A Spirited Perfect Ten

[MarkTwain]

Apologies that I'm just now seeing and responding to this.

Word I'm getting from the left coast is that a lot of folks wish to throw blame for SDL's difficulties on Bob Weis, which I find more than amusing. The issues with that resort go to much higher levels than WDI's 'lead' (who has less creative control than likely anyone to have that title has in the past). People want to paint a picture that leaves out Iger, Staggs and Rasulo's messy relationship with the CCP to fit their own agendas.

That's frustrating. I really hope Weis doesn't get any flak if Shanghai doesn't go over well (like Tony after Disneyland Paris), but you know how people like to point fingers. I could write volumes about the problems going on in Shanghai, but most of them stem from the first time somebody said "Hey let's build a $4 billion theme park in Shanghai and hire Chinese workers to build it."

Club 33 seems to be moving forward yet again for WDW. I have no further information at this time. But I have a nagging feeling that they won't be placing this at the MK at all.

In this case, I'm actually glad to hear this happening. (Not the Club 33 part, but that it won't be at MK). MK isn't huge, and needs every square foot it can get as places average guests can occupy. I would hate to see, for instance, space carved out of the upcoming Adventureland restaurant or elsewhere in MK when those spaces could be used to hold average guests, and especially when the park is practically bursting at the seams.

Compare that to Epcot or even DHS, which both have plenty of dead space everywhere. Epcot has plenty of underutilized space, including lounges which haven't accommodated ride sponsors in years (Land and Imagination lounges both just holding a few managers' desks, for instance). Even DHS has some odd spots, like the upstairs of Brown Derby, which are hardly used to their full potential anymore.

 

[PhotoDave219]

One of these days, I'm gonna publish the list of people I have on Ignore....

 

[wogwog]

What is the max number of tickets for the party nights?

Single source only from about two years ago, from a GSM Guest Relations was high 20s. 28K I believe. But not every party sells out.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Seems it's just me, but I'm getting a little tired of that trope. Every Disney (and Pixar for that matter) animated film released since, like, 2010 tries overly hard to make audiences "feel" and it's getting a little too predictable.

I think I see what you mean -- not every film needs to be a tearjerker to be great. Especially because every now and then a story comes along that really earns those tears (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, more recently Inside Out), and if every film is reaching for that it sort of undermines the honesty of the studio's intentions. It's frustrating when you can see "this is the part where I'm supposed to be crying", and the movie didn't actually get you there emotionally.

I never felt the need to shed a tear at The Little Mermaid, but what a great film! Same with Aladdin, and Mary Poppins, and Fantasia. Filmmaking has the power to conjure within people a broad spectrum of emotions. I'd rather see the studio producing films that engage a range of those feelings than keep seeing them design something to elicit tears and hope every now and then they get it right.

 

[Cesar R M]

One of these days, I'm gonna publish the list of people I have on Ignore....

Would that be considered "flooding" due of the cheer number?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Would that be considered "flooding" due of the cheer number?

Distinct possibility

 

[Cody5294]

@WDW1974 would Disney manipulate the numbers because they are too embarrassed that their Japan parks are outdrawing their flagship resort?

 

[PhotoDave219]

@WDW1974 would Disney manipulate the numbers because they are too embarrassed that their Japan parks are outdrawing their flagship resort?

Cody, cody, cody......

The difference is the 47 hard ticket events where MK counts that attendance as well. Its like 47 extra days of 30k people - Even if they dont sell every one out, that is AT LEAST another 1-1.25M guests a year.

Props to @asianway for pointing me towards that....

 

[VJ]

I think I see what you mean -- not every film needs to be a tearjerker to be great. Especially because every now and then a story comes along that really earns those tears (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, more recently Inside Out), and if every film is reaching for that it sort of undermines the honesty of the studio's intentions. It's frustrating when you can see "this is the part where I'm supposed to be crying", and the movie didn't actually get you there emotionally.

I never felt the need to shed a tear at The Little Mermaid, but what a great film! Same with Aladdin, and Mary Poppins, and Fantasia. Filmmaking has the power to conjure within people a broad spectrum of emotions. I'd rather see the studio producing films that engage a range of those feelings than keep seeing them design something to elicit tears and hope every now and then they get it right.

