James Cameron, Joe Rohde, Tom Staggs and Disney executives touring Animal Kingdom

[whylightbulb]

I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but Rohde has adopted a very Walt-esque pose in that picture- arms out, mind clearly working and thinking about how to make this work. You can just sense the energy and creativity he exudes, even in that photo.

Something else I'd like to add to my post about all the Rhode worship above. A few years ago during a conversation with him he expressed his dislike for the attractions at DisneySea. He thought the quality was lacking. I'm sorry but how can you take any designer sersiously that has that opinion? Joe is an okay designer but nothing special. Don't let the earrings fool you. Now Baxter on the other hand...

 

[Master Yoda]

I do too. But I don't go to Disney for something I can get at my local Six Flags or shore points.

The food I don't mind. But obviously cheap and shoddy-looking rides have no place in a Disney park.

If they were intent on doing this idea, it should look closer to Paradise Pier than my local summer carnival.

I think they have done a great job of Disneyfying the cheap shoddy looking carnival by making it look all new and pretty.

And the I can do X at Y so it should not be in Disney argument....I don't buy it. I have always referred to it as the Disney fallacy. Just because you can do something somewhere else does no mean that it automatically does not belong in a Disney park. Not every attraction needs to be a PoTC or an E:E, nor does every attraction need to be unique to Disney. People just need to like them.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The complaints about Dinorama are largely rooted in Primeval Whirl. While the rest of the area looks somewhat tacky, Primeval Whirl is the real eyesore. I've suggested this in the past, but I think if this was a family fun house type dark ride with a similar theme that the complaints about this land would be far less than they are now.

I think something like Roger Rabbit's CarToon Spin with the same "story" in Primeval Whirl would be a significant improvement.

 

[GLaDOS]

I think they have done a great job of Disneyfying the cheap shoddy looking carnival by making it look all new and pretty.

We'll agree to disagree. I see nothing coming close to resembling "pretty" when i look at Dinorama.

And my comment was about the looks of the area, not that it has a similar feel and attractions that can be found elsewhere.

 

[Master Yoda]

We'll agree to disagree. I see nothing coming close to resembling "pretty" when i look at Dinorama.

And my comment was about the looks of the area, not that it has a similar feel and attractions that can be found elsewhere.

No problem. I have always liked the carnival but I understand why some people have an utter disdain for it.

 

[Atomicmickey]

If it weren't for the many talented designers under him.

Well, whylightbulb, you'd have experience with these things, so I'll listen to what you say. Here's hoping those many talented designers are along for the ride this time! Joe can have the spotlight, as long as the product is excellent, IMO. Thanks for the insight!

 

[whylightbulb]

Well, whylightbulb, you'd have experience with these things, so I'll listen to what you say. Here's hoping those many talented designers are along for the ride this time! Joe can have the spotlight, as long as the product is excellent, IMO. Thanks for the insight!

LOL yea I don't have a problem with him getting some of the spotlight I just have issues with all the worship like he is some amazing genius. I see this all the time with several "celebrity" designers and it just happens to be one of my pet peeves

 

[WDWFigment]

Ugghhhhh I'm getting a bit nauseous from all the Rhode worship. I knew the guy back when he worked in the model shop and seriously he isn't that talented. He is great at politics and self promotion however. He lucked out on a few projects and worked his way up to the VP level. He is a nice enough fellow and I'm not trying to make him look bad but he is like so many in the management ranks: average in talent but great at politics. If it weren't for the many talented designers under him and the crazy wardrobe/jewelry you would never have heard of him.

Something else I'd like to add to my post about all the Rhode worship above. A few years ago during a conversation with him he expressed his dislike for the attractions at DisneySea. He thought the quality was lacking. I'm sorry but how can you take any designer sersiously that has that opinion? Joe is an okay designer but nothing special. Don't let the earrings fool you. Now Baxter on the other hand...

I'm really surprised no one has responded to these rather provoking posts from a poster who is seemingly an insider, and not just in the "I know a guy who knows a guy who works at WDI" sense.

