A Spirited Perfect Ten

[AEfx]

...but I find that a lot of my peers have been convinced that our generation is horrible, and this generation seems to be incredibly self-deprecating.

This reminds me of something that was on Bill Maher a few months back.

Bill Nye and his crazy was in full display, where he made the "point" that - "Hey, there is this thing called Millenial Anger, where they are very upset with our generation because we didn't solve climate change" - to which Fran Lebowitz said, "I would say to them - Stop taking pictures of your food, and you do something about it."

Honestly, it's a good thing if folks are waking up to the real world. It's gotta happen or we are doomed. Sure, there is always "Get off my lawn" stuff around, but it's the cumulative effect - for example, when we were kids, strollers were only used for toddlers who could not walk yet at WDW. No one who didn't have a disability was in a stroller once they hit 4. Now, we see 8 year-olds in them pretty regularly. That in particular is a very good example of the mindset that unfortunately the indulgent parenting trend has created.

When having these broad discussions, of course it isn't the story of everyone - but each generation does generally end up telling a common story overall, and I'm actually relieved to hear you say that folks that age are aware of it - it may not be pleasant - but that's the whole point - much of life is not pleasant, but we have raised a generation to believe that pain and adversity are things you can just magically make go away, and we simply haven't provided them with the life skills to cope with them.

In any case, it's not you guys that are on trial - LOL - it's your parents.

 

[Progress.City]

Just saw a headline in the news about Comcast eying a T-Moble takeover. Has this been talked about?

 

[AEfx]

But some people aren't into animals. I don't think I could be friends with someone who couldn't appreciate them. Some people can't grasp why a close friend and I spent 30-40 minutes just watching the baby gorillas when we could have been riding something crappy like PotC or TSMM or Tron Track instead. No matter how great DAK becomes there will always be a significant number of people who are like ''I don't want to go a Disney zoo.''

I think you may be assigning that argument too broadly.

I love seeing animals - but the truth is, AK is a terrible place to see them.

The place is gorgeous, yes. But the animal viewing is so limited that even in such lush surroundings, they can't even hold a lighter up to the floodlight of what a real zoo can do. There are quite a few regional zoos in the US that offer far, far better animal observation experiences that people are able to visit much more cheaply and conveniently than WDW.

Even the safari (a very uneven experience) where most of the animals (can be) on display (though often it's - "If you squint really hard you can see the top of a lion head on that rock over there"). You can't spend 30-40 minutes there because Disney has to keep trucks churning past.

That's AK's issue - 1/3 theme park, 1/3 zoo - but it doesn't do either of them justice. Nahtazoo! was right.

Maybe if you stay at AKL or take backstage tours that's different, but to general park guests - there really isn't a great deal of animals to view at AK. Before someone makes a list of every last beetle, go and pull a website up about a real zoo first and make one for how many animal exhibits they have to compare.

 

[Cesar R M]

80% of statistics are made up on the spot

 

[Cesar R M]

Just got some news from a relative who works at Bioware Austin about the Star Wars MMO's they develop. Apparently Disney is getting involved in where the game is headed and are taking a much bigger look at what that game can possibly do for them in terms of long term money making potential. Lucas, while not one to give people free reign was not as aggressive as Disney is being now. Some are speculating about the importance of the SW license being put to good use and providing customer value in the wake of the new films being released and Disney wants to maximize profits.

didnt they announced disney infinity 3 with star wars?

 

[Cesar R M]

No. The point was not that the article was gone from the HuffPo. The point was that according to WDW1974, Willow Bay in a conspiracy with Bob Iger had the article removed from the HuffPo.
Yet, now according to WDW74:

The Spirit is an intelligent person and knows the meaning of the word conspiracy. He directly alleged that Bob Iger and Willow Bay conspired to have the Gary Snyder article removed from the HuffPo. It's a direct manipulation of the facts to suit his story.

still, the article was removed from huffpro and mirrored elsewhere.
Willow Bay seems to be related to huffpro, not with other mirrors.

That's the spirit.

