A Spirited Perfect Ten

[ford91exploder]

Yep, just like they canceled Carsland and DCA 2.0 when the whole economy tanked and the stock was literally cut in half. A 10% to 15% correction to an inflated stock price which is still up almost 30% in the last 12 months will almost certainly scare Iger and crew into canceling all their plans . Who ran the company back in 2008/2009? Same guys.

With the constant bad press about DCA TWDC had little choice but to upgrade DCA (a project which I might add was greenlit by EISNER not lil Bobby Iger)

With the Chinese economy tanking and the hits to the stock price I think it's a fair bet that the expansion is scrubbed and we will see more of the toxic cocktail of price increases and service cuts to keep the 'Street happy.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Sure, why not.

yikes!
I was expecting something more kid friendly!
View attachment 104449


in other news.. I finally saw that POV ride of Singapore's Puss in Boots coaster.

ITS AWFUL!!! D:
visible cameras, visible equipment, visible gear, tiny separation between scenes.. the things barely move at all..

Lilo is all grown up now

Awful. These are the best Timeskip option.

http://jackfreak1994.deviantart.com/gallery/38549374/Lilo-and-Stitch?offset=0

 

[GoofGoof]

With the constant bad press about DCA TWDC had little choice but to upgrade DCA (a project which I might add was greenlit by EISNER not lil Bobby Iger)

With the Chinese economy tanking and the hits to the stock price I think it's a fair bet that the expansion is scrubbed and we will see more of the toxic cocktail of price increases and service cuts to keep the 'Street happy.

Cars the movie came out over a year after Eisner announced he was stepping down so I'm not sure how that's possible. I'm not a big Iger supporter, but he was very much in charge of the company when the stock tanked and Carsland was ramping up construction.

I guess we will have to wait and see whether you get your wish and this project gets canceled.

 

[TP2000]

Because girls were the ones clamoring for more Frozen. What they want is irrelevant. Unmarried middle-aged men are the ones demanding Star Wars. They must be serviced at all times to the exclusion of everyone else.

While I can agree with you, I think we as Disney fans sometimes underestimate the Star Wars thing. Big time.

Non-scientific proof: I've got family visiting me from the Pacific Northwest this week, they haven't been to Disneyland in 5 years and aren't into "the scene" at all. They are a upper-middle class young nuclear family; Mom is a middle executive with Amazon in downtown Seattle, Dad was a college jock and now a doctor, two young kids. Their Christmas card photos always look perfect. They are checking into the Grand Californian this weekend for 3 days before they head down to La Jolla for a week. They asked me what was new at Disneyland since their visit in 2010 and I rattled off the impressive list of Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Buena Vista Street, plus all the 60th Anniversary stuff of new night parade, fireworks, ride upgrades, blah-blah. I got the tepid answer "Oh, okay." Dad says "I heard they were building a Star Wars park?", I explained the latest rumor and...

Their conversation quickly devolved into how awesomely cool it would be to visit a Star Wars Land at Disneyland. Mom was Princess Leia for Halloween in 1982. Dad still remembers doing his Chewbacca roar at college keg parties. 9 year old son wants to be a Jedi, 7 year old daughter wants to be a Stormtrooper (she's the subversive one). They were all talking over each other. They'll book a suite at the Grand the moment Star Wars Land opens. They aren't nerds. They have money to spend.

I think we get so befuddled over Frozen and Avatar additions that we often underestimate Star Wars.

 

[lebeau]

While I can agree with you, I think we as Disney fans sometimes underestimate the Star Wars thing. Big time.

Non-scientific proof: I've got family visiting me from the Northwest this week, they haven't been to Disneyland in 5 years and aren't into "the scene" at all. They are a upper-middle class young nuclear family; Mom is a middle executive with Amazon in downtown Seattle, Dad was a college jock and now a doctor, two young kids. Their Christmas card photos always look perfect. They are checking into the Grand Californian this weekend for 3 days before they head down to La Jolla for a week. They asked me what was new at Disneyland since their visit in 2010 and I rattled off the impressive list of Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Buena Vista Street, plus all the 60th Anniversary stuff of new night parade, fireworks, ride upgrades, blah-blah. I got the tepid answer "Oh, okay." Dad says "I heard they were building a Star Wars park?", I explained the latest rumor and...

