A Spirited Perfect Ten

[AEfx]

Then tell him that the interest level of a Star Wars land is off the charts and he should go with his gut here. I mean, in those pieces from LAT/WSJ, hes quoted as saying that what he does.

And then, ask him what it was like being "detained" in his hotel in China. Did they just find some really tall burly Chinese guys, or did they have ray guns, etc. I'd love the real story of how it all went down.

 

[AEfx]

Dipple™. I like it, looks good on a pre-weathered cotton T-shirt. Hipsters and fanbois unite and become the ultimate plague man kind could imagine.

Yeah, Apney sounds like a disease...I'd go with Dipple, LOL.

 

[FigmentJedi]

But what about Willow? She's the lynchpin to all this!

And haha, I'm sure he would. Thing is, that's not really his nickname - Darth Iger is this mythical creation of Super Lifestylers who believe he has single-handedly destroyed the WDC and somehow fooled everyone in the world with his Sith Mind Tricks except for a select few who are immune and see him for the scoundrel he really is.

That's why I refer to him as such - because the creature they talk about doesn't fit in with just about anything I've seen about Bob Iger.

He doesn't have the charisma to secretly be Sheev. He's more like one of those Seperatist leaders that was just some megacorp head looking to get into some sweet sweet war profiteering. But definitely not Wat Tambor, Bob is too lame to have that sweet dial-modulating voicebox

 

[AEfx]

He doesn't have the charisma to secretly be Sheev. He's more like one of those Seperatist leaders that was just some megacorp head looking to get into some sweet sweet war profiteering. But definitely not Wat Tambor, Bob is too lame to have that sweet dial-modulating voicebox

Thing is, I don't give a half a crap how much personality he has - "personality" is often a cover for what's really there - you know, Eisner was all "well gosh golly gee Mickey!" when the cameras were on, but turned toxic in his face to face business relationships, leaving a long line of people who refused to work with him in his wake. For all his lack of public persona, Iger certainly seems to be able to charm the pants off of some of the elites in his business dealings.

Read the recent Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian J Jones - which the Henson family participated in. Eisner and his lawyers put Henson through hell because he wouldn't give up Sesame Street - while one can't go so far to say that killed him, it certainly didn't help - and certainly made the last couple of years of his life completely miserable.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Thing is, I don't give a half a crap how much personality he has - "personality" is often a cover for what's really there - you know, Eisner was all "well gosh golly gee Mickey!" when the cameras were on, but turned toxic in his face to face business relationships, leaving a long line of people who refused to work with him in his wake.

Read the recent Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian J Jones - which the Henson family participated in. Eisner and his lawyers put Henson through hell because he wouldn't give up Sesame Street - while one can't go so far to say that killed him, it certainly didn't help - and certainly made the last couple of years of his life completely miserable.

Eisner's time at Disney from 90s onward was defined by constant bridge burning. The Hensons, Katzenberg, Spielberg, Lucas, Pixar...

 

[AEfx]

Eisner's time at Disney from 90s onward was defined by constant bridge burning. The Hensons, Katzenberg, Spielberg, Lucas, Pixar...

But hey, credit where credit is due - we have to give him props for all those classic films made during that period, too - Pocahontas 2, Lion King 2, Cinderella 2, Lady and the Tramp 2, Hunchback 2, Little Mermaid 2, 101 Dalmatians 2...you know, back when Disney was all about originality before Darth Iger the Acquirer came in and mucked it all up.

 

[BrianLo]

One resort has teetered on the edge of the financial abyss for much of its two plus decades and has been hamstrung with debt. The other is a virtual ATM for its parent corp. I would expect WDW to be in far better shape, far better run than DLP. In some ways it is, in others it is not.

I know Paris has quite a few excuses for the state it is/was in, but in my personal opinion, DLP circa 2013 was the worst castle park I've ever stepped into. I'm sure it was similar, if not worse than your 2012 experience. It was an embarrassment. That was the peak of the true, 'we are going out of business: "ghetto kingdom" '. With a friend who was a Disney parks virgin in tow, I kept wishing we had gone to any other resort, yes including Magic Kingdom.

I think you are a little too kind on DLP based on both nostalgia for what it was, and forward looking to what it will be again come 2017 or late in the decade.

Sure it's all pretty (well what isn't falling apart), it's all plussed, but the attractions were/are falling apart and in some cases unrideable (I'm looking at you Space Mountain).

Fortunately, based on the extensive, extensive list of refurbs coming it is all looking on the up and up. But I cannot be convinced Magic Kingdom is significantly worse. Unless the only metric is how pretty the shell looks, but based on New Fantasyland's reception I don't think that earns a park very high marks.

Of course, maybe DLP is just so pretty compared to the ugliest Disney park, in the world, next door.

I think I just had a disappointing experience and was let down by some of the praise DLP often receives on these boards.

/End Rant

My personal list is DL -> TDL -> HKDL -> MK -> DLP. From what we sort of know in the future, there is actually a chance TDL could briefly overtake DL and certainly DLP has nowhere to go but up.

