Lee
Adventurer
Nope, he wasn't.
They serve as quite willing test subjects
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Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
They serve as quite willing test subjects
Especially when at Disney California Adventure there is at most a 1 minute wait!
Lee
Adventurer
You'd think, huh?
I guess they just want to keep the cheerleading squad involved and happy. Takes a lot to get those folks to complain, unless they feel slighted in some way. Better to be involved in a less than perfect test than to be...gasp!...excluded.
Irie
Well-Known Member
My experience with RFID on my vacation last week: We did not have a band, obviously (all was done with the KTTWC). For the most part, things went smoothly. I checked in and was asked to provide a pin number. I had to use this PIN everytime I purchased a CS meal or a snak credit for the DDP. It worked fine. The lock on my hotel door and the reader for the gate-on at the POFQ worked also. It also worked fine on the new "turnstiles" at all four parks. The only issue we had was that the RFID chip in my daughter's card stopped working after 2 days. As a result, her card needed to be scanned by a "manager" everytime we entered the park through the new RFID readers (the card worked fine in the old machines, but would not unlock the room door either). Since the fastpass machines are still using the old technology, we never had an issue with fastpass. I guess once FP + goes live we would have to get a replacement in order to get a fastpass for her.
tracyandalex
Well-Known Member
Please, please, please!! Two of our favorites - NOLA and DCL!! We'd take any cruise they offered.
dupac
Well-Known Member
Bear with me, I'm probably going to do some rambling here but I have thoughts, gosh darn it.
So a lot of the time I use WDW as a framework to think about concepts I learn in my coursework (I'm a senior engineering major just as some background). We actually had an engineer from DL come and speak to us (and recruit) two semesters ago and it was great hearing from someone who actually does behind-the-scenes logistics. (He showed us a video of parents surprising their daughter about going to DL and he cried.) Today I read an article for my Leadership and Management class about fair process and it included a case study about an elevator manufacturer in the 80s who decided to remain competitive in the poor market by reducing output and focusing on quality. It got me thinking...
If WDW is essentially forgoing the attractions race, then shouldn't the focus to draw people in be on increasing quality? Honestly, new tech isn't bad (when it's implement properly and with every key player in the system from end to end involved) but so many other aspects of the resort are lacking. I don't feel this is the way to increase the quality of a WDW vacation. Perhaps one of the ways an average guest defines quality is the number of rides they are able to ride in one day. I'm sure, though, that there are many other critical to quality aspects like entertainment, special offerings, unique experiences. The things they apparently were great at in the 90s (I wouldn't know.. I'm a 21st century visitor). Simply focusing on guest ride count is too narrow--like someone somewhere got it in their mind that the be-all end-all to a quality guest experience is how many rides they get on.
So a lot of the time I use WDW as a framework to think about concepts I learn in my coursework (I'm a senior engineering major just as some background). We actually had an engineer from DL come and speak to us (and recruit) two semesters ago and it was great hearing from someone who actually does behind-the-scenes logistics. (He showed us a video of parents surprising their daughter about going to DL and he cried.) Today I read an article for my Leadership and Management class about fair process and it included a case study about an elevator manufacturer in the 80s who decided to remain competitive in the poor market by reducing output and focusing on quality. It got me thinking...
If WDW is essentially forgoing the attractions race, then shouldn't the focus to draw people in be on increasing quality? Honestly, new tech isn't bad (when it's implement properly and with every key player in the system from end to end involved) but so many other aspects of the resort are lacking. I don't feel this is the way to increase the quality of a WDW vacation. Perhaps one of the ways an average guest defines quality is the number of rides they are able to ride in one day. I'm sure, though, that there are many other critical to quality aspects like entertainment, special offerings, unique experiences. The things they apparently were great at in the 90s (I wouldn't know.. I'm a 21st century visitor). Simply focusing on guest ride count is too narrow--like someone somewhere got it in their mind that the be-all end-all to a quality guest experience is how many rides they get on.
articos
Well-Known Member
Agreed, definitely not unthinkable, and I was not ragging on New Orleans, just saying honestly it's going to be an uphill battle for a city where the party doesn't stop and drinking and show me your junk are part of the culture.
Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with either of those! Miami has beaches, New York is a top destination, and Galveston is trying for a family friendly reputation.Retail's a bit different than putting a whole bunch of families with kids in the city and saying "Go have fun! and ignore the drunk revelry on Bourbon St." You don't want to tell people to avoid one of the major reasons people to go New Orleans, but you also have to figure out a way to warn families it's not something for the kiddies. Not saying they can't or won't or shouldn't, just that it might be an uphill battle to convince DCL to stop there. Or this might be a play to make NO more inviting to families.
articos
Well-Known Member
Agreed, but those rides are mostly based on classic stories (meaning books/fairytales) and are of a different time - they are classics, and we know what we're in for. If Disney tried to pass of any of the Fantasyland dark rides these days as a new, hyped attraction, they'd get taken to task same as I think for Mermaid, and you're pointing out for Nemo. If it's a modern film, you can't do a literal storytelling if the ride isn't an E-ticket - you can get away with it for books, but not for an animated film that's more recent. If you want to do literal, that ride has to blow people away. And they just aren't doing that. You hit it right on the nail: it sucks the interest out of 'what's next...'. Nemo's better than Mermaid, but Nemo takes you on a voyage of sorts, and takes you out of the everyday world. Just the fact it has the old ride system to ride on, if you'll pardon the play on words, gives it a leg up. But as a ride, creatively, it's eh. Doesn't push the envelope at all, and I'd say the execution of it is worse than 20,000 Leagues, even with its plastic EVERYTHING. But at least Nemo isn't a "this is what happened in the movie, isn't that cool?" retelling.
PirateFrank
Well-Known Member
Look, I'm going to play devils advocate here.......if the criteria to blast little mermaid as a poor attraction is that it mirrors the movie, someone please explain Peter Pan to me?
Now, having said that, I agree with tony baxter's pov on this and I think that to mirror the movie is a recipe for failure....and to this day, I scratch my head at PP's popularity.....
But hating on little mermaid should mean equivalent hate on pp....no?
Now, having said that, I agree with tony baxter's pov on this and I think that to mirror the movie is a recipe for failure....and to this day, I scratch my head at PP's popularity.....
But hating on little mermaid should mean equivalent hate on pp....no?
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Bourbon Street on a Friday or Saturday night is not the place for kids, but New Orleans is rich with history, tradition and culture, not to mention food. There are Alligator farms, bayou tours, steam boat rides and did I mention Music. Music everywhere. The architecture is incredible and from a different era. I'd sooner take my kids to New Orleans then Las Vegas. In Vegas you can't get away from the gambling, "escort" brochures and "ahem" Ladies everywhere. Even Bourbon Street on a Sunday is like a quiet walk in a small town in middle America. It is a place of many faces.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
It's because no one has seen the movie for 30 years. It's stored in Never-Never Land.
articos
Well-Known Member
You know what, I'll take that. I stand corrected.
PirateFrank
Well-Known Member
Ironic that I just watched it recently as it just got released out of the vault....my first observation was, 'damn this is just like the ride' lol
I just look at Mermaid and see no MAGIC in it. Pan has it in spades. Snow White has it. Alice has it. Roger Rabbit has it ... something special about the Disney dark rides. Mermaid is simply a plastic retelling (and leaving out the drama at the end because we wouldn't want to scare the little ones ... BTW, I was scared by SW as a child and I lived and prospered!)
I do not understand why anyone thinks it is better than ho-hum.
Yep ... Orlando and Anaheim have their dark sides as well, quite ugly in places. There is absolutely no way DCL won't go to New Orleans because it isn't 'family friendly' ... they recently concluded a long run of having The Lion King at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.
With the new port coming along, I could easily see them sailing from New Orleans instead of Galveston (where bookings haven't been as robust as Disney would like.)
Oh, and despite what you may hear, DCL is already looking to add to the fleet!
If they can have a Disney Store in the middle of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas I fail to see why New Orleans would be a problem.
That was an AMAZING store, Goof. Too bad it's long gone.
It had a Gallery as well (yeah, I own stuff purchased there). I don't know when exactly the store, which was designed by WDI and had a whole line of STORE/Vegas exclusive merchandise, closed. I do know they were getting rid of the Gallery in 2004 (bought some stuff at 75% off that I am now looking to rid myself of!)
There was supposed to be a test group, but I don't know the specifics. I did tag Testa in the other thread, but who knows whether he'll respond as I haven't been kind toward Lifestylers (although I see one of his O-Town based employees has removed 'Ginormous ' from her Twitter page, which is what I advised and was smart on her part!)
But you know me, if people are being handed free trips by the CPSMC, then I want to know. ... I'm sure plenty of regular guests would have loved the option to test it for free trips too!
HenryMystic
Well-Known Member
And Louisiana will support it. Big Disney base here.
Mouse Detective
Well-Known Member
The thing about the New Orleans for cruising is that it's a huge drive-in market. You can leave in the morning from Memphis, Nashville, Pensacola and Atlanta and be there by early afternoon for boarding. Likewise when the cruise ends, you get off in the morning and drive home. None of these people would ever see the seedier nighttime reputation that New Orleans has. As for the locals who cruise, they already know all about it.