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Disneyfanman

Disneyfanman

Well-Known Member
Well Al Lutz has great sources, and often has information before anyone else. Often his information is incredibly accurate. Often his inside stuff really makes people angry.

I have been reading Al for years, and consider him an absolute lover of Disney. He wants them to be great, and offers a critical inside view when they are not. I think he influences people at TDA, and makes them crazy when he has insider info that he really shouldn't have, let alone publish. Look at what happened when he published those pics of the cave at the Finding Nemo Sub attraction. I thought people were going to have a stroke over it.

There have been several times when I have read SCATHING articles ripping Al pretty badly over posted rumors, and then the darn things turn out to be completely true. I rarely read follow-up stories. Just the next Al ripping festival. Marcie, for example over at Mouseinfo.com, has often gone on record as very critical of Al, but then disappears underground when a rumor that she swears is garbage begins to happen. I don't deny her right to post comments, and I don't deny Al the right to post information. I just enjoy the public fued.

So I like reading Al. He is critical, biased, and often accurate. He posts pictures that make people crazy. He shifts his viewpoint in terms of what he criticizes and what he supports, which from an editorial point of view is not very professional, but IS extremely entertaining. And what is even more entertaining is the tremendous emotion that he seems to generate in others. That's the mark of a great columnist. Not a great journalist, but certainly a great columnist.

May he never stop writing.
 
D

disneyphilip

Member
Disneyfanman said:
Well Al Lutz has great sources, and often has information before anyone else. Often his information is incredibly accurate. Often his inside stuff really makes people angry.

I have been reading Al for years, and consider him an absolute lover of Disney. He wants them to be great, and offers a critical inside view when they are not. I think he influences people at TDA, and makes them crazy when he has insider info that he really shouldn't have, let alone publish. Look at what happened when he published those pics of the cave at the Finding Nemo Sub attraction. I thought people were going to have a stroke over it.

There have been several times when I have read SCATHING articles ripping Al pretty badly over posted rumors, and then the darn things turn out to be completely true. I rarely read follow-up stories. Just the next Al ripping festival. Marcie, for example over at Mouseinfo.com, has often gone on record as very critical of Al, but then disappears underground when a rumor that she swears is garbage begins to happen. I don't deny her right to post comments, and I don't deny Al the right to post information. I just enjoy the public fued.

So I like reading Al. He is critical, biased, and often accurate. He posts pictures that make people crazy. He shifts his viewpoint in terms of what he criticizes and what he supports, which from an editorial point of view is not very professional, but IS extremely entertaining. And what is even more entertaining is the tremendous emotion that he seems to generate in others. That's the mark of a great columnist. Not a great journalist, but certainly a great columnist.

May he never stop writing.
Click to expand...

And those are the reasons why a lot of us despise him. He's too critical, too biased, more inaccurate than accurate and he does not have sources.

And may he quit writing while he's still ALIVE!
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
disneyphilip said:
And those are the reasons why a lot of us despise him. He's too critical, too biased, more inaccurate than accurate and he does not have sources.

And may he quit writing while he's still ALIVE!
Click to expand...
I would like some documented evidence of where he is "more inaccurate than accurate." I can't really think of any projects he has announced before anyone else that haven't come to be. What is he most critical of?

(1) DCA. People here love to bash DCA, as well. It is no secret that even Disney considers DCA largely a failure. We'll see what comes of all these placemaking projects he has told us about. I tend to believe they will happen.
(2) Poor treatment of CMs. This is a fact. They can't keep CMs at Disneyland. Try to get a burger and you will discover there is a clear shortage of CMs and easily a quarter of the ones there are either in training or fresh out of training. The pay is absurdly low. That is true at WDW, as well. CMs are underpaid, underappreciated, and they get to deal with obnoxious guests all day, every day.
(3) the condition of the Magic Kingdom at WDW. You will find many similar opinions here. The Haunted Mansion is in dreadful shape and if you ride DL's version, it adds further insult to the injury. Space Mountain and the Jungle Cruise are the same. This isn't Al Lutz's bias. One would have to be living in his/her own little world to think the Haunted Mansion is in perfect condition.

Read his article today. He is praising Toy Story Mania as something that will be tons of fun. You would find far less flattering opinions of TSM on this site. Then read his description of Pirates Lair at TSI (which he broke the news on first). Praises. New Lagoon Show at DCA? Praise. Then he offers advice to provide better viewing possibilities. I call that constructive criticism and it's certainly something Disney should consider. Then he talks about placemaking projects which sound good, and then...uh-oh...he criticizes the Year of a Million Dreams. Just about everyone on this site criticizes YoaMD. Then he compliments new merchandise at DL...and then finally some info on the abyssmal conditions CMs have to deal with at DL.

Where is Al being unreasonably critical or biased or giving false information? If being biased in favor of the guys making our cheeseburgers and running Splash Mountain is a bad thing, then maybe some of us are taking what CMs do for guests for granted...
 
dxwwf3

dxwwf3

Well-Known Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
I would like some documented evidence of where he is "more inaccurate than accurate." I can't really think of any projects he has announced before anyone else that haven't come to be. What is he most critical of?

