7DMT Animatronics

[WildcatDen]

But be aware there are thousands of people on this site, and someone is bound to disagree with you. It's just something I've become aware of after experience on the forum.

Oh I know. I have been a participant for far longer than you according to our 'Joined" dates. It is all good. In the now 8 years I have been 'joined', I have been to WDW 3 times. Yes, 3 times in 8 years. So, have things changed in the 8 years Yup. Some for the better some for the worse (prices for instance). Has my enjoyment changed? No, not really. We have been able to see the parks through our kids 6 year old eyes, 9 year old eyes, 12 year old eyes, 15 year old eyes and 18 year old eyes. Their smiles and tears tell me all I need to know that my decision to spend my vacations with the Mouse was the right one.

 

[LithiumBill]

Oh I know. I have been a participant for far longer than you according to our 'Joined" dates. It is all good. In the now 8 years I have been 'joined', I have been to WDW 3 times. Yes, 3 times in 8 years. So, have things changed in the 8 years Yup. Some for the better some for the worse (prices for instance). Has my enjoyment changed? No, not really. We have been able to see the parks through our kids 6 year old eyes, 9 year old eyes, 12 year old eyes, 15 year old eyes and 18 year old eyes. Their smiles and tears tell me all I need to know that my decision to spend my vacations with the Mouse was the right one.

^^^^DING DING DING! We have a winner!

 

[flynnibus]

Or an uphill climb. Flynn - Do you see this as something they cannot recover from? Death Valley has an ominous sound to it.

depends on what you are referring to.

But just like an addict... the first step is admitting you have a problem. I don't think Disney thinks they have a problem.

 

[lazyboy97o]

ME: It's sunny and a beautiful day outside.
YOU: April Showers, it rained all month, today is just a micro success.

That might be similar if somebody was controlling the weather.

 

[WildcatDen]

That might be similar if somebody was controlling the weather.

Cristov

(Kristoff?)

 

[LithiumBill]

That might be similar if somebody was controlling the weather.

What? Al Gore isn't?

 

[spacemt354]

So, have things changed in the 8 years Yup. Some for the better some for the worse (prices for instance). Has my enjoyment changed? No, not really. We have been able to see the parks through our kids 6 year old eyes, 9 year old eyes, 12 year old eyes, 15 year old eyes and 18 year old eyes. Their smiles and tears tell me all I need to know that my decision to spend my vacations with the Mouse was the right one.

I'm in agreement here. 100% in fact. But if others don't feel the same, trying to argue your point will not do anything other than add unnecessary pages to the thread.

With all that experience, I was surprised and confused why you hadn't realized that yet.

 

[Cesar R M]

I'm in agreement here. 100% in fact. But if others don't feel the same, trying to argue your point will not do anything other than add unnecessary pages to the thread.

With all that experience, I was surprised and confused why you hadn't realized that yet.

I think the divergence is.. while a lot of people have had PERFECT vacations at WDW, (despite the flaws of WDW or the lack of flaws.).
Others have also had MISERABLE experiences due of certain things (like some people who had nightmares thanks to mymagic+ and magicbands not working).
And others have had MIXED experiences (some failures, crowds.. problems.. but overall ok)

Noone should take THEIR experience as the "unique" and push it as the "undeniable ultimate fact"... because they're not.. íd say thousands of thousands visit WDW everyyear...
To resume... The sum of all experiences is the important data to know if we're debate and talk about the health of the parks.
not just sole individual opinions.

 

[raymusiccity]

What? Al Gore isn't?

We're headed to a record low tonight of 28 here in Nashville, and Al is no where to be seen!

(I think I see a similarity to Dopey looking through those gems!)

We won't be visiting the Magic Kingdom 'till October, and the kids are really looking forward to this new coaster and a trip through the mine

We think the dwarfs will look awesome to all the children tall enough to ride. 38" ?

 

[LithiumBill]

I think the divergence is.. while a lot of people have had PERFECT vacations at WDW, (despite the flaws of WDW or the lack of flaws.).
Others have also had MISERABLE experiences due of certain things (like some people who had nightmares thanks to mymagic+ and magicbands not working).
And others have had MIXED experiences (some failures, crowds.. problems.. but overall ok)

Noone should take THEIR experience as the "unique" and push it as the "undeniable ultimate fact"... because they're not.. íd say thousands of thousands visit WDW everyyear...
To resume... The sum of all experiences is the important data to know if we're debate and talk about the health of the parks.
not just sole individual opinions.

Fact is, we here are the 1%. Everyone else visiting does not see or notice any issues. There is not a group of people outside Expedition Everest complaining about the Yeti. (hence why we get so mad, we KNOW what it supposed to be like).

People go, have a great time (or not, we've all heard or had the bad times), go home, look at the pictures, and come back in a few years.

 

[twebber55]

Fact is, we here are the 1%. Everyone else visiting does not see or notice any issues. There is not a group of people outside Expedition Everest complaining about the Yeti. (hence why we get so mad, we KNOW what it supposed to be like).