Their conversation quickly devolved into how awesomely cool it would be to visit a Star Wars Land at Disneyland. Mom was Princess Leia for Halloween in 1982. Dad still remembers doing his Chewbacca roar at college keg parties. 9 year old son wants to be a Jedi, 7 year old daughter wants to be a Stormtrooper (she's the subversive one). They were all talking over each other. They'll book a suite at the Grand the moment Star Wars Land opens. They aren't nerds. They have money to spend.

I think we get so befuddled over Frozen and Avatar additions that we often underestimate Star Wars.

Well, my earlier comments were heavy on the snark. I am a Star Wars fan. Have been since I was six years old. The prequels diminished that somewhat. And frankly, the constantly drooling over these new films has kind of put me off a bit further. But I will be a Star Wars fan to some degree for life.

Having said that, I think a lot of people over-estimate the appeal of Star Wars. Yes, there are a lot of casual fans out there. But it's not nearly as universal as some fans seem to think. Star Wars isn't a license to print money (although it's about as close as you will get). There have been Star Wars projects that have failed. Execution is important. It's not enough to rely on the franchise.

I know this will be shocking to some people (like me) who passionately believe that Han shot first, but there are plenty of people out there who don't care about Star Wars at all and who don't plan to go see the new movie.

That last bit reminded me of a story. It was 1983 and school was about to let out for the year. All of the boys couldn't wait for Return of the Jedi. We were all talking about what might happen and our teacher overheard us. I said, "I heard that Darth Vader dies in the end!" The other kids were giddy with excitement. "Good!" said our teacher loudly. "Then they can stop making those stupid movies!"

All of our jaws dropped. We had never imagined someone could feel anything but pure excitement over a Star Wars movie.

 

[FigmentJedi]

There have been Star Wars projects that have failed. Execution is important. It's not enough to rely on the franchise.

And most of those are well behind us (The various Ewoks spinoffs, Droids cartoon, Holiday Special, C3PO cereal). Remember, the prequels may have a hatedom, but with the exception of Jar Jar merch, they still made tons of money.

 

[lebeau]

And most of those are well behind us (The various Ewoks spinoffs, Droids cartoon, Holiday Special, C3PO cereal). Remember, the prequels may have a hatedom, but with the exception of Jar Jar merch, they still made tons of money.

There's a ton of things with the Star Wars brand on them that have flopped. Most of them just aren't high profile. I don't follow video games but I recall hearing about some failures there.

Are you suggesting that from here on out all things Star Wars are 100% guaranteed success?

 

[TP2000]

Cars the movie came out over a year after Eisner announced he was stepping down so I'm not sure how that's possible. I'm not a big Iger supporter, but he was very much in charge of the company when the stock tanked and Carsland was ramping up construction.

Here's the timeline:

May, 2004 - Roy Disney Jr. via his Save Disney campaign publicly demands that Michael Eisner resign
Summer, 2004 - Corporate politics worthy of Macbeth swirl in Burbank
September, 2004 - Michael Eisner announces he will resign when his contract expires in September, 2006
2005 - Roy Disney Jr. isn't satisfied and continues to maneuver Eisner out, Iger ascends as top choice
Summer, 2005 - Deal is reach to have Eisner resign a year early
September 30, 2005 - Michael Eisner resigns and vacates the Board, a year early. Company releases statement that Michael Eisner "No longer provides services to the Walt Disney Company". Bob Iger named CEO and replacement.
Autumn, 2006 - Al Lutz begins a series of Miceage articles detailing the big budget plans to fix and expand DCA. Online critics of Lutz scoff.
2007 - Al Lutz continues the drumbeat of DCA rumors, claiming it will be an "extreme makeover" of the park with a possible name change
October 15th, 2007 - Al Lutz announces the big DCA project reveal will happen on Wednesday the 17th.
October 17th, 2007 - Bob Iger and Jay Rasulo hold a press conference to announce the re-Imagineering of DCA at a cost of over $1 Billion. Bob Iger describes DCA to the media thusly "In the spirit of candor, this park has been challenged since opening".
October 18th, 2007 - Al Lutz says "I told you so".
December, 2007 - US economy officially enters recession on rapidly weakening numbers
March, 2008 - Lehman Brothers fails, housing market tanks
October, 2008 - US bank panic & stock market crash, global financial pandemonium
Winter 2008-09 - Great Recession begins, work on DCA project continues at full speed (World of Color, Pier remake, Little Mermaid ride, etc.)
July, 2009 - Unemployment rate hits 9.4%, Groundbreaking on Cars Land begins in the old Disneyland parking lot
June 15, 2012 - Cars Land & Buena Vista Street open and a remade DCA becomes wildly successful

Michael Eisner was certainly there until 2005 as DCA failed miserably, and he may have begun discussions on what to do about it by '05. But the shepherding and approval of the project, and most importantly the funding and commitment in the midst of scary financial times, appears to be all Bob Iger.

