A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[hopemax]

In other news - The list of cancellations at ABC

Did anyone else notice that ABC was cancelling long running highly rated shows like Castle (which by the way bring in the highest ad rates) and keeping the low budget crap, And bringing on stuff like 'Battlebots' which are cheap to produce (note I LIKE Battlebots but that does not change the fact that it only costs a couple hundred thousand per episode).

Yeah Disney keeps spending like a healthy company NOT!, Keep telling us that but the actions across all lines of business don't mirror that fact and the 'lack of' cash on hand tells another story.

Look, I know you don't believe Stana is leaving for reasons other than budgetary reasons, but I do. And once that happened, the better decision was to cancel the show than try to retool it without her. My husband, my Dad and I all reached the same conclusion that without Beckett, we just would stop watching the show. We can't be the only household that reached that conclusion. Battlebots is still just summer fare, and not taking a spot away from regular season shows.

 

[Mike S]

Imagination should be a clone of Mystic Manor, just replace characters

Intriguing....Mystic Manor style but with Dreamfinder and Figment? that's brilliant actually

It would be perfect but it's been pointed out before that it's impossible without doing some truly major work. The LPS system requires a flat floor and the current interior of Imagination has quite a few elevation changes.

 

[wdisney9000]

So it can be done just not consistently yet.

It has been done consistently....by better leadership in the past. Citing a few fixes that potc DESPERATELY needed is by no means any solid evidence of them "doing the right thing". The current WDW management will allow an attraction to reach a deplorable state as long as it can operate. Defending it on any level is absurd.

 

[Alejandro]

Intriguing....Mystic Manor style but with Dreamfinder and Figment? that's brilliant actually

It is simple, you really have the same two characters, old bearded guy with something mystical, sidekick lets it out of the box, we ride along as it gets contained.
Dunno, Figment lets out all the dreams that Dreamfinder had collected in the Dreamcatcher....

 

[AEfx]

I'm more interested in the recently overinflated ticket, resort, and food prices. Who's the imaginary demographic Disney is pursuing? A Disney vacation will soon be too expensive for an average upper-middle-class family, and wealthy people won't be impressed when they show up and their $800/night room is closer to a Courtyard Marriott than a Ritz.

Precisely.

The best hotels WDW runs are 3.5 star, at best. Their "club level" with "concierge service" is an utter joke - it's some snacks laid out and someone to call the same CRO number to make ressies that anyone else can. WDW simply does not offer the luxury experience that they are trying to price it into.

I know folks around these parts just have a hard time comprehending it, but a "theme park vacation" is actually rather low-brow to the upper crust to begin with - and when you get those types in there at those prices and they see how little luxury is available, it is only a matter of time before heavy discounts begin again once someone realizes that they are going after the wrong crowd.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It would be perfect but it's been pointed out before that it's impossible without doing some truly major work. The LPS system requires a flat floor and the current interior of Imagination has quite a few elevation changes.

I think it'd be easy enough to adapt without LPS. Just run it like a whimsical Haunted Mansion. You could even keep Figgie in lieu of the monkey.

 

[doctornick]

I think it'd be easy enough to adapt without LPS. Just run it like a whimsical Haunted Mansion. You could even keep Figgie in lieu of the monkey.

I think at least some of the impact of the ride would be lessened using a tracked vehicle. Though a lot of the quality show scenes could be replicated/modified and be great.

 

[yellowrocket]

It would be perfect but it's been pointed out before that it's impossible without doing some truly major work. The LPS system requires a flat floor and the current interior of Imagination has quite a few elevation changes.

It wouldn't *have* to use the trackless ride vehicles. Mystic doesn't necessarily use that ride system to its fullest possibilities.

 

[AEfx]

Did anyone else notice that ABC was cancelling long running highly rated shows like Castle (which by the way bring in the highest ad rates) and keeping the low budget crap,

That's really not a fair assessment. You said it yourself - "long running" - Castle is very expensive to produce at this point. Particularly after season 7, when most actors deals expire, a TV show's costs raise dramatically as the entire cast needs to be renegotiated with, as well as the producers, etc.

Castle had run its course. It was a consistent performer, but the ratings dropped big this year. Creatively, the show had just no steam left - for whatever reason, they were hell bent on keeping Kate and Castle apart, and the ever silly reasons for doing so really started to drag on viewers.

Severe cost increases + ratings dive = Cancelled Show. The backlash was universal over the attempt to do one more season without Kate, cancellation was the kindest thing to do for the show.

 

[PhotoDave219]

With the talk of the outdoor potty shenanigans in Shanghai and outdoor squat toilets in China in this thread perhaps "extra wiz" should be rephrased slightly

Sir, you need a proper cheesesteak. Its ordered Wiz Wit.

