On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace

[UNCgolf]

This is why I enjoy meclizine, a miracle from molecules!

Doesn't work for me. I took some on both the Forbidden Journey day and the Expedition Everest day.

I'm going to try Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) next time, because it's worked for me before. Was hoping the non-drowsy meclizine would do the trick but no such luck.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Rode all of those with a group of friends and family - even on Alien Saucers everyone laughed and had a good time and yet they all had the collective "WTH?" look on their face after the disaster of NRJ. How anybody can defend that attraction is beyond me, but it goes to show why WDI's bar is so epically low these days as customers will suck up the slop.

I wish we had access to the exact budget that was wasted on NRJ - would love to see how it ranks, inflation adjusted, with all the rides in Disney history. Thinking it does not fare well....

I get what you are saying.. not the best ride ever made. But to use those 3 , you sort of lose the point you are trying to make. Alien saucers is brutal. Little Mermaid is a huge waste of space with really nothing cohesive story at all. Frozen is what it is I guess. One great AA and that’s about it. At least Navi has a great AA when working.. some different things to look at. Way to short. Still, much better then those 3.

 

[UNCgolf]

I get what you are saying.. not the best ride ever made. But to use those 3 , you sort of lose the point you are trying to make. Alien saucers is brutal. Little Mermaid is a huge waste of space with really nothing cohesive story at all. Frozen is what it is I guess. One great AA and that’s about it. At least Navi has a great AA when working.. sone different things to look at. Way to short. Still, much better then those 3.

Exactly. I'm not claiming NRJ is a masterpiece; there are numerous issues with the ride. However, it's still a solid C ticket ride that fits well into Pandora and enhances the experience there, despite the fact that it could (and should) be better. Again, at the very least it actually transports you to an alien rain forest, instead of very obviously taking place in a warehouse.

The lines are absolutely far too long and it's not worth waiting an hour or longer, and having to choose between it and FoP for a FastPass is ridiculous, but there are far worse rides at Disney. I've said it here many times, but I think the lines are a significant part of the problem -- people are expecting an E ticket when they wait that long (or when it's grouped into the same FP tier as FoP). If it had more reasonable wait times, people would be far more willing to overlook the clear flaws and enjoy what it actually does well.

 

[_caleb]

I kinda feel like the X-Men just aren't a good fit for the moment.
Heroes are in vogue right now. But the X-Men's whole schtick is that they look like heroes, but they're actually victims. And while the comic addresses a lot of social issues that are very relevant at the moment, it tends to do so in a very hamfisted way that was meant to appeal to (or was written by) folks that had never thought too critically about that kinda thing before.

For better or worse, most of what originally made the X-Men unique has been synthesized by the rest of the industry. And they absorbed it without sacrificing the stuff that made earlier comics great. Modern comics, and comic movies especially, have learned to combine the complex, conflicted heroes with popcorn spectacle in a way that the X-Men never managed.

I agree. I think for tying X-Men into the MCU for today’s audience, they should focus on a young cast and really lean into the coming-of-age stories that go with young mutants discovering their powers and learning to use them and then learning to function in the world against evil. They sort of do this with Spider-Man, and it works really well. Can’t do that with Avengers of F4, they all get their powers as adults through radiation, aliens, or super-soldier serums.

 

[Touchdown]

NRJ is a fantastic 2/3rds of a ride, I feel like I’m on Pandora and the rising action of the Navi marching through give me a feeling something is about to happen. The Shamen is incredible and I remember thinking on my first ride, ok we are now going to float through a Navi ceremony with everyone chanting (like in the movie when they try to save Segorney Weaver) but nope, we round a corner and there’s the exit platform. I purpose this rides new name to be Navi Anticipointment Journey.

 

[J4546]

maybe they will go through with that jungle book ride in animal kingdom some day....sounded pretty sick

 

[bcoachable]

You’re telling me.

Best park character ever by miles.

My kids got a kitten - ironically just before lockdowns - named him after this favorite

We named our Rumba after the current version of him- for er ehh uhh reasons...

 

[UNCgolf]

Curious - what's an appropriate budget for WDI to create a "C ticket ride"? Considering other "C ticket rides" that "enhance the experience" include Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Alice, Swirling Saucers, etc. I'd be interested in your take on how WDI spent all that money to create a "C ticket ride". What a bargain.

NRJ is leaps and bounds better than rides like Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, and Alien Swirling Saucers, so your comparison is nonsensical. Beyond that, what money? No one has said how much money they spent on NRJ.

Furthermore, you're conveniently ignoring the huge amounts of money Disney spent on the disastrous Little Mermaid ride. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, and I'm pretty sure you don't either.

 

[UNCgolf]

NRJ is a fantastic 2/3rds of a ride, I feel like I’m on Pandora and the rising action of the Navi marching through give me a feeling something is about to happen. The Shamen is incredible and I remember thinking on my first ride, ok we are now going to float through a Navi ceremony with everyone chanting (like in the movie when they try to save Segorney Weaver) but nope, we round a corner and there’s the exit platform. I purpose this ride to Navi Anticipointment Journey.

This is pretty much my point. The ride has undeniable flaws, but there's still a lot of good there. It's a much better effort, even with that abrupt ending, than many other relatively recent rides. Disappointing finish, but the build-up and the elaborate details are good enough to still make it a worthwhile part of the park as long as you don't waste an hour or more waiting in line for it.

 

[Askimosita]

Do we have a new thread yet?

 

[tirian]

Yeah, back in the day, they had those lifetime soda refill mugs.

Shut Pandora’s Box! Shut the lid!

 

[LSLS]

I’ll type slower so you can follow along - you called NRJ a “C ticket” attraction (same as the ones I listed). I’m asking you what an appropriate amount of money Disney should spend on a “C ticket” attraction to understand if what WDI actually produced is comparable to the investment. I think NRJ is an abysmal failure in execution, return on investment, repeatability, and concept, but hey, if you like it....

If you want to make a "tall Pygmy" argument that another ride is worse, then it says a lot about the strength of your initial argument.

I'll admit trying to follow this hasnt been the easiest, but wasn't his initial argument exactly that? Simply that its not that bad when you compare it to others?

Eh, ill admit I kind of enjoyed it. I'll also admit I went once, and didn't really pay a lot of attention to the story, just kind of enjoyed the ambiance of it. I'll also admit that as long as there are 100 minute waits and its a tier 1 fast pass i probably wont be riding it again (especially since i dont have a huge desire to get back to WDW in general at this point).

 

[peter11435]

The state of WDI in 2020 in one sentence:

"It's not that bad when you compare it to others."

Yeah... rise of the resistance, flight of passage, mystic manor, Shanghai pirates, radiator springs racers, runaway railway are all “not that bad.”

 

[Brer Panther]

First of all, the current Figment is a completely different character compared to his original personality (charming, curious, and fun loving)!

This is the Figment we know and love!

This Figment is an imposter! #NotMyFigment

Nah, it's the same Figment. He's just lashing out at Dr. Nigel Channing because he hated the second version of the ride as much as everyone else did. And as far as Bugs Bunny-ish characters go, he's pretty tame.

 

[UNCgolf]

I'll admit trying to follow this hasnt been the easiest, but wasn't his initial argument exactly that? Simply that its not that bad when you compare it to others?

Eh, ill admit I kind of enjoyed it. I'll also admit I went once, and didn't really pay a lot of attention to the story, just kind of enjoyed the ambiance of it. I'll also admit that as long as there are 100 minute waits and its a tier 1 fast pass i probably wont be riding it again (especially since i dont have a huge desire to get back to WDW in general at this point).

