jt04
Well-Known Member
THAT is very cool. Looking forward to your contributions here.
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Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
THAT is very cool. Looking forward to your contributions here.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
I'll be very, VERY interested to hear what you have to say after visiting, Eddie. The park was sadly in terrible shape in many places last month ... the signature E-Tix especially had so many show effects not working that I thought I was in O-Town, although some of them (Space Mountain and Small World) were far worse than even MK levels.
I have no idea if you'll be speaking with Mr. Gas (and since you haven't worked for the company since last century, I'm not sure he'll give a damn what you have to say anyway), but if so, you might tell him that he is doing a great job of running the resort into the ground -- as well as soiling Walt's Legacy -- but I think he'll have enough to worry about this fall between the bankers and the impending strike.
That aside, have a MAGICal time in Paris. It is one of my favorite places on the planet ... a bit surprised you have barely been back the past few decades, but can't wait to hear your thoughts on the city and the resort (and I do hope, for your sake, that you aren't staying out there!)
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Oh, I'm so looking forward to that! I am completely in love with Paris. I can walk out my house after breakfast, take the subway 100 meters away, never get out of a train and emerge above ground at the Champs Élysées in time for lunch.
(Take that, all you evil people making me jealous with your 'oh, I live in Tampa and we've got annual WDW passes and ')
I visit the city quite a bit, and the DLP resort as well. I'd love to hear how the one influenced the other!
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
I will try to look the other way and not focus on the negative if it's possible. I do know some of the folks in show quality who are very sincere and really try to respect the design intent. If they had the budget to make things perfect, they would. My reason for going out there is to enjoy the park with my wife and kids, and to encourage the show group. Money is tight and I'm sure what does end up getting done is more "the art of the possible" than what we'd all prefer. As I've said before, I'm shocked that the park is still open given all the fiscal challenges it goes through and so it's all a bonus. I do not know Mr. Gas. but will pass on your sentiments.:ROFLOL:
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Oh, I'm so looking forward to that! I am completely in love with Paris. I can walk out my house after breakfast, take the subway 100 meters away, never get out of a train and emerge above ground at the Champs Élysées in time for lunch.
(Take that, all you evil people making me jealous with your 'oh, I live in Tampa and we've got annual WDW passes and ')
I visit the city quite a bit, and the DLP resort as well. I'd love to hear how the one influenced the other!
Paris is truly the better theme park, and I admit there are some big differences since 20 years have passed. Starbucks and Subway have appeared for one. Burger King is gone! Lots more motorbikes and mega busses. We stay in heart of the city as the "Parisian" experience is what we enjoyed back then. After a bout of hotels back in the early 90's, we lived in an apartment on the Ile St. Louis (small island across from Notre Dame) during the last year of construction. It was beautiful. As a family today, renting a flat is the way to go as you can cook and live more authentically than in some hotel. We have been seeing the sights and taking lots of pictures. I admit that I like to shoot details, and so I'm the geek at Versailles crouched in the corner focusing on a bronze doorknob while everyone else is looking at the King's Bedroom set. C'est La Vie.
Jeanine
Member
Fantastic! It will be interesting to see what you think about it all, having not seen it since its birth--I thought it was just gorgeous.
If you get a chance to see the new book they came out with, for the anniversary, perhaps you could note whether you'd recommend ordering it? I'd love to have it to go with the new copy of "From Sketch to Reality" I just got, but the shipping is pretty painful.
Also just heard that you'll be speaking at the Destination D event this summer--looking forward to it!
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
I'll take a look at the 20th book and let you know. I watched this video about it recently and it looks like it is pretty rich and a compliment to the book already out.
http://dedicatedtodlp.com/2012/05/1...e-9-disneyland-paris-20-years-of-dreams-book/
There is another book of interviews with the design team, but it is all in French. The Destination D thing is about Herb Ryman and working with him.
StageFrenzy
Well-Known Member
When you disappeared for a couple days I thought you had used your connections and hadn't stopped riding RSR for days. Either that or you were in crunch time for a project. Just about every deadline based job has crunch time, and you have spoke previously about Paris and the hiding of the decor. How is crunch time different for an imagineer vs independent designer? Was Paris completely different than Pooh because of the whole park vs one ride, or were you just as stress out during both?
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Well, the biggest difference is that that the deadline does not move. When they said DLP opens April 12, 1992 they mean it. What that really means is that "something" (done or not) will open on that day and it may or may not be what you expect it to be. There is a certain moment when the schedule becomes more important than the budget as they will spend whatever it takes to open on time as the marketing has been locked in, and missing the date is more painful than rescheduling everything.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
We lost an honorary Imagineer this week. I was in front of an English language Bookshop (Shakespeare and Company) here in Paris and mentioned Ray Bradbury to my wife, and how I thought he might have recommended it. Had not brought up his name in a long time. Only hours later I got a news alert on my phone that he had died.
Ray Bradbury was more than an author, he was a futurist, an optimist, and arguably an American Jules Verne. He embodied the spirit of EPCOT more than anyone and was a true fan of Imagineering. Marty Sklar had brought him him to consult on the project. I met him with a group at an offsite meeting where he spoke to us. Very inspiring, but at the same time that he touted technology and the future, would not drive a car and seemed to cling to the past in his lifestyle. He was a dreamer. His stories of childhood were gripping as he seemed to be driven from that child within him that never grew up. Maybe that was the connection to us Imagineers that he felt as we are just large children ourselves. He was an amazing figure that has left a meaningful body of work and someone that will be missed as part of the Imagineering psyche. He is a Disney legend in my book.
A very rare interview is here and it deals with Ray and his creative writing process. Incredible and I mean that.
