A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Mickey_777]

I could use some cabinets like that. Where did you acquire them?

Those are from IKEA, got a couple myself for the ol' man cave

 

[Omnispace]

I think there are a lot of us who feel that way.... especially if you remember the entire Save Disney campaign from 2003-2004.

To me, at that time, the benefits of Save Disney was not necessarily the ouster of Eisner, but the inclusion of Pixar. Not only was there going to be a renaissance in Disney creative endeavors through the influence of John Lasseter, but the remainder of Eisner's team, (Iger & Co), would be kept in check by a the new largest shareholder Steve Jobs -- at least that's what several of us were hoping for. Some of the creative aspects did come to fruition, though they are tempered by the BRAND juggernaut.

 

[BrianLo]

Nice find. Do you have a higher resolution version?

No, that's the highest res version of the leaked plans we have. Dates back to maybe 2012/2013, before the entire menu released by @WDW1974. Both are highly accurate to the current build.

Actually, I think Spirit's biggest news item from the past few years was the full SDL menu. Of course it wasn't Orlando, so people don't tend to care.

 

[Iwerks64]

If you want concrete evident @spacemt354, I track rumors on my site. Currently we have 16 active "Confirmed" rumors. The breakdown of the origin of these rumors is as follows:

• Undetermined: 1
• WDWMagic: 2
  
• DisneyAtWork.com: 1
• articos/Sped424: 1
• Orlando Sentinel: 1
• Disney: 6
  
• Tim_4: 1
• Jim Hill: 1
• WDW1974: 1
• ParkRumors.com: 1

Clearly it looks like Spirit is slacking off.

@RSoxNo1 , took me a minute or two two find out which site was yours. Looks nice. Although I looked back through 12 pages or about a year of rumors being tracked on your site, and it was depressing to see how few actually got me interested in a trip to WDW. Some of the most exciting ones are dead.

 

[Mike S]

@RSoxNo1 , took me a minute or two two find out which site was yours. Looks nice. Although I looked back through 12 pages or about a year of rumors being tracked on your site, and it was depressing to see how few actually got me interested in a trip to WDW. Some of the most exciting ones are dead.

That's Disney for ya.

 

[RandySavage]

Toy Story Playland now appears to be under construction. The square orange building in TSPL in the original plans has begun construction.

Good catch... it does seem like there are things now happening there (as seen at th4 7:50 mark below):

The unusual "winged" foundation on the Tomorrowland side of the path (at 7:53) could be the rumored "Woody's Roundup" outdoor theatrical attraction.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Non-WDW (and non-SDL) Park Links/Musings:

In the insanity of the last day plus, Disney released official plans (you know, the only 'source' that some here will accept) for the rehab work being done at DLP in advance of the resort's big 25th anniversary plans.

Here's a link to that news: http://www.dlptoday.com/2015/06/10/...enhancement-plans-for-10-classic-attractions/

Most of that was already known and discussed (I may have even broken some of it, I don't recall). But it shows the commitment by Disney to spend money on the resort now that it is pretty much ''all theirs'.

Surprises? That they have apparently have dropped plans (plans they announced publicly, BTW) to close the Hotel New York for 18 months when Newport Bay Club's total renovation/rebuild is completed next and will instead move onto the budget Hotel Cheyenne (a cheaper, albeit much better themed version of the All Stars for those not familiar) next. Don't know if this is financially based or why the order of work was done. I can't imagine that they want a deluxe hotel shuttered during the 25th, but who knows?

They are finally adding Captain Jack to their near perfect PotC attraction. I had hoped this wouldn't happen. But if they can do it like they have in Anaheim and Tokyo, I won't have any issues.

Moving onto Anaheim, here's another one of those studies that means nothing, but make taxpayers feel great about corps operating large businesses in their area: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/study-665882-resort-disneyland.html

And here's another story about how many local officials, despite the mayor's desires, want to hand out huge tax breaks to lure 4-5 star hotels to Anaheim: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/anaheim-665826-hotels-hotel.html

One other note about Disney's insidious synergy and how it affects every aspect of the company: today on General Hospital one teen character made reference to a date where they went to see that really cool "Avengers: Age of Ultron''. ... You do know there are people making six figures at the company whose job description is to 'place' references like that out so they seem natural, right?

