A Spirited Perfect Ten

[WDW1974]

To a deluxe DVC in sky

I actually met Mr. Jefferson himself, Sherman Hemsley, at the California Grill of all places back in 1998 and he couldn't have been nicer.

Sadly, he died in 2012 at age 74 of the same type of cancer that a loved one of mine is battling.

 

[WDW1974]

This is exactly me. I don't think I'm asking for much, I just want Disney to impress me as much as it did as a kid, and it's not just nostalgia speaking because Universal (and Tokyo Disneyland) continue to this day to do so.

To be constantly told that if you're not a kid or don't have kids Disney has no interest in your custom, or that you need to 'wait-and-see' for things to turn around when you've been waiting and seeing for over a decade with little to show for it, you eventually reach a point where you feel the need to call them out on it.

And if more and more people seem to be espousing a doom-and-gloom opinion, I think it's blaming the messenger to complain about their negativity. Maybe there's just more to be doomier and gloomier about these days?

I have been sounding the alarm of WDW sliding into an abyss that will be impossible to come out of for over 15 years now both on and off-line. And I've been told the same wait-and see carp that people invariably spout when they can't come up with a way to debate your points.

At this rate, I'll be on Social Security (if it exists) before a major new attraction opens at MK or EPCOT.

I also resent it when people say I have a doom and gloom attitude, I don't.

I have a very realistic one that is based on facts and opinions based on known items.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Wait ... Dave has a wife?!?! Has he been hiding here?!?! Is he married to Dr. Blondie?!?!

So many jokes..... So many jokes.

 

[WDW1974]

If "Disney is a business" now, it sure was a better business back when it focused on quality more.

I removed your graph, I know they are like beloved children to you, because I think this statement sums it up best.

Disney (and WDW in particular) was a vastly better business when it focused on quality and exceeding guests expectations (you NEVER hear this Disney-ism used at all anymore because even people at Celebration Place know no one will buy that beyond The Mongello and his ilk!)

Funny thing is WDW was much more affordable too back then.

 

[WDW1974]

Definitely. In the olden days, staying in EPCOT Center til midnight wasn't some amazing $200 upcharge with tapas, or even 'Extra Magic', but just a normal hours thing on a busy day. With a fully developed Future World, many people were still working their way around World Showcase by the time the park started to wind down. Funnily enough, crowds were far more evenly split between the two parks in those days.

Please, stop lying. EPCOT Center was never regularly open until 11 or midnight.

It has always closed at 9 p.m. and WS has always not opened until 11 a.m. ... since 10/1/82.

Get your facts straight or don't post here!

 

[Astro Blaster]

To bring back the topic of Disney and gambling, this is interesting...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-269B-3216

 

[VJ]

This whole scene is comedic brilliance.

Thank you for this, reminded me how funny the movie was!

 

[WDW1974]

I have lurked among these Spirited corridors for quite some time without posting but came across some old photos taken barely a year after the MK opened that give some perspective on the "original" implementation of the hub. Note the scale of the planters & trees and absence of the castle stage in the background.View attachment 88784

And for extra credit, here is a photo (same trip) taken adjacent to the carousel. Yes, the MK really was a park!

View attachment 88786

Great pics. Thanks for adding them.

You should post more. Anyone who was at WDW before 'Dear Leader' (that's what my fans term me ... well, one of the things you can post in a forum like this anyway) should have tons of perspective of where Disney came from, where it now is and where it is headed.

I, for one, would like to hear some of that!

 

[WDW1974]

To bring back the topic of Disney and gambling, this is interesting...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-269B-3216

Yes, Disney isn't opposed to gambling when it can make money off of it.

Disney is just opposed to mega-casinos opening 225 miles away on SoBe that would surely take a huge bite out of its convention business. Of course, Disney is willing to pay its employees an average of $16 an hour (what workers in those casinos would make), right?

And where is Disney right now with its slot machine business? Those contracts still going? And has Disney made any attempts to buy them out?