That's good news for whatever they are doing at DHS. So long as they begin in earnest by the time Bob Iger resigns in 2018.

 

[FigmentJedi]

There's a ton of things with the Star Wars brand on them that have flopped. Most of them just aren't high profile. I don't follow video games but I recall hearing about some failures there.

Are you suggesting that from here on out all things Star Wars are 100% guaranteed success?

The point is Star Wars, like Marvel and DC, may have a ton of grumblers in their respective fandoms, but they will still shell out money for the product. Marvel Comics even considers "Let's shake things up in a way that'll agitate our readers" to be a sound business strategy, because in spite of people whining on the internet about half-baked storylines, they still end up buying it because there's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

[Horizons '83]

Here's the timeline:
May, 2004 - Roy Disney Jr. via his Save Disney campaign publicly demands that Michael Eisner resign
Summer, 2004 - Corporate politics worthy of Macbeth swirl in Burbank
September, 2004 - Michael Eisner announces he will resign when his contract expires in September, 2006
2005 - Roy Disney Jr. isn't satisfied and continues to maneuver Eisner out, Iger ascends as top choice
Summer, 2005 - Deal is reach to have Eisner resign a year early
September 30, 2005 - Michael Eisner resigns and vacates the Board, a year early. Company releases statement that Michael Eisner "No longer provides services to the Walt Disney Company". Bob Iger named CEO and replacement.
Autumn, 2006 - Al Lutz begins a series of Miceage articles detailing the big budget plans to fix and expand DCA. Online critics of Lutz scoff.
2007 - Al Lutz continues the drumbeat of DCA rumors, claiming it will be an "extreme makeover" of the park with a possible name change
October 15th, 2007 - Al Lutz announces the big DCA project reveal will happen on Wednesday the 17th.
October 17th, 2007 - Bob Iger and Jay Rasulo hold a press conference to announce the re-Imagineering of DCA at a cost of over $1 Billion. Bob Iger describes DCA to the media thusly "In the spirit of candor, this park has been challenged since opening".
October 18th, 2007 - Al Lutz says "I told you so".
December, 2007 - US economy officially enters recession on rapidly weakening numbers
March, 2008 - Lehman Brothers fails, housing market tanks
October, 2008 - US bank panic & stock market crash, global financial pandemonium
Winter 2008-09 - Great Recession begins, work on DCA project continues at full speed (World of Color, Pier remake, Little Mermaid ride, etc.)
July, 2009 - Groundbreaking on Cars Land begins in the old Disneyland parking lot
June 15, 2012 - Cars Land & Buena Vista Street open and a remade DCA becomes wildly successful

Michael Eisner was certainly there until 2005 as DCA failed miserably, and he may have begun discussions on what to do about it by '05. But the shepherding and approval of the project, and most importantly the funding and commitment in the midst of scary financial times, appears to be all Bob Iger.

That's good news for whatever they are doing at DHS. So long as they begin in earnest by the time Bob Iger resigns in 2018.

Thanks for this timeline, helps put a story behind it.

 

[TP2000]

It was 1983 and school was about to let out for the year. All of the boys couldn't wait for Return of the Jedi. We were all talking about what might happen and our teacher overheard us. I said, "I heard that Darth Vader dies in the end!" The other kids were giddy with excitement. "Good!" said our teacher loudly. "Then they can stop making those stupid movies!"

All of our jaws dropped. We had never imagined someone could feel anything but pure excitement over a Star Wars movie.

One pass through the comments section of the Orange County Register and it's obvious that there are many locals here in SoCal who absolutely hate Disneyland. Not only do they vow to never step foot in the place, but they wish the park and its employees ill will and think anyone who gives Disney their money are idiots. And that's here in Southern California, where Disneyland is thought to be revered. (And it really is.)

Conversely, there are plenty of Americans who won't go see Star Wars this Christmas. And they won't go to a theme park this summer, or ever. Neither will they rush to see Harry Potter Land at Universal Studios Hollywood next spring. And I won't be doing any skateboarding nor will I join an online dating service. Not all cultural phenomenon or merchandise is made for everyone, but those things are all wildly popular with at least a big chunk of Americans.