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Shanghai Musings:

First, I want to make it clear (for my HUGE ... ego) that I was the first and ONLY 'insider' to post the entire Shanghai Disneyland planning menu. It happened right here. On this site. In 2013.

Yes, it was a WDWMAGIC.com Spirited Exclusive.

It was accurate then. It has remained accurate now. Nothing of any substance has changed, no additions, no deletions.

Toy Story Land was included then because it was, and remains, planned for the park's opening. It isn't a Phase II (we all know what they are ... right? No? See DCA's Phase II Redo!) addition. It also isn't part of any $800 million 'expansion' because it was going in there years before that announcement.

There are no new entertainment venues either. Nothing major that wasn't planned and reported by moi.

The LA Times had a minor story on the SDL Hotels. With the same renderings that have been floating around for months. No news to see there either.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Postage Note:

No, nothing to do with mail. Just everything with posts on this thread. I can't keep up. Hopefully, things will slow down and people will stick to Disney and entertainment topics. But I can't go back 15-20 pages every day or 40 pages if I miss 1-2 days.

I'm starting today on Page 974 since that's where I posted last night.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Spirited Non-WDW (and non-SDL) Park Links/Musings:

In the insanity of the last day plus, Disney released official plans (you know, the only 'source' that some here will accept) for the rehab work being done at DLP in advance of the resort's big 25th anniversary plans.

Here's a link to that news: http://www.dlptoday.com/2015/06/10/...enhancement-plans-for-10-classic-attractions/

Meanwhile, local Disney fans are complaining about how concrete work in the hub and Pirates being closed for 3 months is ruining one of their 3-5 WDW vacations this year...

 

[brb1006]

Zootopia trailer like nothing you've seen be-fur

This is Disney's Robin Hood for the next generation.

 

[PhotoDave219]

To me, at that time, the benefits of Save Disney was not necessarily the ouster of Eisner, but the inclusion of Pixar. Not only was there going to be a renaissance in Disney creative endeavors through the influence of John Lasseter, but the remainder of Eisner's team, (Iger & Co), would be kept in check by a the new largest shareholder Steve Jobs -- at least that's what several of us were hoping for. Some of the creative aspects did come to fruition, though they are tempered by the BRAND juggernaut.

The thought that the company is just a collections of Brands and IPs that are to be used (leveraged?) to make money (maximize their full profit potential?) until all the life squeezed out of them.

To me, Disney is bigger then that. Disney is an idea. Its not something you can touch or grab ahold of, but its simply the best. The best everything - the best entertainment, the best parks, the best food and so forth. Its doing the right thing and doing that for the right reasons. Yes, its utopic middle America but its middle America with today's technology.

Somewhere in there is a dream by a man. Rather simple, actually. And nowhere in that dream did steering committees, strategic planning groups, leveraging IPs, franchises, Brands and other boardroom speak.

Rather we are left with the polar opposite, a company not governed by idea and principle but governed by a spreadsheet and sung to sleep by the siren sounds of Wall Street profits. People with ideas and creativity were replaced by people who can game the system and make themselves look good.

The famous Tom Fitzgerald quote of "If you can dream it, you can do it" is now replaced by "If you can fund it and we can profit off it, you can do it... in five years."

The empire has grown to reach far beyond the dreams of long-past British Kings and Queens as Disney truly reaches most everyone on the planet.

Yet the stewardship of such responsibility is lacking and the guiding principles seem more indicative of Gordon Gecko than Mr. Disney.

Return on Investment should go farther than the simple balance sheet. We're talking about investing in employees, investing in ideas and investing in your guests.
Investing in those will make this planet a far better place.

 

[OSUgirl77]

And here's another story about how many local officials, despite the mayor's desires, want to hand out huge tax breaks to lure 4-5 star hotels to Anaheim: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/anaheim-665826-hotels-hotel.html

I agree with the president of Atlas Hospitality Group. I know that I, and probably most others, are only going to spend 4-Diamond money on the actual Disney hotels, and even that's rare. If I'm spending that much money, I'm going to be on the beach, not Harbor Blvd. If there's a market for high-end properties, someone is going to build them regardless of tax breaks.

