A Spirited Perfect Ten

[brb1006]

What coaster is that in the second image?

That's the Tron attraction

 

[AEfx]

And btw, I did happen to both think about AND understand what you had written...its that what you had stated was not actually factual OR you just didn't like many of the films last year which is fine....they weren't all quality.

You are absolutely correct. It was a spectacular year for cinema, countless films that will be remembered as some of the best motion pictures of all time were released, it was a cornucopia of quality films that will be remembered for years to come. It was like 1939 and 1993 combined all over again!

 

[Cesar R M]

Oh my bad, you had said QUALITY films which is why I gave you a list of films that are considered quality by many (including your favorite...the Golden Globes, The Academy Awards, critics, etc) I guess you meant to say POPULAR which can be different than quality but does not have to be.....

....And yet if you did mean popular and not quality then surely a year that had Jurassic World that did ok at the box office and Star Wars that did just a little better than ok plus a few films like Inside Out (popular and quailty, dontcha know), Avengers: Age of Ultron and Furious 7 (both really popular...not to sure about quality) and whole bunch of others I would say that this year was pretty good for both popular films AND quality.

So to recap:
1) quality does not equal popular
2) quality does not equal box office returns
3) Golden Globe nominations do not have to reflect popular films/actors but QUALITY (and those nominated can be unknowns)

And btw, I did happen to both think about AND understand what you had written...its that what you had stated was not actually factual OR you just didn't like many of the films last year which is fine....they weren't all quality.

amen to what you said!
a lot of people confuse popularity and box office returns with "quality".

Transformers were HARDLY "quality". Yet they got tons of money back.
They are popcorn sunday movies...

but I also agree with @AEfx . There was a lot of trash this year... there were not many "wow!" movies that were based on quality and not in nostalgia and hype (TFA, Jurassic Park)

Not really, no.

Hong Kong and mainland China are very different things. The language (for the most part) is different, the currency is different, they even drive on the opposite side of the road.

Having said that, there are times where mainlanders flocked to HKDL, such as CNY, so that could change.

I was talking more about the pressure the Chinese gov has been pulling into Hong Kong.

 

[VJ]

We just returned from a very wet (but wonderful) week in Anaheim. It was bittersweet saying adieu to our old friend the River; but, I did feel better when a friend of ours showed us the soon-to-be released concept art.

Can we have a look at said picture?

Can you share the picture?

I posted about the concept art as soon as I heard of it being released (including a high-resolution version of the art) in the thread below.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/rivers-of-america-concept-art-revealed.908719/

 

[Mike S]

Right on cue some ever so perfectly selected photos come out to shut down the naysayers. At least it appears we can add Buzz and SDMT to probably making opening list.

So envious of Buzz.......

 

[Rteetz]

So envious of Buzz.......

Yeah every time they do another buzz ride the WDW version looks worse.

 

[ChrisFL]

I'm still not impressed by the exterior of the TRON coaster, I mean it looks pretty but doesn't look like TRON much at all

 

[Iwerks64]

Hong Kong and Shanghai are not very close to each other. While certainly there might be some impact on Hong Kong with SDL opening, it's likely that the potential visitor pool is fairly distinct as is the case with DL and WDW.

You might be surprised at how many mainland Chinese visit HKDL. A bigger hit to the attendance though will be the continued devaluation of the rmb. It's already affecting high end stores on Canton road as the mainlanders aren't getting as good of a deal with currency exchange any more. There are a lot fewer mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong because of this.

 

[WDW1974]

Headed back to France again this weekend, so not a whole lot of time ... but how many of you have spent time looking, really looking like an OCD fanboi, at the SDL site, what it says, what language it uses, what it doesn't say etc...?

 

[JediMasterMatt]

Can we have a look at said picture?

Can you share the picture?

Edit: someone beat me to it.

I posted about the concept art as soon as I heard of it being released (including a high-resolution version of the art) in the thread below.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/rivers-of-america-concept-art-revealed.908719/

I think they're asking about my wet Disneyland Forever photos. Yes, I'll eventually start getting my photos back online and WDW Magic will be where they debut (Totes Luv U Guise) Unless you've run into me in the parks the last few years, you haven't seen anything cool out of me in a long while. Like the double rainbow sunset shots over Ornament Valley or my perfected Blue Fairy shot that is the basis of my very old (and now outdated avatar).

