Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Stevek]

I do blame them. They are nothing more than a marketing team. A wave of misinformation which leads to disappointment in the end for those who use them as credible sources of information.

Whom do I refer to? Well...new visitors, or return visitors who find them on Google and take them at their word.

They polish their stories to paint the best light on Disney, which is ok, I get that...but it leads to unrealistic expectations from the Guests. But, even worse, they don't tell the Guests how various systems/concepts actually work. Rather, they pontificate about how wonderful they are.

I'm sorry, but there's a reason why NFL cheerleaders are compensated and still included in the sport...and, it has absolutely nothing to do with football. I feel the same way about them (and the Mom's Panel, etc.)...

They offer no tips, no hints, and nothing you can't get out of the general Disney website...all the while pretending they have "insider" knowledge to their readers (they probably do, but they never write about it).

If they were truly fans, and man it hurts me to say this...they would focus on what Disney could do better, and how to make the most of a Disney Experience...not just be amazed at every new bench and bathroom.

I don't disagree at all with what you are saying. I completely disagree with the "spokeshole" message they deliver. My point was that if someone is willing to give you free stuff, can you blame them for taking it? They are basically Disney junkies that as long as Disney continues to feed the addiction, Disney will get what they want out of them. To be fair, I have heard Brigante on rare occasion call out Disney. That being said, he went after the moms panel earlier this week via twitter which seems a little hypocritical. Is what he (or other podcasters) does really much different from the moms panel? They all expect something from Disney for they unwavering support.

 

[skippyrules104]

Well, if you want some positive feedback, I've loved a lot of your videos. I'm glad you all are out there. Thanks for what you do (though, I find the podcast a bit boring...)...that's my opinion as a consumer (nothing more). I love the youtube stuff you all have put together. Thank you!

I appreciate your feedback and I thank you for the nice comments. I'm glad you enjoy the videos.

 

[englanddg]

I don't disagree at all with what you are saying. I completely disagree with the "spokeshole" message they deliver. My point was that if someone is willing to give you free stuff, can you blame them for taking it? They are basically Disney junkies that as long as Disney continues to feed the addiction, Disney will get what they want out of them. To be fair, I have heard Brigante on rare occasion call out Disney. That being said, he went after the moms panel earlier this week via twitter which seems a little hypocritical. Is what he (or other podcasters) does really much different from the moms panel? They all expect something from Disney for they unwavering support.

Of course I don't blame them for taking it!

I mean, sheesh, if I could have seen the Dragon Fly, or have a discount (or free even) deluxe stay, do you not think I'd take it?

Nope...I would!

I don't fault them for that at all. I do fault them for not having enough critique. InsideTheMagic (since it's become the topic) isn't really a concern for me...I've found them more to be a "here's what is cool at Disney" sort of thing rather than a complete sell out like Lou or the Mom's Panel (both of which are worthless).

I don't mind that they constantly pump how cool Disney is, as that's what they've always done, with little commentary...at least on the youtube end of things.

As I said before, I find their other offerings rather...boring.

 

[bhg469]

The mustache comment wasn't all.. I stopped well short what I really thought. Not piling on anything because I have no knowledge of his body of "work". I do think some of these people genuinely love wdw. I feel like just as many keep on loving them for events like these.

 

[kagacins]

Boy I've come to love this thread and appreciate the personalities that fill it. I also recognize that most of what is said here is par for the course in the world of online forums and that will never change. However, it feels like it's time for the obligatory post requesting everyone pump the brakes, take a breath, and some other metaphor that means cool it. It's DisneyWorld. Why u mad bro???

 

[Kuhio]

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

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.

The biggest advantage that ET has over Mermaid is that ET is telling a new story as opposed to a summary of the movie.

For me, the answer is a combination of what nytimez posted, and your own characterization of Mermaid as a summary of the movie.

Mermaid feels soulless. It has one or two nifty animatronics and the memorable Ashman/Menken songs, but that's it. It's essentially a direct re-telling of the story, only in a condensed, Reader's Digest format that is poorly paced and elides certain critical scenes (e.g., the specifics of Ursula's defeat). For guests who have never seen the movie (few and far between as they are), the narrative is rushed and possibly confusing.

This is what the other Fantasyland dark rides do so much better than Mermaid, despite their relative lack of bells and whistles: they largely eschew straightforward summarization in favor of evoking the spirit of the properties on which they're based. In that regard, they're substantially more sophisticated as experiences despite being simpler as rides.

None of the other FL dark rides are particularly faithful to their underlying narratives, but they still come off as truer embodiments of classic Disney storytelling than Mermaid does. Mr. Toad, which bears almost no resemblance to what actually happens in The Wind in the Willows, nevertheless evokes the manic chaos of Mr. Toad's titular ride perfectly; Snow White is, as promised, scary; Alice is absurd. Peter Pan -- like E.T. at Universal -- deftly engenders the wonder of flight, and of a dreamlike nighttime escape from a mundane childhood existence to a fantastical new world.