I have no attachment to Rohde, but it seems a lot of others do. I will admit that it seems like projects on which he works have an incredible amount of detail, but I have no idea if that's because of him, or coincidence. It also seems that his projects get huge budgets, sometimes unnecessarily so (for what it's worth, I think Disney way over-spent on Everest, and should have instead made a Matterhorn+ attraction, and allocated the rest of those funds on a couple C or D ticket attractions; but I understand the value in marketing Everest...)

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts about this take on Rohde.

 

[GLaDOS]

I'm really surprised no one has responded to these rather provoking posts from a poster who is seemingly an insider, and not just in the "I know a guy who knows a guy who works at WDI" sense.

I have no attachment to Rohde, but it seems a lot of others do. I will admit that it seems like projects on which he works have an incredible amount of detail, but I have no idea if that's because of him, or coincidence. It also seems that his projects get huge budgets, sometimes unnecessarily so (for what it's worth, I think Disney way over-spent on Everest, and should have instead made a Matterhorn+ attraction, and allocated the rest of those funds on a couple C or D ticket attractions; but I understand the value in marketing Everest...)

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts about this take on Rohde.

I know nothing about him personally. But I find his projects to be lacking substance once the actual ride portion starts. His projects have great queues, but I find the overall product to be disappointing after the build up.

Still, I think the projects he leads turn out better than most of the stuff we've seen recently.

 

[WDWFigment]

No problem. I have always liked the carnival but I understand why some people have an utter disdain for it.

Yeah, count me among those who completely and utterly disagree with you. I've heard and read about the details in Dinorama, and that just makes me think even less of the land, because I think it became a "no dough" project where Disney went to great lengths to concoct an elaborate backstory and cheap theming to 'explain away' serious substantive faults.

I mean, I could come up with this incredibly elaborate backstory for a pile of horse...stuff...left on Main Street, adding layers of details to the horse stuff, but at the end of the day, it's still horse "stuff."

The same is true here. If the substance of the attractions in Dinorama were high quality, I'd be a fan, even with the current theming. But they're not, and I'm not.

 

[Master Yoda]

Yeah, count me among those who completely and utterly disagree with you. I've heard and read about the details in Dinorama, and that just makes me think even less of the land, because I think it became a "no dough" project where Disney went to great lengths to concoct an elaborate backstory and cheap theming to 'explain away' serious substantive faults.

I mean, I could come up with this incredibly elaborate backstory for a pile of horse...stuff...left on Main Street, adding layers of details to the horse stuff, but at the end of the day, it's still horse "stuff."

The same is true here. If the substance of the attractions in Dinorama were high quality, I'd be a fan, even with the current theming. But they're not, and I'm not.

That is fine and probably completely accurate but it does not stop me from enjoying it any less. You do not always need "substance" for something to be fun. And that is what Disney is all about in the end. Having fun. Every thing in the parks does not need to be a Rembrandt caliber piece of art. Carnival games have no substance or story nor do they need one to be entertaining.

You can doll up a fillet and charge $75 for it and it does not make it any better than a $10 fillet you throw on the grill yourself. Sure I like the gussied up $75 fillet but it does not make me enjoy the $10 one any less.

 

[wdwmagic]

I'm really surprised no one has responded to these rather provoking posts from a poster who is seemingly an insider, and not just in the "I know a guy who knows a guy who works at WDI" sense.

I have no attachment to Rohde, but it seems a lot of others do. I will admit that it seems like projects on which he works have an incredible amount of detail, but I have no idea if that's because of him, or coincidence. It also seems that his projects get huge budgets, sometimes unnecessarily so (for what it's worth, I think Disney way over-spent on Everest, and should have instead made a Matterhorn+ attraction, and allocated the rest of those funds on a couple C or D ticket attractions; but I understand the value in marketing Everest...)

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts about this take on Rohde.

I think the fans attachment to Joe Rohde is largely due to his amazing passion for the parks, and the detail that his projects deliver. Have you ever heard him give a presentation? He absolutely gets it, and can talk for hours and hours on details and story. His presentation for DAKs 10th was a great example of this.