One other note about Disney's insidious synergy and how it affects every aspect of the company: today on General Hospital one teen character made reference to a date where they went to see that really cool "Avengers: Age of Ultron''. ... You do know there are people making six figures at the company whose job description is to 'place' references like that out so they seem natural, right?

That's bad, but not as bad as the ridiculous plugs for Mustangs on the Blacklist. And I would not have pegged you as a General Hospital fan...

 

[PhotoDave219]

Meanwhile, local Disney fans are complaining about how concrete work in the hub and Pirates being closed for 3 months is ruining one of their 3-5 WDW vacations this year...

Are these the same local Disney fans that cut the lines with DAS cards and ride TTA 1000 times in a year? The same ones that complain about show quality are now complaining about Pirates getting a refurb?

Plus, when you have an average of 50k+ people a day with no dead periods longer than 2-3 weeks, when the hell are you going to have time to schedule a refurb?

 

[PhotoDave219]

I agree with the president of Atlas Hospitality Group. I know that I, and probably most others, are only going to spend 4-Diamond money on the actual Disney hotels, and even that's rare. If I'm spending that much money, I'm going to be on the beach, not Harbor Blvd. If there's a market for high-end properties, someone is going to build them regardless of tax breaks.



That's bad, but not as bad as the ridiculous plugs for Mustangs on the Blacklist. And I would not have pegged you as a General Hospital fan...

You and @WDW1974 would get along fine, I assure you.....

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Are these the same local Disney fans that cut the lines with DAS cards and ride TTA 1000 times in a year? The same ones that complain about show quality are now complaining about Pirates getting a refurb?

Plus, when you have an average of 50k+ people a day with no dead periods longer than 2-3 weeks, when the hell are you going to have time to schedule a refurb?

I'd say ask Disneyland, since they have 16+ million people a year and have no trouble closing rides down, but they also have more things for their guests to do.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Side tangent/observation.....

Over the past two weeks, the Studios have drawn more peak crowds than Epcot. Epcot is lagging behind everyone pulling mostly average to above average crowds.

Interesting trend short term trend. Jan-March still killed DHS, with most of the pain coming Jan & Feb. All the other parks in line with the ratio of above average/ average and below days.

Just looking for trends....

 

[flyerjab]

Spirited Shanghai Musings:

First, I want to make it clear (for my HUGE ... ego) that I was the first and ONLY 'insider' to post the entire Shanghai Disneyland planning menu. It happened right here. On this site. In 2013.

Yes, it was a WDWMAGIC.com Spirited Exclusive.

It was accurate then. It has remained accurate now. Nothing of any substance has changed, no additions, no deletions.

Toy Story Land was included then because it was, and remains, planned for the park's opening. It isn't a Phase II (we all know what they are ... right? No? See DCA's Phase II Redo!) addition. It also isn't part of any $800 million 'expansion' because it was going in there years before that announcement.

There are no new entertainment venues either. Nothing major that wasn't planned and reported by moi.

The LA Times had a minor story on the SDL Hotels. With the same renderings that have been floating around for months. No news to see there either.

Fascinating stuff...

http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2015/4...ficial-detained-for-alleged-shanghai-di.html#

I apologize if this was already posted.

 

[Nemo14]

Spirit posted about this back in April:

Spirited Smoking Gun?

Let's put some links out, explain a bit and then see where things go ... but this might explain why Bob Iger was so quick and so willing to have his lovely wife, Willow Bay, censor an Op-Ed in the HuffPo ... or, if you would prefer to believe otherwise, then perhaps this might explain why it was so important for the column to simply vanish.

Read this one first:

http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2015/4...fficial-detained-for-alleged-shanghai-di.html

Now this one:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/128...gation/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Also, apparently, even the WSJ has mentioned this major case of graft accusations, although leaving out his role (which I believe to be substantial) in Shanghai Disneyland's approval and development. Chinese language only news outlets in the mainland have reported, in somewhat of a departure from protocol, greater detail of the exact allegations.

