A Spirited Valentine ...

[Rodan75]

Totally just blew my mind. Always assumed you were in your 60s and a retired marketing/communications exec who had made a lot of contacts over the years. Being in your 40s...with your ability to see the overall picture from back in the 70s up through present day is a pretty unique/amazing gift. Cheers.

Now I'll find out @Lee is a 28 year old grad student at a Kentucky junior college and my entire worldview will shift.

Not going to lie @WDW1974 I thought the same thing. Sorry.

 

[JediMasterMatt]

Hi @WDW1974. Any word on the Frozen attraction for DL? I ve been reading rumors that the expansion pad shown in the Mice Chat map for SWL is not for Frozen but for a backstage building. Has folks thinking that Toontown is still on the chopping block. I guess it may be either way though.

Also, is 2020 still realistic for Marvel Land at DCA? The layout of that land is going to be interesting with the Hyperion and animation building right in the middle of everything... or will they be?

Nothing lately. I am wondering if the plan is still to clone the TDS ride (yes, it is happening ... just was delayed and pushed back behind other projects). Recall that rushed HKDL leak followed by announcement that included what sure seemed like a clone of WDW's shoehorned ride with Olaf and the Weird Sisters. That seemed like a very odd and cheap choice when you could do the more pricey trackless sleds version. But I readily admit that I am not getting constant info on these things. I don't believe the location for the attraction has changed one bit.

Oh yeah, on 2020. Have strong and recent info that they're shooting for having much of this done by summer of that year. And looking at how SWE is moving along, I do think that may be realistic.

Nothing I know of says they're touching Hyperion as a facility!

For what it's worth, that's what I'm hearing as well. TDS's Frozen is still in the pipeline for Anaheim. The last bits of news I had heard (late last summer/early fall-ish) was: first SWL, then Marvel, then that more closely followed up with Frozen. The only potential wrinkle is if they go with the initial plans for Frozen which the show building would occupy the expansion plot to the side of SWL and the entrance and smallish Arendelle land (meet-n-greet) taking over the theater zone on top of the hill.

After that... the future of Toontown is back in jeopardy. There is still desire to get the northeast corner of the park usable the entire operational day and safe from the fall out zone. SWL was originally going to be mostly indoors and under cover when it was going to take up this spot. In the early days of creative thinking after the reshuffle to behind Frontierland, one concept was to have a very big Fantasyland expansion using Beauty and the Beast and possibly bring a lot under one roof - restaurant and ride.

I'm curious to know if Frozen is being shifted there now and then it accomplishes the same.

 

[mickEblu]

For what it's worth, that's what I'm hearing as well. TDS's Frozen is still in the pipeline for Anaheim. The last bits of news I had heard (late last summer/early fall-ish) was: first SWL, then Marvel, then that more closely followed up with Frozen. The only potential wrinkle is if they go with the initial plans for Frozen which the show building would occupy the expansion plot to the side of SWL and the entrance and smallish Arendelle land (meet-n-greet) taking over the theater zone on top of the hill.

After that... the future of Toontown is back in jeopardy. There is still desire to get the northeast corner of the park usable the entire operational day and safe from the fall out zone. SWL was originally going to be mostly indoors and under cover when it was going to take up this spot. In the early days of creative thinking after the reshuffle to behind Frontierland, one concept was to have a very big Fantasyland expansion using Beauty and the Beast and possibly bring a lot under one roof - restaurant and ride.

I'm curious to know if Frozen is being shifted there now and then it accomplishes the same.

Interesting. Would the BATB ride and restaurant have been in addition to the Frozen E ticket? I think most folks would get behind losing Toontown and the Fantasyland theatre for a Frozen E ticket, BATB E or D and BOG. I hope that if Toontown does go that it's not for Arendelle, especially if they have the space for the ride, queue and mini land in the expansion pad/ FL theatre.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Something I've always noticed, a small detail I really love:

In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the first four movies (and the fifth one, if the poster's credits are any indication) have had "Based on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean" in the end credits and on the poster. I don't know if Disney's legally obligated to put that there or if they just do it out of respect but it makes me feel good.

The other old theme park movies had "Based on Walt's X" too, even though Country Bears was pretty far removed from his influence.

 

[choco choco]

After that... the future of Toontown is back in jeopardy. There is still desire to get the northeast corner of the park usable the entire operational day and safe from the fall out zone. SWL was originally going to be mostly indoors and under cover when it was going to take up this spot. In the early days of creative thinking after the reshuffle to behind Frontierland, one concept was to have a very big Fantasyland expansion using Beauty and the Beast and possibly bring a lot under one roof - restaurant and ride.

I'm curious to know if Frozen is being shifted there now and then it accomplishes the same.

If that's the case, they really should consider moving the fireworks platform. This is of course assuming it could be moved anywhere and have it still be up to code. Move it too far back and it's too close to Ball road. Anymore east and it is too close the freeway. There really isn't anywhere to go west unless they want to launch laterally out of the Ball Parking Lot. Maybe best bet is to place it on the top floor of TDA's parking structure (assuming that structure can take the force of the launches??). They may have to get creative.

