American Adventure Projection System Fail

[Brad Bishop]

American Adventure regularly plays to full audiences. Audiences who often applaud at the conclusion of the presentation.

The attraction is a timeless WED masterpiece, and is as relevant as it was the day it opened.

Serious question- how can a historical presentation be outdated? Did the history of our nation change at some point?

I like the show, I really do. I often fall asleep in there. You could argue that I've seen it enough that it has become familiar enough where it's just one of those things that calms me like a good song or whatever. Still, it puts me to sleep.

I don't want it moved or changed but, at the same time, I think a lot of folks use it for HVAC and a nap. I've been there when it's been "busy" (maybe 1/2 full at best or slightly more) but never when it's been full. I sort of remember it being full way back in the 1980s at the beginning of Epcot.

If it were modernized it would be something on the order of "America Sucks" as that's what the kids today have been taught in public school. If I were to say any other country sucks these same kids would reprimand me for being a "hater". If I say, "I like America and it's actually a really good country," then that's somehow controversial and I'm back to being a "hater".

The "everything sucks" is also reflected in our music, if you think about it. Songs before 1970 or so could be generally upbeat and fun. There were other mood songs in there as well for broken hearts and whatnot. Most songs today are aggressively depressing. I like many of them but there's an obvious trend in the songs which amounts to "everything sucks". It's really not the case. We're all living in some of the best times in human history. Typical human history is us commoners living under the thumb of some dictator eating scraps just to get by in a generally dirty world (the Dictator's place is nice, so I've heard...). We don't live like that. Our cities are cleaner than they were 50 years back. We all have clean water and generally comfortable living. If you were to go only by the songs, everything sucks.

Sci-Fi folks have this same problem. They get caught up in the Sci-Fi drama about how cruel the world is and how horrible humans are and, yeah, some of that exists. Right now a lot of us have the upper hand, though. Better living. In control of our own lives. It's not bad.

That show in that building, as much as it puts me to sleep, shows that while we may have had our faults in the past, we're one of the few nations that actively took steps to correct those faults and that's a good thing which should be applauded, not condemned. If you take your eye off of the politics, the universities, and the news and just look at the people on the street, they get along, do business with each other, and enjoy each other's company and generally don't care about your race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual preference. They're happy to do business with you or have a beer with you just as long as you treat them in kind. That's America.

 

[geekza]

I just want to “bump” this because of how true it is. I was a GSM for a little less than a year (worked at WDW for 6+ years) and being an attractions GSM was the worst job I ever had. My peers were cutthroat, vicious, and ruthless. My area leader had unrealistic expectations. We were expected to work 50 hour weeks on a 40 hour base salary. My area leader would stroll in around 8:30 and be out by 4. My peers lived for reprimanding cast. It was hell. I still have nightmares about having to go back and do that job.

As someone who worked his way into leadership at an online behemoth, I feel your pain. I worked my butt off to move up in the company. When I finally got there, I made more money than I had ever made before or ever will again. I was also miserable. I was forced to treat people as simply data on a spreadsheet and had to constantly contend with my peers scratching and clawing to move up even further, not caring who they took out in the process. It was actively encouraged by the company. No matter how much success you had in saving the company time or money, you were expected to do even better the next year or else consider yourself a failure. Once I realized that I was living to work, rather than working to live and was putting the company ahead of my family, friends, and mental and physical health, I cashed in my stock and ran. Never again.

 

[Brad Bishop]

As someone who worked his way into leadership at an online behemoth, I feel your pain. I worked my butt off to move up in the company. When I finally got there, I made more money than I had ever made before or ever will again. I was also miserable. I was forced to treat people as simply data on a spreadsheet and had to constantly contend with my peers scratching and clawing to move up even further, not caring who they took out in the process. It was actively encouraged by the company. No matter how much success you had in saving the company time or money, you were expected to do even better the next year or else consider yourself a failure. Once I realized that I was living to work, rather than working to live and was putting the company ahead of my family, friends, and mental and physical health, I cashed in my stock and ran. Never again.

Companies don't typically think.

I knew a guy who regularly worked 60-80 hours a week and he was thought of as a super star. He could do no wrong.

Then he met a girl and his hours when to closer to 40-60 hours / week. The management at the company didn't see that as: "Wow, we really made out when he was working 60-80 hrs/week and now he's found a girl and he's still working 40-60 hrs/week! We're still winning!" Nope. All that say was that his productivity was down from before he had a girlfriend and, thus, he should be dinged on his yearly review.

They dinged him and soon after he left.

A really smart guy who was dedicated to the company (still doing overtime, just not 2x overtime) left the company because he was only appreciated on a spreadsheet based on what he did do and not what he was doing or any other worth. A guy who never worked more than 40hrs/wk got a higher rating than this guy because the guy who worked 40hrs/wk was consistent. Maybe he wasn't giving extra but, year over year, he was still giving the same. The 60-80hrs/wk guy wasn't and that was bad.

It's dumb and it's corporate America. Put everything on a spreadsheet, don't think, and the numbers never lie.