Required Reading from SaveDisney.com

[dcaffey]

Don't know if this have been posted before but I spent a little time at SaveDisney.com and there are two stories I think should be required reading for anyone interested in the future (and past) of Disney's theme parks.

Neither really has anything to do directly with WDW but both things really make me cringe and make me worry about what the future might hold.

The first is a photo essay comparing Tomorrowland in Disneyland from the 50's/60's to what it has become today. If this one doesn't make you sad....

The second is an very enlighting article about Hong Kong Disneyland and what it WON'T be. It's really pitiful.



DL Tomorrowland-Then & Now

Hong Kong...Phooey

 

[1stStarIC2nite]

Wow... I am in shock at what is being put into Hong Kong Disneyland, or really, what is NOT being put in Hong Kong Disneyland

This in a excerpt that really got me -

"There will be no "Haunted Mansion" or "Pirates of the Caribbean." With one exception ("Winnie the Pooh") there will be no Fantasyland dark rides like "Peter Pan" or "Snow White's Adventures."

There will be no Matterhorn. No "Big Thunder." No "Autopia." No "Star Tours" or "Submarine Voyage" (not a surprise after the removal this popular, but expensive-to-operate, ride from Disneyland and Walt Disney World.)

Most astonishingly for a project that brings a little bit of American culture to China, there will be no "It's a Small World."

Yes, there will be a "Space Mountain." It's not the enormously influential and imaginative re-thinking of the ride found at Disneyland Paris. Instead, Hong Kong's sole Mountain will be similar to the 27-year-old ride found at Disneyland in California.

Then again, two entire lands found at the U.S. parks are missing: Frontierland and Toontown. Not just a couple of attractions - entire lands"

I almost don't see how this park will be successful... :veryconfu

But, I would much rather make a visit to Tokyo Disneyland just for DisneySea, after a brand new type of Tower or Terror is installed, that will be one of the best Disney parks on the planet!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

This park not only scares me, but it terrifies me. This is going to be very bad for the company and any investors that are involved. I really hope that they have a lot of things planned for Phase II (and they better announce immediate construction once the park opens).

 

[General Grizz]

Someone should take that shovel away from Eisner. He's been a diggin' too deep.

Watch it, Mike Eisner. Start mending your ways.

 

[DonaldDuck]

According to Hong Kong Disneyland's website, it appears as if there are only 4 officially announced rides in the whole park. I know it's still early and more rides will probably be announced, but that's sad. Plus the fact that there are only 4 sections to the whole park (3 lands plus Main Street) is sort of cheap. The omission of Frontierland and Toontown wouldn't be so bad if other new lands were put in their place.

It's a quick park though. You can go there at 10:00 AM. Go on the Jungle Cruise, go on Pooh, go on Dumbo, and then go on Space Mountain. Have lunch and take a few pictures in front of the castle. Then you can leave at 1:00 PM.

 

[HennieBogan1966]

Well, I did check out the pictures of TL then and now, which were very interesting to view. However, I was doing some reading on SaveDisney.com and read some info under the Consumers link. VERY interesting reading. I will say that a lot of what you see on that site is negative regarding the direction of the company under its current leardership. And to a certain extent I realize they have to be. But at some point, you should point out the positive, which they do to some degree on that link. It makes for some very interesting reading and some very valid points regarding direction of the company.

 

[monorail_driver]

Tomorrowland: That future that never was is gone once again.

I've never visited the Tomorrowland at Disneyland, but it looks pretty terrible from the photos. I can't imagine Tomorrowland w/out the people mover - and all that Buzz lightyear scenery [junk] placed out in the open seems to be really out-of-place with the Disney-style. Can it get any worse? [With Eisner running the show, he'll find a way!!]

 

[AEfx]

I have to agree with HennieBogan1966 - savedisney.com can be an informative website, but it has been slowly losing credibility with many people who originally supported it. I feel the same way about jimhill.com - they try to put a negative slant on EVERYTHING which makes them less convincing about the stuff that really is negative. The whole "crying 'wolf'" thing.

Yes, Eisner is a terrible leader in terms of where he has let Disney go in the past few years; then again, if he hadn't taken over when he did and had the success he had, Disney may not even be here - it could have been chopped up and sold off long ago.

I read savedisney.com, as well as jimhill.com, in spite of this because they do have some genuinely good links to articles, but much of it is such overkill and so obviously slanted it distracts from the cause. It's a shame, because savedisney began as such a ground-breaking effort, but now is just your typical anti-disney site that happens to have the participation of Roy Jr. There is enough dirt on Eisner to bury him without making it sound worse than it is, and it just hurts them in the long run when they do it so transparently.

AEfx

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

You know? All these complaints about Roy are really getting out of hand. I'd like to see someone suggest a better way of Roy fighting this. He has tried for 2 years inside the company and failed. Why? Because Eisner dictates the so-called 'independent board'. Now he has come off with a new site and managed to get over 50% of shareholder's votes against Eisner. There is still plenty of time till the next shareholder meeting and the only way for Roy to keep things fresh is to make such negative comments. It may not always seem like he's on the right path anymore but I see no other option. (If you have suggestions PLEASE let Roy know of them). I believe there's more to these articles than it seems.

We need to help as much as possible in this so-called 'battle', not because we believe in Roy or because he has the name Disney on him. Only because we believe that it's time for a fresh and creative face leading the Walt Disney Company. For all of you believing that it's time Eisner resigned, be patient and things will slowly come around. No one promised fast results and Roy made sure everyone knew this isn't going to be easy. So just hold on tight and fasten your seat belts, because this is going to be one bumpy ride! :animwink:


:wave:

 

[AEfx]

DisneyFan 2000, it's not complaints about Roy. It's simply the overly negative slant many of the articles presented at SaveDisney have. It just puts a dent in their credibility when they don't even pretend to be balanced. Actually, Roy is saying very little these days - and it's just a bunch of armchair "journalists" writing as nasty stuff as they can. When you are overly critical on EVERYTHING, it tends to give much less credibility when you actually do make a valid critical point.

That said, I agree with virtually all of the articles - but I cannot help but see why SaveDisney has gotten the current reputation that it has earned.

AEfx

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

Attention please,








Now that I have your attention, go see the new SaveDisney pole and let Roy know how you feel! He is asking for constructive crticism (unlike some people :brick: ). Please let him know exactly how you feel!

 

[WDWfan2209]

Eisner, Please Listen to the People!

I would like to start by saying, Disney is in Jeapordy. Within the next 10 to 15 years, it could become just another name. When Walt Disney created Disneyland, he would constantly be out in the park listening to guests conversations about what they thought about Disneyland. He constantly tried to improve his "baby." He was never affraid to admit that he made a mistake on a certain attraction, he then quickly fixed it to make it work.

On websites like this one [www.wdwmagic.com], people like us discuss every little detail of Disney. We discuss new things, we discuss things such as attractions we miss, we even discuss the opening of pathways that are a step closer to openings of sometimes, amazing rides. The thing is like I said, we pay attention to every detail, meaning that if Eisner would log on to www.wdwmagic.com and go into these forums, he would know what worked and what didn't work.

I believe Eisner knows that he is cheap and that he is driving the Disney Company right into the ground. That just makes me sick. A company that is so amazing and so historical, so well known, is being basically thrown away. Yes Eisner has done some good things, but you can count those good things on one hand.

I love Disney. Whenever I go there it is always magical. But recently some of the magic has begun to dissappear, such as non-working animatronics, areas that need paint, areas that just simply need to be cleaned! Writing this I am somewhat yelling at Eisner, but not completely. I am not writing this in any way to "bash" him, I am siply syaing what could easily be done, on his part, to turn Disney around.

I have a question for everyone on these boards. My question is, If Eisner read these boards, do you think he would do anything about what we say is wrong with the parks? Would he even post and ask us what we thought could be added or just re-done to make the parks, or even the company, better? If you reply to this post, please do not yell at me. I am simply saying what I think and in no way trying to "bash" Eisner. -An Upset Disney Fan

 

[KevinPage]

Yes, there will be a "Space Mountain." It's not the enormously influential and imaginative re-thinking of the ride found at Disneyland Paris. Instead, Hong Kong's sole Mountain will be similar to the 27-year-old ride found at Disneyland in California.

This part drives me nuts. A good roller coaster does NOT need loops in it. Looping coasters generaly are not rated as the BEST roller coasters in many enthusiast polls. Also, looping coasters are generally not as "re-rideable" due to the forces exerted on your body and the "head banging" of the restraint.

I'll ride WDW Space Mountain & BTMRR over RnRC or The Hulk any day of the week

 

[Dizzknee]

My dad actually sent in an email about this subject and it's posted on savedisney.com

Here it is

"Hello, Mr. Mitchell;

Upon seeing a quote of Walt Disney recently, I was struck how this one applies so strongly to today, notably the last sentence:

"Now, when we opened Disneyland, outer space was Buck Rogers. I did put in a trip to the moon....and, of course, we were going up to the moon long before Sputnik. And since then has come Sputnik and then has come our great program in outer space. So I had to tear down my Tomorrowland that I built 11 years ago and rebuild it to keep pace."

With all the mind-boggling technology available today (evident in Mission Space), it is truly time for a major updating of Tomorrowland. It should, of course, retain a futurist accent. I hope that you and others will seriously contemplate and act on Walt's thoughts on this topic.

A frequent visitor to WDW, a long-time Disney fan, and a minor stockholder of Disney, as well.

