Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)

Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
KevinYee said:
Just returned from five days in Paris (four of which were spent at Disney). The resort is showing some rough edges, but it's still a fantastic destination. Pirates, Mansion, Thunder, Pan, Snow White: still the best versions of those rides on the planet.

One of the highlights for us was riding in the Main Street police car (you're caged in). It was a totally unexpected find to see it there in the late morning. No one else seemed interested, and the street was probably too crowded for it, but damn the torpedoes and go for it, we rode up to the castle in style. I love "little moments" like that. It didn't have to be much more than an A-ticket experience to make my day.

Main Street is looking great, Eddie. And I do believe I've never seen the Statue of Liberty attraction in the Liberty Arcade before in any of my various (four?) trips prior to this one--neat! I think I never knew it was there.
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Thanks for the kind words. We were just discussing the little details we miss and how much they mean. There is always something more to see!

The "Paddy Wagon" was a bit of the 1920's Main Street left over. We originally thought of using the WDW Truck design (which it is based on), but it had no "purpose" and could be funner, so we went the "Keystone Kop" route instead to make it a photo op to see yourself arrested. Being weatherized made it a plus.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Details.

I used to love the fact that many of the shops on Main Street had their own phone numbers and you could direct dial them. I also loved that the vehicles took dimes.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
KevinYee said:
Spider-Man at IOA has a phone number gag like that. A number listed on a marquee inside the ride itself a real number, and if you dial it, you get a recorded message that the movie theater is closed because of attacks by the villains.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/keyword/wrong-number/featured/5
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That kind of stuff is great. We have a project at Rivera called "table talk", where you can dial a phone number shown on the menu and then enter an extension number next to selected menu items. When you do that, the chef comes on and explains to you the origin, ingredients and process of how that item is made, etc. A great thing for foodies.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
KevinYee said:
Spider-Man at IOA has a phone number gag like that. A number listed on a marquee inside the ride itself a real number, and if you dial it, you get a recorded message that the movie theater is closed because of attacks by the villains.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/keyword/wrong-number/featured/5
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Eddie Sotto said:
That kind of stuff is great. We have a project at Rivera called "table talk", where you can dial a phone number shown on the menu and then enter an extension number next to selected menu items. When you do that, the chef comes on and explains to you the origin, ingredients and process of how that item is made, etc. A great thing for foodies.
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We recorded some stuff over at the UK Pavilion at the 3 phone booths over there, the phone numbers for which are below:

  • 407-827-9861
  • 407-827-9862
  • 407-827-9863

It's a fun thing where you can talk to someone in the park and see how their day is going.
 
LuvtheGoof

LuvtheGoof

DVC Guru
Premium Member
RSoxNo1 said:
We recorded some stuff over at the UK Pavilion at the 3 phone booths over there, the phone numbers for which are below:

  • 407-827-9861
  • 407-827-9862
  • 407-827-9863

It's a fun thing where you can talk to someone in the park and see how their day is going.
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We always enjoy watching the people's reaction when the phone rings, and they find that they are actually talking with someone! My sons have a lot of fun with them, since the people answering the phone have no idea that the person on the other end is watching them.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
LuvtheGoof said:
We always enjoy watching the people's reaction when the phone rings, and they find that they are actually talking with someone! My sons have a lot of fun with them, since the people answering the phone have no idea that the person on the other end is watching them.
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Ok. I'm sooooooo going to do this...

BTW-I just called them all and got fax tones.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Bolna said:
Those "alpine coasters" are very common here in Germany and not necessarily only in the alps. This is a video of my "local" one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIp70XAV8EE

They are called Sommerrodelbahn (which means summer toboggan slide) and usually are a metal half pipe - as compared to the one in Gatlinburg which seemed to made out of concrete.
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First off, it is so great to have those of you living beyond the USA posting here on the thread! Wilcommen! (I think that's right?) We'd like to hear from more of you and more often. I liked this video because you could see other vehicles. I'm assuming you manually brake to keep your distance, but the ride is really great. I also assume that they have a conveyor or something to drag them back up to the top of the mountain. So fun and well engineered too.

Again thanks for posting, and showing us your coasters!
 
T

trs518

Active Member
Eddie Sotto said:
Why is this stuff not yet at EPCOT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38
http://www.cultofmac.com/132571/dyo...r-his-ipad-launchport-just-made-it-a-reality/

Alain Littaye found us the corning piece. Thanks!
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The stuff looks really cool. I can't imagine how hard it is to get companies to show off their technology in EPCOT.

1. It needs to work to some degree. If it works, than it means it's close to production. If it's close to production then it won't be that amazing after a short time.
2. How can that company protect it's secrets, when it's there for everyone to see.
3. Most companies would need to see a return for their investment, which could be very challenging.


To get around these things, I think they should invest in high tech things that are not consumer orientated, that would show us how different areas of the world would work: airplane and rocket design, uses for composite materials, manufacturing robotics, etc.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
trs518 said:
The stuff looks really cool. I can't imagine how hard it is to get companies to show off their technology in EPCOT.

1. It needs to work to some degree. If it works, than it means it's close to production. If it's close to production then it won't be that amazing after a short time.
2. How can that company protect it's secrets, when it's there for everyone to see.
3. Most companies would need to see a return for their investment, which could be very challenging.


To get around these things, I think they should invest in high tech things that are not consumer orientated, that would show us how different areas of the world would work: airplane and rocket design, uses for composite materials, manufacturing robotics, etc.
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All good points and challenging issues. Hmmm.

Maybe getting Universities instead of companies showing things would be better. Stanford, Art Center of Pasadena (http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/gallery.jsp), MIT media lab (http://www.media.mit.edu/) and others could show off research and student design. Look at how cool some of the things are on their sites. guests would love to see something happening in the school sector. Sends a good message too that the youth and their fresh ideas can be the future. That's why I'm for a design pavilion.
 
yankspy

yankspy

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL

ChrisFL

Premium Member

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