It seems many on here believe that if someone questions you, disagrees with you, or has a different opionion than you the appropriate response is to call them names, make accusations about them, and then ignore them. Sounds extremely mature.

Peter, we know you have a gigantic vendetta-personal issue with @WDW1974 .
Its not like you're trying to hide it.
Infact, your posts just proves him right.

 

[Cesar R M]

No matter how well Zootopia does at the box office...I really hope it doesn't throw itself up all over DAK.

Nah-ta-Zu-topia

You fear a huge furry invasion?
The foam heads aren't enough? lol

 

[Cesar R M]

I think what is being alluded to is the ridicule and contempt constantly hurled at Iger and the Board....it's a little much. Reminds me of the hate Eisner got towards the end...only much more vocal and bitter. I agree there are fair criticisms. Some I personally find more sensible than others. The snide comments and sarcastic tone is a bit much at times and does beg the question posed: If you feel so strongly, why continue to support the parks/company/brand? That said I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts, and refuse to put anyone on ignore.

Well imagine this..
Imagine that WDW is a puppy in the neighbourhood, an adorable thing that everyone loves to see and visit.
Then suddenly, a change of owner... the new owner suddenly decides to give the cheapest food possible for the cute dog, and he stars to grow crooked and loses its cuteness... hell, he starts to get ill despite everyone visiting him trying to get him better.
Then.. to make the puppy popular again, the owner decides to PAINT THE DOG instead of giving him better food.. causing him get worse state wise.. but attracting more but different types of people thanks to the bad paint thing.

Would you blame the puppy or the owner?

 

[hopemax]

i think the gorilla habitat is top notch..i have never seen a baby gorilla being nurtured by its parents before in a zoo...

I grew up in Washington, and Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, in 1978, was the first zoo to build an "immersion style" habitat, and it was for the Gorillas. So I grew up never knowing that Gorilla zoo habitats didn't normally look like that. So when my husband and I went to AK, we were almost a little...so, what's the big deal? Disney's was better, since it was newer, but the whole, "just on the other side of the window, is Daddy, mommies, aunties and babies!!!!" part.

 

[AEfx]

i think the gorilla habitat is top notch..i have never seen a baby gorilla being nurtured by its parents before in a zoo...

riding along on the safari, sure its hit or miss but the last time i rode got to see a few lions perched on the rocks almost as if they were in a natural habitat..

and the hippos..well, dont get me started with their antics

You have to remember, though, that guests don't get to ride and reride that Safari to finally see stuff.

In any case - you missed the end of my post. As I said, before folks start making lists - check out what a real zoo has. These are just a sampling, there are many regional zoos within a day's drive of most of America - and they offer far more diverse and far more detailed looks at animals. It's especially sobering when you realize how little of AK is really dedicated to viewing live animals.

So while yes, there are a couple of decent experiences - they simply can't hold a candle to a real zoo, and that's why AK failed to bring a new audience to Orlando. Not only was the park marketed in an extremely confusing way (you are showing a zoo, with some rides, and calling it "NAHTAZOO?"), it simply wasn't what anyone asked for or the public had a great need for.

We need great theme parks built, because there are so few of them - but zoo's? There are plenty of them, all across the country. It doesn't matter how gussied up the pathways and such are - AK is a very empty place when compared to experiences that most people could take a day or weekend trip to see far more inexpensively.

BRONX ZOO

SAN DIEGO ZOO

CINCINNATI ZOO

FT WORTH, TX ZOO

 

[Cesar R M]

What I see isn't a lack of work ethic. What I see is a lack of knocking yourself out just to be fired regularly because of corporate downsizing/restructuring. No raises for 8 years while the boss is floating around The Med. on the corporate yacht. What I see is CEOs making BILLIONS on the backs of close to homeless folks. And people like you saying it's the poor peoples fault.

Well, actually it is because they haven't stood up and said "ENOUGH!".

but then people will whine and claim "They are trying to take my well earned wealth!" or worse.. the overused "They are trying to redistribute the wealth".
I'm surprised noone mentions certain companies that pay zero taxes, gets millions by doing illegal things and then bail before companies go downhill (Enron..etc..)