Regardless of how much he personally delivers on a project, he is one of the best at WDI right now for headlining a project like this. Nobody else has that personality to sell a concept to guests or management. With him behind AVATAR the message will get out, and he'll create that hype that it will need.

I personally like the way he operates. I respect the way he really believes in what he is doing.

From the outside we unfortunately don't get to meet all the others who work on his projects. I would like to be able to heap as much praise on them, given the chance to know about them.

 

[Disaddict]

Please.

Listen, I love WDW, but aside from attendance, Disney hasn't done squat to "lead" in Florida since the opening of Tower of Terror. Universal has whipped them in attraction design since '99.

That's your opinion. Good. I've stated mine too, although with a lot less sarcasm.

 

[njDizFan]

First, I want to say that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan.

But I wish people would stop talking about Disney's answer to Harry Potter. Disney doesn't have to answer to that land in another park. What Universal does in their parks should never cause Disney to "respond" in any way. Disney leads, and others follow. Why do you think US added WWoHP? Because Disney kicks their butt all the time so they had to come up with something. This WWoHP fascination will subside. But in the meantime Disney has no reason to "respond" to WWoHP. The people that come to US for it will likely be spending dollars at Disney as well. I hope US comes up with another huge idea. It will only help Disney.

Why do you think Iger jumped on the AVATAR bandwagon?

He missed out on Potter and needed something big in response.

 

[janoimagine]

I'm really surprised no one has responded to these rather provoking posts from a poster who is seemingly an insider, and not just in the "I know a guy who knows a guy who works at WDI" sense.

I have no attachment to Rohde, but it seems a lot of others do. I will admit that it seems like projects on which he works have an incredible amount of detail, but I have no idea if that's because of him, or coincidence. It also seems that his projects get huge budgets, sometimes unnecessarily so (for what it's worth, I think Disney way over-spent on Everest, and should have instead made a Matterhorn+ attraction, and allocated the rest of those funds on a couple C or D ticket attractions; but I understand the value in marketing Everest...)

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts about this take on Rohde.

I think it's honestly no different from an Ad Agency or what Walt use to do back in his day ... you surround yourself with the most talented people you can, it only makes you and your ideas look better in the end. Typically when you have a great Ad Campaign they interview the Creative Director of the Agency, and not the Creative Team of Writer and Art Director who came up with the Ad, the truth is, the CD's role was just to approve the concept and sell it to the client, (not to make light of that because that is difficult to do too) but thats just how it goes ... I would imagine it is no different at WDI. Eddie Soto would be a good one to ask on this.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Maybe I was mistaken...but I think Everest was what was called "becoming an embarrassment"

That was my impression as well.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Please.

Listen, I love WDW, but aside from attendance, Disney hasn't done squat to "lead" in Florida since the opening of Tower of Terror. Universal has whipped them in attraction design since '99.

So, does Soarin = squat?:shrug:

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

That is fine and probably completely accurate but it does not stop me from enjoying it any less. You do not always need "substance" for something to be fun. And that is what Disney is all about in the end. Having fun. Every thing in the parks does not need to be a Rembrandt caliber piece of art. Carnival games have no substance or story nor do they need one to be entertaining.

You can doll up a fillet and charge $75 for it and it does not make it any better than a $10 fillet you throw on the grill yourself. Sure I like the gussied up $75 fillet but it does not make me enjoy the $10 one any less.

It's easy to say Disney is mainly about "having fun," but keep in mind that Disneyland was created because Walt wanted to create a place that was more than just a garish carnival that kids love but most adults don't.

 

[Disaddict]

Why do you think Iger jumped on the AVATAR bandwagon?

He missed out on Potter and needed something big in response.

Over a year after WWoHP opened? And they just now announce "the answer to WWoHP"? With 5 more years to go for the Avatar opening? :lol: Good one. :ROFLOL: Like I said, Disney doesn't have to respond to US.

 

[GLaDOS]

So, does Soarin = squat?:shrug:

Soarin' is a decent attraction. But it's also a clone of an attraction that can be found elsewhere. I wouldn't call that leading in the Florida area.