Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
I think Dopey just looks odd because of the Gems over his eyes.
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7DMT Animatronics
- Thread starter Magic Feather
- Start date
The Duck
Well-Known Member
I'm pleased with the overall effects of the Dwarves (assuming one or more faces don't go out for an extended period of time.).
As far as the complaints about limited animation are concerned, we should remember that limited animation of the figures is probably all that was needed in this case. We're only going to see them for about 30 seconds of ride time so it's not really important if Sleepy can break dance or Doc can juggle. We all know what overkill did to the Yeti so why risk it on a dwarf?
As far as the complaints about limited animation are concerned, we should remember that limited animation of the figures is probably all that was needed in this case. We're only going to see them for about 30 seconds of ride time so it's not really important if Sleepy can break dance or Doc can juggle. We all know what overkill did to the Yeti so why risk it on a dwarf?
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Don't have to. They're good, but not OMG stunning amazing superb best ever.
Tadifer
Member
I've been on this board for 9 years...a lurker, if you will. Negativity is kinda the norm, unfortunately. TDO will literally not be seen as doing anything right until they have 10 gates, with 5000 E-ticket attractions. There are those of us who love the Disney brand and trust them whole-heartedly...then there are those whose views are so skewed by this "ideal" of what they think the brand should be.
Plain and simple, the parks are for children. No, not everything we remember from our childhood is as exceptional as it is today. The castle looks a lot smaller than what you remember and you notice silly things, like a ventilation system in Under the Sea. But honestly, if you're a 5 year-old (which, if I may remind you, is the audience they're going for) will you notice any of that? No. Because all children about is meeting Mickey and running around a magical place that they will remember forever.
Sometimes we all have to take a step back and put ourselves back into reality.
Plain and simple, the parks are for children. No, not everything we remember from our childhood is as exceptional as it is today. The castle looks a lot smaller than what you remember and you notice silly things, like a ventilation system in Under the Sea. But honestly, if you're a 5 year-old (which, if I may remind you, is the audience they're going for) will you notice any of that? No. Because all children about is meeting Mickey and running around a magical place that they will remember forever.
Sometimes we all have to take a step back and put ourselves back into reality.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
Those tickets to get into the part are awfully expensive when you consider the average income of their "target audience". It USED to be that they didn't aim exclusively for children - that was part of their M.O., and they still managed to score high marks despite the intelligence of their audience. On occasion they still do. When they do, it serves to remind us of what they're capable of, and further emphasizes the idea that much of their current product is knowingly sub-par.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
"Your dead if you aim only for kids."
Hate's a strong word but their track record of the past 15 years doesn't help.
Sassagoula-Rvr
Well-Known Member
This post is amazing. And spot on...
If people have an issue with maintenance, or customer service...fine...but to claim that COP has better AA's...give me a break.
LithiumBill
Well-Known Member
You have seen 20 seconds of 3 figures... And are complaining that they are not articulated enough.
With your rationale, I would like to point out that Ursula cannot get up and swim away from her [position, so that means her range of motion is limited, and she is not a perfect facsimile of an octopus with a woman's torso.
Chill out with your criticism. They are Dwarfs, in a mine, that you are going to pass buy in 20 seconds worth of time, they have to stand kinda in the same spot.
LithiumBill
Well-Known Member
When you buy a computer, do you ask the sales person when it's going to crash? Why not get it out of the box and use it, before worrying what happens if it might break?
Just a thought, but that preview video was obviously designed to "whet the whistle" and not give a total view of what we will see. It's possible that we are only seeing a few of the Dwarves' isolated movements, and not the full programmed show scene. The animators were quite obviously working on the articulation of the figures in that video, so perhaps there is more.
Regardless of whether we are seeing the whole program or not, they still look good. However, a close look at the video and the way those "repetitive" movements are reacting makes it pretty clear that they are true AA's and that they are probably capable of more than we are seeing. It also looks like we could have been looking at the animators programming a few seconds of the show rather than the whole thing.
This is NOT a prediction or a fake insider report. . . it's just a possibility that I'm throwing in the mix. I'd give it 50-50 odds because I wouldn't be surprised either way.
What do the rest of you think?
Regardless of whether we are seeing the whole program or not, they still look good. However, a close look at the video and the way those "repetitive" movements are reacting makes it pretty clear that they are true AA's and that they are probably capable of more than we are seeing. It also looks like we could have been looking at the animators programming a few seconds of the show rather than the whole thing.
This is NOT a prediction or a fake insider report. . . it's just a possibility that I'm throwing in the mix. I'd give it 50-50 odds because I wouldn't be surprised either way.
What do the rest of you think?
danlb_2000
Premium Member
How's is two people giving calm responses to you "getting up in arms"? If you don't want to hear opposing opinions, don't post your own.
spacemt354
Chili's
I don't think so.
