Oh no, say it ain't so, Joe..

UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
Actually I don't know Joe nor care about Joe as a person. I am simply reviewing his actual output.

Based on your response, I am only left to surmise you think the "RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!" pre-show and entire creative concept is good.

We agree to disagree.

This is a little like debating a 15 year old girl about Justin Bieber.

Me: Song X is terrible.
Brittany: You just hate Justin because he's dreamy!!!!!!
Me: Uh, OK. But seriously, that song is terrible.*

*Note all pop references proudly and intentionally dated.
Click to expand...

But if the majority of his output is good -- some of the best Disney has done in the past 25 years, and some among the best ever -- does it really matter that much that he also has some misfires, even when they are really bad (like the Flight of Passage pre-show or Dino-Rama)? Nobody is perfect and I'd take him over just about anyone else in Imagineering today.
 
_caleb

_caleb

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
Actually I don't know Joe nor care about Joe as a person. I am simply reviewing his actual output.

Based on your response, I am only left to surmise you think the "RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!" pre-show and entire creative concept is good.

We agree to disagree.

This is a little like debating a 15 year old girl about Justin Bieber.

Me: Song X is terrible.
Brittany: You just hate Justin because he's dreamy!!!!!!
Me: Uh, OK. But seriously, that song is terrible.*

*Note all pop references proudly and intentionally dated.
Click to expand...
What about my response left you to surmise that I think the pre-show is good? Are you sure you responded to the right post?

Why would you pick one thing that you don’t like about his work (a pre-show, no less) and say that it epitomizes his best effort? That’s not reviewing his actual output, that’s picking nits.

I’m not so blinded by Joe’s hits that I don’t see when he misses. I think he’s a talented Imagineer who has proven that he can design some pretty great attractions. If he’s capable of some pretty high highs, then it stands to reason that his lows might be due to other limiting factors.

If you don’t have an axe to grind with Joe, maybe you just don’t know how WDI works? It’s not like Imagineers get unlimited budgets and rarely do they get to start with a blank canvas. Good ideas can be poorly executed, and even the best ideas under restrictive limitations can result in disappointing attractions.

And if you don’t have an axe to grind with me, maybe don’t compare me to an infatuated little girl?
 
_caleb

_caleb

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
Again, so when his work is good, it is him. When it is terrible, it's because of budgets and restrictive limitations. I get it.

But, but, Justin didn't get enough time to write a good song and his normal producer was sick and...and...he got some very negative comments on Twitter that he was dealing with that day!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
No, you don’t get it. You clearly aren’t reading what people are actually posting, and you’re either not willing or not capable of having a thoughtful discussion.
 
_caleb

_caleb

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
Fair enough - I have no issue people pointing to his portfolio as A, B, C, and D are great and W, X, Y, and Z are horrible. However, as you've seen throughout the thread, most of the commentary is schoolgirl cheerleading vs. project by project honest criticism.
Click to expand...
Ok, let’s consider this lovely line of reasoning. If projects A, B, C, and D are The Adventurer’s Club, Aulani, Pandora, and Everest and W, X, Y and Z are DinoRama, the Mission Breakout Facade, the FoP Pre-show, and that thing hanging from the side of his face, that seems like a net positive to me.

Any honest person would see a difference between the first group of “projects” and the second.
 
Marc Davis Fan

Marc Davis Fan

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
When it turns out great, it is all Joe. When it is an embarrassing creative mess, it's the evil executives. Got it.

RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!!!!

(Probably a bean counter in accounts payable that came up with that idiotic concept)
Click to expand...

Um, what I said was a little more nuanced than that - about aspects of Rohde's work that I think are superb, and other aspects that I have criticisms of, along with the legitimate issue of budget constraints on certain projects - but if that's what you got out of it, alright then...
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I’m a fan of joe and the two things I hate the most at a Disney park he was involved in. Guardians tower. And wildlife express.

I’m a fan of Tony and I can’t stand the current state of Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

For someone that doesn’t care about the guy you sure seem passionate about him!
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
I’m a fan of joe and the two things I hate the most at a Disney park he was involved in. Guardians tower. And wildlife express.

