Al Lutz -- Fantasyland budget cuts

[jt04]

Cool article...

Pythons, sure....Iguanas? To small, though they do get big-ish. :lol:

Back to SitS! :lol:

EDIT: Nevermind, I see you have amended your Sig. :lol:

Igaunas are suspected of eating the eggs of the endangered burrowng owl. They are very bad.

OK, back to SiTS. They can't bring it back because the tower was removed. But you make a great case that the nightly shows should be built around an icon etc.

I actually agree with Pumbas about Illuminations. It's time for a show of the scale that can actually fill the World Showcase lagoon "stage". WoC technology can't do that at a reasonable cost. Sky Dance?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Igaunas are suspected of eating the eggs of the endangered burrowng owl. They are very bad.

OK, back to SiTS. They can't bring it back because the tower was removed. But you make a great case that the nightly shows should be built around an icon etc.

I actually agree with Pumbas about Illuminations. It's time for a show of the scale that can actually fill the World Showcase lagoon "stage". WoC technology can't do that at a reasonable cost. Sky Dance?

That is very true.:fork: Seeing that I've always been a bit of a budding ornithologist, that does not fly (Hah! Bird pun!) with me.

That's right about the Tower...but it could easily be moved, or replicated, or something. That was back in the 90's. I'm sure that gigantic, spark shooting, magical Mickey Balloon tech has improved.

SkyDance is dead, but I believe the tech developed for it could be married to the current show. And the way I understand it, yes, Skydance would have been larger in terms of being on the "stage". Smokey.

 

[MiklCraw4d]

I believe he also mentioned Pressler wanting to knock down Plaza Pavilion, the old Tahitian Terrace and Tiki Room and build a food court ... and when HKDL was in development I am almost certain he was the webmaster who suggested Main Street would have outlets from third parties, including Planet Hollywood and McDonald's.

I just wish at the time those rumors hadn't been all too plausible

The info is out there and it isn't hard to find. I now have people I don't even know coming to me with info, although I'm usually skeptical until they prove themselves. But I always encourage those who can't put stuff out there that impacts WDW, its fans, guests and cast to let me do it for them.

As time goes by these things get easier as one builds their reputation, but I'm just talking about the average Disney fan. If you want to know what's up at Disneyland, you usually just have to wait for Al to update. But if you want a real picture of what's happening behind the scenes at WDW you have to constantly check here (separating the wheat from chaff in hundreds of posts), maybe LaughingPlace, maybe MiceAge, Blue Sky, and a dozen others - even my site from time to time, when I manage to get a scoop. That's difficult for even a die-hard fan to keep up with, which makes it harder to piece together a meaningful narrative about a rumor.

 

[HMF]

Well, I certainly hope that's the first of MANY problems to correct. Makes a 4 day trip hard as hell to plan when you can only see Fant! twice a week.

I agree with you 100% though...Our tech needs to be brought up to speed just so there can be that inner competition. Bring some of this WoC stuff to modify RoE with. Perfect place to start. Then, help out Fantasmic with DL's new tech. I wouldn't mind if it's the same at this point....Just make our parks look good.

Maybe they can use some of the World of Color projection technology for ROE.

 

[HMF]

SkyDance is dead, but I believe the tech developed for it could be married to the current show. And the way I understand it, yes, Skydance would have been larger in terms of being on the "stage". Smokey.

It really is the story that matters and Reflections of Earth captures the meaning of Epcot perfectly. In fact with Spaceship Earth in it's current condition it is the last real thematic pillar standing among the Nemo's and Caballeros.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Maybe they can use some of the World of Color projection technology for ROE.

That, and the water. And the fire. And the lights.

:lookaroun

It really is the story that matters and Reflections of Earth captures the meaning of Epcot perfectly. In fact with Spaceship Earth in it's current condition it is the last real thematic pillar standing among the Nemo's and Caballeros.

Cmon, don't be so pessimistic....SSE's Story is intact for 75% of the ride, the Cabs fit to an extent, but yes, Nemo is hell on this, our Spaceship Earth, and desecrates the hollowed ground of EPCOT it sits on.:lookaroun


:lol:

EPCOT's problems are visible, but there are places like The Land, M:S, AA, and SSE where it really is clear.

 

[HMF]

EPCOT's problems are visible, but there are places like The Land, M:S, AA, and SSE where it really is clear.

Yes but I think RoE is what creates that unified whole.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Yes but I think RoE is what creates that unified whole.

No doubt in that at all. For a firework show, I find that it is one of the most cohesive things that they have done!

 

[_Scar]

:lol:

EPCOT's problems are visible, but there are places like The Land, M:S, AA, and SSE where it really is clear.

Add TLSwNaF to that list, then yes.

