As things have stabilized (to some degree) in the real world, I thought it was 'now or never' to begin what will likely be my last Spirited thread here (no, I am not leaving, just pulling back and putting priorities where they should be). I'll still be around from time to time and I won't forget my friends here.
I know that not having these threads will likely cause consternation from the halls of Glendale and Burbank to the office cubicles in Celebration Place to the Twitverse. But it's a new year and one thing I won't do is argue with people who never visited WDW when a giant cartoon hat wasn't plopped down like a giant piece of (blank) about the difference between theme and whoring a BRAND, or the difference between decoration and theme or the difference in real social media communication and TWDC's version of propaganda. Been there. Done that. No time to do so again.
So, let's start by saying this will be typical of the threads that have come before. While I have news about what has been going on from Beijing to Burbank, from Anaheim to Arendelle ... well, I'm going to place it here at my pace and after I get the OKs.
Since my time will be limited, it would help if folks didn't inundate me with questions like ''what's going to be in Star Wars Land and when can we expect it?''
BTW, the answer to that is 'some really kewl stuff IF the budgets don't get slashed (truly cutting edge stuff ... yes, from Disney ... shocking, right?!?!)' and 'I have no idea, but my best guess is 4-6 years from now.' Really.
I have had a habit, not intentional, of starting these threads after a major trip to the parks or a visit with friends in the business or both. I tend to pick up more info that way ... and they tend to be a logical jumping off point for what follows.
But there's a few items on my mind that don't fit and I'd rather drop them here first.
Like:
WDI lost a truly great man over the holidays when Pat Burke passed away. Most folks here have no clue who he was, but you've experienced some of his great work if you've visited the Disney parks, any of them around the globe. From his work on all FOUR Big Thunders worldwide (he was passionate about mining and it shows in the attention to detail) to Indy at DL (I think he also did Tokyo's too!) to Pirates at MK and TDL to MSUSA at HKDL to the American Waterfront area of TDS, Pat helped create amazing environments that truly transported guests in the best tradition of Imagineering. While he was someone I met casually, I can't claim to have known him, but I wish I had. When you read or hear folks like myself talking about the amazing loss of talent that Disney has suffered over the past 10-15 years it is easy to jump on the big names, the ones who created the concept of a 'Celebrity Imagineer' ... but people like Pat were just as important.
BTW, the Disney and More blog has some fantastic interviews and history about Pat's contributions to Disney parks.
WDW is now trying to woo the Floridians into the parks since the crazy holidays are over. Of course, the old three days for $99 is now three days for $139. Is that a deal? Sure ... if you haven't visited in quite a while.
Is it wrong for me, in my first post back, to make fun of my good pal @Lee who will likely not sleep tonight in anticipation over Marvel's Agent Carter's premiere tomorrow? If it is, I don't care.
OK, here's one for the UNI fanbois: after many meetings and behind the scenes machinations, it appears (again, appears) that cooler, saner heads have prevailed and Tom Williams and Co won't be taking the budget ax to future projects just because they didn't get another 30% bump from Diagon. Yes, I have more UNI news (from O-Town to Hollywood to China), but I do like to tease a bit, so I'll drop it as the discussion develops. But no, I still am not thrilled with the Kong screen-based attraction or the Jimmy Fallon/30 Rock screen-based Twister replacement. I do like (no, I love) some of what I am hearing about UNI projects that are not in O-Town!
Now, as I said, these threads usually are formed after I take a trip. And I did. It was last-minute (relatively speaking) and it didn't go as planned (a death and a serious illness/hospitalization in the family will do that). My SO ('Angie M') is a high-level German official and she had wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving. So, before all the chaos, we had planned for her to spend a week with myself and the Spirited family, followed by a week on the Disney Fantasy to get the cruise bug out of our systems (it, naturally, did the opposite!) and a week in O-Town (mostly at WDW but with UNI thrown in too).