My initial argument was really more that the ride itself is incredibly well designed up until the point where it abruptly ends. That's a gigantic flaw and the reason the ride isn't remotely close to being a crown jewel attraction -- as someone else said, it's two-thirds of a really good ride. But Disney should be building more rides with that kind of elaborate, detailed theming where you actually feel transported to another place, and less where you feel like you're in a giant empty space. I don't want Disney to build rides exactly like NRJ because they need to fix the ending, but it would be a starting point. It's vastly preferable to building more rides like the Little Mermaid.

The ambiance, as you said, is the impressive part and what's missing from a lot of other rides in the same relative time frame. They seem to be doing better now, though.

 

[flynnibus]

Also, the second part of your post is hilariously ironic considering you've been defending Little Mermaid, which apparently cost roughly $150 million to produce one of the cheapest looking (and worst) attractions in Disney history.

You need a wider reference base clearly

What you've praised about NRJ pretty much means it would have made a great Rainforest Cafe.

 

[UNCgolf]

I’ll type slower so you can follow along - you called NRJ a “C ticket” attraction (same as the ones I listed). I’m asking you what an appropriate amount of money Disney should spend on a “C ticket” attraction to understand if what WDI actually produced is comparable to the investment. I think NRJ is an abysmal failure in execution, return on investment, repeatability, and concept, but hey, if you like it....

If you want to make a "tall Pygmy" argument that another ride is worse, then it says a lot about the strength of your initial argument.

And I will never understand this "it's 2/3 of good ride" concept - uh, well since I can't ride the complete ride you've created in your imagination and can only judge it by what it actually is - it is an incomplete (by your own admission) misfire and embarrassment. So it's 100% of an incomplete mess.

This is the last time I'm going to respond because I think we've discussed NRJ far more than necessary for what it is, but quick answers:

The C ticket designation is Disney's internal classification, not my personal opinion. I don't really care about the amount of money they spent on it unless it's absurdly out of line with what was built. NRJ is a much better ride, even with it's problems, than some of the C tickets you mentioned, so I have no problem with it costing more.

As for the 2/3 of a good ride, that matters because of the reason it's 2/3 of a good ride. There are a ton of quality elements involved in NRJ, which is not the case for other rides mentioned like Little Mermaid. It's possible, at least for me, to enjoy those elements while acknowledging the ride as a whole is seriously flawed.

I'm not calling NRJ a masterpiece, because it isn't. But it has great ambiance and detailing and makes you feel like you've been transported to another place. That is vastly preferable to some of the empty warehouse rides they were also producing in the same time frame, like the aforementioned Little Mermaid and Frozen Ever After.

I just would like Disney to continue building rides where that is one of the main focuses rather than being an afterthought. It's not that NRJ itself is some crown jewel attraction (it definitely is not when taken as a whole); it's more that it's a partial proof of concept of what Disney should be doing.

 

[UNCgolf]

You need a wider reference base clearly

What you've praised about NRJ pretty much means it would have made a great Rainforest Cafe.

Well I really wanted to stop posting about NRJ.

Wider reference base with regards to what? Worst Disney attractions? There are very few worse than Little Mermaid, especially when considering how much money they spent on it. But it's just a terrible ride basically from start to finish even if had been constructed cheaply.

NRJ is far more elaborately detailed than the Rainforest Cafe; there's no comparison between them. But I also think that type of elaborate detailing is one of the more important parts of a Disney dark ride (which is probably why I think FEA is so bad), and if that doesn't matter as much to you, it makes sense that you wouldn't see anything to praise about NRJ. I'm mostly comparing it to other similar rides built in the same time frame and it's generally much better overall, even with its issues.

Although, since you mentioned it, if they'd taken the really well done theming of NRJ and used it for a table service restaurant, that may have been better. That way you'd still have that great detailing with interesting stuff all around you without having to deal with the abrupt, disappointing failure of an ending.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I'm more of a Bonine or Dramamine guy myself... but I pretty much reserve those for air-travel.

Bonine is a brand name for meclizine.

 

[scpergj]

Bonine is a brand name for meclizine.

This is what I take for the better rides or I’d be a dizzy mess...