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

[Bonemachine]

I hear ya. The character portrayal of Homer Simpson is brilliant.

The fact that somone like North Korea could just decide to press a button and kill millions at any time, it's a very scary, real, technologic and modern fear.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Watching the desperate efforts to prevent the meltdown of that nuclear reactor in Japan only reminded me of the Progress City model in the COP. They had their own nuke plant right in town! Mom called it a "sparkling jewel" It's ironic how what we thought of as "progress" sometimes comes back to haunt us.

I was speaking to my grandfather not too long ago and he was telling me to try and get some nuclear medicine tests done. It was quite funny as I could here the excitement in his voice, as if one aspect of all of those promises of an atomic utopia had come true.

Supposedly the Reedy Creek Improvement District also had/has permission to operate a nuclear power plant.

The situation in Japan is simply heartbreaking. While we have seen some great natural disasters in recent years, a part of me thinks that many of us have not totally soaked in their devastation because the areas hardest hit were quite impoverished. Hopefully some good can come from the wreckage that has been caused and may still be caused. I have been having a lot free time lately and reading about efforts to rebuild and improve conditions in Haiti. What astounded me most is that so many of those involved seem to be patting themselves on the back for submitting designs to charity competitions over a year since the earthquake, with actual rebuilding to still happen latter. Selfishness is a big motivator and a stopped Japan has a bigger "affect" than a place like Haiti and maybe the efforts to quickly rebuild will generate some better solutions that will help not only Japan rebuild, but also poorer places have yet to really begin rebuilding.

I know this is getting along, but the word coming from the Tokyo Disney Resort is one of the heart warming stories that often come out of disasters. Cast Members remained calm and helpful while the Resort provided care, food and shelter for those stranded, all while they too were worrying about their friends and family.

 

[flavious27]

Watching the desperate efforts to prevent the meltdown of that nuclear reactor in Japan only reminded me of the Progress City model in the COP. They had their own nuke plant right in town! Mom called it a "sparkling jewel" It's ironic how what we thought of as "progress" sometimes comes back to haunt us.

Well atleast we never got those nuke powered cars.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Slight diversion.

To get my head out of all the depressing meltdown news last night, I went to see the "sold out" IPad2 last night on display at the Apple Store. If you don't have one yet, buy it, it's beautiful, but to me it's not such a leap that I have to upgrade.

On the other hand, there was a Nintendo demo booth out in the mall, and the Nintendo 3DS without glasses 3D game handheld really works and IS a cool thing!

 

[trs518]

I know that it's a matter of time before I get an Ipad. I need to wait for the old laptop I'm typing on dies before I'll get one. Hopefully it's even better!

It's truly amazing how much personal technology has advanced in the past 15-20 years; GPS, Portable DVD players, smart phones, tablets PCs, gaming devices, etc.

I'm sure Disney is working on ways to use it in the parks; Kim Possible, etc. It's also interesting to see all the other companies that are designing applications to use in the Disney Parks, specifically Lines by Touring Plans.

 

[HMF]

So I was at the park lurking around today for a bit and noticed something most of you probably already knew.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/album.php?albumid=1360

I have been asked many times about the existence of a "megatheme" of Jean Lafitte and Andrew Jackson tying TSI, HM and POTC, even Frontierland together. Well, there is physical evidence that has been speculated on, and I had proposed a TS redo called Lafitte's Island years ago. But to date, I had not seen WDI commit to anything like that in print, just that it was coincidence. So today I pause to actually read the articles on a Newpaper posted at the TSI dock. To my surprise (I'm probably the last fan to see this), it tells of Tom and Huck heading off to "Jackson Island" and searching for Pirate Treasure. In the article, Jean Lafitte is brought up as to a likely reason for the treasure being there as he is rumored to have frequented the Island. This is the first time I have actually read anything in print that officially mentions this relationship and places him on a Jackson Island. Then the physical evidence of anchors and POTC docks, etc fall into place. Did you guys already know this tidbit? Did HBG2 already post it someplace?

No HBG2 has never reported on this. Also another thought occured to me, if you were to make the Island themed to Tom Sawyer today would it cause controversy considering the recent "Editing" of Huck Finn.

 

[HMF]

I read those articles when Pirate's Lair first opened in '07 and the line was so long you had to wait for up to 20 minutes to get on a raft, and I've perused that "River Notices" board a few times over the years since. I picked up on the Lafitte reference immediately, and thought it tied in nicely with his anchor and plaque nearby and the Pirates of the Caribbean loading dock a bit farther into New Orleans Square.

