alissafalco
Well-Known Member
Wow!! Great catch! I cant believe they quoted you Pixiedustmaker!!
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Country Bear Jamboree closing for lengthy refurbishment in August
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Wow!! Great catch! I cant believe they quoted you Pixiedustmaker!!
John
Well-Known Member
once again......bad solution to a non-exsisting problem......FUBaR
asianway
Well-Known Member
That's like the line in that one article that claimed they could dispatch parades & characters in real time based on real time crowd patterns - never happen
Tinkerbell 8
Well-Known Member
That same thing caught my eye, not sure if its going to happen, but it would be nice. I never got to see either the Christmas or Vacation show except on Youtube.
COProgressFan
Well-Known Member
Yeah, they have been throwing out the "new technology makes it easier to change things" line for at least 20 years. It never happens, except in rare circumstances. I would highly doubt we will see a seasonal show under the current Crofton/Holmes regime, though I know an exec shakeup is coming. Maybe if Dan Cockerell does come to the MK, he'll have a soft spot in his heart for the bears.
Also, anyone else find it odd this appeared in the NY Times? Not exactly who would have planted it, as it isn't entirely flattering to Disney, unless they were just going for the "look, we still care" angle. Strange article indeed, because if Brooks Barnes was going to write about the goings on in WDW, there are much better angles and MUCH larger issues to look at.
alphac2005
Well-Known Member
I was reading The Times on the iPad edition yesterday and I was really surprised to see a featured article about the Country Bears on there. After reading the article, the only thing that I could think of is that we can with absolute certainty expect to never see the likes of long, fully immersive attractions at WDW ever again. The idea of a 12, 15, 20 minute attraction is history, even if it high capacity like Horizons.
Kids even with all sorts of technology, still love long rides, if they're awesome. My kids wish that attractions whether it's Pirates at the Magic Kingdom or Spiderman at IOA were way longer because they think they're great.
Everything with this company ends up being some excuse of cutting something with the PR spin of improvement. It's stunning to hear from some of the kind posters here at WDWMagic that the audio is still low. Are you kidding me? We went with the kids last December and couldn't make out nearly a word and it sounded like the audio system was comprised of old, boxy 70's speakers in monotone. Geez.
Kids even with all sorts of technology, still love long rides, if they're awesome. My kids wish that attractions whether it's Pirates at the Magic Kingdom or Spiderman at IOA were way longer because they think they're great.
Everything with this company ends up being some excuse of cutting something with the PR spin of improvement. It's stunning to hear from some of the kind posters here at WDWMagic that the audio is still low. Are you kidding me? We went with the kids last December and couldn't make out nearly a word and it sounded like the audio system was comprised of old, boxy 70's speakers in monotone. Geez.
J.E.Smith
Active Member
Which is strange because in the 2008 refurb they got rid of the old 70s speakers.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Wow. That's really embarassing.
You have to wonder who they think they are kidding with these sorts of marketing puff pieces. No one with more than three brain cells believes them.
And what's with the 19 year old kids who look fresh out of Junior College being put in charge of a major project like this? Is there no one left in WDI's Florida offices with any sort of tenure or real experience? Are they just hiring kids for pizza-n-beer money to slash and destroy classic Walt Disney attractions? That's what it looks like.
At least there's still the Tokyo Disneyland version. And of course, because it's Tokyo, every time I've been to their Bear show the thing is beautifully maintained and looks like it's 1971 and it just opened a month ago. Nevermind that the funniest bits of dialogue are in Japanese.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Yeah, can't believe that either!
Anyway, it is good that they upgraded the animatronics/show, but in the larger context of show cuts and loss of the special overlays, what should be considered as just long overdue maintenance is being portrayed as this great new project when this just isn't the case. It's almost like TDO is saying they discovered this rusty old gem of an attraction and are sprucing it up when really they have let it decay and stagnate for decades.
They've got the technology to randomly rotate songs and to do overlays for a relatively small price, $15,000 - $25,000. Don't see why executives are making millions and they can't do the overlays? I'm sure the budget for all the holiday decorations are in the millions . . . Plus, how many of the classic Christmas songs are still copyrighted? That has been brought up as an issue, the parks always use a lot of different Christmas songs . . .
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Oh, I think TDO is really playing up the "look, we still care" angle. Kind of glad that the NYT article looked at some of the fan grievances.