 

[Alejandro]

I think it'd be easy enough to adapt without LPS. Just run it like a whimsical Haunted Mansion. You could even keep Figgie in lieu of the monkey.

If they can re-theme Maelstrom with Frozen, keeping the same track, they can do Mystic Manor in Imagination! keeping the same track, just with better effects and a fun story, heck, just make the ride seats spin a little and that can do the trick.
LPS would be so much fun, but we don't need to go that far

 

[AEfx]

It wouldn't *have* to use the trackless ride vehicles. Mystic doesn't necessarily use that ride system to its fullest possibilities.

As far as I can tell, the trackless thing is a bit over-rated, at least as I see it implemented. It seems every attraction that has it has the obligatory "dance" sequence, and to be honest the open space required for trackless takes a lot visually away from the intimacy of a dark ride.

 

[Andrew C]

As far as I can tell, the trackless thing is a bit over-rated, at least as I see it implemented. It seems every attraction that has it has the obligatory "dance" sequence, and to be honest the open space required for trackless takes a lot visually away from the intimacy of a dark ride.

the trackless system on the ratatouille ride in DLP is pretty good...in my opinion at least.

 

[Haymarket2008]

I think it'd be easy enough to adapt without LPS. Just run it like a whimsical Haunted Mansion. You could even keep Figgie in lieu of the monkey.

When is this attraction finally going to get its' day? Or are the emotions of Inside Out giving it the shaft? Losing Figment (again) would give me major pause about where I'm spending my money. It seems like a no brainer fix.

 

[AEfx]

the trackless system on the ratatouille ride in DLP is pretty good...in my opinion at least.

It's funny, I almost singled that one out as the best that I have seen, thus far. The "sweeping" motions do help with the immersion a bit - though I think many of the same effects could be had from a track based ride, too.

I'm not against trackless, far from it - but it just seems to ridiculously expensive for whatever reason that I'd rather have a track based ride with the focus on the visuals, not the medium by which you are whisked past them.

 

[ford91exploder]

That's really not a fair assessment. You said it yourself - "long running" - Castle is very expensive to produce at this point. Particularly after season 7, when most actors deals expire, a TV show's costs raise dramatically as the entire cast needs to be renegotiated with, as well as the producers, etc.

Castle had run its course. It was a consistent performer, but the ratings dropped big this year. Creatively, the show had just no steam left - for whatever reason, they were hell bent on keeping Kate and Castle apart, and the ever silly reasons for doing so really started to drag on viewers.

Severe cost increases + ratings dive = Cancelled Show. The backlash was universal over the attempt to do one more season without Kate, cancellation was the kindest thing to do for the show.

It's the PATTERN across the entire TWDC enterprise, CUT, CUT, CUT and invest NOTHING yet buy back stock at rates far exceeding companies of similar capitalization. Yes Castle has probably run it's course, But Disney is not replacing cancelled shows with similar shows they are putting CHEAP replacements out there, I expect lots of cheap reality crap to flood ABC.

The point is they are not SPENDING like a healthy, successful enterprise

 

[gmajew]

It has been done consistently....by better leadership in the past. Citing a few fixes that potc DESPERATELY needed is by no means any solid evidence of them "doing the right thing". The current WDW management will allow an attraction to reach a deplorable state as long as it can operate. Defending it on any level is absurd.

Ugh I said it would be fixed with the correct leadership! I give up! Disney stinks... falling apart nothing good anywhere...

 

[ford91exploder]

So I'm going to take a wild guess at this and I don't expect any reply of affirmative or not, just throwing it out there.

Some of the Golden Oak residences are owned by wealthy middle-easterners with questionable ties....that's my guess

Yup

 

[AEfx]

It's the PATTERN across the entire TWDC enterprise, CUT, CUT, CUT and invest NOTHING yet buy back stock at rates far exceeding companies of similar capitalization. Yes Castle has probably run it's course, But Disney is not replacing cancelled shows with similar shows they are putting CHEAP replacements out there, I expect lots of cheap reality crap to flood ABC.

The point is they are not SPENDING like a healthy, successful enterprise

Oh, I hear you. Just look at the cancellation of Infinity - who's performance was due to Disney's over- and mis-management, not the quality of the product itself (and the quality that was impacted was because of corporate demands - being on every platform imaginable, etc).

As a viewer of Castle since day one, though - just had to speak up on that one because this was a blessing, honestly - the show would have crashed and burned had the planned Season 9 happened. It's just too bad they didn't keep the behind the scenes garbage out of the public eye since it was going to be cancelled anyway, because it's really stained the reputation of the show.

 

[wdisney9000]

Ugh I said it would be fixed with the correct leadership! .

That is completely stating the obvious. But You also said you see moments of them (CURRENT leadership) "doing the right thing". You cant claim both sides of the discussion.