 

[lazyboy97o]

"Give me all the info on the Frozen attraction, or I'll spill all about you in this massive expose about your cover-up of the China-Incident that if true might get me a Pulitzer! And you better give me ALL the details, because if you don't, I'll know and I'll pull the trigger!"

Yup, I'm sure that was his demand, exactly.

I mean, who wouldn't give up the story of the century for a story about the ride scenes included that will be completely forgotten and read by maybe .0001% of people who will ever actually ride the attraction.

Nah, more like "if you hold off on China right now, we'll give you this exclusively"

An exclusive that lasted what? Two hours? The people who would be most interested in the ride still got the information from the DisneyParks Blog.

Spirit approaches his reporting as if he were being held to high journalistic standards. Most of what he puts out, especially anything involving China, has been vetted with at least three separate sources. This is very carefully thought out. Whether some folks choose to understand or appreciate this is up to those who question the quality of the reporting.

Most of this has been about observations.

You're assuming its peanuts. Could be that Ben started digging around. After what happened with FIFA, you really want a WSJ journalist chasing down a missing $800M thats rumored to be graft? Even the mere appearance of impropriety is insanely bad.

So in the business journalism world, you throw him a bone. You give him an exclusive in order to hold him off on China and likely promise that when its time to talk China, he's first in line. Of course, that timeframe will expire at some point.

The Spirit has repeatedly denied the connection to graft.

-The $800mil injection was first announced by Iger [paraphrased]: 'We are confidently expanding the park's opening day offerings to make SDL even more of a success with the Chinese audience.'

-The park master plan has been published on Chinese govt. websites (or leaked) since the pre-construction phase, so coupling that with satellite imagery/drone flyovers, it is possible to trace any changes in the park menu/plan (i.e., Toy Story Playland is not under construction. Yay!).

-For years, word has trickled out -anonymously- from WDI onsite about greater-than-usual challenges with the Chinese subcontractors, typically involving substandard work and re-builds. This would lead to much greater than normal cost-overruns.

-When pressed about the $800 by Kramer on Mad Money in Feb(?), Iger backed off confirming it was for additional attractions.

My guess is that some of the $800 might be allocated for the minor expansion build-outs seen in the Expanded Plan (minus Toy Story), but the vast majority is due to excessive over-runs. Rather than raise red flags or insult the Chinese partners by pointing to their shoddy workmanship, Iger said all the $800 was for additional park content.

And the way Disney likes to play with words, an attraction pushed back to three days after opened that has been pushed back up to opening day would count as "additional."

 

[Flippin'Flounder]

That's the only one I would really be ok with since it seems so similar to Cranium Command. Also Nemo having some kind of presence in the Seas but the current ride there is pretty mediocre. Some people have said there are rumors of Good Dinosaur replacing UoE. If so, That would be much better than replacing Chester & Hester in AK.

I read it like that. I agree that it should go to Dinoland. I've been liking the idea of it replacing Finding Nemo, but C&H would work too

No. The Good Dinosaur, in my mind, would work great in DinoLand. We are talking about a park that's had an attraction based on A Bug's Life since day one.

 

[ford91exploder]

Its all about access.

EXACTLY, Journalists want to be invited to the 'A-List' events in large part they have forgotten that their role is to be about as welcome as fire ants at a picnic and INFORM the public,

So journalists are NOT going to report on things that show BIG MEDIA companies in a bad light or their 'access' will be pulled and they will not get the red carpet treatment and 'exclusives' with the Glitterati

 

[ford91exploder]

You're assuming its peanuts. Could be that Ben started digging around. After what happened with FIFA, you really want a WSJ journalist chasing down a missing $800M thats rumored to be graft? Even the mere appearance of impropriety is insanely bad.

So in the business journalism world, you throw him a bone. You give him an exclusive in order to hold him off on China and likely promise that when its time to talk China, he's first in line. Of course, that timeframe will expire at some point.

And if he was a JOURNALIST he would have said sorry and started digging like Woodward and Bernstein but instead he decided to act like a good propagandist instead.

 

[AEfx]

EXACTLY, Journalists want to be invited to the 'A-List' events in large part they have forgotten that their role is to be about as welcome as fire ants at a picnic and INFORM the public,

So journalists are NOT going to report on things that show BIG MEDIA companies in a bad light or their 'access' will be pulled and they will not get the red carpet treatment and 'exclusives' with the Glitterati

Then it's the duty of the person holding this vital, triple-vetted information to get it out there in a way that is easy to read and cohesive.

If the journalists won't do their job, and this has escalated to alleged kickbacks and huge financial sums of money that would affect the stock price and the stockholders, then it's time to take matters into their own hands.

The Internet is a big wide place - and burying all these scandalous details in a 950 page thread and expecting anyone to be able to make heads or tails of it (as you can see by the latest few posts from people asking for it to be explained since it's so convoluted at this point) isn't going to do anything.

Particularly as the source is a self-professed "faux 1%er" who knows all sorts of powerful and influential people, including the Eisners, this should not be a problem at all.