Exactly what I was trying to say! I'm not the best at getting my point across all the time, but you hit the nail on the head!

 

[VJ]

Agreed. In fact, nearly every picture with Lasseter's hand in it has the same plot he's been peddling since Toy Story: a combination road picture and buddy flick, where two unlikely characters go on a journey. Exposition is shared. Warm looks are exchanged. Lessons are learned. The strings get all syrupy. Yada yada.

Why Lasseter is trying to make every Disney and Pixar output (and yes, it's both studios. Frozen and Up share the same DNA) into some sort of ported remake of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, I'll never understand. He's homogenized both studios output, and I've become considerably less fond of him these past couple years.

This is a good observation.

 

[Lee]

It sounds like the Marvel fanboi doth protests too much. You must by definition be a fanboi of the MCU if you only care about a film as it fits into the entire world of Marvel. I like taking my movies one at a time and viewing them based on their own merits. I'm not committing to 123 films no matter how much Kevin, Bob and Co want me to. After the last Captain American, I won't see the next if I have to actually pay for it.

I'm not looking to wrap myself up with a decade-long (or longer) commitment to film viewing. I suspect most people feel the same way.



That's just the thing, Pixar has achieved cinematic greatness often largely because it doesn't tie its films together or to a formula beyond great storytelling. Sure, you have a franchise with Toy Story and a few sequels. But Up is no Toy Story is no Ratatouille is no Wall*E is no Inside Out etc.

Ok...I'll take the tag of fanboy of the MCU.
I'm a fan of its long-form storytelling. It really has nothing to do with it being Marvel as I've never bought a comic book in my life and have no interest in these stories or characters outside the film series.

It relates to my love of TV series that tell large, complex stories over a number of years. (Lost, Game of Thrones, X-Files, Sopranos, etc. I'd pay good money right now if the season finale of True Detective had McConaughey showing up in LA, on the trail of...)

 

[GoofGoof]

@WDW1974 would Disney manipulate the numbers because they are too embarrassed that their Japan parks are outdrawing their flagship resort?

If Disney doesn't release attendance figures for WDW then how are they "manipulating" anything. If TEA has the numbers wrong that's on them. I doubt there is any conspiracy to inflate numbers. The vast majority of people who visit WDW probably don't even know Disney had a park in Japan. It wouldn't hurt business much if TDL had higher attendance than MK. It only matters in the fanboy community.

 

[Bairstow]

I still think people are drawing the wrong conclusions from Tokyo's high queue times.
Hourly ride capacity, guest behavior, and demographics are just as important factors for excessive wait times as raw attendance.
On busy days, many if not most Six Flags parks have hour-plus wait times for all their big coasters, but that doesn't mean they're drawing Magic Kingdom-style gate numbers.

 

[FigmentJedi]

So on Sharknado 3, the Jaws photo-op at Universal Studios just came alive and ate someone.

Now in GIF form. It's Jerry Springer getting eaten.

I think this part ended up being even more improbable then the part where they fight sharks in space.

 

[Mike S]

Now in GIF form. It's Jerry Springer getting eaten.

I think this part ended up being even more improbable then the part where they fight sharks in space.

That's what they get for removing his ride. Little did we know ol' Brucey was just biding his time. Plotting. Waiting for the proper moment to strike.

 

[Nemo14]

Now in GIF form. It's Jerry Springer getting eaten.

I think this part ended up being even more improbable then the part where they fight sharks in space.

because the rest of the movie is so probable?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Now in GIF form. It's Jerry Springer getting eaten.

I think this part ended up being even more improbable then the part where they fight sharks in space.

I wonder if Spielberg's people approved that?

 

[FigmentJedi]

I wonder if Spielberg's people approved that?

They did. They were surprised they even got the clearance.

 

[Quinnmac000]

Well Spielberg does get a cut of the parks profits so....synergy right there.

 

[FigmentJedi]

because the rest of the movie is so probable?

As far as the laws of 50s B-Movie Science goes that every single Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie runs on yeah, kinda nutty.

There was nothing to suggest that Sharknados have the power to bring fiberglass sharks to life. Sharks can live in clouds and space now, but the possibilities of Golem Sharks was never suggested.