A Spirited Valentine ...

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
No worries. I wasn't taking it personally.

The best way to think of WDW in 2017 is it's your child that continues to bring home C's and D's on their report card when you know they can get straight A's (as evidenced by FoP and HEA).

WDW is a victim of its own success. The BRAND of WDW is so much stronger than the reality of the value of the current WDW you get in return. It's all about "dat legacy" and relying on memberberries of its audience. That's enough pop culture references for me for today.


Yes this is exactly the reality of WDW today, WDW acts like the trust fund kids i went to school with hey as long as your not flunking out it's all good.

Its too obvious that most of the time WDW is mailing it in.

UNI is a 'C' student studying hard to be a B then A student.
 

NearTheEars

Well-Known Member
Say what you want about Ford, but he is always respectful and does not attack other posters even though he takes a lot of flack. Granted he absolutely is on the outer edge of the doom and gloom squad ( and certainly sometimes even over the edge) but I find his musings much more thoughtful then some posters on the other side of the equation...eh hum JT hmmm.

You know, that is true. It's never personal attacks. Just fringe/conspiracy theory rants.
Like how he refuses to buy Blu-ray Discs because some day in the future the greedy film industry is going to send out an update that will make them all stop working.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
See my post above. We don't need to play 'poor Ford' here. We just want him to stop the falsities and the ridiculous hyperbole. If you think that's "attacking" someone ... it's not. And I think he can speak for himself. I don't mind some of his posts, he sometimes does have a solid point mixed in and I've told him as such. I'm glad you find it amusing. A lot of us don't and we're free to express that.

Ive been in the corporate wars too long and frankly these days I see Disney as just another large public company. Which just happens to have more underperforming divisions than ones knocking it out of the park. And in the US what ALWAYS happens is the underperforming divisions suck cash and more importantly management attention out of the divisions that are performing well.

You call my speculations fantasy, I see them as reasonable predictions for companies that refuse to learn from history.

As an example Cisco was treading that well worn path a couple of years ago until it got a new management team who stopped focusing on markets which were no longer making money or were poised to go into major losses.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
You know, that is true. It's never personal attacks. Just fringe/conspiracy theory rants.
Like how he refuses to buy Blu-ray Discs because some day in the future the greedy film industry is going to send out an update that will make them all stop working.

Well if you understood how AACS works and EVERY time you insert a disk into a Blu-Ray player its keystore is updated with keys from the disk. It is indeed possible for the movie industry or a hacker to update your keystore and turn your blu-ray collection into expensive plastic coasters by revoking the keys which allow you to decode the encrypted media.

DVD's and some digital downloadable movies don't have this 'FEATURE'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
They took a lot between announcement AND shovels on the ground.
I blame the ladder.
Yes, because you have to do Blue Sky, Concept Design, Schematic Design, Design Development and Construction Documentation before you can even ask for permission to put those shovels in the ground. Even for a clone that can be about six months of work.
 

NearTheEars

Well-Known Member
Well if you understood how AACS works and EVERY time you insert a disk into a Blu-Ray player its keystore is updated with keys from the disk. It is indeed possible for the movie industry or a hacker to update your keystore and turn your blu-ray collection into expensive plastic coasters by revoking the keys which allow you to decode the encrypted media.

DVD's and some digital downloadable movies don't have this 'FEATURE'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System

Oh I know it's possible. But I don't think the film industry will ever do it. A hacker on the other hand, you never know.
 

rael ramone

Well-Known Member
Thoughts since I last posted:

Been catching up with email (got 5000k unread emails down to 330), and reading Seeking Alpha articles.

The Street in the past did not want spending in the parks. Now they do. (Deteriorating Fundamentals in the Media Division will do that). That makes a big difference.

Speaking of Deteriorating Fundamentals, one article I read mentioned ESPN isn't the only problem. It's the Disney Channel as well. The kiddies aren't watching as much, which means they aren't getting the BRAND indoctrination they used to - which can spill over into P&R and Films.

Is it a lock that everything in D23 will get delivered? The lack of Hyperion Wharf as designed AND ANNOUNCED says no. But it won't shock me if they do what they say they do this time.

The parks need content AND capacity. I would describe Content as not merely something to do, it's something to drive attendance (especially if major attractions finally get the extended downtime they need). The new theatre in the MK is no question in the column of 'content'. Something that sounds like an expensive build on backstage land that is going to keep guests possibly up to an hour away from opportunities to buy plush isn't getting built (IMO) to fill out a day. It's meant to drive visits. I'd say they view 'capacity' as stores & restaurants. IMO again, a reason TGMR is going away for a 6 minute MM ride is for guests to spend more time in the desired 'capacity' - buying food, drink, and plush.

Mickey Mouse did not have a definitive fixed personality throughout his history. The original B&W Mickey was different then the Living Color (and toned down to please parents) Mickey. But if you watch the Mickey Mouse cartoons on the Walt Disney Treasures sets, all of them (with the exception of Runaway Brain) feel like there's a connection. They collectively represent Classic Mickey.

The new Mickey cartoons are decent for what they are - but doesn't feel like it's the Character That It Was All Started By. It feels like new IP. Even less of a reason to put a ride based on that version such a prominent place in the parks. Off to the side (like say, where Animation is) would be much more appropriate.

Speaking of New Mickey - replacing Clubhouse with Roadster Racers for the little kiddies sounds like a blatant toy push that would make the producers/director of Batman & Robin blush.

Back to D23. I don't expect the China film to be an upgrade. My guess is that they'll cut the length and have a good portion of what's left filled by someone mugging for the camera (like what happened to Canada). The Minnie Van sounds OK for those who might like to use it, assuming that they have sufficient vehicles for demand. (The best fastpass in the swamps continues to be having access to your own vehicle). The gondolas should help get some traffic off the roads, but I don't see them (IMO) justifying what it costs to stay at Caribbean or AOA even at current prices.

Not mentioned at D23 (I think) but I'm curious about who is going to bankroll the Brazil pavilion - considering that 3 major companies down there (Petrobras, Vale, Brasil Foods) have, shall we say, some issues. Maybe Embraer? (If you've flown Jet Blue you've almost certainly flown on one).
 

Astro Blaster

Well-Known Member
I know of at least two properties that I would consider deluxe, although those labels won't be used. One is the hotel at the entrance to EPCOT. The other is the Star Wars resort, although that one is much further out timewise.
So when you posted this originally I thought you were just joking. It was the first I'd heard of the Star Wars hotel that wasn't purely conjecture. Is the Riviera the "hotel at the entrance to EPCOT"? It's the back entrance, but still...

Speaking of that, I love the International Gateway entrance to the park. It seems like one of the few "secrets" left at WDW, but with the gondolas it lools like it will eventually be just as jammed as all of the other park entrances.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Oh I know it's possible. But I don't think the film industry will ever do it. A hacker on the other hand, you never know.

Precisely so, why would i buy media which can go 'poof' at the stroke of a key.

Does not matter whether a Hacker or a Studio does it your media library is still toast. And if its done by a hacker the studios are not going to be handing out replacement Blu-Rays and players.

This was a BAD idea dreamed up by Disney and others to protect against counterfeit media. Trouble is it winds up being the media version of using a nuke where a flyswatter would do
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom