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

[hack2112]

This week AA figures took a big step forward with the new head on Abe Lincoln at DL. Have not been to see it in person, but linked some video. Saw the head at WDI some time ago and it's very impressive. Big difference in expression. I personally like how they restored the ending music from the original show. I don't expect this to draw many guests, but it's something I will see again and again if it's like the original.

Miceage has a nice piece written on it with nifty pics and some video.

http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/da...nia-adventure-construction-d-street-more.html

Very pleased to see they credited some of the artists, like John DeCuir Sr. in the lobby. nice touches. Your thoughts?

After seeing the pictures and video of the updated show, I think this is a great step for fans, and I know the CMs were incredibly excited to see it reopen. Everyone wins, what more could you want?

 

[DisneyParksFan1]

Nice to see that some resorts are still dedicated to improving the "show" aspect of the parks, especially something as minor as the Lincoln show.

Haha, yes. I admire that about DLR. We don't see much of that in WDW.

 

[dweezil78]

Haha, yes. I admire that about DLR. We don't see much of that in WDW.

C'mon -- you guys just got a great refurb at the Hall of Presidents and one of the best refurbs ever at the Haunted Mansion just a few short years ago. That's just off the top of my head and are for attractions that are within a stone's throw from each other. (I've always wanted to use that expression.)

 

[DisneyParksFan1]

C'mon -- you guys just got a great refurb at the Hall of Presidents and one of the best refurbs ever at the Haunted Mansion just a few short years ago. That's just off the top of my head and are for attractions that are within a stone's throw from each other. (I've always wanted to use that expression.)

Haha, DLR is currently getting a billion dollar refurb on one of it's parks but let's say that doesn't count. Disneyland has a great new fresh parade while WDW has a decade old parade with some floats being here since our 10th Anniversary. DLR has a great Fantasmic with 21st century technology and let's not start with the dragon, while WDW has the exact same Fantasmic as opening day. Need I say more?

 

[CaptainMichael]

C'mon -- you guys just got a great refurb at the Hall of Presidents and one of the best refurbs ever at the Haunted Mansion just a few short years ago. That's just off the top of my head and are for attractions that are within a stone's throw from each other. (I've always wanted to use that expression.)

DL basically got the same HM refurb first (minus stair scene) and they pretty much had to update HoP with Obamabot.

 

[Master Yoda]

DL basically got the same HM refurb first (minus stair scene) and they pretty much had to update HoP with Obamabot.

Yes but all they "had" to do was add Obama. They did not have to completely redo the entire attraction like they did. While I agree with you general sentiment that WDW does far less in the realms of park maintenance and improvement than DL does ignoring or downplaying what they do correctly tends to diminish the validity of your opinion.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Let's try and be thankful the parks can afford to do anything in this economy.

Revenue may be up, but profits are down as they are discounting everything to keep the blood flowing in the veins. They have to fix parks that are on "life support" to stop the bleeding first, DCA, HKDL, and DSP are in triage mode to get them to stand on their own. WDW is still an engine of success and so it still gets new things but not as often. HOP, HM, and the new F'land are all pretty cool.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Let's try and be thankful the parks can afford to do anything in this economy.

Revenue may be up, but profits are down as they are discounting everything to keep the blood flowing in the veins. They have to fix parks that are on "life support" to stop the bleeding first, DCA, HKDL, and DSP are in triage mode to get them to stand on their own. WDW is still an engine of success and so it still gets new things but not as often. HOP, HM, and the new F'land are all pretty cool.

Hard to agree with you after seeing the last quarter's financial report on the parks division.

It ain't all candy and roses, but there's more than enough cash there to continue to improve and maintain the resort. They're doing it at every other Disney resort in the world.

Not trying to derail and get your thread off-topic, I promise. :wave: I just don't buy it when I hear people give them a pass like that.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Hard to agree with you after seeing the last quarter's financial report on the parks division.

It ain't all candy and roses, but there's more than enough cash there to continue to improve and maintain the resort. They're doing it at every other Disney resort in the world.

Not trying to derail and get your thread off-topic, I promise. :wave: I just don't buy it when I hear people give them a pass like that.

Fair enough. I have not seen WDW firsthand so I'm not an expert on how far if at all the bar has fallen. They must maintain the parks, of course. All I'm saying is that they are trying to fix the biggest losers first and spending handsomely while making less. That takes a toll on cash overall. The company may be up overall from TV sales, but the parks are down.

According to this news report, here's the year in review.