Dai Haibo, who was part of the infamous Shanghai delegation to Disneyland Paris in 2006 that I personally witnessed and watched as Karl Holz almost single-handedly destroyed work that had begun in the 1990s when he was still managing food and beverage at Pleasure Island, was reported to have been taken into custody on March 2nd in the government's efforts to crackdown on graft.

On March 17th, the Central Government issued a news release formally announcing a ''serious violation of the law'' by the one-time Deputy Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

At one time, and until the arrest, Dai was second only to the mayor of Shanghai in the structure of the local government -- and a rising star for the Party -- with the primary role of heading the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and, more importantly, the Pudong Tourism Development Area of which Shanghai Disneyland is the cornerstone castle.

The investigation as near as I can tell through sources in China and mainland media centers on Dai's role in improperly benefiting from real estate acquisition, demolition, and construction at the very site on which Shanghai Disneyland is now rising.

All of this, largely, occurred just after Gary Snyder's HuffPo column was wiped off the 'net by the freedom loving folks at The Walt Disney Company (I'm sure you 'net savvy people might understand why a tech neophyte like me has decided to write things out versus abbreviating.) In China, this is being viewed as one of the most high profile of recent arrests in the anti-graft campaign.

And to think, it involves The Walt Disney Company ... Bob Iger's Disney ... imagine that ... I can see why Disney CEO Fumbles Entry to China really couldn't stay out there.

Wonder how many news outlets here are opting to ignore this, something widely reported in evil, vile, Godless, Commie, Pinko China, because they are afraid of the Walt Disney Company and Robert A. Iger. I also wonder what that Snyder character, who was spotted by my own little minions of Disney destruction hanging out on Lantau with a couple of Party officials to celebrate Easter or Passover or neither, really knows and if the beloved (by the Chinese Party elders) and well-connected Redstone family was tipped off that this was happening and what more might be coming.

Again, I'm not saying I have all the facts, the news is coming out of China, after all. But things sure are starting to slide together into place ... I'd be very worried if I were Bob Iger. Very worried.

No, I don't expect Brooks Barnes to be writing about this. But I'd love it if someone emailed him this post ... any volunteers? When the China Daily, CCTV, Xinhua and others are reporting what the New York Times and basically every other news outlet in this country don't believe is something you should see or read about ... it does give one pause yet again about our wonderful supposed American democracy and free press.

Or, if you would prefer, it just makes you wonder what Iger has gotten himself and Disney into over in China.

 

[Iwerks64]

The thought that the company is just a collections of Brands and IPs that are to be used (leveraged?) to make money (maximize their full profit potential?) until all the life squeezed out of them.

To me, Disney is bigger then that. Disney is an idea. Its not something you can touch or grab ahold of, but its simply the best. The best everything - the best entertainment, the best parks, the best food and so forth. Its doing the right thing and doing that for the right reasons. Yes, its utopic middle America but its middle America with today's technology.

Somewhere in there is a dream by a man. Rather simple, actually. And nowhere in that dream did steering committees, strategic planning groups, leveraging IPs, franchises, Brands and other boardroom speak.

Rather we are left with the polar opposite, a company not governed by idea and principle but governed by a spreadsheet and sung to sleep by the siren sounds of Wall Street profits. People with ideas and creativity were replaced by people who can game the system and make themselves look good.

The famous Tom Fitzgerald quote of "If you can dream it, you can do it" is now replaced by "If you can fund it and we can profit off it, you can do it... in five years."

The empire has grown to reach far beyond the dreams of long-past British Kings and Queens as Disney truly reaches most everyone on the planet.

Yet the stewardship of such responsibility is lacking and the guiding principles seem more indicative of Gordon Gecko than Mr. Disney.

Return on Investment should go farther than the simple balance sheet. We're talking about investing in employees, investing in ideas and investing in your guests.
Investing in those will make this planet a far better place.

Great post Dave, and spot on. Unfortunately, having worked at the executive level in several Fortune 500 companies, this is the way American corporations operate today. There are very few (count on one hand) executive teams interested in doing the right thing. Most are only interested in what might impact their bonus and options.