 

[TiggerDad]

Totally just blew my mind. Always assumed you were in your 60s and a retired marketing/communications exec who had made a lot of contacts over the years. Being in your 40s...with your ability to see the overall picture from back in the 70s up through present day is a pretty unique/amazing gift. Cheers.

Now I'll find out @Lee is a 28 year old grad student at a Kentucky junior college and my entire worldview will shift.

Agreed. I guess we should have paid a little more attention to the 1974 in the name.

 

[HMF]

The other old theme park movies had "Based on Walt's X" too, even though Country Bears was pretty far removed from his influence.

POTC didn't have much to do with the original attraction either. The film that was the most faithful to it's source material was actually The Haunted Mansion.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Let's see- room for Frozen or BatB? BatB by a mile! Especially if they are the attractions Tokyo is getting!

 

[FigmentJedi]

POTC didn't have much to do with the original attraction either. The film that was the most faithful to it's source material was actually The Haunted Mansion.

I was talking more about how Country Bears opened well after Walt's death and how he only really saw a few concept sketches and maybe that Bear Band demo.

 

[MKeeler]

Yes, but as I said, I would think someone wanting that would buy points at WDW, which still leaves the problem of selling the NY resort. Most people don't plan weekend getaways 11 or 7 months in advance. We all want resorts around the world for the occasional visit, but we want to buy at resorts at WDW (or DL), which puts DVC in a predicament such that it makes little sense to build resorts away from the parks.

I would argue on the last sentence that it makes little sense to build resorts away from something Disney. While that means the parks for the most part, I think there are a couple of scenarios separate from the parks, but connected to something Disney that would work. A DVC in the Carribean that could be tied to a Disney Cruise Line experience for example. For that reason, I'm still convinced a Disney NYC DVC hotel could work, if it were paired with exclusive Disney on Broadway opportunities.

 

[Mike S]

Looking good over at Disneyland.

View attachment 194159

In the early days of creative thinking after the reshuffle to behind Frontierland, one concept was to have a very big Fantasyland expansion using Beauty and the Beast and possibly bring a lot under one roof - restaurant and ride.

That's what they should've done in MK!!! I would've rather had the ride than the village and/or M&G and I think many here would agree!!!

 

[asianway]

Agreed. I guess we should have paid a little more attention to the 1974 in the name.

He's made multiple references to going there as a kid when the park was first opening.

 

[Figments Friend]

IMHO it's not 'bashing Disney' to expect them to live up to the quality and service standards they set for THEMSELVES i'm not going to expect Six Flags or my local 'Trolley Park' (amusement parks built at the end of a trolley line) to match and exceed Disney standards, I AM going to call out Disney when they do stuff at or below the level of Six Flags or my local 'Trolley Park'

And it's freaking pathetic that to see a Disney park run the way WDW used to be run you need to travel to Japan and visit Disney parks NOT OWNED BY DISNEY.

Oh I agree...my comment was not meant to be a negative.

It IS indeed good to keep calling out things when standards fall below the level Guests expect...or below the level many of us realize the creative talents of this organization can achieve.

But that is the real rub -
Most modern visitors to WDW, and 'newbies' per say who have only been visiting since the late 90s and 2000s are not aware of those high standards and business practices of the days of yore.
It's the past visitors...those who may have been going to WDW since the 70s and 80s that recognize and notice the differences.

Newer Guests don't have anything to compare today's Park experiences and services with.
Us longtime Guests over several decades in many ways do.

It's no surprise then why today's Disney, when it comes to WDW, wants to target the newbies and 'one and dones'.
They don't want people to remember how the experience used to be.....unless it involves selling you overly priced 'retro' themed merchandise.


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[ford91exploder]

Oh I agree...my comment was not meant to be a negative.

It IS indeed good to keep calling out things when standards fall below the level Guests expect...or below the level many of us realize the creative talents of this organization can achieve.

But that is the real rub -
Most modern visitors to WDW, and 'newbies' per say who have only been visiting since the late 90s and 2000s are not aware of those high standards and business practices of the days of yore.
It's the past visitors...those who may have been going to WDW since the 70s and 80s that recognize and notice the differences.

Newer Guests don't have anything to compare today's Park experiences and services with.
Us longtime Guests over several decades in many ways do.

It's no surprise then why today's Disney, when it comes to WDW, wants to target the newbies and 'one and dones'.
They don't want people to remember how the experience used to be.....unless it involves selling you overly priced 'retro' themed merchandise.


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The sad thing is even the folks who started visiting in the 90's notice that things started to drop in quality as soon as Iger was hired and quality fell off a cliff back in 2010 and the drop keeps accelerating even today.

 

[HMF]

Oh I agree...my comment was not meant to be a negative.

It IS indeed good to keep calling out things when standards fall below the level Guests expect...or below the level many of us realize the creative talents of this organization can achieve.

