Valid point. If and when a special premieres I have a feeling those quotes would be aired pre-announcement footage. Either way, seeing something when evaluating a deal is completely different when evaluating post deal being made.
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James Cameron, Joe Rohde, Tom Staggs and Disney executives touring Animal Kingdom
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Valid point. If and when a special premieres I have a feeling those quotes would be aired pre-announcement footage. Either way, seeing something when evaluating a deal is completely different when evaluating post deal being made.
DonaldDoleWhip
Well-Known Member
I don't hate Dinosaur (even though it's vastly inferior to IJA), but most of the land is quite dispensable to me.
menamechris
Well-Known Member
haha! Where's her "First Visit" button? :wave:
MickeyPeace
Well-Known Member
I agree. I look forward to anything Rhode is creating.
Is there a video of that?
John
Well-Known Member
Disaddict
New Member
This statement still makes me laugh. :ROFLOL::ROFLOL:
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
Ya I'm pretty confident that Joe will figure out a way for this to work and fit into the AK. I'd love to know what his thoughts about this are. I'm assuming he's happy something is being to his park, but I'm sure he had a lot of other blue sky stuff in mind instead.
Thrill
Well-Known Member
Glad to know that Rohde is on board. This should be nothing short of spectacular.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter is not helping Disney. It won't start helping, either.
Most of the new visitors to the Orlando area (and I can't imagine there were many) came in the first months of WWoHP. The new visitors are likely a very small group that will do very little to help either company in the future. However, there are plenty of visitors who may have turned a 7 day stay at Disney into a 6 day park pass for Disney and a 1 day pass for Universal, or a 6 day pass at Disney and a 1 day pass at Universal into 5 days at Disney and 2 days at Universal. They are probably losing days to Universal due to Harry Potter more than they are gaining unique visitors due to Harry Potter.
And Harry Potter, like EPCOT Center, will be a fixture of the Orlando resort area. It's not something that most people will see once and be done with. It's something that people will want to experience again and again, along with the rest of the currently growing Universal resort.
And do I even need to mention merchandise? WWoHP is a souvenir selling machine. I'd bet that many families come down to Orlando with a budget set aside for souvenirs. Now they're taking that same budget and buying Harry Potter wands instead of Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. Again, huge money at stake here.
Then we get into the whole "WDW as a resort" issue. Disney's strategy since the late 80's, at least, has been establishing itself as an "all-in-one" resort destination. You stay there, you eat there, you shop there, you see the attractions there. You don't leave the property, because Disney picks you up at the airport, so why spend money on a car? But now, you're heading for Universal, you need a car anyways, so why not take money that we would normally spend on a hotel and stay off property? This one is a bit of stretch compared to the others, but probably serves to balance new visitors to Orlando coming for Harry Potter.
WWoHP is a huge threat, in more ways than one, and phase 2, when it is complete, should do a good job of scaring Disney. The expansion rumors that I've been reading (huge phase two for Harry Potter, couple new attractions for Universal Studios) could seal in a second day at Universal for most guests. Disney is losing more days, more food, more souvenirs, possibly more hotel nights.
To my understanding, it's quite the opposite. They're not going outside enough. Universal's model is basically a small-ish core of creative designers who oversee projects which are outsourced to other companies. This strategy brought Wizarding World of Harry Potter to us for a relative bargain at $200 million, when compared to most Disney projects. WDI employs a ton of in-house Imagineers and does some level of outsourcing. It turns out great projects, but they run expensive.
There was talk that the creative approach to Shanghai would follow the Universal Creative model, and pending its success, it would then be phased in to the rest of Imagineering.
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.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter is not helping Disney. It won't start helping, either.
Most of the new visitors to the Orlando area (and I can't imagine there were many) came in the first months of WWoHP. The new visitors are likely a very small group that will do very little to help either company in the future. However, there are plenty of visitors who may have turned a 7 day stay at Disney into a 6 day park pass for Disney and a 1 day pass for Universal, or a 6 day pass at Disney and a 1 day pass at Universal into 5 days at Disney and 2 days at Universal. They are probably losing days to Universal due to Harry Potter more than they are gaining unique visitors due to Harry Potter.
And Harry Potter, like EPCOT Center, will be a fixture of the Orlando resort area. It's not something that most people will see once and be done with. It's something that people will want to experience again and again, along with the rest of the currently growing Universal resort.
And do I even need to mention merchandise? WWoHP is a souvenir selling machine. I'd bet that many families come down to Orlando with a budget set aside for souvenirs. Now they're taking that same budget and buying Harry Potter wands instead of Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. Again, huge money at stake here.
Then we get into the whole "WDW as a resort" issue. Disney's strategy since the late 80's, at least, has been establishing itself as an "all-in-one" resort destination. You stay there, you eat there, you shop there, you see the attractions there. You don't leave the property, because Disney picks you up at the airport, so why spend money on a car? But now, you're heading for Universal, you need a car anyways, so why not take money that we would normally spend on a hotel and stay off property? This one is a bit of stretch compared to the others, but probably serves to balance new visitors to Orlando coming for Harry Potter.
