For a land most originally said they weren't interested in ................

[Rteetz]

Still not buying it. These people will do everything they can to ensure their credentials are not cut.

I worked briefly in public relations. We specifically eliminated people that had anything bad to say about the company.

Then I guess no Disney media will be good enough for you.

 

[mergatroid]

Craig put this in the same realm as opening day of diagon alley and the official Disneyland 60 anniversary. He wasn't forced by Disney to say that.

We don't know that Disney haven't taken his family hostage though and are willing to kill them if he doesn't say exactly what they want, therefore how can anything positive he says be trusted? However if he'd been at all negative then that could be trusted implicitly as it only works one way

 

[disney4life2008]

Then I guess no Disney media will be good enough for you.

Of course not. I take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[wdisney9000]

look i think you and i agree politically if i remember
but i dont think for a second that Craig Williams at the dis or this guy at the LA Times are given marching orders to do so questions the integrity of Craig who is a good guy

The major outlets have their orders, but I believe with social media there has been somewhat of a shift. It is wise to allow a certain amount of negative feedback. Am I saying that Williams is in direct contact with Disney and being told what to say? Absolutely not. But Im sure TheDis has some sort of deal or loose arrangement in place with Disney and if TWDC wanted/needed them to report anything specifically, it would be done. Kind of a, "scratch our back and we'll scratch yours"

 

[twebber55]

The major outlets have their orders, but I believe with social media there has been somewhat of a shift. It is wise to allow a certain amount of negative feedback. Am I saying that Williams is in direct contact with Disney and being told what to say? Absolutely not. But Im sure TheDis has some sort of deal or loose arrangement in place with Disney and if TWDC wanted/needed them to report anything specifically, it would be done. Kind of a, "scratch our back and we'll scratch yours"

thanks for the reply
but again Craig Williams has bashed this project for 5 years why let him in then

 

[flyerjab]

The major outlets have their orders, but I believe with social media there has been somewhat of a shift. It is wise to allow a certain amount of negative feedback. Am I saying that Williams is in direct contact with Disney and being told what to say? Absolutely not. But Im sure TheDis has some sort of deal or loose arrangement in place with Disney and if TWDC wanted/needed them to report anything specifically, it would be done. Kind of a, "scratch our back and we'll scratch yours"

I don't agree. I have listened to the Dis Unplugged since 2013 and Craig has routinely panned this expansion, as do others on that podcast. Also, Pete Werner absolutely roasts Disney when they do something he feels is below their capabilities (i.e., Disney Springs transformation and how it was handled, Hollywood and Vine buffet, numerous other eating establishments within property, the bathrooms, the cleanliness of the parks in general, I could go on and on). Also, he is up front when Disney allows his team in vs. when they pay themselves to experience something. Now, you can choose to believe him or not, that is your prerogative. Maybe this expansion is as good as it appears (to some people). Others, it just won't be their 'cup of tea' as the saying goes. But as far as the 'scratch our back we'll scratch yours comment', I don't buy it.

Now, as far as what JeniLyn Knopp of ITM is concerned, you could almost see the drool marks on her blog posts about this project. There was not one single negative or questionable comment about Pandora. Those blogs seemed a bit more on the Lou Mongello level of Disney commentary (with him I would believe any type of backdoor arrangement you believe exists between him and Disney).

I will be totally honest with you that I would not be a great person to have write a straight-up review of Pandora. I myself am guilty of writing almost romanticized posts in these very threads about this expansion. Heck, read my trip report of the Tree of Life Garden Trail and tell me I don't wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to DAK in general. But back to the subject at hand. I don't love this expansion because I am a Pandora freak. I enjoyed the movie but not at the level of say Star Wars...not even close. But for some reason I myself have loved this idea from day one and everything I have seen moving forward has justified my love for this project. My wife thinks I am nuts. Oh well, we will see come May 17th.