The figures look nice, however given Disney's track record of advertising, if there was more to see, we would have seen it already. And in accordance with that, we would have expansive previews earlier.
Before Expedition Everest opened in 2006, Disney aired a documentary depicting how the attraction was made, and in particular, they explained in detail how impressive the Yeti was going to be. And in addition, the construction process of NFL phase one, was over-hyped to set expectations higher than they should have been set.
I think why everyone here is pleasantly surprised with the figures is that expectations were set very low. If we had listened to Lou Mongello and his proposal that 7DMT was an E+ ticket, and if we listened to Disney PR over-hype the attraction to the point where we would have expected something groundbreaking, I don't think you would see the same enthusiasm from the video as you have seen on this thread.
It's because expectations were so low that this looks "impressive." Personally, with Disney's track record over the last 15 years, I wouldn't have been surprised if the dwarfs were cardboard cutouts. That's truly where my expectations were at. So expecting cardboard cutouts, compared to what we got from the video? I'm impressed.
But let's not push our luck. If there was more to see, we would have seen it already.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
You're really missing the point when it comes to figure movement.You have seen 20 seconds of 3 figures... And are complaining that they are not articulated enough.
With your rationale, I would like to point out that Ursula cannot get up and swim away from her [position, so that means her range of motion is limited, and she is not a perfect facsimile of an octopus with a woman's torso.
Chill out with your criticism. They are Dwarfs, in a mine, that you are going to pass buy in 20 seconds worth of time, they have to stand kinda in the same spot.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
Spoken as someone who has no idea what running a theme park where tens of thousands of people daily show up, many on "once in a lifetime" trips, is like. Future maintenance/durability is one of the most important things, period. In fact, not a single thing is installed in the parks without this being a significant part of the thought-process. It's not always ceded to completely, but ongoing maintenance and reliability are significant parts of any attraction and it's essential show elements.
Someone with current operations experience can correct me if I am wrong, but I'm rather sure that those faces (every one of them) would be deemed important enough effects to initiate a 101 to fix. Even if not, that's a terrible comparison regardless. In Blue Sky phases? Sure, sky is hopefully the limit. But when it comes to the time stuff is installed in an attraction? That's a consideration as far back as selecting what materials to use and as recent as how many turns is optimal tightness for a screw on the base of the AA as they were installing it. It's always part of the equation.
That said, we won't know until they are in action - they could work rather flawlessly, or they could be so bad we end up replacing the "Yeti Watch" with the "Dwarf Glitch Watch".
And, no joking, being how Disney tends to be these days - from one perspective, one could feel it positive if they have learned to be a bit more proactive in anticipating downtime replacements - but then again one could also feel they are proactively reacting to the anticipated mediocre quality - but in any case, I'm willing to bet there are either a) stationary heads they can totally switch out, or b) some sort of "mask" that can be stuck over the faces so it's not a white space with a nose. They really seem to be the most "show stopping" show effect so far.
Since SWSA was my favorite ride, I've taken this all in stride, so far - because we had this attraction coming (and coming and coming and coming LOL). I do like how it looks in the land, I like the water effects (and pray they stay on and functioning), it looks like a nice little family coaster. But while I have tempered my expectations over the YEARS this has been in progress based on sage advice on these boards, I do find this...disappointing.
I'll reserve final judgement until I see them in person - I'm shocked that WDI released that video, actually - without at least compensating for the flicker inherent with the frame rate of video - because it doesn't look pretty like that. It does give me pause that they let that video out. So the quality of the effect really can't be judged until it's in person.
What I can say, is that I just have a gut "please no video screen - it's an AA!" reaction, but I recognize that's what it is, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I also haven't been a great fan of the similar things they have done - the mist screen in PotC is fun (wish the head was 3-D floating, though), but I think Buzz is pretty cheesy looking (like an High-End Chuck-E-Cheese) but I'm willing to believe a darker environment and being much newer they may be better. I'm not a huge fan of the new bride effects in HM - they are perfectly fine, but I hate being able to see the lack of definition in the dummy at certain angles - hopefully in a more 2-D form here it won't be as distracting. I'm just not a huge FAN of digitally augmenting AA's with video screens.
TL;DR? = Snow White better have a face.
My other (prepared for) disappointment is, of course, what it seems like is a lack of a Witch AA. I kept hoping for a surprise - still am, but I don't think there is even a rumor at this point - but I do hold out hope that at some point they do a "nighttime" version or for Halloween parties, something, and get the witch in there. I know that's extremely unlikely but I just miss her so much, LOL. At least she is still in CA - but I don't get there often and I think she belongs in every Fantasyland, one way or another.