WWoHP is a huge threat, in more ways than one, and phase 2, when it is complete, should do a good job of scaring Disney. The expansion rumors that I've been reading (huge phase two for Harry Potter, couple new attractions for Universal Studios) could seal in a second day at Universal for most guests. Disney is losing more days, more food, more souvenirs, possibly more hotel nights.
To my understanding, it's quite the opposite. They're not going outside enough. Universal's model is basically a small-ish core of creative designers who oversee projects which are outsourced to other companies. This strategy brought Wizarding World of Harry Potter to us for a relative bargain at $200 million, when compared to most Disney projects. WDI employs a ton of in-house Imagineers and does some level of outsourcing. It turns out great projects, but they run expensive.
There was talk that the creative approach to Shanghai would follow the Universal Creative model, and pending its success, it would then be phased in to the rest of Imagineering.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I believe Jim Hill mentioned that they were moving The Lion King Show to Africa to make room for Avatar at CMM on the second postcast about Avatar he did at Magical Definitions (Magical Mountain).
I listened to both of the Avatar shows on Magical Definition and I don't recall this but I'll listen to them again just to find out if you're right.
What I can tell you is that he had new information at the time we recorded with him. My recollection from the Magical Definition shows was that he didn't know where it was going at that point.
spaceghost
Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I believe Jim Hill mentioned that they were moving The Lion King Show to Africa to make room for Avatar at CMM on the second postcast about Avatar he did at Magical Definitions (Magical Mountain).
I just listened to the 10/2 Magical Definition Podcast and there was no mention of site location for World of Avatar, I'm listening to the 9/25 show at 70000 Hz (1.75x speed) that was recorded on the day of the announcement to see if there was any mention of location other than hypothesis.
Edit: Nothing on the 9/25 show... try again.
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
He definitely said that it was going into CMM, but he said that Lion King was staying and that Avatarland would be further south towards the parking lot. He also said that rainforest cafe would move to the other side possibly. I just can't remember if I heard this on Magical Definition or on WDWfanboys. Btw it was a pleasant surprise to have the podcasts switched for the week.
jakeman
Well-Known Member
The overall them of Animal Kingdom at opening was Animals that Were, Animals that Are, and Animals that Will Never Be. That is evident by both the original park logo and the animal bust over the ticket counters (Elephant, Triceratops, Dragon).
Just one other general point. The backstory, while, in my opinion, is poorly communicated, was not tacked on after the fact with Dinorama. The relationship between Chester and Hester's and The Dino Institute was in place from the park opening. Dino-rama is just a continuation of that story.
Skipper Dan
Active Member
As mean as this was, it seriously made me 'laugh out loud'!
I think this is great news. Joe is one of my heros, and I know that he explains DAK to Jim better than anyone could, making sure that whatever they do, will fit in cohesively with the park, and it's current feel. The photograph of them all together, is just awesome. My - now ex - girlfriend, even commented on it when I posted the article on my Facebook. I think this will all be good, and with Joe on board, collaborating with Jim, good things are coming... even if you don't like Avatar, it'll be one hel- whale, of an experience.
ProjectGemini
New Member
I've never understood the need to find "This Generation's Walt" because, at the same time, almost every Disney fan goes on to say that Walt was 1 of a kind.
It seems that we constantly look for someone to be almost supernatural with the way that they "get it", and thus, we're always disappointed in one way or another. I think we need to start seeing Disney as it is now, a collaboration of creative people, who strive for a great guest experience, and follow the lead set by Walt.
whylightbulb
Well-Known Member
Honestly I believe a part of the illusion regarding his "creative genius" is how he presents himself. I've seen this over and over again with others as well: if you act "really out there" and dress different and talk using a lot of creative jargon people will believe you are creative - even if there isn't a creative bone in your body.
Me personally - I don't think his projects turn out all that great - the exception being Adventurers Club. Anyone can turn out a half decent project if given over a hundred-million dollars. In my opinion though Everest is a major disappointment in so many areas. Sure the queue is nice...ummmm the ride is smooth and mildly exhilarating...I think that's about it and I'm getting off track.
Many times a career at WDI, and any other place in the corporate world for that matter, is decided by the roll of the dice. As a low-level designer what project will you be assigned to that you can add to your resume. Rhode landed some nice ones. Other more talented designers I know ended up with things like ________ Tracy, Roger Rabbit Baby Buggy and so on - they never had the chance to move up the corporate ladder because, despite how wonderful some of these projects could have been, their rungs were cut before they could ever climb up.
I know this comes off as though I have a bone to pick with Joe but I really don't. He's a decent communicator and knows how to put on the song and dance to pitch concepts that others come up with. He's not alone. There are some "celebrity designers" I do respect and admire for their natural talents: Baxter and Soto come to mind. When Tony talks there is a lot of substance in his words it's not just jargon. His ideas are his and they are solid. Same with Eddie.
Let me point out once again that Joe said specifically how DisneySea is lacking in quality. Really? It's one thing to be a guest and have an opinion but I have to seriously question the judgement of a theme park designer that makes a statement like that.