While I have your attention, grab your Friday's Chinese Chicken Salad leftovers and let's talk some Shanghai.
First, how it affects parks stateside. Soarin Over the World will, as I have said before but is now confirmed, debut at EPCOT and DCA on June17th, almost a day after SDL opens with it as a unique attraction. Take this to the bank as done
@wdwmagic.
The budget cuts continue at WDW (and DL) to make up for the overspending that is happening in China. Chefs are being told to buy cheaper ingredients and plate the food differently so smaller portions can be served, all while prices rise (and not one Lifestyler/Tweeter/Blogger or Podcaster will rip them for it). You could serve these people a pile of cow pooh on a plate and so long as it was from Disney, they'd eat it and tell you how tasty it was.
BTW, while there were a few reasons for not having a 24-hour day at the parks to usher in Olaf's favorite season, the biggest reason why an event planned to be annual one won't be happening is budget cuts due to Shanghai.
The latest word from my folks on the ground there is that it's still a total mess. The word now is that on opening day less than 50% of exterior paint will be completed. You read that right. Many facades and structures will simply have a basic and detail-free paint job slapped on until the real WDI finishes can be applied through the end of calendar 2016. It really is THAT bad.
From a friend in the know:
"The American parks have been asked to cut labor and expenses by double digit percentages in order to help pad the bottom line of the Parks & Resorts division while Shanghai slurps up huge amounts of labor, captial and free cash flow to get the park open on time and without too much embarassment. [WDW and DLR] are now directly subsidizing the Chinese Communist Party to get the Shanghai property barely able to open on time by June. Can you imagine what the vehemently anti-Communist and pro-American Walt would have thought of that?"
My response would be "Walt Who?" Disney doesn't care. Iger doesn't care. Staggs doesn't care. Chappie doesn't care. Georgie doesn't care. Dr. Blondie doesn't care. So *** should anyone else, right?
And even with all this added capital (anyone still asking where that $800 million went ... beyond out and out graft?) and labor, WDI and Bob are in a panic because major attractions simply are so far behind being ready for June that some people on-site have gone to saying "June of what year?" They recently ordered a batch of senior Imagineers, headlined by Tom Morris, over to SDL to add oversight and do ''whatever they can" to get the park ready to go. A few balked and were given the Eddie Sotto treatment, as in "You can go or you can resign, but you can't stay."
Some day a book is going to be written on this project ... and I don't mean a Disney coffee table one either.
Speaking of China, as I am wont to do, no one seemed to notice that Andrew Kam resigned recently as Managing Director of HKDL and was replaced by Sam Lau. Yes, that one. Do you think there are two of them? Kam had been the SAR face of the resort and a big outward fan of it. Lau was born there and has a Chinese face and has experience working in exec positions where he got to do nothing.
Finally, one last shot at WDW management: you expect people to book lunches six months ahead of time and attractions 60 days out, yet you are opening a brand new show at DAK, which people will need to reserve, and you refuse to provide operating hours or showtimes one month out. Yup, stay classy WDW.