(1) DCA. People here love to bash DCA, as well. It is no secret that even Disney considers DCA largely a failure. We'll see what comes of all these placemaking projects he has told us about. I tend to believe they will happen.
(2) Poor treatment of CMs. This is a fact. They can't keep CMs at Disneyland. Try to get a burger and you will discover there is a clear shortage of CMs and easily a quarter of the ones there are either in training or fresh out of training. The pay is absurdly low. That is true at WDW, as well. CMs are underpaid, underappreciated, and they get to deal with obnoxious guests all day, every day.
(3) the condition of the Magic Kingdom at WDW. You will find many similar opinions here. The Haunted Mansion is in dreadful shape and if you ride DL's version, it adds further insult to the injury. Space Mountain and the Jungle Cruise are the same. This isn't Al Lutz's bias. One would have to be living in his/her own little world to think the Haunted Mansion is in perfect condition.

Read his article today. He is praising Toy Story Mania as something that will be tons of fun. You would find far less flattering opinions of TSM on this site. Then read his description of Pirates Lair at TSI (which he broke the news on first). Praises. New Lagoon Show at DCA? Praise. Then he offers advice to provide better viewing possibilities. I call that constructive criticism and it's certainly something Disney should consider. Then he talks about placemaking projects which sound good, and then...uh-oh...he criticizes the Year of a Million Dreams. Just about everyone on this site criticizes YoaMD. Then he compliments new merchandise at DL...and then finally some info on the abyssmal conditions CMs have to deal with at DL.

Where is Al being unreasonably critical or biased or giving false information? If being biased in favor of the guys making our cheeseburgers and running Splash Mountain is a bad thing, then maybe some of us are taking what CMs do for guests for granted...
Click to expand...

That post is completely spot on. Nobody ever says anything when Lutz says something positive. Everyone always focuses on the negative and most of the time he's extremely fair when being critical of Disney, IMO.
 
imagineer boy

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
Disneyfanman said:
Well Al Lutz has great sources, and often has information before anyone else. Often his information is incredibly accurate. Often his inside stuff really makes people angry.

I have been reading Al for years, and consider him an absolute lover of Disney. He wants them to be great, and offers a critical inside view when they are not. I think he influences people at TDA, and makes them crazy when he has insider info that he really shouldn't have, let alone publish. Look at what happened when he published those pics of the cave at the Finding Nemo Sub attraction. I thought people were going to have a stroke over it.

There have been several times when I have read SCATHING articles ripping Al pretty badly over posted rumors, and then the darn things turn out to be completely true. I rarely read follow-up stories. Just the next Al ripping festival. Marcie, for example over at Mouseinfo.com, has often gone on record as very critical of Al, but then disappears underground when a rumor that she swears is garbage begins to happen. I don't deny her right to post comments, and I don't deny Al the right to post information. I just enjoy the public fued.

So I like reading Al. He is critical, biased, and often accurate. He posts pictures that make people crazy. He shifts his viewpoint in terms of what he criticizes and what he supports, which from an editorial point of view is not very professional, but IS extremely entertaining. And what is even more entertaining is the tremendous emotion that he seems to generate in others. That's the mark of a great columnist. Not a great journalist, but certainly a great columnist.

May he never stop writing.
Click to expand...

Well said. I've been hoping someone on these boards would properly defend Al. I really have enjoyed reading Al's articles because contrary to popular belief, his rumors are often very accurate. Some of the people who attack him on these boards have obviously only read one or two of his articles and judged him based on those.
 
Mansion Butler

Mansion Butler

Active Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
(2) Poor treatment of CMs. This is a fact. They can't keep CMs at Disneyland. Try to get a burger and you will discover there is a clear shortage of CMs and easily a quarter of the ones there are either in training or fresh out of training. The pay is absurdly low. That is true at WDW, as well. CMs are underpaid, underappreciated, and they get to deal with obnoxious guests all day, every day.
Click to expand...

I gotta say, most of us enjoy our job enough that we're just fine with the pay. And the treatment and benefits beyond the pay make working for Disney great.

And, believe it or not, obnoxious guests are wonderfully rare.
 
Disneyfanman

Disneyfanman

Well-Known Member
disneyphilip said:
And those are the reasons why a lot of us despise him. He's too critical, too biased, more inaccurate than accurate and he does not have sources.

And may he quit writing while he's still ALIVE!
Click to expand...

LOL! My point is made! In Die Hard, they knew that his character was still alive because "Only John could make somebody THAT angry!" Face it Disneyphilip, you get really angry at Al but you can't stop reading him! That, again, is the mark of a great columnist! Thanks for confirming what I said!

Long live Al!
 
D

disneyphilip

Member
Disneyfanman said:
LOL! My point is made! In Die Hard, they knew that his character was still alive because "Only John could make somebody THAT angry!" Face it Disneyphilip, you get really angry at Al but you can't stop reading him! That, again, is the mark of a great columnist! Thanks for confirming what I said!
Click to expand...

Once again, you are dead wrong...and I was not confirming ANYTHING!
 
mkt

mkt

When a paradise is lost go straight to Disney™
Premium Member
So... I wonder if the MK is gonna upgrade to vista

:lookaroun :lol:
 

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