I’m a fan of Tony and I can’t stand the current state of Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

For someone that doesn’t care about the guy you sure seem passionate about him!
Click to expand...

I didn't know anyone had strong feelings about the Wildlife Express!

It's annoying that it's the only access to Planet Watch, and it's misnamed, but it's not like there's much reason for the majority of guests to go up there anyways (at least before they started doing the Animation Experience, which is a lot of fun).
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
I didn't know anyone had strong feelings about the Wildlife Express!
Click to expand...

I have 2 major problems with it.

1 - it should either be an actual steam train, or the locomotives should look like African diesel locomotives. Fake steam trains at a Disney park should never be (let’s not talk about Hong Kong please).

2- as a regular attraction in the park it shouldn’t show behind the scenes the way it does.
 
_caleb

_caleb

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
I have 2 major problems with it.

1 - it should either be an actual steam train, or the locomotives should look like African diesel locomotives. Fake steam trains at a Disney park should never be (let’s not talk about Hong Kong please).

2- as a regular attraction in the park it shouldn’t show behind the scenes the way it does.
Click to expand...
I agree with both of these points. I feel the same way about The Hogwarts Express at Universal. With all the effort being put into making things feel authentic, the fake steam engines stick out. At least Hogwarts doesn’t have windows to let guests see the backstage areas the Wildlife Express does! Seriously, why can we see Cast Member’s cars?

But I do like the theming of the Wildlife Express. It feels like that train is super old, which I love. And unlike Hogwarts Express, at least it’s actually a train!
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
I have 2 major problems with it.

1 - it should either be an actual steam train, or the locomotives should look like African diesel locomotives. Fake steam trains at a Disney park should never be (let’s not talk about Hong Kong please).

2- as a regular attraction in the park it shouldn’t show behind the scenes the way it does.
Click to expand...

I don't like seeing behind the scenes either. I certainly don't think the Wildlife Express is great -- I just think it's such a minor part of the park that I've never really thought much about it at all.

Do they list it as an attraction? I'm sure they do because Disney lists basically everything as attractions now. I've always just thought of it as transport to Planet Watch and back rather than an actual attraction, though.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
_caleb said:
I agree with both of these points. I feel the same way about The Hogwarts Express at Universal. With all the effort being put into making things feel authentic, the fake steam engines stick out. At least Hogwarts doesn’t have windows to let guests see the backstage areas the Wildlife Express does! Seriously, why can we see Cast Member’s cars?

But I do like the theming of the Wildlife Express. It feels like that train is super old, which I love. And unlike Hogwarts Express, at least it’s actually a train!
Click to expand...

This is veering even further off-topic than we already are, but I was very underwhelmed with the Hogwarts Express. It's really short (which I suppose couldn't be helped since it's actually transportation between the two parks and they're right next to each other) and the scenes you see through the "windows" are just a random assortment of characters rather than anything that really grabs you. I barely even remember it despite riding it both ways.

The stations are cool, though, and I absolutely love the way it drops you off in "London" and then you have to go find the entrance to Diagon Alley instead of exiting directly into the area.
 
WDW Guru

WDW Guru

Well-Known Member
RobWDW1971 said:
Also, for those that are apparently confused, "RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!!!!" is NOT from the excruciating pre-show of Flight of Passage (BTW, CNN reported that all Guantanamo Bay prisoners are now subjected to the FOP pre-show for 20 hours a day - results have been quite effective).

No, it is from Guardians of the Galaxy:Mission Breakout where apparently The Collector has landed his museum in the middle of Disney's California Adventure for some apparent reason and then in order to enter the museum you need...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the idiotic pre-show Rhodes came up with for Guardians - so throughout the queue an incredibly annoying voice shouts at you to "RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!!!" while a LED tracklight from Home Depot goes back and forth like a Cylon on quaaludes (impressive effect you have to see in person if you haven't).

The good news is that about 37 minutes after the attraction opened, people started ignoring the moronic concept and just stare at their phones and talk to their friends while they are berated to "RAISE YOUR HANDS TO BE SCANNED!!!!!". But don't worry, like FOP, it gets much more annoying on future visits.

One of the worst examples of WDI "creativity" in history.

#accountantsmadehimdoit
Click to expand...

f04.gif
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom