Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

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HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
Eddie Sotto said:
I think he did care a lot about getting it back, it's just that he believed that pouring in all that money was the best way to insure he'd get it.
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Walt spent a ridiculous sum of money to make sure the film looked beautiful and spared no expense. He wanted Eyvind Earle's art to stand out and make it look like nothing seen before in animation. Contrary to popular belief Sleeping Beauty was not a Box Office Bomb for Disney' It just cost so much to make that it could never return the investment.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
TP2000 said:
That's my favorite line of this thread, thus far! And so true.
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I was there last night and it looks like it's working. The patient is very much alive. I even had a Mohito Cocktail. The Glow Party may look like an 11 year old's idea of a Hollywood Night Club, but guests were enjoying it and it does work. Pleasure Island without the Island. In some cases without the Pleasure. Tried a Gyro off of a Food Truck parked outside the party. Kind of recreates the "after hours eat anything" attitude of an all night bar crawl. Unexpected fun. The best thing about the Glow Party was that they projected massive images of dancers on the wall of the theater as a backdrop to the event. Imagery and magenta blue palette very 80's. Reminiscent of the old Videopolis club they used to have. It works but could be just better executed as a 2.0. The daytime look was it's own "hangover" but could be easily fixed. Missed WOC, blamed it on the glowing drinks. Found one of those uber soft but "faded" Matterhorn T Shirts based on the old poster. Wore it home.

Highlight of my day. Easily entertained.
 
hokielutz

hokielutz

Well-Known Member
Eddie Sotto said:
I think the issue is that the park that is bleeding the worst gets the Ambulance. DCA has been draining the profits of DL for years and preventing the resort from reaching it's true potential. DCA is critical to the success of DL. The fact that WDW IS number one is why they are focusing more on other less than stellar properties. You have to plug the leaks before you can polish the brass of the ship. Not that WDW does not need TLC, but the other parks are locally driven so they need refreshment more often. DCA had fundamental issues that could not be solved with a parade, so they had to go in and give it an enema. Look at HKDL and other under performing properties and that's where you'll see lots of cash heading. WDW MK has different needs so they address them differently. BTW there is only so much money to invest in stuff like that each year so they prioritize it toward what will make it back. That's my take.
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Very well reasoned! At least WDW is doing minor fix-ups & facade refurbs for its lands & some of its attractions.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Eddie Sotto said:
Highlight of my day. Easily entertained.
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Yup. I was surprised at how entertaining Glow Fest is. It's been the sleeper hit of the summer, and really seems to be popular. The drink sales must be astronomical.

It also shows how you can totally reinvigorate what was a completely dead and underutilized section of the park after dark. Nothing was more lonely than Hollywood Pictures Backlot after sunset.

I'll be interested to see how it morphs into this TRON theme rumored to arrive this fall.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
TP2000 said:
It also shows how you can totally reinvigorate what was a completely dead and underutilized section of the park after dark. Nothing was more lonely than Hollywood Pictures Backlot after sunset.
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As they say, when you're dead broke and nothing else works, throw a party!
 
prattler

prattler

New Member
I lurked on these boards for a couple of months, and it was this thread that got me sold on joining. Thank you so much, Eddie, for all of your insightful stories! What a delight it's been to read through ALL the pages...

...yeah, that took a long time...
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
prattler said:
I lurked on these boards for a couple of months, and it was this thread that got me sold on joining. Thank you so much, Eddie, for all of your insightful stories! What a delight it's been to read through ALL the pages...

...yeah, that took a long time...
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Woah. Now you know how my wife feels. Well that IS quite an accomplishment. I'm proud of our regulars and the discussions we've had here and always delighted to see new ones join like yourself. now that you part of the team, you'll have to chime in often. It has been lots of fun for me to revisit some of the past and hopefully give you a better sense of what it was like to be an Imagineer and how this stuff does or does not happen.

Welcome!
 
mickey2008.1

mickey2008.1

Well-Known Member
as a past imagineer, what made you open a restaurant? i did the same 180 ( north american sales director with masters), just curious.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
mickey2008.1 said:
as a past imagineer, what made you open a restaurant? i did the same 180 ( north american sales director with masters), just curious.
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I was drawn into it by helping the chef (whom I had worked with on LAX Encounter) with some ideas for his new place. One thing led to another as those ideas were adopted. I wound up with a piece of the action as one of three operating partners.

This was not part of any plan, like most of my career it just happened.
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Calling all chefs!

We just launched a new interactive menu at Rivera Restaurant today. If you call the number on bottom of the menu and dial a 2 digit extension next to the name of a given item, you can hear our chef, John Sedlar explain the backstory and other insider information on that item. Even leave a VM as to what you thought of it! It's called tabletalk. John usually writes very long descriptions of these gourmet dishes and their history. To reduce menu copy and make it more personal, I proposed this fun system to keep the menu brief.

www.tabletalkonline.com

Here's a review.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dai...inary-history-and-the-sound-bites-to-pro.html
 
HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
Eddie Sotto said:
We just launched a new interactive menu at Rivera Restaurant today. If you call the number on bottom of the menu and dial a 2 digit extension next to the name of a given item, you can hear our chef, John Sedlar explain the backstory and other insider information on that item. Even leave a VM as to what you thought of it! It's called tabletalk. John usually writes very long descriptions of these gourmet dishes and their history. To reduce menu copy and make it more personal, I proposed this fun system to keep the menu brief.

www.tabletalkonline.com

Here's a review.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dai...inary-history-and-the-sound-bites-to-pro.html
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Wow' Eddie' You are really making me want to go to the restaurant. Definitely on my to-do list when I move to SoCal whenever that is.
 
MiklCraw4d

MiklCraw4d

Member
Eddie Sotto said:
We just launched a new interactive menu at Rivera Restaurant today. If you call the number on bottom of the menu and dial a 2 digit extension next to the name of a given item, you can hear our chef, John Sedlar explain the backstory and other insider information on that item. Even leave a VM as to what you thought of it! It's called tabletalk. John usually writes very long descriptions of these gourmet dishes and their history. To reduce menu copy and make it more personal, I proposed this fun system to keep the menu brief.

www.tabletalkonline.com

Here's a review.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dai...inary-history-and-the-sound-bites-to-pro.html
Click to expand...

What a great idea. Imagineering at work! It reminds me of when I was a kid and you could call a number at the local library and it would read a taped short story to you. Of course, being the analog days the tape would get all warped and worn out...
 
Eddie Sotto

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
HMF said:
Interesting thread about Shanghai Disneyland and the fate of WDI.
http://micechat.com/forums/shanghai-disneyland/141708-shanghai-dl-outsourced-wdi.html
I am really worried about this whether warranted though remains to be seen. I want there to be a job for me to have.
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(Post 6 by BlueSkyDriveBy is well written.)

Being someone potentially on the receiving end of any outsourcing strategy, I can't knock it. I welcome it. You should too. It only means there will be more places for you to have a shot at working for Disney.

The whole issue with WDI for years is that "not enough of the money gets on the screen" because of overhead. So in the best interests of still delivering the best show, why not hire the best wherever they may be? The thing is.. who at WDI is controlling it? The artists or the managers? If they can create the balance between what they send out and how it's creatively controlled, then it's ok. Indie filmmakers have been turning out great "studio" films using this business/org model for years. Our little Studio turns out arguably "Disney quality" projects and does it for less consisting of contract players. Why? Value, diversity, and quality. Because we "cast" the talent we hire like specialists, we have smaller teams with more direct expertise. My overhead is low so we can hire top talent and pass that on. We are all digital in that those we hire are wired back to the company so you can be anywhere there is a digital tablet and an internet connection. We tried to make the studio the shortest distance between the designer and the idea so the vision makes it into the field, and I think the contractor method gives us that flexibility and is best for the client. I don't think WDI is going away, it's evolving and catching up to the way the real world actually operates. There will be blood, but that happens.


BTW- What I hear about Shanghai is awesome and it's being developed creatively inside WDI.
 
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