—B. "

Here's the link
Letter Link

 

[ToTBellHop]

This part drives me nuts. A good roller coaster does NOT need loops in it. Looping coasters generaly are not rated as the BEST roller coasters in many enthusiast polls. Also, looping coasters are generally not as "re-rideable" due to the forces exerted on your body and the "head banging" of the restraint.

I'll ride WDW Space Mountain & BTMRR over RnRC or The Hulk any day of the week

the point is it's not high tech and it's the only mountain in this park, and one of two thrill rides (I believe their "Jungle Cruise" is more along the lines of Kali River Rapids). I'm sure more smaller rides will be announced eventually...for the sake of this park, they better. Hopefully the four announced rides are just the E-tickets and they have smaller rides in the works, too. However, this will be a successful park because of the location. There really isn't any competition in China...I know of no other theme parks there. It doesn't make it right and it won't make me go to China to see it, but from Disney's standpoint, they have over a billion reasons to build something in China...

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

There are competitors. A park on a mountain! Forgot its name!

 

[MichRX7]

I've been thinking about the Eisner bashing myself lately. I've even done a bit of good humored bashing myself, but in all honesty how many of us here are qualified to know what it's like to run a business like the Walt Disney Company. It's hard to fathom getting everything done in a 24 hour day (much less getting any sleep). Think about everything that falls under the WDC umbrella and your are the last line of defense making sure it all works.

Has Eisner done a perfect job? I think we'd all agree no. Has he totally run the overall company into the ground? I think a majority of us would say no. Are there things we'd like to see him improve on? Of course.

Personally since our focus is mostly on the parks we should be starting an email campaign of some sort to whomever (I'd have to look this up) is actually in charge of the parks, or animation, or whatever our specific beef is about. It'd be easy to start a webform that people could sign. I'd say a few thousand active posters could get something looked at within specific areas of the company. Especially if it was well thought out and handled appropriately. Of course, the person receiving our complaints could easily say their hands are tied by "the boss", but then shouldn't we simply CC him on the letters?

BTW, my initials are ME too, but I don't think I'm all that selfish. It just confused everyone when my Mom would write my initials on stuff I would take to elementary school...

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

Yes, but isn't it funny that his initials are ME??? I think so.... :lol: Anyhow, I for one actually think he IS in the process of running the company to the ground. (No animation, cheap theme parks, failing network etc..)

 

[marietta-stitch]

First, I would like to say I would have to agree with MichRX7 when he said most of us can't fathom what it is like to run a company like Disney. However, I think that over the past few years things have noticably gone wrong in many aspects of the company that should seriously be looked at. All of this came to view for me in Feb. when Comcast actually put a bid in for Disney. Granted it didn't pan out and seemed to fall out of the news in a few weeks or months, but still, can you really put a price tag on Disney. The answer should be NO! How can you expect to by the magic, the love, and the joy of Disney that thousands of people have, and moreover, how could you sell it. Disney should never have a price tag on it, never be though out just a company. That is the main problem, its all about money these days. For example, Eisner promised a 30% increase, that is well and good, but how about promising to return the magic of Disney.

I love Disney, always will, to be able to be a grown man and feel like a 10 year old child when you see the castle, that is a great thing. I have always looked forward to one day having children and bringing them to Disney and seeing the expression on there face the first time they see this magic. But it is sad that as of late, people are afraid the magic will be gone. How can the magic leave if it is still in the hearts of all of us that take the time to post on these boards, visit the park numerous times a year, watch Disney TV and Movies. This Magic will never leave.

True, Eisner has made mistakes, but everyone in buisness does at one point or another, and every buisness stumbles. And true, Eisner may be a huge factor in all this, but we must all remember that one man cannot hold all the blame. Where is the board though all this. When a person who's last name is the Company's namesake resignes, eyes shoud have opened. The WDC need not only listen to Roy, but to all of us, the ones with the love in out hearts.

Disney has made mistakes, bad judgements, errors in finance, but the magic is still there. We need to join together and celebrate that Magic. Disney will survive, it will grown stronger, and it will once agian return to the glamor the parks, films, and everything associated once had. If a 5 year old child screems with joy at the first sight of the Castle in a park all is not lost and the magic is still there.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

This part drives me nuts. A good roller coaster does NOT need loops in it. Looping coasters generaly are not rated as the BEST roller coasters in many enthusiast polls. Also, looping coasters are generally not as "re-rideable" due to the forces exerted on your body and the "head banging" of the restraint.

I'll ride WDW Space Mountain & BTMRR over RnRC or The Hulk any day of the week

The best parts of the Paris coaster aren't the loops. It is the theming and the feeling you get. Since the ride is a space flight you do actually launch, and the music is great. i wouldn't mind seeing an update like the Paris ride come to other parks in the World (even without loops). The ride is just an incredible change to the classic.