Oh, and will we see Avengers: Age of Ultron lottery tickets like we have for past Marvel releases?

 

[asianway]

Maybe I'm missing something, but are we sure this is an actual "lifestyler" event? I was under the impression that the crowd for the spring event is more out-of-market DJs who fly in and broadcast live from Disney in exchange for giving Disney some air time rather than local central Florida social media types.

The locals have a place at the table at every one of these

 

[WDW1974]

MK did over 100K on NYE this past year. It was not in anyway safe, especially considering the new plaza gardens area was still under construction.

I flat out don't believe that. Unless, you're talking over the entire day.

You can't have 100,000 people in the MK at the same time. Flat out.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Spirited Good Friday (aren't they all supposed to be?) Musings:

Some Spirited Reading: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201504020057

It does speak for itself ...

Oh, I also hear that two-hour-plus waits for the new Jungle Cruise at TDL are the norm unless you get there at opening. Has @WDWFigment experienced this yet? (can't recall)

So, Spring Break is headed toward the finish with Easter Sunday coming up (no, I won't talk about how special the WDW Easter Parade used to be and how it was just another victim of putting money before show because y'all know that, even those folks here who just live to defend the company) and where are all the breathless phased closing threads? ... Hmm ... crickets, I hear.

It does seem to reflect the same time last year when mid-March was busy (but not crazy busy) and then ... crowds fell off over a cliff. I was up there the week after Easter if memory serves me and it was not even moderately crowded.

I do appreciate all the fun tangents y'all are prone to go on here ... but Marvel?!?! Yes, I admit that their product (beyond the funtatstic GotG) does very little for me.

One quick question, since every time I bring this subject out I'm told that everyone here was a big Marvel fan a decade ago, how much Marvel talk existed on this forum prior to 12/09? Any at all? Oh, of course, the Disney fanbois likely bashing the 'overrated' Spidey attraction at IOA and ripping all of the exposed coaster track on the Incredible Hulk. Beyond that? Yeah ... crickets again. Because most of you weren't Marvel fans until it became hip to be (hell, you'll even rip the original Spidey trilogy because it fits the current Disney/Marvel narrative).

I bet you could have counted the actual positive posts on Marvel on one foot with toes to spare before Iger the Acquirer bought the company.

Hey, I've enjoyed some of the films (and loved one mentioned above), but this whole notion of a Cinematic Universe where you must see 21 films to appreciate the entire story is just not my idea of fun. It is Disney-like, though, as in it seeks out the OCD fanbois who will see everything (the same ones who bought the A-Z pins that were exactly the same ... or had to have the LE tees for every original EPCOT pavilions ... or are desperately trying to buy every special mug from the Grog Grotto on eBay) no matter what.

Oh, hey, what's this? Email from Disney AP HQ ... I can book the A$$ this summer for the low-low rate of $107 a night plus tax. Amazing. A decade ago I was paying roughly that to stay at WL and DAK Lodge. Now, please tell me how Disney's business model isn't going to come crashing down on the next CEO.

To the folks getting all excited because Disney installed two tiny fountains in the new Hub, that apparently haven't ceased working yet, I'd remind y'all of the roughly dozen (maybe more ... likely more) in Adventureland that were shut down about 15 years ago to save on money and maintenance (HINT: if it has the word 'Fuente' in it, that's a fountain, not a garbage and potted plant holder).

Why would there have been Marvel Studios talk in a Disney forum 1) before Disney acquired Marvel and 2) before Marvel Studios actually started making movies.

I think there's a little bit of crisscrossed cause and effect in your premise that us MCU fans are only MCU fans because it's cool to be. Rather, the studio makes good movies, which both attracts fans and makes the product cool. My fandom and the product's coolness are two effects stemming from a common cause, rather than cause and effect of one another.

EDIT: Looks like my entire post was preempted about an hour ago.

 

[WDW1974]

Yes, we had a firm grasp on the fashion of the day! Of course, this was in a day and age when "dressing" for the park did not mean cosplay.

