WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
How can I agree and disagree with you at the same time?
I spent an hour last Friday sitting by the water (just me and two special people) on the patio seating area at a deserted Flame Tree looking across the water at Everest. It was more MAGICal than Space Mountain will ever be. And I don't think for a minute the details are there to cover for a lack of substance. I think the substance is there, but it is a different kind of substance. (Oh, I do love the poster jab ... that come up a lot!)
Substance is taking a safari (and a 5 p.m. one for that matter since people and moan about not seeing animals out unless they take an opening ride) and seeing those giant African cattle so close to the vehicle that I had to move in a bit ... seeing giraffes cavorting ... and both lions pacing around their version of Pride Rock. ... It's soaking in the birds near the water on the trails behind the ToL as the sun goes down.
It's even taking a ride with Disco Yeti.
Does it need more? Of course. (see that's where we agree)
But for some, it won't ever be enough because it isn't MK 2.0. I could go to WDW and spend a week and not visit the MK and have a great trip, but how many others here would say the same?
I think for many, a WDW visit is MK plus whatever ... or perhaps MK and EPCOT and ... whatever.
Ah, Tom ... but you are falling into that trap that you must have Omnimovers (an ancient ride system) in a Disney park. I have no issue with them. But I don't think they are what's missing. And I still believe DAK is absolutely a full day park (even though I only spent 5 1/2 hours there on Friday). The thing is many people don't want to learn about the animals ... they walk by the tigers ... maybe snap a photo and two minutes later they are on their way. they don't want to look at the birds in the aviary ... they don't want to walk the trails ... they want to 'ride the rides' and leave. I just don't want to see DAK ever become a ride park. Hell, that isn't what the MK is supposed to be (even if it has become a ride and toon park).
As to Everest's budget, I heard something interesting when in O-Town regarding what it allegedly cost and what some internal documentation says it did. I'd really like to know the real deal on that!
That campaign ended years ago. I wondered about it from the start. The issue is the park is a theme park about animals, a hybrid concept. I have some definite ideas on exactly how to market it. And I'd put them out here, but I do KNOW what Disney pays its consultants and I am not giving them free advice here.
Perhaps, I should have waited to respond ... because I agree with so much of what you say ... just not where you wind up in the end. ... Although to be fair, I am not sure what in Central Florida is a great theme park these days. I think there are a bunch of really good parks (to varying degrees), but I'm not sure any are truly great.
But I think we agree that DAK needs more. Joe Rohde has been saying so since the 1990s, so we aren't alone. I just would not have gone in the blue alien direction myself.
~GFC~
I knew I should have been more careful with how I phrased things, as you like to parse language like no other. (You're far "worse" than my colleagues--and you seem to hate my people!)
The attractions it needs don't need to, specifically, be Omnimover attractions. I used the word Omnimover as a succinct term in place of "long and detailed attraction." I couldn't care less what ride system is actually utilized, as long as it creates something with some meat that is filled with details. I don't care if it's old tech or new tech. You get the idea.
As for the poster budget joke, I didn't realize that came up a lot. I don't think I've heard it before, so I'm disappointed that I wasn't the first to make that joke.
I get your point about having to be willing to immerse yourself in the animal attractions, but I stand by my point on execution. They should be executed differently, more on par with TLS or something. Maybe it's just me, but I've always liked the 'framed story' technique, rather it be in theme parks, literature (Heart of Darkness is one of my favorite novellas), or films as I think it is a great storytelling device, and adds rich layers of content.
However, I realize Billy Bob and Cletus from the mountains of Kentucky don't generally appreciate or notice this type of thing, and that's probably partly why TLS is no more. (I don't really care to offend a lot of people, so I'm not going to take this any further here, but email me if you care to discuss this.) Still, I think that would be an improvement over what exists now.
As for Avatar Land, I have to admit, I am a fan. Not of the concept, necessarily (I like to think I have discerning taste in films, so I haven't seen Avatar), but for someone as controlling as James Cameron having some degree of creative input or control on the project. By all accounts, Cameron is a perfectionist, and if he has power on this project, I think it's much more likely to go over-budget than to have it's budget hacked and pillaged at the last minute. Sad that it's come to the point where I'm excited about a project, regardless of substance, just because I think the budget won't get hacked, but I think that's a reality to which we have to adjust with the contemporary TWDC. That is what it is, I suppose.
As for people being disappointed because DAK isn't MK, those people will always exist. I'd like to think I'm not one of them and that my complaints go to the actual substance, although we do spend a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom.
As for sitting in the Flame Tree seating area looking at Everest, I'm totally with you on that. It's one of the most serene and (at off hours) tranquil areas anywhere in the parks. I've recently become enamored with near-infrared photography (DAK is a great park for this, as there is so much foliage), and spent some time there on a recent trip just photographing the area. How can people not appreciate an area this beautiful?
The Passage To The Forbidden Mountain by Tom Bricker (WDWFigment), on Flickr
Winter Expedition To Disney's Everest (Infrared Image) by Tom Bricker (WDWFigment), on Flickr
It's odd, now that we're done with school, we take far more trips per year than we did before, but proportionately less of those are to Walt Disney World. We're traveling to Disneyland more this year, and next year, we're forgoing a couple of trips to WDW to finally visit Japan (and, obviously, make a stop at TDLR). We both still love Walt Disney World, and I think positive things are happening in some places (I think dining and merchandise are both turning around to some extent, as is maintenance in *some* places), but compared to the other parks around the world, it's pretty clear that WDW is faltering.
