Al Lutz says Fantasyland Budget has been "Reduced"

[lebeau]

I thought it was an excellent read.

Any other similar books about Disney out there?

No doubt. Great book.

But even thinking about it makes me angry at Eisner all over again.

 

[HMF]

I thought it was an excellent read.

Any other similar books about Disney out there?

Neal Gabler's Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination is an excellent book and works well as a prequel to Disney War.

 

[DisneyCanadian]

Neal Gabler's Walt Disney:The Triumph of the American Imagination is an excellent book and works well as a prequel to Disney War.

thanks
and thats easily available at book stores, its not a rare find or put of print or anything like that?

 

[HMF]

thanks
and thats easily available at book stores, its not a rare find or put of print or anything like that?

You could find it at your local library or Borders. (Wow' I am becoming an Advertising Agent. LOL!)

 

[DisneyCanadian]

You could find it at your local library or Borders. (Wow' I am becoming an Advertising Agent. LOL!)

i won't find it at border's (in Canada), but i think i know where to look

thanks again!

 

[lebeau]

Not to turn this into a book thread, but the Gabler bio was also an excellent read.

 

[hrcollectibles]

Just like everything else Lutz.. I will take it with a grain of salt.. I cannot refer to Mr. Lutz as one of my Favorite Podcast Crew Does as it may get me in trouble.... I for one will be happy with any additions to Walt Disney World. Just because a budget is cut (if true) does not mean that the updates Disney World Gets will stink...

 

[DisneyCanadian]

Ok, so back on topic then, lol

so which of the planned ideas for the refurb are most likey to come to fruition

 

[The Conundrum]

Ok, so back on topic then, lol

so which of the planned ideas for the refurb are most likey to come to fruition

Little Mermaid Clone

The princess meet & greets

some retheming of toon town to make it look like a forest

 

[Studios Fan]

Little Mermaid Clone

The princess meet & greets

some retheming of toon town to make it look like a forest

Seems logical to me.

 

[lebeau]

Like someone posted earlier, I really hope Dumbo makes the cut. Doubling the capacity for Dumbo is such a good, simple idea. I can't believe it hasn't come up sooner.

 

[HMF]

i won't find it at border's (in Canada), but i think i know where to look

thanks again!

There's no Borders in Canada? That's news to me.

 

[jt04]

Toontown Fair has been on the chopping block for years. The tents are deteriorating and have been patched several times. Neither WDI nor TDO cares whether or not TTF remains.

Well we're all agreed then!

I might be flattered if I was into crazy dudes!:ROFLOL:

As much as you talk like this I think you might be lying. :lookaroun *shudders*

Like someone posted earlier, I really hope Dumbo makes the cut. Doubling the capacity for Dumbo is such a good, simple idea. I can't believe it hasn't come up sooner.

Not to mention the benefit of having no spinners in AL or FL "proper".


And finally the "who is the sheriff" question. *sigh* :brick:

It's so completely obvious it would just be too taxing to have to say it. I just can't bring myself to it. But here is a hint. Fantasyland is supposed to happen against TDO's wishes. (if you believe that). So............:zipit:

 

[TP2000]

Is anyone here actually going to D23? Im considering picking up a ticket just to see the theme park stuff.

I'm going on Friday the 11th. I'm not a D23 member, so I'm just driving over to Anaheim from my home in lovely Villa Park and buying a ticket and walking in for the afternoon. I plan on staying at least a couple of hours; but if it's fun I will stay longer. I really have no interest in any of the Consumer Products, Disney Studios, Disney Channel, ABC TV, ESPN, Disney Collectibles, blah, blah, blah stuff. I really only care about Disney theme parks, so I will check out the WDI exhibit and see whatever it is they have on display.

The Anaheim Convention Center has been entirely reserved by Disney for the D23 Expo. And the Anaheim Convention Center is the largest convention center on the West Coast; bigger than the centers in Los Angeles or San Francisco or Portland or Seattle or San Diego. It's a HUGE sprawling facility, so the entire thing dedicated to all things Disney should be fairly intoxicating to die hard fans.

But I'm only going for the parks stuff really, and really just the Disneyland stuff. But it sounds like most of the Parks & Resorts Exhibit is focused on things coming to Anaheim in the next year or three.

Although I am interested to see what, if anything, they have to say about Walt Disney World out there on the edge of the planet 3,000 miles away from Anaheim.

 

[sponono88]

What live demo? Are they gonna have a set up at the convention center or will they actually walk us into DCA to take a gander?

no, even better.. I'm pretty sure Steven Davison will be there for the WoC preview to give one of his infamous live presentations. he does a good job of 'acting out' the scenes :lookaroun the guy's always so full of energy

from the press release:

World of Color – Imagineer Steven Davison brings to life World of Color, the water-and-fire spectacular that will debut next year at Disney’s California Adventure.

Special Preview: “The Wonderful World of Color,” 2 p.m., Storytellers Theater

a similar preview was held at the Blue Sky Cellar last month (video..)

 

[cdunbar]

a similar preview was held at the Blue Sky Cellar last month (video..)

That was a VERY high energy presentation. No wonder you want to go to see this. This show has so many elements and advancements it's going to be pretty amazing I imagine. I may have to go to Cali just for that!

 

[WV_Jayola]

I'm going on Friday the 11th. I'm not a D23 member, so I'm just driving over to Anaheim from my home in lovely Villa Park and buying a ticket and walking in for the afternoon. I plan on staying at least a couple of hours; but if it's fun I will stay longer. I really have no interest in any of the Consumer Products, Disney Studios, Disney Channel, ABC TV, ESPN, Disney Collectibles, blah, blah, blah stuff. I really only care about Disney theme parks, so I will check out the WDI exhibit and see whatever it is they have on display.

The Anaheim Convention Center has been entirely reserved by Disney for the D23 Expo. And the Anaheim Convention Center is the largest convention center on the West Coast; bigger than the centers in Los Angeles or San Francisco or Portland or Seattle or San Diego. It's a HUGE sprawling facility, so the entire thing dedicated to all things Disney should be fairly intoxicating to die hard fans.

But I'm only going for the parks stuff really, and really just the Disneyland stuff. But it sounds like most of the Parks & Resorts Exhibit is focused on things coming to Anaheim in the next year or three.

Although I am interested to see what, if anything, they have to say about Walt Disney World out there on the edge of the planet 3,000 miles away from Anaheim.

It seems so weird to me for people to be really into the parks, but not all the other Disney-related things. Please, I don't mean this rudely, so I hope you don't take offense, but I just don't see how it's possible. To me, it all goes completely hand in hand.

Am I the only one who feels that way?

jeff.

 

[vonpluto]

I'm going on Friday the 11th. I'm not a D23 member, so I'm just driving over to Anaheim from my home in lovely Villa Park and buying a ticket and walking in for the afternoon. I plan on staying at least a couple of hours; but if it's fun I will stay longer. I really have no interest in any of the Consumer Products, Disney Studios, Disney Channel, ABC TV, ESPN, Disney Collectibles, blah, blah, blah stuff. I really only care about Disney theme parks, so I will check out the WDI exhibit and see whatever it is they have on display.

The Anaheim Convention Center has been entirely reserved by Disney for the D23 Expo. And the Anaheim Convention Center is the largest convention center on the West Coast; bigger than the centers in Los Angeles or San Francisco or Portland or Seattle or San Diego. It's a HUGE sprawling facility, so the entire thing dedicated to all things Disney should be fairly intoxicating to die hard fans.

But I'm only going for the parks stuff really, and really just the Disneyland stuff. But it sounds like most of the Parks & Resorts Exhibit is focused on things coming to Anaheim in the next year or three.

Although I am interested to see what, if anything, they have to say about Walt Disney World out there on the edge of the planet 3,000 miles away from Anaheim.

Saw this over at the Magic Music Forums:

"On Friday, Sept 11 at the D23 Expo, there's a session titled: "We Make the Music: Conversations with the Creators of Disney Theme Park Music" at 3:30 p.m. in the Storytellers Theater. No further details about participants have been listed yet."

:wave:

 

[RSoxNo1]

So the assumption is that WDW will have the following projects revealed at the D23 Expo:

Star Tours 2.0
Soarin' Over the World
Fantasyland Makeover/Ariel's Undersea Adventure

I wouldn't assume that at all. I'd be VERY surprised if all of that gets announced. ST2.0 is a given. And they will do/show something for WDW ... but what is open to interpretation.

Interesting... Are you implying that Jim Hill may have jumped the gun? But that never happens...

I assume Star Tours 2.0 will take te existing Star Tours up at least one ticket level (depending on your perspective, C to D, or D to E). It will probably not affect capacity in that park, but it will help to spread out the crowds a bit more.

It 'could' and 'should' affect capacity in the park in that it has six simulators and doesn't always use them. Can't even tell you the amount of times they do since I spend such little time in said park. If all of a sudden ST 2.0 is a 'must see' again, it will likely eat a whole lot more people per hour than it is now.

And without getting into a large debate, ST was always considered an E-ticket at WDI so the new version would certainly.

I didn't even think that Star Tours wouldn't be running at full capacity - good to know. As for it being an E-Ticket, I don't think the demand of the attraction meets that of typical E-Tickets, but for the purposes of better explaining my argument, I'll say that demand for the ride will increase with a new version.

I'm guessing Soarin' Over the World will be a significant enough overhaul, but with Soarin' already considered an E-Ticket, I don't expect this to be a significant change to the attraction lineup from a quality stand point. I'm also not expecting an increase in capacity or a deviation in crowd flow.

Makes sense.