But I can guarantee you that when Disney spends at least $500 Million on a Star Wars Land in Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World, huge crowds will descend on the place for years. And I still won't join an online dating service.

 

[ford91exploder]

Because girls were the ones clamoring for more Frozen. What they want is irrelevant. Unmarried middle-aged men are the ones demanding Star Wars. They must be serviced at all times to the exclusion of everyone else.

But married middle aged men want SW too AND we pay for the Frozen stuff for the little girls of all ages...

 

[HMF]

Remember, the prequels may have a hatedom, but with the exception of Jar Jar merch, they still made tons of money.

And have a lot of fans.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

While I can agree with you, I think we as Disney fans sometimes underestimate the Star Wars thing. Big time.

Non-scientific proof: I've got family visiting me from the Northwest this week, they haven't been to Disneyland in 5 years and aren't into "the scene" at all. They are a upper-middle class young nuclear family; Mom is a middle executive with Amazon in downtown Seattle, Dad was a college jock and now a doctor, two young kids. Their Christmas card photos always look perfect. They are checking into the Grand Californian this weekend for 3 days before they head down to La Jolla for a week. They asked me what was new at Disneyland since their visit in 2010 and I rattled off the impressive list of Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Buena Vista Street, plus all the 60th Anniversary stuff of new night parade, fireworks, ride upgrades, blah-blah. I got the tepid answer "Oh, okay." Dad says "I heard they were building a Star Wars park?", I explained the latest rumor and...

Their conversation quickly devolved into how awesomely cool it would be to visit a Star Wars Land at Disneyland. Mom was Princess Leia for Halloween in 1982. Dad still remembers doing his Chewbacca roar at college keg parties. 9 year old son wants to be a Jedi, 7 year old daughter wants to be a Stormtrooper (she's the subversive one). They were all talking over each other. They'll book a suite at the Grand the moment Star Wars Land opens. They aren't nerds. They have money to spend.

I think we get so befuddled over Frozen and Avatar additions that we often underestimate Star Wars.

Star Wars is everywhere. I visited London, Paris and Amsterdam last month, and literally everywhere you look it is SW, SW, SW...

Shoe store? Adidas SW shoes in the window. Madame Tussaud's? Advertising it's massive new SW section. Supermarkets? SW all over the place.

And it doesn't feel forced, but actually driven from bottom up. For all of Disney, and the mainstream success of SW, it still holds tremendous street credibility. London even opened what WDW never dared build: a fully operational Star Wars Cantina!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06/02/secret-cinema-star-wars-cantina-bar_n_7495108.html
follow the Jawa inside...

 

[HMF]

Here's the timeline:

May, 2004 - Roy Disney Jr. via his Save Disney campaign publicly demands that Michael Eisner resign
Summer, 2004 - Corporate politics worthy of Macbeth swirl in Burbank
September, 2004 - Michael Eisner announces he will resign when his contract expires in September, 2006
2005 - Roy Disney Jr. isn't satisfied and continues to maneuver Eisner out, Iger ascends as top choice
Summer, 2005 - Deal is reach to have Eisner resign a year early
September 30, 2005 - Michael Eisner resigns and vacates the Board, a year early. Company releases statement that Michael Eisner "No longer provides services to the Walt Disney Company". Bob Iger named CEO and replacement.
Autumn, 2006 - Al Lutz begins a series of Miceage articles detailing the big budget plans to fix and expand DCA. Online critics of Lutz scoff.
2007 - Al Lutz continues the drumbeat of DCA rumors, claiming it will be an "extreme makeover" of the park with a possible name change
October 15th, 2007 - Al Lutz announces the big DCA project reveal will happen on Wednesday the 17th.
October 17th, 2007 - Bob Iger and Jay Rasulo hold a press conference to announce the re-Imagineering of DCA at a cost of over $1 Billion. Bob Iger describes DCA to the media thusly "In the spirit of candor, this park has been challenged since opening".
October 18th, 2007 - Al Lutz says "I told you so".
December, 2007 - US economy officially enters recession on rapidly weakening numbers
March, 2008 - Lehman Brothers fails, housing market tanks
October, 2008 - US bank panic & stock market crash, global financial pandemonium
Winter 2008-09 - Great Recession begins, work on DCA project continues at full speed (World of Color, Pier remake, Little Mermaid ride, etc.)
July, 2009 - Unemployment rate hits 9.4%, Groundbreaking on Cars Land begins in the old Disneyland parking lot
June 15, 2012 - Cars Land & Buena Vista Street open and a remade DCA becomes wildly successful

Michael Eisner was certainly there until 2005 as DCA failed miserably, and he may have begun discussions on what to do about it by '05. But the shepherding and approval of the project, and most importantly the funding and commitment in the midst of scary financial times, appears to be all Bob Iger.