 

[wdisney9000]

thanks for the reply
but again Craig Williams has bashed this project for 5 years why let him in then

Perhaps that is the genius of it , haha. Have a well known fan bash it for a few years,and then...he does a complete 180 after finally seeing it. A "reformation" if you will. Just a thought, not saying that is what happened in any way, but I also would not be surprised if it were true.

That being said, we are visiting WDW in a few weeks and Im excited to visit Pandora. Was it the reason we booked our trip? No, but Im excited nonetheless. I watched about 5 minutes of the video for the queue for FoP and then turned it off because it looked very impressive and I did not want to spoil the whole thing.

 

[flyerjab]

Disney had media observere in full force Saturday. If you think for a second they would allow anything negative you are mistaken. I don't care how much in the past someone has negatively reviewed something, if you have press credentials and knowing that Disney is following your every move, yoy really think they will post something bad? No!

Yes, the reviews are overwhelming positive but to me that is not saying much.

Ha! I love reading your posts on this as you and I could not be any further apart, either factually or conceptually. But that is okay as balance is needed here. You tend to pan initially as I tend to praise initially. But it is all good in the end. If you tend to find the blogger reviews questionably positive, then it is good that I wasn't let in. Every now and then something comes along that for whatever reason people can get unquestionably attached to. This is one of those 'somethings' for me.

 

[jt04]

Disney had media observere in full force Saturday. If you think for a second they would allow anything negative you are mistaken. I don't care how much in the past someone has negatively reviewed something, if you have press credentials and knowing that Disney is following your every move, yoy really think they will post something bad? No!

Yes, the reviews are overwhelming positive but to me that is not saying much.

Ummm, OK.

 

[SpectroMan93]

We don't know that Disney haven't taken his family hostage though and are willing to kill them if he doesn't say exactly what they want, therefore how can anything positive he says be trusted? However if he'd been at all negative then that could be trusted implicitly as it only works one way

Man, you know someone really wants this land to fail when any and all positive reviews are now the product of a conspiracy theory...

 

[ptaylor]

Something worth noting. There is a HUGE difference in experiencing a new land as a media guest than as a regular guest.

Dinner at Tiffins, a guided tour of the land from Joe Rohde, no waits, no crowds and the full VIP treatment. I think most people would be hard pressed not to be influenced by that.

And you can bet your life that those invited media will be very careful with what they say. If Disney doesn't like it, they wont be back.

Not saying it isn't a great addition, but take initial reports with a grain of salt.

 

[mergatroid]

Never heard of Craig Williams until today. Can't see him being too popular on here with some after he says

You know I love my @UniversalORL but they have to respond fast and hard to #VisitPandora or they are in trouble.

 

[jt04]

im now convinced people here a certain narrative they want to follow even though logic and facts say something else just keep plugging away
"Disney bloggers say only good things about disney"
Fact Craig williams has ripped this project for years yet was there Saturday

The cynicism that now invades everything (unlike ever before) has its roots in the negativity that people like Oberman and Jon Stewart indoctrinated folks with. I am convinced of this and no further discussion from me. Sad for people to have hope ripped out of them as was done in those years.

 

[Incomudro]

The cynicism that now invades everything (unlike ever before) has its roots in the negativity that people like Oberman and Jon Stewart indoctrinated folks with. I am convinced of this and no further discussion from me. Sad for people to have hope ripped out of them as was done in those years.

Everyone's (seemingly everyone, but not really) a critic.
Instead of just enjoying what one is seeing, listening to etc., we've become a nation of reviewers.
Ever see the South Park "Yelping" episode?
Imagine if the internet existed before WDW was built?
We'd have forums of people complaining about what was built, what was left out, what was an ip, what was cut due to budgets...

 

[MisterPenguin]

Pandora is being overhyped. I'm sure it's nice and will be fun, but disney is hoping for a Harry Potter style reaction. The media that was allowed in were all bloggers and lifestylers that would lick Disney's shoe no matter what they stepped in.

Lol and those aren't bias?

Point me to anything negative from this past weekend.

And this is a perfect example of ad hominem.

