and the fan community.

The other fact is that, like everything else, WDW had to change with the times. As I have said many times, WDW is a victim of its own success. And whatever happens now or in the future has to be looked at through that lens. Or else one might eventually sound like nothing more than a whining malcontent with a personal axe to grind. To prove this point many complain there is no investment happening in the parks when quite clearly it is. Obviously we all want to see more. That will never change.

WDW has always changed. Well, until about 15 years ago when TDO decided to just live off the past and nostalgia and let its parks grow tired and stale. If you feel that is moving ahead and changing, then you have an end backward view of ''changing with the times.''

WDW is many things. A victim of its own success would not be one, unless you believe that living up to your own standards simply became too heavy a burden for TDO. Is that what you are saying?

I can't ever find the ''Disney isn't investing'' line of BS that often gets trotted out. Indeed, many fans (such as myself) are disgusted by the billions that Disney is spending on data mining, trip planning apps, back of the house tech, door locks, an uninspired Fantasyland redo, more EPCOT eateries, more timeshares etc.

Again, find me posts where folks are saying Disney isn't investing versus HOW they are investing.

Constructive criticism and honest critique gets results. Which is why you, those you mislead and/or the mouse will never destroy the magic of this forum.

Who am I misleading and how? Answer the question.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Speaking of Disney Twenty Three Magazine, can you still buy it at Barnes and Noble?

 

[eastvillage]

And the folks at Disney aren't that smart, but they are smart enough to realize that all your crowing about how MAGICal exploring the Fortress at TDS is that more of your readers (like 98%) will visit Tom Sawyer Island (and does anyone actually go there anymore? I think it's been 9-10 years for me now) still.

Tom Sawyer Island is a must do for me every trip. It brings me back to my childhood. We had a forest near our house that I use to love going exploring. TSI symbolizes that childhood curiosity and sense of adventure. Roaming through the caves and the escape tunnel is just pure fun. Running around in an immersive environment, lots of spooky noises, narrow alleys, faces carved into the cave walls, dark passages, crossing over bridges, running up and down a fort, following along winding paths. Good, old fashioned fun. I just wish they'd reopen Aunt Polly's.

 

[WDW1974]

Except the best place to draw attenion to yourself is to go where everyone else is.

And don't they know it ...

(Am I being ripped in the Twitverse today? I sure loved how one mildly critical comment about UNI, coming from a top designer working on these actual projects, made the UNI fanbois show they can't handle criticism any better than the Disney ones!)

 

[WDW1974]

Is this a hard ticket shindig or is it invite only?

Invite only.

But I'd love to know how much Disney is spending on flying all these Mommies (many with 3-4-5 family members) to DLR, putting them up at Disney hotels, and giving them free meals, booze and LOADS of swag ...

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 Few questions. Do you know if they've even started vertical construction of Avatarland and do you know of any information about nighttime entertainment for Shanghai Disneyland? Will they have a daytime and a nighttime parade?

No on Avatar. Not yet. They haven't even fully preped the site.

SDL will have day and night spectaculars, but I don't believe either will be a traditional parade. I should ask about that!