That's good news for whatever they are doing at DHS. So long as they begin in earnest by the time Bob Iger resigns in 2018.

You are giving Iger WAY too much credit for the DCA re-do which would have happened regardless of who was CEO.

 

[WildcatDen]

As a Kings Island season pass holder, .

Count me in to that club. I've been a passholder for the last 16 years. Been a regular for the past 30. Great times!

 

[doctornick]

When do you think Fox will give back the Fantastic Four property back to Disney/Marvel now that the movie will probably flop since reviews havent been very kind to it. It is currently at 10 percent on rotten tomatoes.

The reviews for this are so horrible and the property isn't that well regarded to begin with that I've gotta think we're gonna see a total bomb. I'm expecting something like Green Lantern. Wouldn't surprise me if MI:RN wins for the weekend.

Fox would have to make another movie in the next few years (7 years, I've heard) to retain the Fantastic Four rights, otherwise they revert to Marvel. I think the property is going to be too toxic for Fox to do anything in that timeframe, so I think they'll be left with two choices: let the rights lapse (like they did with Daredevil) or make a deal with Marvel. The latter makes more sense for Fox -- they've been wanting to make an X-Men spinoff TV show but need Marvel's agreement to do so. Giving up the FF rights for the X-Men TV rights would probably be a fair trade that both sides benefit from.

 

[zooey]

Everything in this world is just the thing that it is... Star Wars is just a movie. Disneyland is just a theme park. Our lives are just one life. I think people should relax a little bit and take things as they are and not get too wrapped up in how these things must fulfill our expectations for them. You will either like the new Star Wars movie or you will not, it doesn't need to have all this anticipation attached to it. It can if you want it to but you still have to be alright with the outcome good or bad...
It just shouldn't be too shocking that there are people who think and feel differently than us.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Everything in this world is just the thing that it is... Star Wars is just a movie. Disneyland is just a theme park. Our lives are just one life. I think people should relax a little bit and take things as they are and not get too wrapped up in how these things must fulfill our expectations for them. You will either like the new Star Wars movie or you will not, it doesn't need to have all this anticipation attached to it. It can if you want it to but you still have to be alright with the outcome good or bad...
It just shouldn't be too shocking that there are people who think and feel differently than us.

The concern people are having isn't that there's a new Star Wars movie. It's that we're getting a new Star Wars movie every year now. And most likely, to paraphrase Weird Al's Yoda, they'll be making these movies 'till the end of time. I'm down for that, but other people aren't.

 

[zooey]

The concern people are having isn't that there's a new Star Wars movie. It's that we're getting a new Star Wars movie every year now. And most likely, to paraphrase Weird Al's Yoda, they'll be making these movies 'till the end of time. I'm down for that, but other people aren't.

I guess my larger point would be that if Star Wars goes in a direction you don't like you have to abandon that thing and that shouldn't be too devastating because it's just a movie. I'm not saying that it's fun or easy to do that but what's the alternative? A lifetime of bitterness?
Like marvel, if I stop enjoying the movies I will stop going and eventually more will do that and if Disney remains a smart company they will correct it by doing something else. the Star Wars conversation just made me feel like chiming in. Is it possible they will over saturate Star Wars? Possibly. But new things don't ruin the old things in my opinion. The old movies will always exist and will always be able to be enjoyed.
Personally I'm a lifelong Star Wars fan and am excited for what they are doing, but if it all turns out to be terrible I'll shrug my shoulders and not watch those movies going forward.
A point was brought up with marvel saturation and Star Wars going the same way, but I think the difference is the scope of their worlds. Marvel stories tie in and twist together, but Star Wars can be tapped almost infinitely for stories that do not cross at all or only do in slight ways. Rogue one sounds great to me because it's all new characters fleshing out a previously unseen angle of the familiar story. A bounty hunter show set on coruscant has nothing to do with with sith or Jedi and could be an amazing show set in the Star Wars universe with its own tone, like daredevil was in the mcu.
I'm not really worried about these franchises because in the very least we have all these great movies already that we can always go back and enjoy no matter what happens going forward.