News Tomorrowland love

[Kamikaze]

Not likely, he's stepping down as CEO but is staying with the company as Executive Chief of the BoD or some such title. And his split with DIS/management was acrimonious, I can't imagine he'd want to come back with things being arguably worse now than they were then. Although it could be *who* had problems with him, and if that person/those people are no longer with TWDC themselves...

What if I told you he's recently toured a Disney subsidiary (not parks related)?

 

[peter11435]

What if I told you he's recently toured a Disney subsidiary (not parks related)?

DCL?

He led DCL in the past and with Holz retirement it would make sense.

 

[ford91exploder]

For someone who pretends to know about business, you really don't.

Being on the board isn't a promotion. And it doesn't mean you can't actually work a job at another company. In effect, he's leaving Cedar Fair.

Lets take Disney's board:

Susan Arnold - Also on board at McDonald's. Retired.
John Chen - CEO of Blackberry. Also on board at Wells Fargo.
Jack Dorsey - Founder and CEO of Twitter and Square.
Iger - duh
Fred Langhammer - Chairman of Estee Lauder. Also on board of Shinsea Bank
Aylwin Lewis - Chairman, CEO, President of Potbelly Sandwich Works
Monica Lozano - CEO of ImpreMedia LLC
Robert Matschullat - PE investor. Also on Visa's board
Mark Parker - CEO, Nike
Sheryl Sandberg - COO, Facebook. Founder of Lean In
Orin Smith - Also on board at Nike. Retired. Chairman of Starbucks foundation, Vice Chair at U of Washington
Mary Barra - Chairman and CEO of General Motors

Perhaps you might want to read the announcement again, I'm well aware that being appointed to the BoD does not mean that you can't have another job but it generally cannot be in the same industry for conflict of interest reasons as well as the obvious competitive ones.

Did it ever occur to you that Matt might not WANT to be CEO anymore and will have more influence over the things he WANTS to do with the parks.

CEO these days is fending off Wall St and signing your life away on SOX statements.

 

[ford91exploder]

What if I told you he's recently toured a Disney subsidiary (not parks related)?

CEO's visit other companies in the same line of business or allied businesses all the time. Nothing to get excited about unless they also engage a white shoe law firm.

 

[Kamikaze]

Perhaps you might want to read the announcement again, I'm well aware that being appointed to the BoD does not mean that you can't have another job but it generally cannot be in the same industry for conflict of interest reasons as well as the obvious competitive ones.

Did it ever occur to you that Matt might not WANT to be CEO anymore and will have more influence over the things he WANTS to do with the parks.

CEO these days is fending off Wall St and signing your life away on SOX statements.

I never mentioned him being CEO...

You also completely changed your story. You originally called the move to the board a promotion.

CEO's visit other companies in the same line of business or allied businesses all the time. Nothing to get excited about unless they also engage a white shoe law firm.

This was neither.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

It seems not.

Management decisions besides, issues included

Broken or badly aligned lighting on what queue windows are left
Broken star projections on load ceiling
Omega launch tunnel had no audio after one day when it had absolutely no audio or lighting effects.
Omega lift hill had all its right hand show lighting broken. Unlit wall, fuel spheres and controller room.
Both control room windows were visibly filthy
Upper dome had no star effects
Lower dome had numerous broken static star effect projectors
Virtually no spot sound fx working on either track
Re entry tunnel sound effects are still both hopelessly out of sync
Music volume and balance is a joke. Mainly audiable after the main brake zone. Sounds better from the Peoplemover.
Exit speedramp music almost too quiet to hear

These aren't just spotted on the day; I rode numerous times over three weeks and there was no change aside from the aforementioned Omega ride with no launch tunnel lighting for one day.

Surely if I notice it so should those who are paid to have it fixed.

Dear gawd...

I am afraid to ask but extremely curious, what is the current diagnosis of the People Mover?

 

[JohnD]

That's probably more to do with the fact that Everest was built in the mid 2000's and Space was built in the mid 70's. I understand that Space needs a re-track but there is a huge difference in the way that coasters were designed between then and now.