 

[jrriddle]

I may be reading too much into this, but Tales from the Laughing Place magazine was delayed by a month (by the way it's a fantastic magazine, better then the D23 magazine IMHO). The cover story was supposed to be the new Fantasyland Expansion.
I wrote to Lidsay Cave at Laughing Place to see when the new ship date announced and this is what he wrote back:

Hi there
Thanks for the post.
The issue will ship in January - I got the proof today. We had to make some changes to the contents at the last minute which threw the timetable out the window.
The press release with the contents will be up on LP Latest soon.
I hope it will be worth the wait!

Lindsay
Creative Director
Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine

I noticed today that while the FL expansion will still be on the cover and be a story in the magazine it is no longer the feature story. The feature story is now about the closing of The Mickey Mouse Review in Tokyo (which I am looking forward to reading).
So Lindsay and Lee MacDonald (also with LP magazine) are both apparently very tight with Disney and WDI and get a lot of material from them. But the sudden drop of the FL expansion cover story makes me wonder if the talk if a budget cut is true and Disney asked him to change the story or omit parts that were already written.
Again I want to stress that I may be reading waaaaay too much into this and it could be somethign else all together.

 

[aladdin2007]

Hopefully its not for the worse that way, meaning so much cut it cant be a feature now. But I guess we will find out soon.

Im wondering if they are going to keep the new full service dining in the plans, MK is in dire need of more sit down dining. A couple weeks ago while there I watched and over heard several guests be turned away from The Plaza cause it was booked and bitterly complaining that there was nowhere to eat, and how bad the counter service spots are.

Wasnt it going to Beauty and The Beast? and then Gastons was going to be counter?

 

[RSoxNo1]

It could also be that this was information they wanted to announce at the shareholders meeting instead of a magazine article 3 months prior.

 

[tirian]

Hopefully its not for the worse that way, meaning so much cut it cant be a feature now. But I guess we will find out soon.

Im wondering if they are going to keep the new full service dining in the plans, MK is in dire need of more sit down dining. A couple weeks ago while there I watched and over heard several guests be turned away from The Plaza cause it was booked and bitterly complaining that there was nowhere to eat, and how bad the counter service spots are.

Wasnt it going to Beauty and The Beast? and then Gastons was going to be counter?

This is a perfect example of the "anecdotal evidence" we discussed in the Tom Staggs thread! Everybody who frequents the parks seems to be hearing more and more complaints from normal (non-fanboy) guests. :brick:

 

[xdan0920]

This is a perfect example of the "anecdotal evidence" we discussed in the Tom Staggs thread! Everybody who frequents the parks seems to be hearing more and more complaints from normal (non-fanboy) guests. :brick:

I agree, in my travels I have been hearing lots and lots of complaints from just normal people who had an idea of what WDW would be, and it not living up to that. Hard to imagine that ever being the case, but TDO is failing constantly now, it is a very worrisome trend.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

This is a perfect example of the "anecdotal evidence" we discussed in the Tom Staggs thread! Everybody who frequents the parks seems to be hearing more and more complaints from normal (non-fanboy) guests. :brick:

I say they put mikes around the parks.

Or something RFID...:lookaroun:lol::lookaroun

 

[aladdin2007]

Problem is I dont think the powers that be care, TDO is def clueless. But you would think there would be a few in charge there at least that get it and understand. Maybe there is and they are fighting for things, we just dont know it.

But its sounding like its a group of statistic number crunchers who could care less about Disney magic and quality and what the needs are.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Problem is I dont think the powers that be care, TDO is def clueless.

Again, that is not true!

End of story.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Problem is I dont think the powers that be care, TDO is def clueless. But you would think there would be a few in charge there at least that get it and understand. Maybe there is and they are fighting for things, we just dont know it.

But its sounding like its a group of statistic number crunchers who could care less about Disney magic and quality and what the needs are.

I think there is, and they didn't have power until very recently.:lookaroun:lol:

 

[wm49rs]

I agree, in my travels I have been hearing lots and lots of complaints from just normal people who had an idea of what WDW would be, and it not living up to that. Hard to imagine that ever being the case, but TDO is failing constantly now, it is a very worrisome trend.

It does make you wonder if these complaints are really making it to the upper echelons at TDO. Yes, the WDW blog got inundated when LoW went down, and eveyone knows these boards (and others) are monitored for feedback and commentary. But I truly wonder if the "Powers That Be" actually get the feedback, or more importantly, hold it in any regard.....

 

[DisneyParksFan1]

It does make you wonder if these complaints are really making it to the upper echelons at TDO. Yes, the WDW blog got inundated when LoW went down, and eveyone knows these boards (and others) are monitored for feedback and commentary. But I truly wonder if the "Powers That Be" actually get the feedback, or more importantly, hold it in any regard.....

So do I, I think they are starting to listen to us, at least with the keeping everything new and tidy complaints because they are doing so many rehabs and refurbs right now. One member of this forum wittily mentioned that the MK is wall-city right now. Which in my opinion is great!