"For the year, parks-and-resorts’ operating profit tumbled 25 percent, dropping from $1.9 billion to $1.4 billion. Sales fell 7 percent to $10.7 billion." Here's the link.

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2009/11/disney-profits-up-18-in-4th-quarter/

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=7510748

 

[juan]

DL basically got the same HM refurb first (minus stair scene) and they pretty much had to update HoP with Obamabot.

They also have no "floating" Madame Leota and no blinking eyes in the hallways. So their update was significantly less than WDWs.:wave:

 

[HMF]

They also have no "floating" Madame Leota and no blinking eyes in the hallways. So their update was significantly less than WDWs.:wave:

They do have a floating Madame Leota though she was not floating last year because of technical issues.

 

[juan]

They do have a floating Madame Leota though she was not floating last year because of technical issues.

Oh, made my first and second trips ever this past year and when I didn't see her floating, I didn't think she actually did.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Casey's Corner on new blog.

A very kind Disneyphile, Maxime from Belgium contacted me about a new site he is doing that dives deep into the design of the individual storefronts of DLP Main Street. He really gets into the origins of the art, like where the source material for the attraction poster came from, and then shows it! Max even links historical info that inspired the show, great touch and seldom done. I agreed to help him out with some insider info on the project. The first of many articles is on "Casey's (Coke) Corner". Let's all give Max some "hits and clicks" on the new site for all of his hard work!

Welcome Max from the thread, great job!

Here's the site.
http://www.designingdisney.blogspot.com/

Threadster Bonus. (One thing not in the article is that the facade actually has hidden home plates, baseballs, and bats as it's ornament!)

 

[misterID]

A very kind Disneyphile, Maxine from Belgium contacted me about a new site she is doing that dives deep into the design of the individual storefronts of DLP Main Street. She really gets into the origins of the art, like where the source material for the attraction poster came from, and then shows it! I agreed to help her out with some insider info on the project as she is so sincere. The first of many articles is on "Casey's (Coke) Corner". Let's all give her some hits and clicks on her new site for all of her hard work!

Welcome Maxine from the thread, great job!

Here's the site.
http://www.designingdisney.blogspot.com/

Bonus. (One thing not in the article is that the facade actually has hidden home plates, baseballs, and bats as it's ornament!)

Holy cow, I loved that cartoon! Never even thought about a connection. If it weren't for these blogs (and this thread) a lot of great stuff would go unappreciated, or at least not appreciated enough. Very cool stuff.

 

[HMF]

Threadster Bonus. (One thing not in the article is that the facade actually has hidden home plates, baseballs, and bats as it's ornament!)

Did you work on the Florida version as well or just Paris?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Did you work on the Florida version as well or just Paris?

Just Paris, but most of the exterior facades we used came from WDW. That made the management think they were saving money while we were going nuts on new interiors! Town Square and the center streets were new. The one with the baseball stuff was new and around the corner by where the piano player sits.

 

[_Scar]

Eddie, I noticed Paris has no sub-lands (like a NOS sized land). Were there plans for sub-lands that got scrapped and/or is there even plots reserved for sub-lands?

 

[HMF]

Just Paris, but most of the exterior facades we used came from WDW. That made the management think they were saving money while we were going nuts on new interiors! Town Square and the center streets were new. The one with the baseball stuff was new and around the corner by where the piano player sits.

So who did the Florida version of Casey's Corner? I take it by the statements you have made and the video and drawings I have seen that the Paris Main Street was done with more of an Americana angle than the US versions.

 

[ValentineMouse]

Eddie, I noticed Paris has no sub-lands (like a NOS sized land). Were there plans for sub-lands that got scrapped and/or is there even plots reserved for sub-lands?

I think an Indiana Jones subland was planned for the area where Peril is now, which would have had the EMV ride from Disneyland pushed up against Pirates. There's still a lot of room there now.

Similar to this, Eddie, do you know if there was a plan for a Toontown entrance on that sometimes open/sometimes closed path between IASW and Star Tours? It always seemed quite a coincidence to me that a large area of open land was left just outside the berm there, and that it matched up to where Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Toontowns were.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie, I noticed Paris has no sub-lands (like a NOS sized land). Were there plans for sub-lands that got scrapped and/or is there even plots reserved for sub-lands?

There may have been a "Critter Country" planned as Splash Mountain was proposed. the berm was broken for the "Storybookland" section of Fantasyland. There may have proposals for the area that links Discoveryland and Fantasyland, but I'm not sure.