Misnomers and Misconceptions

[RobFL]

Being a resident Floridian and natural theme park junkie, some of the common mistakes I hear from guests surprise me.

So, I'm asking for some perspective.. where on Earth do these strange thoughts stem from?

1. "Fast Track" for Test Track - It is apparently some mesh of Fast Pass and Test Track, and seeing how getting on the ride does require a bit of a melding between the two thoughts, but nothing Disney advertises puts them directly together. The Fast Pass commercials on-site explain the system without mention of the ride and the Test Track commercials on CNN make no mention of the system. How do people come up with it?

2. "Starship Earth" for Spaceship Earth - This mostly comes from foreigners, so i'm assuming something is lost in translation, perhaps? It makes the attraction sound like a bad broadway musical though...

3. "There's nothing inside the golf ball." - Then why on Earth would we have a giant golf ball? What purpose would it serve? I guess it stems from the "There's nothing inside Cinderella Castle..." common-knowledge.

4. "When is the 3 o'clock parade?" - At 4:15 of course! Why do Cast Memebrs STILL (year after year) get asked this question?


Your insight is greatly appreciated

-Rob

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

Originally posted by RobFL
2. "Starship Earth" for Spaceship Earth - This mostly comes from foreigners, so i'm assuming something is lost in translation, perhaps? It makes the attraction sound like a bad broadway musical though...

lol! or a Star Trek film!

:lol: those were so great though! i know what you mean....i've heard MANY mispronunciations of Disney rides! i wish i could remember some...i'm sure a lot of them have come from my mom! lol! the other day she mentioned the Dawn and Swolphin Hotels! :lol:
not knowing the names of things in WDW is one of my pet peeves...as well as when people think characters from Nickelodeon, WB, or wherever are Disney characters! i HATE that! i know sometimes people can't help it because they just don't know the difference, but geez! if you're gonna mention something Disney related to a life-long Disney fan, the least you can do is get the name right! lol!

 

[2much2do]

I used to be a cast member at the Disney Store on Fifth Ave. in NYC. I cannot tell you how many times people got all angry when I told them we did not have any Bugs Bunny (or Tweety, TAZ, or Scooby Doo) T-shirts!!!!!!! The Warner Brothers Store happened to be located a few blocks from us, so I finally stopped explaining the difference between Disney and Warner Bros. and just pointed north and said
"You can find a wonderful selection of shirts with that character three blocks down the street on your left!"

GEEZ!!!!!!:hammer:

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I've actually had a couple come up to me (I'm not a castmember) in Epcot and ask me if I saw anything that "impressed" me...

And I looked at them and told them OF COURSE...the WHOLE THING IMPRESSES ME...and then they said, "Where do we buy tickets to ride that thing?" (as they pointed to the monorail)

DO SOME HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU JUST JUMP INTO THE WORLD!

It just baffles me how much money that couple must've WASTED because they spent so much for the vacation and HAVE NO IDEA what to do.

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

On the bus last week, some loud mouth guy was talking about "that Fantasia show at the Studios Park". It might not had been so bad if he hadn't been so loud and acted like he knew everything. Me, my wife and our friends just looked at each other and laughed. I wanted to stand up and yell "It's called FANTASMIC".

Why are the people that think they know everything, ususally know the least and are the loudest?!?:brick:

 

[Starlet]

Living here in the UK i dont get to visit wdw as often as i'd like. But I was surprised how over here not everyone can get the names of the resorts right, let alone the ride names. The amount of times wdw has been refered to as disneyland in florida.

I even spotted the mistake on a competition poster in a big store over here. I nearly wrote in and complained!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Originally posted by RobFL
Being a resident Floridian and natural theme park junkie, some of the common mistakes I hear from guests surprise me. Your insight is greatly appreciated -Rob

You seem to have answered your own question. You live on top of the resort and you have a passion for Disney and theme parks. Therefore your knowledge and interests focus around WDW.
While I'm not excusing the "what time is the 3 o'clock parade" morons, I will defend some of the others.
Prior to my first visit to WDW I didn't subscribe to internet sites, read volumes and volumes of guide books, make copious notes and itineries about touring the parks etc, etc.
I did however have two qualifications : a love of Disney films and a foresight to read one guide book. I wasn't the authority on Disney that you would prefer all visitors to be. I went to WDW for a holiday, I went to enjoy myself - and I did.
So, to holiday at WDW you don't need encyclopedic knowledge of everything within the 47 square miles - although a bit of background research sure comes in handy.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by Buzz Lightyear
On the bus last week, some loud mouth guy was talking about "that Fantasia show at the Studios Park". It might not had been so bad if he hadn't been so loud and acted like he knew everything. Me, my wife and our friends just looked at each other and laughed. I wanted to stand up and yell "It's called FANTASMIC".

