Soarin' image quality

[JordanNite]

Image is so poor i can barely see anything any more.

 

[NelsonRD]

"We need to ride these rides to failure" is not improper maintenance.

I never said that, or suggested anything along those lines.

What I said is that it is being addressed now. Even if I do not see the changes for a year. I visit the World about 2 times a year, and that means I may have to suffer through the punishment of Soarin' only about 2 or 3 more times in my life if I choose.

The converse to my argument, which I also accept, is that this applies to more than Soarin' and the quality of attractions are in decline. General standards we have become accustomed to at a Disney park is suffering.

Everything is life requires a tradeoff. If you want a faster car, you lose quarter mile time, you cannot have both. With all the construction going on at the park (which I argue is about capacity not better experiences), the tradeoff is some attractions are not getting the attention it should, and I am clearly in the minority while I say I can understand how this happens, whether I agree or not.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

There was far more construction going on at the parks prior to the 2000's than now. Between the 80's and 90's there were three entire parks built, not even including all the expansions (some real expansions, not just repurposing existing space) that occurred throughout that era. They STILL managed to get said construction done immensely faster than now, largely put out better quality rides and attractions, AND kept everything looking like it was brand new (even things that had been open for decades).

Again the poor condition we're seeing now is the inevitable result of what happens when you permanently eliminate a vast quantity of nightly maintenance crews, reduce yearly refurbishments if not eliminate them outright, continually accelerate budget cuts and all the other ignorant changes that were made starting in the mid 90's and further escalated under Iger.

 

[NelsonRD]

I am going to put this out there for the experts in this forum, ops please move if necessary.

Looking at the current Board of Directors it seems obvious to me where Disney is spending money and where they are cutting. I searched quickly looking for previous Board of Directors to try to find data to support my thesis that this Board is too social media/tech focused, opposed to good show/entertainment.

Does anybody have a list of the previous Boards?

 

[Goofyernmost]

There was far more construction going on at the parks prior to the 2000's than now. Between the 80's and 90's there were three entire parks built, not even including all the expansions (some real expansions, not just repurposing existing space) that occurred throughout that era. They STILL managed to get said construction done immensely faster than now, largely put out better quality rides and attractions, AND kept everything looking like it was brand new (even things that had been open for decades).

It might be more accurate to include that those three theme parks were built without thousands of guest wondering around during the construction. They could go full bore for two or possibly three shifts. Not just in the off hours.

I'm sure that the full staffing of the construction in the hub area does not happen until after every one is gone. Hours upon hours of time is lost setting up lighting systems and taking them down again before the morning guests arrive. The last big build in MK took forever, it also was smack in the middle of the park without any real daytime access for heavy equipment and other machines that are designed to make the process faster and easier.

I agree that they have been dragging their feet for a number of years when they should have been building things, but, that is a separate issue. What is being discussed here is how long it takes to do the building now compared to before. I maintain that the "Magic of Disney" is fogging peoples mind about the realities of building in a busy theme park.

I have been skeptical for a long time about the extended time was to spread expenses over more then one accounting year. If my memory of accounting is correct, capital investment is treated as an increase in assets offset by the cost of the investment and the cost of the project is amortized via depreciation over many years beyond when it is actually in operation. It doesn't really matter how long it took to build it, it's the same amount of amortization regardless of the time to build. Repairs to assets are considered expense as long as it hasn't enhanced anything from it's original value. Regular maintenance is also an expense. Expenses when dealing with tax situations reduce the taxable income. So no reason to think that saving money would happen. It comes from one place or the other. And the silliness that thinking that Disney and its herd of lawyers would allow safety situations that they were aware of to not be addressed is asking for millions of dollars to go out in settlements. By their actions it is obvious that none of those spineless executives have the courage to blatantly ignore problems. It's way to big a gamble and an unnecessary gamble at that. Disney does have the money to fix whatever they want to fix. Things that are not safety issues would more then likely be prioritized as to immediate need as opposed to something that can wait.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I never said that, or suggested anything along those lines.

Never said you did. You should do the research I suggested.

 

[NelsonRD]

Never said you did. You should do the research I suggested.

I did. The Thunder Mountain reference was improper maintenance. It was serviced, however, they did not service it properly, leaving a bolt loose. That is completely different than not servicing it at all.

The idea that Disney is taking the Ford Pinto approach to safety issues as you suggest is plain laughable.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I did. The Thunder Mountain reference was improper maintenance. It was serviced, however, they did not service it properly, leaving a bolt loose. That is completely different than not servicing it at all.

The idea that Disney is taking the Ford Pinto approach to safety issues as you suggest is plain laughable.

Once again, a mandate to "Ride these rides to failure" is not improper maintenance.

 

[Tom Morrow]

What I said is that it is being addressed now.

And this is the reason we have such an issue with your stance on this. It is NOT being addressed now. 1.5 to 2 years from now is not now, it does nothing for every guest that will experience the attraction until then.

I did. The Thunder Mountain reference was improper maintenance. It was serviced, however, they did not service it properly, leaving a bolt loose. That is completely different than not servicing it at all.

The idea that Disney is taking the Ford Pinto approach to safety issues as you suggest is plain laughable.

We're talking about show quality, not safety.

 

[NelsonRD]

And this is the reason we have such an issue with your stance on this. It is NOT being addressed now. 1.5 to 2 years from now is not now, it does nothing for every guest that will experience the attraction until then.

We're talking about show quality, not safety.

I understand, I did not put the safety spin on this, but did defend it. Second, my only claim was that I understand how this happens, and the challenges of getting things done in a timely manner - from life cycle costs, to budget planning, to just plain putting it off. I have agreed all along that it should have been addressed earlier.