So ... thanks for reading. And thanks for participating. And thanks to all of you who have been in touch during a very lousy holiday season. I don't forget things like that!
Now ... on with the show ...
I know that not having these threads will likely cause consternation from the halls of Glendale and Burbank to the office cubicles in Celebration Place to the Twitverse. But it's a new year and one thing I won't do is argue with people who never visited WDW when a giant cartoon hat wasn't plopped down like a giant piece of (blank) about the difference between theme and whoring a BRAND, or the difference between decoration and theme or the difference in real social media communication and TWDC's version of propaganda. Been there. Done that. No time to do so again.
So, let's start by saying this will be typical of the threads that have come before. While I have news about what has been going on from Beijing to Burbank, from Anaheim to Arendelle ... well, I'm going to place it here at my pace and after I get the OKs.
Since my time will be limited, it would help if folks didn't inundate me with questions like ''what's going to be in Star Wars Land and when can we expect it?''
BTW, the answer to that is 'some really kewl stuff IF the budgets don't get slashed (truly cutting edge stuff ... yes, from Disney ... shocking, right?!?!)' and 'I have no idea, but my best guess is 4-6 years from now.' Really.
I have had a habit, not intentional, of starting these threads after a major trip to the parks or a visit with friends in the business or both. I tend to pick up more info that way ... and they tend to be a logical jumping off point for what follows.
But there's a few items on my mind that don't fit and I'd rather drop them here first.
Like:
WDI lost a truly great man over the holidays when Pat Burke passed away. Most folks here have no clue who he was, but you've experienced some of his great work if you've visited the Disney parks, any of them around the globe. From his work on all FOUR Big Thunders worldwide (he was passionate about mining and it shows in the attention to detail) to Indy at DL (I think he also did Tokyo's too!) to Pirates at MK and TDL to MSUSA at HKDL to the American Waterfront area of TDS, Pat helped create amazing environments that truly transported guests in the best tradition of Imagineering. While he was someone I met casually, I can't claim to have known him, but I wish I had. When you read or hear folks like myself talking about the amazing loss of talent that Disney has suffered over the past 10-15 years it is easy to jump on the big names, the ones who created the concept of a 'Celebrity Imagineer' ... but people like Pat were just as important.
BTW, the Disney and More blog has some fantastic interviews and history about Pat's contributions to Disney parks.
WDW is now trying to woo the Floridians into the parks since the crazy holidays are over. Of course, the old three days for $99 is now three days for $139. Is that a deal? Sure ... if you haven't visited in quite a while.
Is it wrong for me, in my first post back, to make fun of my good pal @Lee who will likely not sleep tonight in anticipation over Marvel's Agent Carter's premiere tomorrow? If it is, I don't care.
OK, here's one for the UNI fanbois: after many meetings and behind the scenes machinations, it appears (again, appears) that cooler, saner heads have prevailed and Tom Williams and Co won't be taking the budget ax to future projects just because they didn't get another 30% bump from Diagon. Yes, I have more UNI news (from O-Town to Hollywood to China), but I do like to tease a bit, so I'll drop it as the discussion develops. But no, I still am not thrilled with the Kong screen-based attraction or the Jimmy Fallon/30 Rock screen-based Twister replacement. I do like (no, I love) some of what I am hearing about UNI projects that are not in O-Town!
Now, as I said, these threads usually are formed after I take a trip. And I did. It was last-minute (relatively speaking) and it didn't go as planned (a death and a serious illness/hospitalization in the family will do that). My SO ('Angie M') is a high-level German official and she had wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving. So, before all the chaos, we had planned for her to spend a week with myself and the Spirited family, followed by a week on the Disney Fantasy to get the cruise bug out of our systems (it, naturally, did the opposite!) and a week in O-Town (mostly at WDW but with UNI thrown in too).
So ... thanks for reading. And thanks for participating. And thanks to all of you who have been in touch during a very lousy holiday season. I don't forget things like that!
Now ... on with the show ...