 

[ford91exploder]

Then it's the duty of the person holding this vital, triple-vetted information to get it out there in a way that is easy to read and cohesive.

If the journalists won't do their job, and this has escalated to alleged kickbacks and huge financial sums of money that would affect the stock price and the stockholders, then it's time to take matters into their own hands.

The Internet is a big wide place - and burying all these scandalous details in a 950 page thread and expecting anyone to be able to make heads or tails of it (as you can see by the latest few posts from people asking for it to be explained since it's so convoluted at this point) isn't going to do anything.

Particularly as the source is a self-professed "faux 1%er" who knows all sorts of powerful and influential people, including the Eisners, this should not be a problem at all.

The problem is once again ACCESS in this case to a broad stage, There is enough smoke for an enterprising journalist to start reaching out to the various insiders here and start assembling the mosaic, If that happens I expect that it will probably be the UK press that actually breaks the story, Because the US media is more 'Media Club' and the first rule of 'Media Club' is you don't talk about 'Media Club'.

Recall it was the UK press which broke the NSA scandals because the US media did not want to touch it for fear of losing their 'access' to so called government sources. Yet when REAL Journalists suss out government corruption they are prosecuted, Makes one wonder what that so called 'access' is worth besides an invite to 'A-List' events.

Seems the country and the press as a whole was better off when they were 'Ink stained wretches' who were about as welcome ANYWHERE as fire ants at a picnic.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

Dipple™. I like it, looks good on a pre-weathered cotton T-shirt. Hipsters and fanbois unite and become the ultimate plague man kind could imagine.

Oh geeze, can you imagine Lou Mongello with a bad hipster beard and an Apple watch on top of his flamboyant self? It would be the fanboi The Walking Dead come to life.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

But what about Willow? She's the lynchpin to all this!

And haha, I'm sure he would. Thing is, that's not really his nickname - Darth Iger is this mythical creation of Super Lifestylers who believe he has single-handedly destroyed the WDC and somehow fooled everyone in the world with his Sith Mind Tricks except for a select few who are immune and see him for the scoundrel he really is.

That's why I refer to him as such - because the creature they talk about doesn't fit in with just about anything I've seen about Bob Iger.

Speaking of Bobby, for a 64 year old man, he's incredibility well preserved. Botox?

 

[DGracey]

Iger's very first job with the Walt Disney Company was President of Walt Disney International in 1999, after they pulled him over from running ABC.

This is where he cut his teeth on his international obsession. Beginning then, and ever since, Iger's singular focus has been making Disney a more global company. He has always been obsessed with China.

There are countless quotes from many interviews over the years where Iger says the Walt Disney Company has been too focussed on the United States, and not enough in other countries. Hence why we have so little Parks and Resorts spending happening domestically, when you compare to what's been spent on the Cruise Line, Paris, and the biggest expense ever - Shanghai. Iger only spends in the U.S. when he looks at the numbers and feels he has to - like California Adventure's redo. WDW will get to that point, but the execs sure don't feel that yet with record profit and record attendance.

If Shanghai crumbles, so too will his legacy. And the stock.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The problem is once again ACCESS in this case to a broad stage, There is enough smoke for an enterprising journalist to start reaching out to the various insiders here and start assembling the mosaic, If that happens I expect that it will probably be the UK press that actually breaks the story, Because the US media is more 'Media Club' and the first rule of 'Media Club' is you don't talk about 'Media Club'.

Recall it was the UK press which broke the NSA scandals because the US media did not want to touch it for fear of losing their 'access' to so called government sources. Yet when REAL Journalists suss out government corruption they are prosecuted, Makes one wonder what that so called 'access' is worth besides an invite to 'A-List' events.

Seems the country and the press as a whole was better off when they were 'Ink stained wretches' who were about as welcome ANYWHERE as fire ants at a picnic.

Or the holder of said information could take ten minutes out of making snide and boisterous remarks to start igerisacrookfallingonhisfaceinchina.wordpress.com.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Speaking of Bobby, for a 64 year old man, he's incredibility well preserved.

Well, where did you think all that money previously allocated for WDW refurbs went?

 

[baymenxpac]

@AEfx i'm sorry, but you couldn't be more off base on your assessment of the china for frozen trade.

what is fritz going to write about on china without some kind of cooperation from disney? a story, which -- while probing and in the spirit of what good and fair journalism is supposed to look like -- would have been met with a "TWDC declined to comment on this story" and would have alienated the WSJ from one of the largest media companies in the world.

instead, he gets an exclusive with unprecedented level of access to plans for a WDW attraction that many mainstream consumers care about, which has driven TONS of traffic WSJ.com's way (remember, that's the modern day media currency). and the journal can justify it because it keeps them in disney's good graces, it financially behooves them, and "eh, will our readers care about this china thing anyway?"

 

[suburbianj]

Countrybearfan

For the 5th time I think

What did he get banned for? Dont get me wrong,I'm glad he got banned,couldn't stand the guy myself.........whoops,did I say that out loud????