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury
Ray Bradbury was more than an author, he was a futurist, an optimist, and arguably an American Jules Verne. He embodied the spirit of EPCOT more than anyone and was a true fan of Imagineering. Marty Sklar had brought him him to consult on the project. I met him with a group at an offsite meeting where he spoke to us. Very inspiring, but at the same time that he touted technology and the future, would not drive a car and seemed to cling to the past in his lifestyle. He was a dreamer. His stories of childhood were gripping as he seemed to be driven from that child within him that never grew up. Maybe that was the connection to us Imagineers that he felt as we are just large children ourselves. He was an amazing figure that has left a meaningful body of work and someone that will be missed as part of the Imagineering psyche. He is a Disney legend in my book.
A very rare interview is here and it deals with Ray and his creative writing process. Incredible and I mean that.
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Will head out to the park tomorrow. Looks like rain.
Cosmic Commando
Well-Known Member
Hope you're having a good time in Paris and DLP, Eddie. I just wanted to toss in this photo that one of our fellow members took at Carsland. It reminded me of the "atmospheric perspective" that was discussed earlier here. You can see the masterful paint job that the imagineers did to give the whole mountain range depth!
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Wow. Thanks for posting that. It looks really great and does the atmospheric trick quite well. I guess there will be a line.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Today I visited DLP for the first time in 15 or more years. Wow. The WDI group gave me a heroes welcome and was so kind and hospitable. They have great respect for the effort 20 years ago and want to uphold the original design intent where possible. Was able to see some improvements they had made, like the Candy Palace. Well done. Had a chance to say hello to many dear ones that have been with WDI Paris since the construction so the park is personal to them. It was truly like an extended family reunion. I was touched by their outpouring of kindness. Most would be happy to get rid of the old guard, but they made me and my family feel welcome.
Shared a slide show with about 45 people from different divisions, sharing home video of the construction of the park and some fun war stories. The team they have in place is sincerely wonderful, battle tested and tough in the trenches. They have been able to deal with some of the tremendous fiscal and operational challenges that most would shrink from. They have done an amazing job in spite of these problems and know there is still a long way to go. I know how hard all of this is because my job after Paris was doing this job with the Disneyland team during the Pressler years. It was tough then too. Are they dedicated to getting everything they can to the best it can be? Absolutely. Is the park in poor repair? Yes, sadly it is and they know that. You don't want to stare at anything too long. There are bright spots and sore ones. Overall the park from a distance is so rich, it still blows me away 20 years later. I still feel the magic and marvel at the detail in all the lands. Some of the close ups are a bit more painful. Still the most visited tourist attraction in all of Europe. In France, most monuments at one time fell into disrepair before they are embraced and restored to be loved all over again. Maybe that is happening at DLP? The passion is there already and they are moving one step at a time,
The designers and I walked Main Street together and they really want to understand the "why". So fun to answer the really inside questions! A great group walk.
The management prioritized some of the areas that they could pull off for the 20th (the weather creates a smaller maintenance window) and the Castle is awe inspiring. Several shades of pink were carefully chosen to force the perspective skyward. Well done. My son loved the Dragon.
Evidently, the banks that own the park all have to agree on spending for anything and everything. Like having to apply for a home refi loan to go to the supermarket every week. Insanely hard for them to solve things on the spot. Everything is a long drawn out process. But they do it because they love what the park represents. These folks are proud of the park and love it like we all do. I applaud their efforts and hope they hang in there and turn a corner or two. I'm thankful someone is in there slugging for the show. A great day with some great people.
Shared a slide show with about 45 people from different divisions, sharing home video of the construction of the park and some fun war stories. The team they have in place is sincerely wonderful, battle tested and tough in the trenches. They have been able to deal with some of the tremendous fiscal and operational challenges that most would shrink from. They have done an amazing job in spite of these problems and know there is still a long way to go. I know how hard all of this is because my job after Paris was doing this job with the Disneyland team during the Pressler years. It was tough then too. Are they dedicated to getting everything they can to the best it can be? Absolutely. Is the park in poor repair? Yes, sadly it is and they know that. You don't want to stare at anything too long. There are bright spots and sore ones. Overall the park from a distance is so rich, it still blows me away 20 years later. I still feel the magic and marvel at the detail in all the lands. Some of the close ups are a bit more painful. Still the most visited tourist attraction in all of Europe. In France, most monuments at one time fell into disrepair before they are embraced and restored to be loved all over again. Maybe that is happening at DLP? The passion is there already and they are moving one step at a time,
The designers and I walked Main Street together and they really want to understand the "why". So fun to answer the really inside questions! A great group walk.
The management prioritized some of the areas that they could pull off for the 20th (the weather creates a smaller maintenance window) and the Castle is awe inspiring. Several shades of pink were carefully chosen to force the perspective skyward. Well done. My son loved the Dragon.
Evidently, the banks that own the park all have to agree on spending for anything and everything. Like having to apply for a home refi loan to go to the supermarket every week. Insanely hard for them to solve things on the spot. Everything is a long drawn out process. But they do it because they love what the park represents. These folks are proud of the park and love it like we all do. I applaud their efforts and hope they hang in there and turn a corner or two. I'm thankful someone is in there slugging for the show. A great day with some great people.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Not really. I'm enjoying DLP right now and then have too much work piled top when I return. From what we can see it looks pretty amazing.
BalooChicago
Well-Known Member
Are you going to leave them with notes on what to fix? A friend of mine (also an architect) was telling me about a renovation he is working on. The architect who designed the building in the 60s evidentially still sends the owners notes on what to fix, or aspects which were designed but never completed. The guy must think he is FLW.