Why are the people that think they know everything, ususally know the least and are the loudest?!?:brick:

I'm not a CM but I feel like I know quite a bit about the parks and the storylines behind the attractions. If I hear a family or a couple that seems lost or doesn't really understand what an attraction is, I always want to help them but the girl I used to go with never let me!!! I'm just in that DISNEY mode and I would want someone to help me...I dunno, she didn't want them thinking that I was listening in on their conversation I guess (but yes, THEY TALK LOUD)

 

[bearboysnc]

I've heard guests call Fanstamic!, Fantasia magic. They also want to know where you "get on" they think it's a ride.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Re: Re: Misnomers and Misconceptions

Originally posted by CAPTAIN HOOK


You seem to have answered your own question. You live on top of the resort and you have a passion for Disney and theme parks. Therefore your knowledge and interests focus around WDW.
While I'm not excusing the "what time is the 3 o'clock parade" morons, I will defend some of the others.
Prior to my first visit to WDW I didn't subscribe to internet sites, read volumes and volumes of guide books, make copious notes and itineries about touring the parks etc, etc.
I did however have two qualifications : a love of Disney films and a foresight to read one guide book. I wasn't the authority on Disney that you would prefer all visitors to be. I went to WDW for a holiday, I went to enjoy myself - and I did.
So, to holiday at WDW you don't need encyclopedic knowledge of everything within the 47 square miles - although a bit of background research sure comes in handy.

If that was directed towards me I think you took what I said the wrong way. I just meant that before you go to WDW you should at least figure out what you want to do, plan accordingly, and have some itinerary ready (especially the FIRST time you go) Whether it's just getting the basics out of a simple guidebook or popping online to get a bit of a grasp of things. I didn't mean that you need to eat, sleep, breathe, and drink disney before you get down there. I'm sorry for the confusion.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Originally posted by WDWFREAK53
If that was directed towards me............I'm sorry for the confusion.

1) No it wasn't - my post was before yours!!!!!!!!! My post was directed at the thread starter.
2) No need to apologise.
:wave:

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by CAPTAIN HOOK


1) No it wasn't - my post was before yours!!!!!!!!! My post was directed at the thread starter.
2) No need to apologise.
:wave:

Oh ok...thanks Cap'n

 

[WDWFanatic]

One of my biggest problems is people who don't know the difference between disney movies and other animated movies. Being such a disney fan, they always have to tell me how bad some movie was and I have to tell them It wasent even a disney movie! Hey how come there isnt a shrek ride?:brick:

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I fell victim to that once...I saw Anastasia...and must say, it was Disney quality...

It took about 2 months after I saw it to realize that it WASN'T a Disney flick...(but now I get to correct everyone that mistakes it for Disney )

 

[SW-FL]

My fav. mix up of all time was during a character meet n greet, watching this woman tell her kid "look there's Doc (from Snow White) in his bedtime clothes", when in reality it was Mr. Sneed (from Peter Pan) .

 

[Gaffer42ca]

But then, doesn't everyone find that?

I mean, wherever you live, if there's a tourist attraction nearby, don't you find the same thing happening?

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people refer to the CNN Tower (it's CN), or the Saddledome - which sure isn't in Toronto, here it's the Skydome.

I guess the point is that when people travel they tend to leave their brains behind.

The great thing about Disney is even if you do become intelligence challenged when travelling there's not a lot of trouble you can get into - unlike when we found ourselves in south central LA. Oops. Taught us to be twice as aware when doing the tourist bit.

 

[d dude]

One day, at school, we were writing essays in the computer lab and i decided to write mine bout WDW, and was simply titeld "My Trip to Florida"

The Guy sitting next to me then leans over and says my essay is teribly wrong.....

WDW IS IN CALIFORNIA!!!!! :fork:

I practicly lost it and started yelling at him telling him the difference.

he still doesn't get it............ :brick:

 

[kaos]

When I go next week, I'm staying at the Boardwalk Lodge, then going to Disneyworld and Epcot Center, but not the Magic Kingdom... it's completely for kids. I'll watch the 3:00 parade, but I don't think it starts until 3:45... why is that? Shouldn't the 3:00 parade start at 3:00??? I mean, if I'm standing in Fronteirland, and it's 3:00, why is it always late? Then I'm going to eat at the Liberty Tree Tavern... isn't that the one by the American Adventure?

Seriously... My aunt and uncle took my cousins a few years back over the summer. We wrote a list of must see attractions. It was their first time there ever, so we told them DO NOT miss American Aventure, Norway, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Carousel of Progress, Spectromagic, and definately take the train at least once all the way around...

Here goes the rest...
"We saw Hall of Presidents instead of American Adventure... They're the same anyways"
"We couldn't find Norway, but the Mexico boat ride was nice"
"We did the Muppets instead of Honey... and we did the bug's life one too"
--They actually did do CoP, but they got a bum deal... the theatre was off center, so they got 2 scenes at once
"We saw the Fantasmagic... isn't that the same as Spectromagic?"
--didn't take the train once, or the people mover, or the monorail...

Needless to say, we're making sure that the next time they go, either me or my brother goes too.

 

[TinkerBell9988]

People that THINK they know it all but call Fantasmic "Fantasmagic" really me off....

I swear, I don't really remember any specific occurances at WDW when some stupid idiot said something wrong and insisted it was right... Damn those people REALLY me off....

Oh, here's one I remember!!! I was at the MK on line for milk for my brother and the person behind me asked if Spaceship Earth was in Tomorrowland! And they asked me if they had to take "that white skinny train thingy" to Epcot.... oy vey!

 

[kaos]

Originally posted by TinkerBell9988
People that THINK they know it all but call Fantasmic "Fantasmagic" really me off....

I swear, I don't really remember any specific occurances at WDW when some stupid idiot said something wrong and insisted it was right... Damn those people REALLY me off....

Oh, here's one I remember!!! I was at the MK on line for milk for my brother and the person behind me asked if Spaceship Earth was in Tomorrowland! And they asked me if they had to take "that white skinny train thingy" to Epcot.... oy vey!

wait... starship earth isn't in futureland?