I am hopeful that technology upgrades will allow for easier changes to seasonal shows. If they hired kids fresh out of college to do the refurb (as the video seems to suggest), they can hire some to spend a weekend changing out the bears' costumes. Heck, they could do a special event and let guests, under WDI supervision, make the costumes changes, they could probably even charge for this!
If they see guests coming to see the refurbed bears, they might realize that seasonal overlays can bring in business, and are cheaper than building a whole new land, like FLE.
Tramp&TheLady
Member
After seeing the video on the disney parks blog it is obvious why this was such a failed refurb. i think this is the same crew of imagineers that did that awful playground inside Dumbos Big Top. what a disgrace... Also the blonde idiot on the parks blog who only answers posts that are sugar coated is insulting.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Wondering who called in a favor to get that story placed ... because the NYT has better and bigger things to write about than this. It was done at some high level.
And did it quote the folks who follow the industry? Ex-Imagineers? Consultants?
Nah, but we got some posts here mentioned, a Tom Bricker Tweet (who knew Brooks Barnes followed him) and a mention of Lou Mongello's site.
Sad.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
That's the problem, though. It was thinly veiled PR for the Mouse. A 'we really don't care, but this will show that we do because the Times has weight and import' ... and while it may have mentioned fan grievances, it's overarching message was that Disney cares and Disney is upgrading and changing for what today's audiences demand (even if they don't).
Not one word was mentioned, naturally, regarding getting more shows per day out of this, which is the whole point.
They won't. People loved when they had three shows a year playing in Grizzly Hall. They aren't going to go back to doing so because they are cheap and it requires downtime and the park is bursting at the seams due to 15 years of mismanagement.
WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
Until someone shared the story with me last night, I had no idea that it existed, much less that I was quoted in it. I had never heard of Brooks Barnes until then, and in searching for him on Twitter, it appears the only "Disney person" he follows is Honor Hunter, the guy who writes Blue Sky Disney.
I assume I was quoted because that particular tweet I posted was retweed/favorited dozens of times, making it top result if you searched for "Country Bear Jamboree" on Twitter, but that's just a guess.
In any case, I agree with you that something I said doesn't belong in the NYT. If the NYT is going to give "common man" quotes, it should at least offset those with a lot of opinions from those in the industry--and not just those who work for Disney.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Oh, Tom, I know the story was a plant. ... I'm just trying to figure who pushed for it and who the favor really was for. Brooks does cover Disney and the entertainment industry (although, of late, he has moved into other areas like politics). He well could have done it as favor for Craig or Bruce at WDI ... or even someone as high as Tom Staggs, who is well aware of what the discerning long-time fans think of moves like this.
FWIW, I do believe there's a place in a story (yeah, even in the Times) for a quote or two from fans (be it sites like this, Twitter etc). But when the story is entirely made up of them except for Disney spin and then it appears on C1 ... well, you gotta wonder.
NEXT Gen is something I'd be writing about if I were BB, that's a story that has real-world implications because of what Disney is doing. ... a redo of the CBJ?!?! Seriously ...
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
If I were the NYT, my story angle would've revolved around WDW removing CBJ's 1971 'fat jokes'. This hot on the heels of WDW being forced to remove the anti-obesity Innoventions exhibit.
Will Disney no longer touch the subject of obesity with a ten foot pole? Aware that a majority of its guests are now grossly overweight, courtesy of modern Disney guest services such as a food stall every twenty feet, new and larger restaurants opening every month and 1100 calories Turkey leg snacks?
Once there were healthy guests and CBJ-style AA varieté shows in EPCOT singing the praise of veggies and fruit. And fat jokes in the CBJ.
Will Disney no longer touch the subject of obesity with a ten foot pole? Aware that a majority of its guests are now grossly overweight, courtesy of modern Disney guest services such as a food stall every twenty feet, new and larger restaurants opening every month and 1100 calories Turkey leg snacks?
Once there were healthy guests and CBJ-style AA varieté shows in EPCOT singing the praise of veggies and fruit. And fat jokes in the CBJ.
One can't shake off the suspicion 'the blonde' replies to fabricated comments.
Clever Name
Well-Known Member
Wow! You did your research. Jumbo Turkey Legs at WDW have 1,136 calories and 54 grams of fat.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
You guys should have known this was going to happen. They did this same thing in the 90s and again in the 00s to Tiki Room in both Disneyland and WDW. Ironically those extremly boring films at the Epcot pavillions are still playing instead of being replaced with real attractions.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
And I didn't even have to look it up!