@TP2000 needs to see those pics!

 

[WDW1974]

Why would there have been Marvel Studios talk in a Disney forum 1) before Disney acquired Marvel and 2) before Marvel Studios actually started making movies.

I think there's a little bit of crisscrossed cause and effect in your premise that us MCU fans are only MCU fans because it's cool to be. Rather, the studio makes good movies, which both attracts fans and makes the product cool. My fandom and the product's coolness are two effects stemming from a common cause, rather than cause and effect of one another.

Marvel was making movies before 12/09. Indeed, Disney paid Paramount a nice chunk of BO change to simply release Avengers and Iron Man 3.

Marvel had films throughout the 00s. Whether released by Sony, Fox or Paramount, they had product. Plenty.

And, yes, I do believe that some fans (don't know what percentage) are simply fans now because Disney owns Marvel and it is cool to like the products. Plenty of the Disney as a Religion group would fall in here.

 

[ScoutN]

Mmmmmm.....Outback.

For a second I was thinking he mean the Outback in EPCOT's Canada.

 

[WDW1974]

..People who hate the current state of WDW and find no enjoyment or stimulation in it. Yet still spend countless hours reading and posting about. That I will never understand.

You must be slow, should I t y p e verrry slowly?

If I didn't find any enjoyment or stimulation at WDW, then I'd stop going. My last trip, despite having many disasters going on in my life at the time, was quite enjoyable.

If you read the first 10 or so pages here when I am talking about my visits to WDW and UNI and my cruise on the Fantasy, then you'd know that.

But that doesn't fit into your world view ... namely your opinion of me. Not that I give an eff ... but just setting the record straight.

And if WDW gets to the point where I can't enjoy visiting at all ... God help the place because it will be in bigger trouble then you might think.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Marvel was making movies before 12/09. Indeed, Disney paid Paramount a nice chunk of BO change to simply release Avengers and Iron Man 3.

Marvel had films throughout the 00s. Whether released by Sony, Fox or Paramount, they had product. Plenty.

And, yes, I do believe that some fans (don't know what percentage) are simply fans now because Disney owns Marvel and it is cool to like the products. Plenty of the Disney as a Religion group would fall in here.

That's a pretty broad brush. I would hope most people are a bit more discerning than that when it comes to blindly following IP. For example, I loved Potter books 1-6, hated book 7, hated all the movies, and have yet to experience the theme park lands so I reserve judgement.

 

[WDW1974]

That's just insane.
I love the place, but I have no desire to set foot in there if there's more than 60-70k inside. At most.

I have no desire to set foot in there when the number hits 40,000. With all those ECVs and double wides, it just feels packed when it shouldn't.

 

[WDW1974]

That's a pretty broad brush. I would hope most people are a bit more discerning than that when it comes to blindly following IP. For example, I loved Potter books 1-6, hated book 7, hated all the movies, and have yet to experience the theme park lands so I reserve judgement.

I never read one Potter book, but I intend to. Have seen all films, but not one in a theater (enjoyed them more as they went along and the last 3-4 were excellent). And the theme park lands in O-Town represent some of the finest work in themed design anywhere on the planet.

Oh, but I didn't become a Potter fan because it was kewl, either.

 

[BrerJon]

And, yes, I do believe that some fans (don't know what percentage) are simply fans now because Disney owns Marvel and it is cool to like the products. Plenty of the Disney as a Religion group would fall in here.

Amongst the lifestylers and general social media, instagramming anything with mouse ears crowd, it's definitely true that there are plenty of people who love Marvel but showed no interest in it before Disney bought it. No doubt.

On this thread specifically though, I suspect most who are into it have been for a long time - my guess is most posters here are bit nerdier and geekier than average, possibly more interested in the machinations of what goes on behind the curtain at Disney, into facts, figures, science and stats, rather than just a casual love of all things magical... and that kind of person is the sort who would have always had an affinity for comic books and been first in line for the old Spider-Man and X-Men movies, long before the MCU existed, let alone them having a Disney connection.