Being unemployed in this job market is a red flag-better to focus on those who have jobs.

Before you flame me there are no absolutes and everyone is different, but odds are if you don't have a job right now, there's a reason

Reason as in 50,000 new workforces added from schools/universities countered by only 10 companies hiring and 5,000 laying out to "reduce costs"?
You are trying to oversimplify something by putting all the blame on the "workers".

Its like those guys who had it easy finding jobs in the 70's (where work offers were plenty) blasting the kids nowadays, that not only have to compete with many local workers for limited spots with less benefits.. but also having to fight with an international workforce brought by "globalization"... and claiming "they are lazy" for not finding a job..

The easiest way to do this because if you put the burden once business to improve the quality of life for their workers by paying them more means the price of the same goods will go up as much.

So the way to fix it is really get gov spending under control and lower tax rates so people have more money in their pockets. And not just income tax. Lowered sales tax lower everything. Only way this cycle does not repeat over and over again.

I partially Disagree.
When you have companies and super billonaires who do not do the "trickle down economics" (aka, they do not reinvest, they only put money in gambling style, aka wall street) The money just gets concentrated and never makes it to the pyramid.

The Taxes are a way to force these groups to push down the money and the government can "buy" services, expansions, building..etc.. forcing the trickle down economics to work.

Didnt the US had a tax rate of 90% on the rich at some point?
Didnt these rates fit the times where the US expanded most of its infrastructure, military and even huge projects like NASA?

 

[Cesar R M]

And sorry for replying in very old posts. I only had time until now to check the forum.
Kinda hard to follow when the threads churn 10+ pages per day.

 

[BrerJon]

So while yes, there are a couple of decent experiences - they simply can't hold a candle to a real zoo, and that's why AK failed to bring a new audience to Orlando. Not only was the park marketed in an extremely confusing way (you are showing a zoo, with some rides, and calling it "NAHTAZOO?"), it simply wasn't what anyone asked for or the public had a great need for.

Wasn't DAK simply an attempt to kneecap Busch Gardens and get those visitors taking a day out to head down to Tampa to stay on property instead? I seem to recall Busch was on a tear in the mid 90s, and Disney wanted to stop that.

It's a familiar tactic - MGM was an attempt to lessen the impact of Universal, and now we have Disney Springs being built to stop people leaving property for a shopping day.

 

[Nubs70]

Setting aside Mike Crawford's increasing restlessness when ''keeping his mouth shut'' over in Singapore about his experiences running Disney's side of the Shanghai operations until last summer ... there's a basic misunderstanding here likely predicated on a western perspective, which is understandable. The reason why the issue of graft is so sensitive for TWDC may well speak to the institutional nature of how we term 'part of doing business (in China)'.

You see the rebuilding going on as an example of Disney flexing its muscle and making sure the park is built to their high standards. There's another side to that, which you are not factoring in because it may not enter your thought process: rinse, lather, repeat.

The more times you build and rebuild, the more you can charge and there's nothing illegal about that, is there?

And the contractor doing the work? Disney has little, if any, actual say on it. The company that gets to do the rebuilding work? That's the company that got the contract to build it to begin with. And the person who was given the contract to do the demolition of the previously done work? It's a Party favor (not like a Pin the Tale on the Fanboi game).

You see, the rebuilding ... that's all part of the building. Just how it's done.

Disney failed to include performance guarantees?
And/or how is Disney doing to enforce performance guarantees in China?

 

[ParentsOf4]

Disney is apparently holding the [more than likely] state-owed LDI to enforce its much higher standards for construction quality. How is that not Disney winning a dispute with the state?

Yes, and it [more than likely] cost Disney $800M in "new attractions" to do it.

I'm not sure I would call that a win.

 

[Funmeister]

You fear a huge furry invasion?
The foam heads aren't enough? lol

I actually came across a "Furries" convention by chance....not by choice. It was interesting but not my cup 'o tea!

