Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[crispy]

If there is one thing I have learned working in food service, people have extremely wrong and high opinions of their sense of taste.

I have always admitted that I don't have a refined palate which is one reason I avoid most high-end dining establishments. I don't have a strong sense of smell so my tastebuds just don't get nuance. I also like ketchup with my steak. I wouldn't go to a fine dining restaurant and do that, but I sure will at home....mmmmm, ketchup.

 

[nytimez]

Not really:

- Pooh is a watered down version of its Tokyo counterpart
- Pan is as old as dirt and is also covered in it (Paris and California are much better)
- Philharmagic isn't a "ride", and neither is Enchanted Tales or Fairytale Hall
- three are midway attractions
- the mine train isn't done yet
- the Goofy coaster is over before it even starts
- depending upon your opinion, Small World is either grating or charming
- Snow White, Toad, 20K, the skyway etc. are all long gone

At this point in time, I'd rank it #2, but if someone isn't crazy about Small World I could see why Mermaid would top their list.

But E.T. is better than Mermaid.

I'd take dirty Pan and watered-down Pooh - and small world, even in its often-vandalized condition - over Mermaid.

 

[TalkingHead]

Not that I heard of.... I had a bunch of friends there while I went to see Rancid play at House of Blues. (Punk rock band or California Grill? I know where my priorities lie)

Anyways, its my understanding that the people the actress was specifically mocking just didnt get the joke. Or they were offended because it hit a tad too close to home.

My hats off to the DPB team for finding a creative solution for this... Hopefully she'll be a standard at all DPB events.

Rancid?! I'm jealous. I saw them on the Warped Tour years and years ago. One of the few bands I listened to growing up who I still listen to today.

 

[ford91exploder]

Jealously is not becoming on you.

The Polaroid is probably courtesy of the 'Impossible Project'. What happened up here is Polaroid was taken over by a sociopath CEO with faked credentials who destroyed the company and junked all the technology,

A group in the Netherlands basically recreated the SX-70 and pack films using the Polaroid Europe factory where the machinery was intact but all the formula's and process knowledge had been tossed in the dumpster. Hence the name impossible project - a small team of people trying to recreate 50 years of tech.

Another group is working to recreate the large format films unfortunately ALL the machinery and process knowledge was trashed there, Jimmy Carter was the first president to be photographed using the special 16x20 camera and polaroid film yes that is a direct positive 16x20 INCHES!!!

Note: Tom Petters CEO is now in Federal Prison for fraud for 50 years without parole.

 

[TalkingHead]

Pan is just in bad condition.

Can anyone explain why MK's Pan ride never received the upgrades that DL's did...in 1983?!

I'm thinking of the fiber optic stars in particular.

 

[misterID]

The #1 thing I took away from that video is that I really want a Sake martini. I tried not to pay attention to the people. The service looked great. Very well put together. Disney does a great job at that and this vid reminds me just how good they can be. Up and down, it looked great. But there was an over abundance of strange faces behind wild facial hair that made me very uncomfortable.

And the only UNI shakeup that matters to me is what's taking over KidZone and Toon Lagoon, how is E.T. going to be refurbed, what exactly is "Potter Phase 3" and what the heck is going into that plot that Fear Factor Live is sitting on?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I have always admitted that I don't have a refined palate which is one reason I avoid most high-end dining establishments. I don't have a strong sense of smell so my tastebuds just don't get nuance. I also like ketchup with my steak. I wouldn't go to a fine dining restaurant and do that, but I sure will at home....mmmmm, ketchup.

People definitely don't want nuance. They want the same, comfort. I constantly get people asking if our food taste like other places.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Can anyone explain why MK's Pan ride never received the upgrades that DL's did...in 1983?!

I'm thinking of the fiber optic stars in particular.

Not to mention the terrible voices Hook and Smee have. That seriously needs a redub.

 

[Clever Name]

I have always admitted that I don't have a refined palate which is one reason I avoid most high-end dining establishments. I don't have a strong sense of smell so my tastebuds just don't get nuance. I also like ketchup with my steak. I wouldn't go to a fine dining restaurant and do that, but I sure will at home....mmmmm, ketchup.

Ketchup has natural mellowing agents that keep you productive and help reduce psychotic episodes so you can finish difficult tasks.

 

[RSoxNo1]

crazy talk

Peter Pans Flight is the most overrated attraction in all of Walt Disney World. If it wasn't for the ride system, the haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights would be more complex.

I don't get Disney fans that praise Disney over Universal because Disney uses more animatronics, and then these same people call Mermaid crap. It's not Pirates, it's not Splash Mountain, but it's certainly better than Peter Pan's Flight.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I'd take dirty Pan and watered-down Pooh - and small world, even in its often-vandalized condition - over Mermaid.

