A Spirited Valentine ...

[Rteetz]

I think the bloom is off the rose for a lot of the Disney podcasters. Maybe I'm confusing commonality with causality, but I think the community as a whole started to fade/drift apart when the original WDW Today group retired. Their annual events seemed to rally much of that community, and serve as a common base, if not a glue.
The group at DISUnplugged still seem to be maintaining their level of popularity, but they always seemed to be a bit apart from the rest of community, anyway.
I know there's not a lot of love around these parts for Jim Hill, but I really enjoy Disney Dish, and I'll listen to just about anything upon which he and/or @lentesta make a guest appearance.
Tom C's show is the complete unmistakable garbage it's always been, and I don't think Ricky podcasts at all now.
Lou? He seems like a nice enough guy, but all of that saccharin sweetness can get to be too much. Whenever he posts a review of anything, I roll my eyes and think, "Don't tell me; let me guess. It was all the best stuff ever, and you loved everything." Not the most helpful of reviews, IMO.

I tried listening to the new WDWToday group and I just couldn't. They are not that good.
Personally the one I listen to routinely is the disunplugged, as well as their Disneyland show and connecting with Walt show.
I do listen to Disney Dish as well, I enjoyed the unbuilt Disney segments.
I can't listen to Tom or Lou.
Ricky doesn't and hasn't done podcasts for quite some time now.

 

[NearTheEars]

I agree on the bloggers, but really don't get the fanboi hate/angst over Joe Rohde. The man is a very talented artist. He is an intellectual (follow his Instagram for some thought provoking stuff). And most of the stuff he has been responsible for has turned out quite well.

I get there's this idea that his research trips are responsible for WDI's crazy costs, but they are so far down the list it isn't even funny.

There's been chatter that he is about to take on a major project at Disney when Pandora wraps and that can only be a good thing. Oh, and he isn't responsible for decisions like Guardians Tower. He's responsible for making it the best it possibly can be after it is forced on him.

KABLAM!

 

[HMF]

I liked Godzilla more but to each his own. I'm interested to see what you think.

Which Godzilla?

 

[MisterPenguin]

I have lost a lot of passion for the BRAND, which should worry Disney but absolutely doesn't.

Perhaps the reason is because there are a lot of people who are not you who like the BRAND...

Disney Ranked “Most Intimate Brand” Among Millennials

Disney Earns Top Marks on Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index

Disney Leads Industry on Fortune’s List of “World’s Most Admired Companies”​

Or are the folks at Fortune just a bunch of pixie dusters and lifestylers?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Outside the bubble

Nail on the head.

 

[NearTheEars]

Nail on the head.

If we ever move back North, no chance we are dropping $1,000s just to spend a week at WDW.
So we are going to enjoy being local while it lasts. Though, after 6 years, we are buying a house. The snow can wait a few more years.

 

[wdisney9000]

Perhaps the reason is because there are a lot of people who are not you who like the BRAND...

Disney Ranked “Most Intimate Brand” Among Millennials

Disney Earns Top Marks on Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index

Disney Leads Industry on Fortune’s List of “World’s Most Admired Companies”​

Or are the folks at Fortune just a bunch of pixie dusters and lifestylers?

Any survey with "Among Millennials" attached to it holds about as much weight as rumors of Monorails footers being added. But seriously, I believe @WDW1974 's statement was not necessarily claiming that WDW offers a bad product. It is more in regards to what the product once was (and meant) to the company VS what it continues to become.

Like so many other companies in this day and age, they place higher value on the "image" they sell and the actual product is a secondary factor. Image over substance is the norm. Otherwise known as "Optics" in public relations. Once upon a time, TWDC placed product above all else. They competed against themselves to raise the very bar they had previously set. Nowadays, a DPB or Disney FB post getting 5,000 likes is taken as an accomplishment and Celebration Place gets a pizza party!

 

[ford91exploder]

In the DLP too little too late department

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llion-Paramount-theme-park-set-open-2022.html

This should crush DLP once and for all yes it's a mishmash of IP's. But Star Trek and Dr Who. The combination dwarfs the SW / MARVEL fan base

Unfortunately for the U.K. This will bring lots of uncouth yanks your way

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

..... Once upon a time, TWDC placed product above all else. They competed against themselves to raise the very bar they had previously set.

Sorry, I cut the rest of your post off because this is what stands out to me IMHO it seems as though the more the head of the company likes physical sets/parks the better quality we the public get in the end. I'm hoping whoever replaces Iger has that love for the theme parks as well as the other Disney factions. It's obvious Iger isn't a theme park fan.

That said-watching the Iger Struggle of quickly injecting $$$$$ into Disney parks and properties is kind of amusing. We've gone from bare minimum to holy crap- my American legacy is lacking and my ego is too big to not leave my mark on every state side park.