 

[gmajew]

Speaking of WDW's treatment of CMs. I remember very well when I was an hourly CM I had a one-time school conflict that came up several days before one of my scheduled shifts. I asked one of the managers about this, and whether I could be rescheduled -- she said, very dismissively, "Nope" and told me I'd have to take whatever penalty points would be assigned for not showing for my shift.

Now, I already knew the hourly-CM life wasn't going to be my future, but that exchange said volumes about how a lot of managers view the CMs -- disposable, interchangeable cogs in the machine. It did nothing to make me regret dropping from FT to Casual status.

It all worked out in the end. I wound up with a closetful of costumes that never got returned to Costuming.

I understand your frustration on this and I bend over backwards to help my staff cover things when they have things come up but I also install the belief and the culture that a shift is your responsibility. once it is assigned it is yours and you own it. If you need to make a change great ask everyone if they will cover for you once that work is done and you have no options then you come to management to help with the issue. Of course you alert us right away so we are aware but you have to find the shift.

Then depending on the team member we either let the place be under staffed if we can not find a replacement or we have to say no. Funeral etc are always don't ask no problem.

But in my company if you just no show for a shift you don't have a job.... no points taken no nothing don't come back....

 

[lazyboy97o]

Setting aside Mike Crawford's increasing restlessness when ''keeping his mouth shut'' over in Singapore about his experiences running Disney's side of the Shanghai operations until last summer ... there's a basic misunderstanding here likely predicated on a western perspective, which is understandable. The reason why the issue of graft is so sensitive for TWDC may well speak to the institutional nature of how we term 'part of doing business (in China)'.

You see the rebuilding going on as an example of Disney flexing its muscle and making sure the park is built to their high standards. There's another side to that, which you are not factoring in because it may not enter your thought process: rinse, lather, repeat.

The more times you build and rebuild, the more you can charge and there's nothing illegal about that, is there?

And the contractor doing the work? Disney has little, if any, actual say on it. The company that gets to do the rebuilding work? That's the company that got the contract to build it to begin with. And the person who was given the contract to do the demolition of the previously done work? It's a Party favor (not like a Pin the Tale on the Fanboi game).

You see, the rebuilding ... that's all part of the building. Just how it's done.

Yes, and it [more than likely] cost Disney $800M in "new attractions" to do it.

I'm not sure I would call that a win.

The issue of rebuilding is not unique to Shanghai. It is an issue outside of Shanghai and is part of why Disney's cost to build are so much higher. So again, the story is only shocking by ignoring everything else.

 

[Mike S]

Wasn't DAK simply an attempt to kneecap Busch Gardens and get those visitors taking a day out to head down to Tampa to stay on property instead? I seem to recall Busch was on a tear in the mid 90s, and Disney wanted to stop that.

It's a familiar tactic - MGM was an attempt to lessen the impact of Universal, and now we have Disney Springs being built to stop people leaving property for a shopping day.

So when Disney tried to directly compete, it gave us the two parks that are now in need of the most help. Interesting.

 

[misterID]

It's a park I liked going to as a local when I got into the habit of spending a few hours at a park and going home. (Seriously, as locals know, it's the best way to do the parks.)

It's not a park that's worth it's 1-day admission cost, but you could argue that for all the parks.

I still associate DAK with being brutally hot during the summer on days like today when it feels like 110 outside. I mean, I know all the parks are hot during summer, but I just always think of DAK as being sweltering. However, in January or February, it's a fantastic place to be.

The vibe of AK is the best on property. Even when it was crowded it wasn't stressful or chaotic, not like the MK, which is absolute misery. Still, there is just so little to do there there's no justification for the prices. And no, if you have a theme park, and charging theme park prices, walking around and absorbing all the wonderful ambiance does not justify the prices. Like every new Dsney park in America they vigorously skimp on the attractions and focus pushing the park on its "newness" for a decade... Or longer. I am real excited for Avatar, but really, this expansion is a decade too late. This should be an addition to the expansion, not THE expansion.

But the park is beautiful, my favorite behind EPCOT.