Honest question... Why? Is it based on nostalgia or something else?

 

[crispy]

Ketchup has natural mellowing agents that keep you productive and help reduce psychotic episodes so you can finish difficult tasks.

That explains a lot.

 

[misterID]

Peter Pans Flight is the most overrated attraction in all of Walt Disney World. If it wasn't for the ride system, the haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights would be more complex.

I don't get Disney fans that praise Disney over Universal because Disney uses more animatronics, and then these same people call Mermaid crap. It's not Pirates, it's not Splash Mountain, but it's certainly better than Peter Pan's Flight.

I have to agree. And I love Peter Pans Flight.

 

[GoofGoof]

Peter Pans Flight is the most overrated attraction in all of Walt Disney World. If it wasn't for the ride system, the haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights would be more complex.

I don't get Disney fans that praise Disney over Universal because Disney uses more animatronics, and then these same people call Mermaid crap. It's not Pirates, it's not Splash Mountain, but it's certainly better than Peter Pan's Flight.

Reasons people prefer Pan:
1) nostalgia
2) desire to not like new fantasyland

 

[WDW1974]

In thinking about the whole Wal-Mart/trailer park/government assistance check vibe that was on display at the California Grill during the DPB meet-and-eat, I couldn't help but recall what a classier place it was in the 70s and 80s.

Even without a dress code, people dressed so much better for brunch at Top of the World (my family and I were regulars for years) ...there was a classy adult vibe that just does,t exist anymore. Sure, Disney tries to price itself like there's some cache to dining there, but it sure looks like style over substance.

Someone linked me to a blog, that I won't link to here, but the words 'passport' and 'dreams' are in it. The author has a column on Captain Jack's demise at DD and what it really means. I think it goes hand in hand with what we see with locations like CG today (if you have to tell people they can't wear offensive clothing to a fine dining establishment at Disney, is it really fine dining at all?)

Oh, I did love the video ...my old pal ...we'll call him 'fanboi Badam' had a nice starring role.

 

[WDW1974]

Guess they won't be handing out $50 gift cards when All Star Sports food court reopens in December...

No, those will only be $20 cards.

 

[nytimez]

Peter Pans Flight is the most overrated attraction in all of Walt Disney World. If it wasn't for the ride system, the haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights would be more complex.

I don't get Disney fans that praise Disney over Universal because Disney uses more animatronics, and then these same people call Mermaid crap. It's not Pirates, it's not Splash Mountain, but it's certainly better than Peter Pan's Flight.

Honest question... Why? Is it based on nostalgia or something else?

Probably because Mermaid is crap, and not all these other projections you're applying en masse. Mermaid makes me feels like I'm riding through an elaborate display at a Disney store. It's bright and plastic and there is no sense of wonder.

Reasons people prefer Pan:
1) nostalgia
2) desire to not like new fantasyland

I have no nostalgia for Pan. I was never a fan of the books or the film, even as a kid. And I wanted to like the new Fantasyland... but... to use a quote wildly out of context, "there's no 'there' there."

On the other hand, I will agree that Pan doesn't deserve its wait times.

 

[WDW1974]

The quandary I face, being in my exact situation, is whether to act like a reporter when Disney doesn't treat me like a reporter. I'm not invited to the press events, where I'd be delighted to be only to ask questions and learn (not be feasted), so from Disney's perspective, I'm a regular Joe Public person who ought to take the gift card.

Well, if you didn't take it, one of the CPSMC team would have just kept the damn thing.

But the question, one you might have asked the reps since you have nothing to lose (they aren't going to rescind your family's APs just because they don't like you) is just what is the purpose of these meets? Is it simply to buy as many of these largely incredibly insignificant lifestylers off? What do you have to lose? They have never granted you the decency of a media cred and they won't start now.

Was amused that Scarlett complained that the food wasn't that good last night at the real opening and that much of the food tasted over-salted. She must have forgotten that the typical WDW guest is morbidly obese and without even tasting their food reaches for a salt shaker (a big sign of a simple diner and an unhealthy one in the real world).

 

[Clever Name]

Jealously is not becoming on you.

You're right. I do still wish that I had my old Motorola brick phone. Those things were indestructible.

 

[GoofGoof]

Probably because Mermaid is crap, and not all these other projections you're applying en masse. Mermaid makes me feels like I'm riding through an elaborate display at a Disney store. It's bright and plastic and there is no sense of wonder.



I have no nostalgia for Pan. I was never a fan of the books or the film, even as a kid. And I wanted to like the new Fantasyland... but... to use a quote wildly out of context, "there's no 'there' there."

On the other hand, I will agree that Pan doesn't deserve its wait times.

I meant nostalgia for Pan the ride not the books or film. A lot of us rode Pan for the first time as kids.