Some good, some bad of course. What he's doing to Disneyland rips my heart out. But DHS and DAK getting so much attention is definitely a great thing. I hate the ToT idea even though my favorite Marvel movie is GotG.

 

[lazyboy97o]

In the DLP too little too late department

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llion-Paramount-theme-park-set-open-2022.html

This should crush DLP once and for all yes it's a mishmash of IP's. But Star Trek and Dr Who. The combination dwarfs the SW / MARVEL fan base

Unfortunately for the U.K. This will bring lots of uncouth yanks your way

Or it ends up like the two "amazing" IP parks that just opened in Dubai...

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

In the DLP too little too late department

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llion-Paramount-theme-park-set-open-2022.html

This should crush DLP once and for all yes it's a mishmash of IP's. But Star Trek and Dr Who. The combination dwarfs the SW / MARVEL fan base

Unfortunately for the U.K. This will bring lots of uncouth yanks your way

If this park actually gets built, I'll be shocked.

 

[COProgressFan]

I'm usually not big on anything Brooks Barnes writes and this is absolutely PR, but still might be interesting (especially since y'all can't help but talk movies):

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/...on-gamble.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1

Interesting article, and yes, it reads like PR fluff. I'm actually looking forward to this movie, which I can't really say for most of the previous live action remakes.

With a stodgy-sounding name like Brooks Barnes, working for the Times, I had always assumed there was some legitimacy there, but after finding his Twitter feed last year and seeing some of his work during the Shanghai opening, I realized he really seems like a fanboi/sycophant.

 

[DznyRktekt]

In the DLP too little too late department

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llion-Paramount-theme-park-set-open-2022.html

This should crush DLP once and for all yes it's a mishmash of IP's. But Star Trek and Dr Who. The combination dwarfs the SW / MARVEL fan base

Unfortunately for the U.K. This will bring lots of uncouth yanks your way

So you are hoping for DLP to fail?

 

[truecoat]

In the DLP too little too late department

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llion-Paramount-theme-park-set-open-2022.html

This should crush DLP once and for all yes it's a mishmash of IP's. But Star Trek and Dr Who. The combination dwarfs the SW / MARVEL fan base

Unfortunately for the U.K. This will bring lots of uncouth yanks your way

The fan base doesn't come close. The top 8 Star Trek movies didn't make as much as Episodes 2 and 3 combined internationally. Marvel alone is bigger than both of those.

 

[ford91exploder]

So you are hoping for DLP to fail?

No of course not DLP is a beautiful park and has some of Tony Baxter's best work, But it's going to take the corporate equivalent of a bloody nose before TWDC fixes what's wrong with DLP on both the marketing and attractions side of the ledger at DLP.

 

[ford91exploder]

The fan base doesn't come close. The top 8 Star Trek movies didn't make as much as Episodes 2 and 3 combined internationally. Marvel alone is bigger than both of those.

Bzzzt wrong, Any given weekend there is a Star Trek or Dr Who convention somewhere in the US and World, The movies capture a small segment of the fanbase. Heck there are even Hollywood quality Fan Fiction Star Trek movies being released with Paramount's approval.

http://www.startrek.com/fan-films

I can't even imagine Disney doing something similar but Disney DOES work hard to marginalize organizations like the 501'st Legion, Yeah There is a great idea, crap on your franchise's biggest fans.

Same deal for Doctor Who, BB-8 meh' RC Dalek - TAKE MY MONEY!

 

[ford91exploder]

If this park actually gets built, I'll be shocked.

If it gets built I'll be there on opening day!

 

[ford91exploder]

Or it ends up like the two "amazing" IP parks that just opened in Dubai...

We will see - as paramount does not have the greatest history with parks, See Great America in Santa Clara for but one example.

But the 'Star Trek Experience' in the LVH was absolutely amazing as was the accompanying 'Quark's Bar'. Discussing battle tactics with the Klingons and how to cheat your customers with the Ferengi the definition of an 'Immersive Experience' along with being on the bridge of the Enterprise-D.

re battle tactics Have a friend who is a bladesmith who made us a functional Bat'Leth yes it is SHARP and NOT a child's toy by any means. It really helped that we had access to an industrial water jet to cut the blank(s) with yes we got one while he made a few others.

 

[doctornick]

I must not get out much, because this is the only place (these threads specifically) where I see them mentioned frequently.

Yep. I literally wouldn't even know anything about so called "lifestylers" if people here didn't ever mention them. And while this is my main source for Disney info, I go to a few other sites from time to time. The idea that they are unavoidable seems quite odd to me.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

If this park actually gets built, I'll be shocked.

It's definitely not the first time a Paramount park in the UK has been announced, I know that much.