People go, have a great time (or not, we've all heard or had the bad times), go home, look at the pictures, and com back in a few years.

agree
I just don't see people complaining about stuff like the HVAC system on FOTLK being visible from Everest...is it a problem for the 1 per centers here sure but not for most

 

[Bairstow]

VERY interesting.
We saw what we assumed to be the Mine Train animatronics at central shops last September, but they definitely were not. The figures we saw were much more straightforward, with traditional molded/painted faces and upright poses. Perhaps they were the old set.

Anyway, they were all on pallets with celephane and paper dust covers on them. Perhaps they were being shipped out instead of in.

 

[GoofGoof]

VERY interesting.
We saw what we assumed to be the Mine Train animatronics at central shops last September, but they definitely were not. The figures we saw were much more straightforward, with traditional molded/painted faces and upright poses. Perhaps they were the old set.

Anyway, they were all on pallets with celephane and paper dust covers on them. Perhaps they were being shipped out instead of in.

I think the plans changed at some point during construction. I posted this portion of an article in the beginning of the thread. Your experience seems to line up with the story about scrapping the original designs and going back to the drawing board.

"At Walt Disney Imagineering, it's not just about living up to the Disney standards; it's about setting a new standard", said Walt Disney Imagineer Ethan Reed, the project's Animation Creative Director. "At one point early on, we had some basic Audio-Animatronics figures that we had sketched up, but during a review with Bruce Vaughn, our Chief Executive at Imagineering, he challenged us to see what we could come up with to make these figures unique. We knew we wanted them to have the charm and appeal of the classic characters from the 1937 film, but we needed them brought to life with 21st century technology and imagination."

Emboldened by that challenge, the team dreamed up a groundbreaking new design that would blend hand-drawn, computer and Audio-Animatronic animation, and then partnered with Walt Disney Animation Studios to help materialize their vision.

"This is a complete integration of animation media into a dimensional figure, and it's like nothing you've seen," said Walt Disney Animation Studios Special Projects Producer/Creative Director Dave Bossert. "I'm fortunate to be part of a really cool team of people from a variety of disciplines here at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and working on projects like these with equally talented Imagineers whose disciplines are just as diverse creates a perfect storm of creativity. All of these disciplines, from animation to lighting to sculpting and engineering, come together in these new figures in a way that appears stunningly seamless. When you look at the Dwarfs in the attraction, you won't know what you are looking at. They're just alive, and it's jaw dropping."

The article goes on to mention how Dave Bossert's special projects team recently supported work on World of Color at DCA.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Fact is, we here are the 1%. Everyone else visiting does not see or notice any issues. There is not a group of people outside Expedition Everest complaining about the Yeti. (hence why we get so mad, we KNOW what it supposed to be like).

So? That is not the philosophy of the Disney Difference.

 

[LithiumBill]

So? That is not the philosophy of the Disney Difference.

To us, yes. To the 99% they are living in the Disney Difference, they do not see the flaws or errors. It does not effect them.

 

[lazyboy97o]

To us, yes. To the 99% they are living in the Disney Difference, they do not see the flaws or errors. It does not effect them.

No, that is a "good enough" mentality.

 

[RandySavage]

Will jump into to say that the parks equal the sum of a myriad of past and ongoing design and operational choices - some of these move our 'needle' in the direction of "this place is awesome!" and some move the needle away. Consciously or subconsciously these things get registered by everyone - not just the enthusiasts here - and end up compelling each person to become invested, to pony up the money to return or to not (apathy or outright disdain). An average visitor doesn't analyze the design and operational choices like we do, but they are affected by them just the same.

In this specific case (SDMT), the more I see, including these animatronics, my needle is definitely on the good side.

 

[Figment2005]

No, that is a "good enough" mentality.

The "good enough" mentality is not present with those that don't know what used to be, or think they know what should be. The "good enough" mentality is something that is applied to someone on these boards that enjoys the parks without pointing out all the flaws. So the 1% could have the "good enough" mentality, but not the other 99% as they have no comparison.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

So back to the animitronics, there has only been three faces that have been revealed, correct? And the characters in the cottage will or will not have movement?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

So back to the animitronics, there has only been three faces that have been revealed, correct? And the characters in the cottage will or will not have movement?

There were four faces revealed, all of which I think are safe to say were from the mine (not the cottage). We've seen (in order from the video) Dopey, Grumpy, and what appears to be Sneezy and Bashful (going by their artwork this appears to be the only characters they match up to).

We haven't seen anything about the cottage figures. I actually wonder if they'll opt to not use projections for their faces. Projection effects need a dark environment to work at their best (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've ever tried to watch a projected video in a well lit environment). While the inside of the mine would logically be pretty dark and easy to control the lighting, the cottage is going to be exposed to the outside daylight much more than the mine scene. This could actually potentially mess up the effect of facial projections.

I'll mention that if they do go with projection effects for the cottage faces, it will be interesting to see what comes of Snow White's figure. Her facial features are massively different from the dwarfs on a fundamental design level. The dwarfs have very cartoony exaggerated noses, cheeks, mouths etc. Snow White however is designed far more realistically, she basically looks like an actual normal human being and would logically call for a more realistic face.