It's obvious you two have chips on your shoulders versus Disney. You're hoping this will fail. You've bought into the negative nancy hype that is anti-IP, anti-Avatar. And now that it looks like it's going to be a success, anyone who has experienced the land, which you haven't (important to remind both you and everyone reading that you haven't), and gives it a good review, obviously is on Disney's payroll. Because you can't imagine a right-thinking and right-hating person would be positive about this.

And that is the heart of your ad hominem. You say the reviewers aren't fair reviewers. Even though we keep pointing out to you the history of one of the reviewers as publicly posting critical things of Disney, facts don't matter, because what you're saying is based on emotion, and not facts. People who don't hate like you do are labeled as pixie-dusters and lifestylers and, worst of all, bloggers. And just because Spirit says it, doesn't make it true.

And if you don't like this broad characterization of you and the diminishment of your point of view because I've labeled you as "haters," well, then there's a lesson here: It's exactly what you've done to the bloggers.

 

[disney4life2008]

And this is a perfect example of ad hominem.

It's obvious you two have chips on your shoulders versus Disney. You're hoping this will fail. You've bought into the negative nancy hype that is anti-IP, anti-Avatar. And now that it looks like it's going to be a success, anyone who has experienced the land, which you haven't (important to remind both you and everyone reading that you haven't), and gives it a good review, obviously is on Disney's payroll. Because you can't imagine a right-thinking and right-hating person would be positive about this.

And that is the heart of your ad hominem. You say the reviewers aren't fair reviewers. Even though we keep pointing out to you the history of one of the reviewers as publicly posting critical things of Disney, facts don't matter, because what you're saying is based on emotion, and not facts. People who don't hate like you do are labeled as pixie-dusters and lifestylers and, worst of all, bloggers. And just because Spirit says it, doesn't make it true.

And if you don't like this broad characterization of you and the diminishment of your point of view because I've labeled you as "haters," well, then there's a lesson here: It's exactly what you've done to the bloggers.

LOL never once have I said it will fail. If you think that you are crazy. If for anything Pandora will see unprecedented crowds and momentous success. Does that change my opinion? No! I do not know who spirit is so I encourage you to get your facts straight.

 

[L.C. Clench]

Regardless people will flock to pandora because its a disneyworld. If you put this at sea world, doubtful. Even universal, somewhat doubtful.

This has been my point all along. I don't believe anything was gained through the licensing of the Avatar brand and James Cameron. People who were going to go to Disney are still going to go and they may spend some extra time at AK. I just don't think you're going to pull in people who have never been to Disney before with 2 rides and some LED lights regardless of how nice the concrete is sculpted.

 

[disney4life2008]

This has been my point all along. I don't believe anything was gained through the licensing of the Avatar brand and James Cameron. People who were going to go to Disney are still going to go and they may spend some extra time at AK. I just don't think you're going to pull in people who have never been to Disney before with 2 rides and some LED lights regardless of how nice the concrete is sculpted.

Well said. It adds capital to AK, a park that needed more. But for those saying it is now a full day park and this is the best thing to come out of disney is ridiculously misinformed. Yes, it will be successful but that is because anything at disney world (specifically) that is part of your ticket will be a success.

 

[mergatroid]

This has been my point all along. I don't believe anything was gained through the licensing of the Avatar brand and James Cameron. People who were going to go to Disney are still going to go and they may spend some extra time at AK. I just don't think you're going to pull in people who have never been to Disney before with 2 rides and some LED lights regardless of how nice the concrete is sculpted.

I suppose only attendance figures will prove that over a period of time? However to your average guest that won't matter one jot, it's the quality and fun had within the land that matters. When I visit 'Pandora' the notion of how many people who've never attended Disney before are going to Pandora that day will have zero interest or effect on whether I enjoy it or not, I'm just going for my own personal fun (hopefully) and won't be conducting surveys on who's a first timer.

 

[twebber55]

hey guys im ridiculously uninformed
just letting you know....