Imagineers are now a flippin' joke

Magicart87

No Refunds!
Premium Member
This.

They are only 'allowed' to do so much by the folks who hold the purse strings.
It is a never ending battle between Burbank and Glendale.

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I guess I never really accepted this answer. Tighter purse strings help refine the creative process. It helps to rein in lofty ideas to allow WDI to discover simpler or less expensive solutions that are just as effective or more so. An imagineering free-for-all is the larger issue. Imagineering often forgets to ask "Why?" because they're too busy focusing on "How?" sometimes it's not needed or could be done better using older tried and true methods or using methods that cost considerably less. Wasteful spending is their typical MO. TDO/TDA are stingy yes, but rightfully so. Limitation breeds creativity.

IMHO, Imagineering overvalues themselves. In truth, there needs to be a stronger third party to rein in EVERYONE. Real checks and balances. That's been the larger issue for a decade now.
 

Giss Neric

Well-Known Member
I love the Carpetbagger. His recent Las Vegas series where he spent one night on a couple of hotels and toured them is so entertainment. There was one hotel where where he entered his room for the first time and there were still people occupying it. Hilarious. Unfortunately, he got a lot of negative comments when he posted a vlog when he was vaccinated.

I don't think imagineers are a joke but sometimes they are taking a nap too long that someone needs to wake them up.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Are they LCD displays now? Could they have used plasma (deeper blacks) or are they not made that small anymore?
I don’t know if they're plasma or LCD. I only know of the issue when they’re meant to be “off”. Much like the issue SSE had they were looking at powering them down when not in use, I don’t know if that happened.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
“Things change” is a sorry excuse for a blatant drop in quality.

That’s the same mindset that refused to renew Off Kilter’s contract and give us the tragically/hilariously awful Canadian Lumberjack Show.

and we all know how that went...
I liked the lumberjack show better than off kilter. Always dreaded that band as a kid when my dad would make us stand there and watch em. Boring.
 

91JLovesDisney

Well-Known Member
And sure enough - just like some on this site mentioned - the "Imagineers" replaced the screens of the vintage analog TV sets in the Library. Which means that, instead of the dark screens such TV sets actually had when turned off, they now display like a freaking blue COMPUTER SCREEN. Which kills the 1939 vintage vibe that's part of the Tower's charm and character!
I noticed this for the first time in August, and it's been driving me crazy. Does anyone know when they made this change? I mean can anyone give me one good reason why they felt this was necessary?! Sure, maybe a classic analog might require a tad bit more maintenance, but the blue/black looks seriously awful, and if I recall correctly, at the end of the preshow the TV doesn't even turn off, which would be the least they could do. It's not like analog TVs are hard to come by. Frustrating!
 

91JLovesDisney

Well-Known Member
It just has always felt like Disney tries their hardest in all their attractions (as well they should! $$$$) and then you start noticing little things like that where it feels like they didn't quote go above and beyond. That's just my opinion 🤷‍♂️
 

Rodj

Well-Known Member
And in one episode he went to WDW and rode the Tower of Terror. And sure enough - just like some on this site mentioned - the "Imagineers" replaced the screens of the vintage analog TV sets in the Library. Which means that, instead of the dark screens such TV sets actually had when turned off, they now display like a freaking blue COMPUTER SCREEN. Which kills the 1939 vintage vibe that's part of the Tower's charm and character!
That's the very least issue concerning Tower right now. Have you seen everything else going on with the show effects?
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I’m not sure management really cares about the specific of equipment choices unless it means using something completely different than what is used elsewhere.

Walt Disney Imagineering is given ridiculously large sums to work with.
I think these two points sum up the situation very nicely.

If there's a problem with WDI today, it's not that they're not given enough money to work with. Perhaps we can blame management for issues like the IP mandate, but decisions on the level of what screens are used in the ToT library and whether they adequately simulate an old television set would likely be the result of decisions that do not have much to do with Chapek & co.
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
I think that the problem is that they're trying to turn Disney into a shopping mall at this point. It seems like their focus is on the shopping, dining, and drinking, and not on the rides. Surprise surprise, those are three things that all cost money, while they ignore the rides that we're actually paying admission for. I just don't know why people pay $140 for the rights to pay for overpriced food and drink. Go to a restaurant or bar locally if that's what you want. Why go to Florida for that? Guests need to start holding the parks accountable and let them know that they're there for the rides, and if they're having a great time, they may throw you a few bucks for some food or drink occasionally.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
I liked the lumberjack show better than off kilter. Always dreaded that band as a kid when my dad would make us stand there and watch em. Boring.
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StarshipDisney

Well-Known Member
Guests need to start holding the parks accountable and let them know that they're there for the rides

To what little I can do will be exactly that. I currently have a reservation for 7-nights at the Contemporary Resort in September for $7500. What with food and shopping I would easily spend over $10,000 and every penny of it on Disney Property. I thought that is what Disney wanted.

But, as I have posted in other threads, I refer to Disney these days as "Disney Diminished" and as such calls for "Spending Diminished". So unless the fireworks, the EPCOT Monorail, and some greater reason to stay on property comes back by July, then I will cancel and stay at the Embassy Suites on International drive for $2500 (includes $$$ for tickets). Also, even some of the Disney Restaurants that have opened back up have done so with IMO pitiful menus nothing like what they had before; so I will likely leave some nights for dinner and try some of the places I have scoped out local to the hotel like Boston Lobster Feast, Maggiano's Little Italy, and Brazilian Steakhouse.

Bottom line is that I may go to Disney in September with low expectations to ride the best rides since no FP+ and we always walk away from 2-hour lines. That is simply how Disney is right now. But I will also spend much less on Disney property and in that way I will feel better about getting so much less than I did in 2016 or 2018. So currently Disney is pretty much primed to get $7,000 - $8,000 less out of me.

That is the best I can do not that it matters or Disney cares.
 

Mesa Azul

Active Member
Well, there is a real artistry to this work, and sometimes you are gifted with an incredible group of people who are at the right point in their careers, have access to the resources and the encouragement and support they need, and are feeding off of each other's creativity to a point that you get the golden years of the parks, like Epcot in the 80s and early 90s, or, from the looks of it, the amazing work done on Tokyo Sea... The problem is, that's not always going to happen, and sometimes you get good artists that aren't supported, or the company has to cut corners, or you have the wrong type of people working together. It's up to management to, a) give a crap, and b) try to figure out how to make this stuff work. I think it's sort of counterproductive to say management doesn't care, but it might be hard to get everyone working together in the sort of synergy you had back in the 80s at Epcot.

As a manager myself, who has been doing this for years, and know all to well it's the people I manage that make or break the company, and my job is really to empower them and then get the heck out of their way... I have to say, it may only take one or two hires, on either side of creative, to spur a new renaissance, as well. You bring someone in with the power and excitement as say Joe Rohde or even someone like Tom Fitzgerald had when he was first starting out, and get them jazzed on a project, it can be infectious. I'd say that's what's missing right now from Disney. It's probably not talent, it's likely not caring, it's just not all clicking and it's going to take some shake ups or new hires to energize the staff.
 

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