It was terribly clever how they tied all of Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island in with the actual Mark Twain stories and text and the Pirates of the Caribbean plotlines. In my opinion, Disneyland's Pirate's Lair really freshened up the Tom Sawyer Island experience brilliantly, and made it very savvy and relevant while still keeping the important elements from the past. I think the new "river pirate" uniforms the raft drivers wear were a huge improvement over the cutoffs and patchy shirts, and they really hit all the important details with that makeover. Don't you just love the creepy spefx and animatronic ghost-changing pirate they added to Injun Joe's Cave?!?

Pirate's Lair on Tom Saywer Island was a perfect example of Disneyland taking an aging 1950's attraction and freshening it up brilliantly for 21st century audiences, while keeping the core Walt-era concept intact. Hard to believe it's already four years old! :sohappy:
.

There are still too many POTC Movie references for it to work thematically. remove most of the POTC references hype up the "Jackson/Laffite" angle and then it will work.
I still hate that marquee on the dock, though.

 

[flavious27]

No HBG2 has never reported on this. Also another thought occured to me, if you were to make the Island themed to Tom Sawyer today would it cause controversy considering the recent "Editing" of Huck Finn.

I don't think so because it is a subtle, this is not rise of a nation or csa.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow?

"There's a new Company..uh, General Electric they call it, that wants to bring the same power that runs the trolley into folk's homes, I dunno..if those fellas work that out one thing is certain..." - Father COP 1890's scene.

The six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which had the explosion on Saturday, are all GE-designed boiling-water reactors, according to the anti-nuclear advocacy group Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The group says that five have containment systems of GE's Mark I design, and the sixth is of the Mark II type. They were placed in operation between 1971 and 1979.
A fact sheet from the group contends that the Mark I design has design problems, and that in 1972 an Atomic Energy Commission member, Dr. Stephen Hanuaer, recommended that this type of system be discontinued.

"Some modifications have been made to U.S. Mark I reactors since 1986, although the fundamental design deficiencies remain," NIRS said. The group has a commentary online describing what it says are hazards of boiling-water reactors: human invervention needed to vent radioactive steam in the case of a core meltdown, and problems with aging."

"And they all go to work at the click of a switch!"- Father COP 1920's Scene


Full article on how there are more of them here...
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_n...d-reactors-in-fukushima-have-23-sisters-in-us

 

[Eddie Sotto]

No HBG2 has never reported on this. Also another thought occured to me, if you were to make the Island themed to Tom Sawyer today would it cause controversy considering the recent "Editing" of Huck Finn.

True. Times change. Here's a great article on the design of the Island and Tom Nabbe, the kid who played "Tom Sawyer" in those early years.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/8196/Farewell_to_Tom_Sawyers_Island

 

[darthspielberg]

Bit of an off topic question, but it popped into my head last night while I was watching "Temple of Doom"

I know you mentioned that you did some stuff for Indiana Jones in DL, and you've talked about discussing things with George Lucas about that attraction among others, but, do you know if Spielberg had any input into the attraction, or at the very least, any opinions on it.

I know he does consulting for attractions at the Universal parks, so I know that probably causes a conflict of interest, but I've always wondered if he approved of the DL Indy attraction (From what I've seen of it, i find it hard to imagine anyone not approving it, it looks so incredible.)

 

[RSoxNo1]

Including microsoft.com

really? that is hilarious.

I wish I was kidding. I have an old desktop running Windows 98 that I wanted to connect to the internet. The default browser was IE5, when I went to Microsoft.com to upgrade I couldn't - it kept crashing.

 

[fyn]

I wish I was kidding. I have an old desktop running Windows 98 that I wanted to connect to the internet. The default browser was IE5, when I went to Microsoft.com to upgrade I couldn't - it kept crashing.

IE5 is 11 years old, and as of tonight, 4 major versions out of date.

 

[lazyboy97o]

really? that is hilarious.

Not really. The proliferation of Internet Explorer encouraged Microsoft to try setting its own standards that other browsers did not support. The world is moving forward and Microsoft realizes this. Old browsers are less safe and just do not work with a growing number of websites.

Microsoft even recently launched this website, say goodbye to Internet Explorer 6.
http://www.ie6countdown.com/

To get my head out of all the depressing meltdown news last night, I went to see the "sold out" IPad2 last night on display at the Apple Store. If you don't have one yet, buy it, it's beautiful, but to me it's not such a leap that I have to upgrade.

I'm a webOS fanboy, so I am holding out for the HP TouchPad and hopefully a bundle with the Pre3. Johnny Ive and his team should be commended for their great work on the iOS devices, especially the iPhone 4, but I find the software to just be too stilted. When it comes to mobile products, I think Steve Jobs has become the man on the giant screen.

 

[flavious27]

Not really. The proliferation of Internet Explorer encouraged Microsoft to try setting its own standards that other browsers did not support. The world is moving forward and Microsoft realizes this. Old browsers are less safe and just do not work with a growing number of websites.