My issue is I'm always tinkering with my photos and never quite satisfied with. Too much of my free time is spent taking more pics instead of digitally developing them these days... that and my pinball machines. It was nice to see the Indy Pin Adventure back out for play at Disneyland; but, mine is in MUCH nicer shape. Poor thing could use so much TLC; but, it is nice to see that it was pretty much always being played.

 

[WDW1974]

Thanks, I did catch it and was already prepared for the closures. Although it was Space Mountain and not RnRC... AND ratatouille apparently was doing some flooring resurfacing and it didn't cure in time for them to reopen. Reason to go back in a few years.

Despite all the closures, the rain, the single digit (Celsius) temperatures - it was still a way better visit than summer 2013!

Such a contrast, I'm sure if I really wanted to I could dig up a post from 2013 but at the time Small World was a complete and utter disaster. It's absolutely sparkling, which really makes it obvious when you look behind you at Fantasia Gelato to contrast the state of disrepair they let the park slide into.

Disney Dreams also remains a highlight. Probably the last show from now until the end of time that is devoid of both Frozen and Mermaid songs.

The resort still remains a mixed bag. WDS actually has an ok line up of attractions, but the problem is now walkable guest space. The park really wasn't that busy as evidenced by wait times but the walkways felt moderately crowded. There is essentially next to no 'land' or place making in between everything. Oddly enough I think we nearly spent more time in WDS by doing all the shows.

Also did Crush for the first time, which I think is a pretty good attraction (for a ten minute wait that is). It's a little rough around the thematic edges in spots (as is everything in WDS), but technically speaking it could be seen as a superior version of Space Mountain. But yes, garbage capacity.

Had a final go on Star Tours 1.0. I don't know why anyone laments the move to 2.0.

A little funny how utterly embarrassed they are with Walt Disney Studios as a marketing tool. Every single item in the Ratatouille store prominently reads 'Disneyland Paris'.

Still the worst resort for 'guests'. That's a large reason I disliked the place before, it's nice when there are less of them. All the stroller density of the American parks with 10x the number of smokers. Actually I'm being generous, it may be somewhere on order of 50-100x. People mock the air in Shanghai but honestly it's generally more tolerable...

Ultimately here is the rub with DLRP. I'd rather take someone to show off DLR or TDR, they'd rather be in WDW and I have a certain affinity for HKDL. But I can finally see the reason DLP is the prettiest castle park, they are wiping away the grime finally, but they still have a ways to go. I wasn't embarrassed to drag someone to DLP this time.

I also hope there is a little more to its future than refurbs.

Glad you had a good time. And I thought it was Space Mountain going down again, but Angie told me it was RnRC. Women. You can't trust them for accurate theme park information, am I right? It is a shame you didn't catch Ratatouille as it, even with the obvious budget cuts, is the kind of E-Ticket that WDW could just dream of. It is a bit screen heavy, but since this isn't UNI-FL it is acceptable. Just a high quality, immersive fun family ride (had waits of up to two hours on Saturday and 40 minutes for single rider). The whole area looks so good that it does remind one of how ugly most of the WDSP really is. The park isn't bad. There are plenty of attractions and top notch ones. But no water, terrible layout, barely any trees.

Small World just looks like new. It gleams. We got so many pics of it because it just looked so great in the sunlight that we became Tom Bricker wannabes.

Dreams is great, one of Disney's best night spectaculars worldwide. But we had two nights of Dreams of Christmas before the regular show returned. It has changed quite a bit in two years. In 2013-14 winter, Olaf was the host and there was a Let It Go segment, but it wasn't over the top. If anything, it had too much Toy Story in it. But this year's show has cut much of the early stuff and placed Let It Go late in the show ... after we have Olaf singing about how much he loves ... summer ... and then the ridiculously out of place Love Is An Open Door. We also see the Frozen sisters building that annoying snowman early in the show, just no song. In other words, they took a great show about Christmas and the holidays and made it into a Frozen heavy storm. They removed Olaf's sing a long to Jingle Bells, but that was likely because they added it to the new Tree Lighting show with Mickey, Minnie, Santa and some assorted helpers this year.