I do think it would be an opportunity to move the fastpass machines for Soarin', that would certainly assist in the traffic flow. I'd love to see a centralized Fast Pass locale outside of the Land for both Soarin' and Living with the Land.

The Fantasyland Makeover will be adding a people eating attraction in Ariel's Undersea Adventure, that will add a D/E ticket to the attraction lineup. The other tertiary attractions should result in marginal capacity increases as well.

I would bet Mermaid would immediately become one of the top 'must dos' on anyone's MK list. People don't all do the mountains or all of them. This is a classic Disney type attraction. And it will also eat people as omnimover attractions do.

I agree. Perhaps I should clarify, I think Ariel's Undersea Adventure will obviously be a huge increase in capacity. I also think that the other minor attractions/meet and greets will also increase capacity on a smaller level. Question: Is Mermaid expected to have Fastpass?

I look at all of these as good things. Although Magic Kingdom already sees the highest attendance, it was in need of an increase to capacity. Epcot typically handles crowds better than the other parks, however it is still in need of a high capacity E-Ticket as Test Track and Soarin' can't really meet the demand. Adding 1 or 2 additional screens to Soarin' for Soarin' Over the World would be a very significant gesture towards guest satisfaction.

Not gonna happen, nor should it happen.

I don't expect it to - more just wishful thinking. The other options for increasing capacity are shortening the show, or redesigning the lift mechanism to add additional rows or seats. I'm guessing the only realistic one at this point would be shortening the show.

Hollywood Studios has two large capacity thrill rides already. That's not to say losing the Monster's Inc coaster doesn't hurt, but I do feel that Star Tours 2.0 makes more sense at this time. It also is a step away from the Eisynergy era where attraction decisions were made more on a marketing standpoint (See: Dinosaur/Countdown to Extinction) than a practical or quality stand point. With that said, I still wouldn't rule out the Monster's Inc coaster to happen a year or two after Monster's Inc 2 comes out.

I'm was kind of surprised to hear it had been killed based on the above. And Iger has said synergy is very important to him with franchises ... that said, they could always do a cheapo redo on MILF at MK.

Iger also that he wouldn't make attractions on non-franchises. Based on the investment into Dinosaur (the movie) Eisner probably believed it was going to be a franchise, but has Iger opened an attraction without knowing if something is a franchise the way Eisner did with Dinosaur? Sure, Eisner was a bit more cautious with Fire Mountain (and the Atlantis tie in), but he also had "It's Tough to be a Bug" open before the movie was in theaters.

The problem with all this though is that the Animal Kingdom is the park that is in the most dire need of additional attractions. This was the case since it's inception, and the park still has only 6 rides, 2 of which (Primeval Whirl and Triceratops Spin) don't really belong in the park. Now, it can be argued that Hollywood Studios also suffers from a weak ride lineup as well (and I agree), but I feel after the addition of Toy Story Mania to DHS, and Ariel's Undersea Adventure to MK, that Animal Kingdom should be next in line to receive a new ride.

I disagree that DAK needs rides. It isn't a ride park to begin with and never was supposed to be. And while I'd love to see more additions, I'd rather -- at this point -- if they took a healthy new look at Rivers of Light and adding a few new animal exhibits.

But this is the problem with WDW becoming the Mousecasprawl that it is. The parks wind up in competition with each other and they all suffer because of it.

I think this is where we differ. I absolutely agree that it needs more animal exhibits, but after daylight savings time, all the animals are in by 4:30-5:00 PM. When the Animal Kingdom opened with a poor performance, it was because they didn't have enough to do that wasn't driven by live animals. Joe Rohde used this to help push Beastly Kingdom back on the drawing boards, then Eisner saw Dueling Dragons and concluded that the current incarnation of Beastly Kingdom wouldn't work. That's in large part why we got Everest. If you want to extend the park's day, you not only need a nighttime parade or show (like Rivers of Light), but you also need additional attractions that don't rely on live animals.

Another problem I see is that adding another animal area like Australia, would logically mean the removal of a portion of Dinorama. I do want to see Dinorama removed, but in this situation we'd be replacing old attractions, not building new ones.

Has there been any discussion about adding new live animal exhibits to the park? I can't think of anything that's been added since they opened up Asia.

 

[Foolish1]

It seems unlikely that the plans were a hoax. From everything we've been hearing, the D23 people always planned to announce some kind of FL expansion.

I remember hearing how angry they were that their thunder was stollen by the leaked plans. I thought it was odd to be that bent out of shape about it. But, if their announcement is less than what was leaked, I can see why they would be upset. An announcement that would have excited a lot of fans is now likely to disappoint a lot of them.

Yes, my expectations were raised by the leaked plans. But a lot of people saw the plans and said "That's it?" So the if we don't even get the "That's it?" version, well, it's disappointing.

You don't suppose the plans were leaked *BECAUSE* the project had been downsized, and somebody within wanted to embarass management for a poor decision, do you?