Microsoft even recently launched this website, say goodbye to Internet Explorer 6.
http://www.ie6countdown.com/


I'm a webOS fanboy, so I am holding out for the HP TouchPad and hopefully a bundle with the Pre3. Johnny Ive and his team should be commended for their great work on the iOS devices, especially the iPhone 4, but I find the software to just be too stilted. When it comes to mobile products, I think Steve Jobs has become the man on the giant screen.

The business side of what microsoft did with formats made sense for them, for the industry it sucked because it added unnecessary coding for web developers.

I wouldn't hold my breath for the touchpad, its a first gen device that was intended to be sold last june with a different OS. Also I wouldn't pay for a hp tablet with the bad performance of the zeen tablet with the c510 printer.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I wouldn't hold my breath for the touchpad, its a first gen device that was intended to be sold last june with a different OS. Also I wouldn't pay for a hp tablet with the bad performance of the zeen tablet with the c510 printer.

The TouchPad is not the Slate. Work on the TouchPad was begun by Palm before they were acquired by HP. The Slate was released, is currently on sale, and does run Windows 7. The biggest complaint with the first generation webOS devices has been the hardware, not the software; something Palm and HP both know and seemed to have addressed with the third generation, of which the TouchPad is a part.

 

[flavious27]

The TouchPad is not the Slate. Work on the TouchPad was begun by Palm before they were acquired by HP. The Slate was released, is currently on sale, and does run Windows 7. The biggest complaint with the first generation webOS devices has been the hardware, not the software; something Palm and HP both know and seemed to have addressed with the third generation, of which the TouchPad is a part.

Hardware issues for the pre were more than just it is slow, it was build issues that were frightening; the oreo cookie effect shows that palm rushed a device to the market without testing it.

If there are not any build quality issues with the pre 3, veer, and touchpad, it proves that hp took over control of those products. the slate and touchpad are not carbon copies, but the palm purchase pushed back the slate's release without any improvement to what was demoed in early 2010.

No matter how good webos will be, it will be killed by the lack of app support. And HP's plan to have webos run on win 7 won't help their sales.

 

[wdwmagic]

Eddie, what do you think of the new interactive additions going into the Haunted Mansion at WDW?

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions...e-opens-for-guest-previews-this-afternoon.htm

From a design perspective, how are they going to keep doing something different for all these new interactive queues? There are only so many times that you can touch something and have it make a noise, or play a mini-game and find it entertaining. I see it as a real challenge for WDI to outfit all these queues with something different. They have the different stories for each ride, but can't keep using the same underlying interactive mechanism.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie, what do you think of the new interactive additions going into the Haunted Mansion at WDW?

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions...e-opens-for-guest-previews-this-afternoon.htm

From a design perspective, how are they going to keep doing something different for all these new interactive queues? There are only so many times that you can touch something and have it make a noise, or play a mini-game and find it entertaining. I see it as a real challenge for WDI to outfit all these queues with something different. They have the different stories for each ride, but can't keep using the same underlying interactive mechanism.

The real test is to try it and spend some time time observing how guests use it. I know that we put a "Brass Apple" next to a book that explained it's powers on a pedestal in the entry for Snow White's queue.

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/73859-golden-apple-snow-white-ride-2.html

Most guests looked at it but walked by, not realizing that it did something. Once one guest figured it out, then others may watch or try it. It's listed on various sites now as something unique to do. So sometimes these interactive show elements, if they are not obvious enough don't catch on right away because the guest does not expect them to do anything. Indy in DL has interactive elements in it's queue and the same thing happens. You go for an hour before someone pulls the rope, or steps on a sound stone. Then others see that, etc. and it goes nonstop till the crowd clears. This exhibit is more obvious and has more stuff, so it may be more utilized. As to it being boring, I guess you've seen the same ride for years and you're waiting to see it again.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Our Friend the Atom

For those of you who are confused by the news media endlessly explaining the process of fission and nuclear reactors with M&M's and flash animations, here's the Disney version of how it works (with a strong German accent). No doubt, this film, "Our friend the Atom" inspired a generation as the "Man in Space" films did. I remember seeing it in school when I was a kid. It gives us an insight as to how Atomic power was viewed and all of the other uses beyond energy that it has. If there is anything the nuclear industry needs right now, it's some positive PR. I must say after looking into it, that the reactors did survive and properly shut down during what was one of, if not the largest quake in recorded history. It would be hard to anticipate both that size Tsunami and the quake of that size as a one two punch. That is far beyond what it or any plant could have been designed for, and the Tsunami was the thing that took it over the limit by knocking out it's failsafe cooling generator. So tragic, and seemingly mismanaged. Let's hope they contain the cores.


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