I have never seen the Studios this busy and we wound up spending a great deal of time there. When the Aladdin spinner is having a 25-minute wait and those Toy Story rides are approaching an hour, well, you know the park is busy and not about to be bulldozed for a Super Carrefour and condos. BTW, interesting thing happened that never did in all my visits, but without asking (they can do four languages) the library and the entire ToT ride were in English. We had UKers with us. But we also had at least half French folks in our elevator.

The Rat ride having merchandise saying DLP is no different than seeing Cars stuff in Anaheim with DL on it etc. They want the BIG name to drive folks there. They do have lines of WDSP merchandise and it really looks good because one of the things they did right was the original logo for the park.

I disagree about strollers. While you get more of them than in China and Japan, where they seem almost non-existent, they weren't bad for us in the four days we were there and no double wides and not a single ECV (although the Emporium was strangely very open in places like in the MK so the double wides and ECVs can drive into shops that were never designed for their mere existence). The smokers bother me ... even morso since someone close to me who smoked for decades was diagnosed with lung cancer. But it isn't like everyone is doing it and you can move away. Smoking is still viewed as a thing you do in much of Europe, certainly France and Germany (and it's been bad in Holland, Italy, Portugal and Spain in my experience). It didn't change in the USA overnight. 25 years ago you could walk into a tobacco shop on MSUSA in the MK.

I understand what you are saying in your wrap. I still think folks from the USA should do Paris as their first international resort, followed by HK, followed by Tokyo. You appreciate all of them much more that way, I think.

Things are getting better. I actually have some faith in Tom Wolber as a leader, something I haven't had in anyone running the show in Paris since the 90s.

Oh, and I hope you checked out the new Adventureland restrooms (main ones near the Aladdin walk thru). They were photo worthy. I only wish they could do more than one or two complexes a year.

And, yes, last I heard (and it has been a while) but new attractions of a major nature are coming to DLP ... but you're looking at years. First, they fix everything. In between they keep adding new entertainment, especially seasonal stuff. Then they throw a big 25th anniversary event. Then ... then ... they start building new stuff.

 

[VJ]

I think they're asking about my wet Disneyland Forever photos.

Oh.. Sorry about that! Didn't make the connection. Makes more sense now.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 Months back in 2015 you mentioned that there could be a third attraction over in the World of Pandora in DAK. Do you have anymore information to clue us in on what might happen over at AvatarLand? Thanks

Nope. I think it was wishful thinking really ... Pandora will be quite nice, but it really will just be DAK's Land pavilion. Soaring ... boat ride ... food and beverage ... retail ...

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Nope. I think it was wishful thinking really ... Pandora will be quite nice, but it really will just be DAK's Land pavilion. Soaring ... boat ride ... food and beverage ... retail ...

Okay, thanks. Safe travels.

 

[Prince-1]

amen to what you said!
a lot of people confuse popularity and box office returns with "quality".

Transformers were HARDLY "quality". Yet they got tons of money back.
They are popcorn sunday movies...

but I also agree with @AEfx . There was a lot of trash this year... there were not many "wow!" movies that were based on quality and not in nostalgia and hype (TFA, Jurassic Park)


I was talking more about the pressure the Chinese gov has been pulling into Hong Kong.

Oh I agree with both of you...you can say that every year has probably more trash than gems. I liked both Jurassic World and TFA but neither are great films. They are entertaining but not award winning quality and not every film has to be. I do love me some crappy Michael Bay movies i.e. Transformers.

 

[Prince-1]

You are absolutely correct. It was a spectacular year for cinema, countless films that will be remembered as some of the best motion pictures of all time were released, it was a cornucopia of quality films that will be remembered for years to come. It was like 1939 and 1993 combined all over again!

Well said.

 

[SpaceMountain77]

Nope. I think it was wishful thinking really ... Pandora will be quite nice, but it really will just be DAK's Land pavilion. Soaring ... boat ride ... food and beverage ... retail ...

The final product is quite a departure from the original press release, which emphasized planned Avatar footprints for all Disney Parks. Unless Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 experience comparable box office success, this seems to be a one and done.