But that is the real rub -
Most modern visitors to WDW, and 'newbies' per say who have only been visiting since the late 90s and 2000s are not aware of those high standards and business practices of the days of yore.
It's the past visitors...those who may have been going to WDW since the 70s and 80s that recognize and notice the differences.

Newer Guests don't have anything to compare today's Park experiences and services with.
Us longtime Guests over several decades in many ways do.

It's no surprise then why today's Disney, when it comes to WDW, wants to target the newbies and 'one and dones'.
They don't want people to remember how the experience used to be.....unless it involves selling you overly priced 'retro' themed merchandise.


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To be fair the late 90s still had stuff like DAK and the Millennium Celebration. It wasn't quite as dire as it is today ,the decline had begun but I would take the late 90s back in an instant.

 

[doctornick]

I would argue on the last sentence that it makes little sense to build resorts away from something Disney. While that means the parks for the most part, I think there are a couple of scenarios separate from the parks, but connected to something Disney that would work. A DVC in the Carribean that could be tied to a Disney Cruise Line experience for example. For that reason, I'm still convinced a Disney NYC DVC hotel could work, if it were paired with exclusive Disney on Broadway opportunities.

I don't really see how that could work for a NYC resort, but at least it is out of the box thinking.

I do think the best best for an "off site" DVC would be one in the Caribbean on an island you can fly to commercially but can be a stop/resource for the cruise line. Something like Atlantis. I do think there is a market for folks who would buy into such a timeshare especially as it could entice people who might occasionally want to use the points for WDW resorts and vice versa.

Here's an odd thought for DVC: could they sell cruise ship timeshares? Has that ever been done? They already have points tables for the cruises so it could be easy to translate between them and resorts and there is probably a market for folks who want to essentially pre-pay at a discount for regular Disney cruises.

 

[Figments Friend]

To be fair the late 90s still had stuff like DAK and the Millennium Celebration. It wasn't quite as dire as it is today ,the decline had begun but I would take the late 90s back in an instant.

I cannot fully agree...as although DAK was beautifully designed it was sorely short handed when it came to things to do.
That has been addressed with the additions added over the years since, and the World of Pandora will definitely add a further enhancement.

When I think of the late 90s and the Parks, I remember how it brought with it the unfortunate time when management of that division entered a questionable period with several cutbacks and attitude shifts.
Disneyland in particular comes to mind during the famed 'Pressler period' and how that effected operations and the Guest experience.
It was a disgrace..and thankfully the Anaheim Park pulled itself back up.

At WDW, we saw some elaborate e-ticket Attractions removed with weak replacements.
These were specifically targeted at the time by certain departments to purposely be closed because of the high costs involved in keeping them going.
The 20k Submarines (94') 'World of Motion' ( 96') the Original 'Journey Into Imagination' (98'), and Horizons (99') were all lost during that time period...and all under shifty 'reasons'.

For me, the late 90s was when things started going in a misguided direction.
The trend of shortsighted leaders purposely destroying some truly unique and wonderful experiences for the primary purpose of just saving some money and increasing their bonuses.

The Milinium Celebration was great, however....except for that godawful 'Wand' tacked onto Spaceship Earth.




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[HMF]

The Milinium Celebration was great, however....except for that godawful 'Wand' tacked onto Spaceship Earth.
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If it had only lasted the duration of the celebration, I probably would have fond memories of it but it absolutely overstayed it's welcome.

 

[artvandelay]

Here's an odd thought for DVC: could they sell cruise ship timeshares? Has that ever been done? They already have points tables for the cruises so it could be easy to translate between them and resorts and there is probably a market for folks who want to essentially pre-pay at a discount for regular Disney cruises.

While on a Disney cruise years ago I asked the DVC reps this question. Their answer was, "that's an interesting idea". I still like the idea, but I think the issue becomes food and entertainment. If I use my RCI timeshare for a cruise, I just get the cabin. I then have to pay an additional fee for food and entertainment.

 

[TalkingHead]

Saw Rivers of Light tonight and maybe it was my low expectations, but I thought it was fantastic.

I don't really get the Illuminations' globe comparisons, either. This show has better pacing and feels more cohesive than Illuminations. (Admittedly, I've never been a huge fan of that show.)

This is an elegant nighttime show that fits DAK beautifully. The Earth-first theme is going to seem a little wonky after Pandora opens, but whatever. It's ambitious so it gets points for that.

Also, I hadn't heard DAK's closing announcement before, but it's a nice version of the "kiss goodnight." Not sure what the specific script is, but it's quite well written and lyrical without being too cheesy.

I realized tonight that after dark many of DAK's attractions are "thrill" rides (or at least many have a height requirement). Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval, and once it opens the Pandora E-ticket. It's too bad there aren't a couple more D-tickets in the park for the night experience (I guess the Avatar boat ride is one), especially since the animal trails close and the viewing areas are shut down.

It'd be nice if some of the shows had performances later (Nemo's final one is 5, Lion King is 6, and I'm not sure about any of the other shows).