I understand they are different types of coasters. SM is a midway type ride. I get it. Still it's a rattletrap.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I understand they are different types of coasters. SM is a midway type ride. I get it. Still it's a rattletrap.

I'd argue it's more than a midway type ride. Yes, it is a "mouse"-like coaster but it has a far better structure than what you'd see at your county fair (doesn't mean it doesn't need work - just means it's not standing on a temporary structure meant to be taken down over night).

MK Space Mountain:

Current, popular "Crazy Mouse" coaster traveling around at fairs:

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Crazy Mouse coaster just that there's two different structures for two different reasons.

 

[JohnD]

I'd argue it's more than a midway type ride. Yes, it is a "mouse"-like coaster but it has a far better structure than what you'd see at your county fair (doesn't mean it doesn't need work - just means it's not standing on a temporary structure meant to be taken down over night).

MK Space Mountain:

View attachment 239863
Current, popular "Crazy Mouse" coaster traveling around at fairs:
View attachment 239864

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Crazy Mouse coaster just that there's two different structures for two different reasons.

No coaster expert here. Just saying that SM probably needs a complete gut and re-build.

 

[HMF]

Not likely, he's stepping down as CEO but is staying with the company as Executive Chief of the BoD or some such title. And his split with DIS/management was acrimonious, I can't imagine he'd want to come back with things being arguably worse now than they were then. Although it could be *who* had problems with him, and if that person/those people are no longer with TWDC themselves...

If you are talking about Jay Rasulo. I believe he left after his billion dollar pet-project didn't perform up to expectations. Not that his successor is likely to bring Ouimet back.

 

[trainplane3]

Hmmm... Clean and well-run parks, friendly staff... It sounds like Disneyland around it's 50th! Who has been running Cedar Fair for the past 6 years, Matt Ouimet??? Oh wait, HE HAS. Good thing Disney kicked him to the curb, imagine all the money he'd have cost them with his crazy ideas around maintenance and cleanliness...

Reading all of these comments about the state of Space Mountain is like someone repeatedly punching me in the stomach. It sickens me to see how far the ODT has let this once-stellar ride deteriorate, under the guide of "cost containment". I sincerely hope that SM gets the TLC that it needs... no, it REQUIRES... before it reaches a point of no return (feel free to interpret that as you wish, it's deliberately non-specific).

In all seriousness, I cannot properly verbalize my level of disgust with anyone involved with the maintenance issues around Space Mountain right now.

Ouimet is stepping down this year but his replacement said they've worked so closely together over the past couple years that there should be no noticeable difference.

On topic of Ouimet though, I give him lots of credit for taking the CF parks and making them nice places to be. If you go back to 2010, Cedar Point was the place where if you didn't like coasters then you would be pretty bored (Sure, several flat rides but it wasn't super nice to hang out at). Oh, and it was pretty messy too. Fast forward to now, the Camp Snoopy/Gemini area is now a nice area to hang out. All of the park entrances are now very nice with a "beachy" feel and don't feel like a after thought. The entire Breakers resort is excellent now. Sure you can stay cheaper off the peninsula but the hotel feels much more worth it now. They're building a new wing to replace the very much hated old wing. And just mentioned in a interview a week ago, they're extending the boardwalk so you can walk the ENTIRE beach now. Oh and of course they added a couple major coasters in those years, but for a change they felt like background noise and the overall image of the park was the main focus. For being at/near capacity this past weekend, I was surprised by the lack of trash.

I never knew Ouimet was at Disney. I think the guy could do great things in WDW but that would require everyone agreeing to spend a little extra to better everyones day. The maintenance teams at the CF parks have always been really good. Example: Instead of shutting down Top Thrill Dragster for the rest of the season after its catch-car overran and destroyed several brakes and itself, they could've closed it down. But no, they worked hard and got it open for the final 2 weekends of this season. That's serious dedication.

Funny you should mention it. I have 2 former students working at the Point (one one Valravn, and the crew lead on Raptor) and they've both had incredibly positive things to say about the leadership up there.

I'm glad to hear that. I know those kids can't be getting paid much to be there on very nice 70F, clear sky fall nights, but they seemed to love their job. I hope they demo those crappy dorms and replace them with something nicer.

 

[Brad Bishop]

No coaster expert here. Just saying that SM probably needs a complete gut and re-build.

Oh, I'm not arguing with that. They should have done that as part of the 2009 refurb.. Instead they saved money and now we have the current mess.

My only argument was that the inside structure wasn't as "flimsy" as a traveling carnival structure. That's all. I don't think the carnival structures are necessarily bad, just that they're built for a different thing / different lifespan.

 

[Master Yoda]

I'd argue it's more than a midway type ride. Yes, it is a "mouse"-like coaster but it has a far better structure than what you'd see at your county fair (doesn't mean it doesn't need work - just means it's not standing on a temporary structure meant to be taken down over night).

MK Space Mountain:

View attachment 239863
Current, popular "Crazy Mouse" coaster traveling around at fairs:
View attachment 239864

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Crazy Mouse coaster just that there's two different structures for two different reasons.

I would argue that when they were designed had good deal to do with it. Engineering back in the 70's was much more of a brute force endeavor. Calculations that would take a day to do then can now be done in the blink of an eye which allows designs to be much more efficient.

 

[marni1971]

I would argue that when they were designed had good deal to do with it. Engineering back in the 70's was much more of a brute force endeavor. Calculations that would take a day to do then can now be done in the blink of an eye which allows designs to be much more efficient.

The most complex calculations were done with a slide rule. Apart from that it was paper and pencil. They almost got it all right.

 

[Master Yoda]

The most complex calculations were done with a slide rule. Apart from that it was paper and pencil. They almost got it all right.

Watching a talented engineer from that era work is a sight to behold.

Check out the movie Hidden Figures if you get a chance. The stuff they did in their heads and with a slide rule would cause the average human's brain to melt.

 

[alphac2005]

View attachment 239728
The top section is the mess.

Just like we talked about down there, it was definitely a lubricant oozing from down the building. Truly some of the worst show quality that I've personally seen there and considering the building just had a wonderful paint job, it says plenty about the state of affairs.

 

[Absimilliard]

Watching a talented engineer from that era work is a sight to behold.

Check out the movie Hidden Figures if you get a chance. The stuff they did in their heads and with a slide rule would cause the average human's brain to melt.

It reminds me of something I read about the Boeing 747 airplane. That unique shape was done with slide rulers and its very pleasant to see to the eyes. Meanwhile, the Airbus 380 was done by computers and its ugly and has no pleasant lines or forms.

 

[JoeCamel]

It reminds me of something I read about the Boeing 747 airplane. That unique shape was done with slide rulers and its very pleasant to see to the eyes. Meanwhile, the Airbus 380 was done by computers and its ugly and has no pleasant lines or forms.

Could be the difference between 60's aeronautic design and 2000's design. The second deck hump was a revolution but not really practical in today's world so they have the complete up and down to avoid changes in exterior skin. Manufacturing techniques have advanced as well. I don't think aesthetics really played into either.

 

[bclane]

It reminds me of something I read about the Boeing 747 airplane. That unique shape was done with slide rulers and its very pleasant to see to the eyes. Meanwhile, the Airbus 380 was done by computers and its ugly and has no pleasant lines or forms.

The 747 is such a freaking awesome plane. I remember how I felt the first time I flew on one and how blown away I was by the sheer size of it. I also remember that the flight crew seemed to take a lot of pride in their jobs and the fact that they got to work on a jumbo jet. Flying was a much different experience back in the day...

 

[EricsBiscuit]

The most complex calculations were done with a slide rule. Apart from that it was paper and pencil. They almost got it all right.

If they ever rebuild SM's track (doubtful they'll let it rot and replace it), would you support them changing the layout?