 

[Mike S]

Glad you had a good time. And I thought it was Space Mountain going down again, but Angie told me it was RnRC. Women. You can't trust them for accurate theme park information, am I right? It is a shame you didn't catch Ratatouille as it, even with the obvious budget cuts, is the kind of E-Ticket that WDW could just dream of. It is a bit screen heavy, but since this isn't UNI-FL it is acceptable. Just a high quality, immersive fun family ride (had waits of up to two hours on Saturday and 40 minutes for single rider). The whole area looks so good that it does remind one of how ugly most of the WDSP really is. The park isn't bad. There are plenty of attractions and top notch ones. But no water, terrible layout, barely any trees.

Small World just looks like new. It gleams. We got so many pics of it because it just looked so great in the sunlight that we became Tom Bricker wannabes.

Dreams is great, one of Disney's best night spectaculars worldwide. But we had two nights of Dreams of Christmas before the regular show returned. It has changed quite a bit in two years. In 2013-14 winter, Olaf was the host and there was a Let It Go segment, but it wasn't over the top. If anything, it had too much Toy Story in it. But this year's show has cut much of the early stuff and placed Let It Go late in the show ... after we have Olaf singing about how much he loves ... summer ... and then the ridiculously out of place Love Is An Open Door. We also see the Frozen sisters building that annoying snowman early in the show, just no song. In other words, they took a great show about Christmas and the holidays and made it into a Frozen heavy storm. They removed Olaf's sing a long to Jingle Bells, but that was likely because they added it to the new Tree Lighting show with Mickey, Minnie, Santa and some assorted helpers this year.

I have never seen the Studios this busy and we wound up spending a great deal of time there. When the Aladdin spinner is having a 25-minute wait and those Toy Story rides are approaching an hour, well, you know the park is busy and not about to be bulldozed for a Super Carrefour and condos. BTW, interesting thing happened that never did in all my visits, but without asking (they can do four languages) the library and the entire ToT ride were in English. We had UKers with us. But we also had at least half French folks in our elevator.

The Rat ride having merchandise saying DLP is no different than seeing Cars stuff in Anaheim with DL on it etc. They want the BIG name to drive folks there. They do have lines of WDSP merchandise and it really looks good because one of the things they did right was the original logo for the park.

I disagree about strollers. While you get more of them than in China and Japan, where they seem almost non-existent, they weren't bad for us in the four days we were there and no double wides and not a single ECV (although the Emporium was strangely very open in places like in the MK so the double wides and ECVs can drive into shops that were never designed for their mere existence). The smokers bother me ... even morso since someone close to me who smoked for decades was diagnosed with lung cancer. But it isn't like everyone is doing it and you can move away. Smoking is still viewed as a thing you do in much of Europe, certainly France and Germany (and it's been bad in Holland, Italy, Portugal and Spain in my experience). It didn't change in the USA overnight. 25 years ago you could walk into a tobacco shop on MSUSA in the MK.

I understand what you are saying in your wrap. I still think folks from the USA should do Paris as their first international resort, followed by HK, followed by Tokyo. You appreciate all of them much more that way, I think.

Things are getting better. I actually have some faith in Tom Wolber as a leader, something I haven't had in anyone running the show in Paris since the 90s.

Oh, and I hope you checked out the new Adventureland restrooms (main ones near the Aladdin walk thru). They were photo worthy. I only wish they could do more than one or two complexes a year.

And, yes, last I heard (and it has been a while) but new attractions of a major nature are coming to DLP ... but you're looking at years. First, they fix everything. In between they keep adding new entertainment, especially seasonal stuff. Then they throw a big 25th anniversary event. Then ... then ... they start building new stuff.

Aren't we getting an E Ticket like that with Star Wars or no?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Headed back to France again this weekend, so not a whole lot of time ... but how many of you have spent time looking, really looking like an OCD fanboi, at the SDL site, what it says, what language it uses, what it doesn't say etc...?

France you say? Enjoy!

 

[brb1006]

Yeah every time they do another buzz ride the WDW version looks worse.

Shanghai and Disneyland's versions are so far one of the best looking ones Buzz rides. I'm already eager to see the ride in action later this summer.