For the most part, Disney guests already know these attractions' stories by heart. And, appropriately enough, that is exactly what they want in a dark ride: the heart and emotional essence of the great Disney stories, not just the summary of a movie mechanically grafted onto a ride system.

 

[Stevek]

No, Inside the Magic started out as a hobby. We definitely do not live off of what Ricky makes from his podcast/website/videos.

Thanks for the info. I only asked because from what I can tell, many of the podcasters spend what appears to be most if not all of their time focused on visit the various parks. I don't pretend to know what other things they may do to earn a living nor is it really any of my business. Just wasn't sure if there was an actual "life sustaining" income to be made from just podcasting/blogging about Disney and/or other parks. I just figured there had to be something there when I've heard of people giving up their jobs to be closer to the magic, partially so they can podcast and such.

 

[Zac Skellington]

Nailed her!

 

[nytimez]

Posts about the blog event, which I attended, were brought to my attention. I simply logged in to reply to your comment and a few others. If you have something you'd like to say to me, please go ahead. And yes, it's at night. We don't go to bed until 3 am at the earliest. So if you want to discuss why you called my husband a , go ahead. I didn't ask for an explanation. I just know how hard he works on his site, which is free to you buy the way, so it's seems a little harsh to call him a . I think he deserves a few freebies every now and again. You don't think he deserves it or works hard enough for it?

In the traditional media, many (not all) news agencies with any kind of credibility at all generally have rules against freebies in most cases - and disclosures about them when they do accept freebies for a reason.

There are issues of objectivity.

The issues are even bigger when, instead of a newspaper that covers everything, it's a Web site that covers a single company - and is accepting freebies from that company as part of that coverage. In fact, in many ways relies on freebies - whether it's a gift or just special access - for that coverage.

There comes a point when you need to know if this is an objective source of good information or essentially a secret extension of the company's marketing.

In any case, I can't speak to anyone else here, but I know I would love it if Ricky would enter the conversation here and explain his views on these things/take questions regarding it.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't disagree at all with what you are saying. I completely disagree with the "spokeshole" message they deliver. My point was that if someone is willing to give you free stuff, can you blame them for taking it? They are basically Disney junkies that as long as Disney continues to feed the addiction, Disney will get what they want out of them. To be fair, I have heard Brigante on rare occasion call out Disney. That being said, he went after the moms panel earlier this week via twitter which seems a little hypocritical. Is what he (or other podcasters) does really much different from the moms panel? They all expect something from Disney for they unwavering support.

And that's my problem. Any person who throws away objectivity for attention or freebies does not have my respect. This goes for Disney bloggers, movie critics (remember the "quote whores" article Jim Hill ran back in 2006?), or anyone else who pretends to be "unofficial", but does nothing but copy and paste a company press release.

I admit to enjoy viewing some blogger-reporting content*, but the reason I'll take miceage or orlandoparksnews (which deserves more respect for actually covering everything Orlando park related on a regular basis) over the rest is that they do the same job without the pandering. Doing less and still getting comped meals (booze included!) and gift cards is both undeserved and a waste of company resources.

*Which I'll seperate from passport or long forgotten which are Disney related blogs, but not for the purpose of promoting the parks.

 

[71jason]

I just know how hard he works on his site, which is free to you buy the way, so it's seems a little harsh to call him a . I think he deserves a few freebies every now and again. You don't think he deserves it or works hard enough for it?

So he doesn't do it for the innate pleasure of helping people and sharing his love of Disney. And, if he's still losing money after all these years as you mentioned in another post, he's clearly not doing it as a viable business. So he's working just so TWDC will provide him with the "freebies" he deserves?

Thank you for proving WDW1974's point.

PS--I know a lot of Cast Members who work a lot harder and a lot longer than any lifestyle blogger, and don't get nearly this kind of reward or show of respect from the Rat.

 

[71jason]

@nytimez Exactly. Nailed it perfectly.

 

[skippyrules104]

Thanks for the info. I only asked because from what I can tell, many of the podcasters spend what appears to be most if not all of their time focused on visit the various parks. I don't pretend to know what other things they may do to earn a living nor is it really any of my business. Just wasn't sure if there was an actual "life sustaining" income to be made from just podcasting/blogging about Disney and/or other parks. I just figured there had to be something there when I've heard of people giving up their jobs to be closer to the magic, partially so they can podcast and such.

I mean, does he make money from his videos? Of course he does. There are advertisements all over the place. But I do know that some people try to make a living off of their blogs. Ricky and I own Lanyard Lab and that is our main source of income. If people can make a living simply by blogging and whatnot, good for them.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Posts about the blog event, which I attended, were brought to my attention. I simply logged in to reply to your comment and a few others. If you have something you'd like to say to me, please go ahead. And yes, it's at night. We don't go to bed until 3 am at the earliest. So if you want to discuss why you called my husband a , go ahead. I didn't ask for an explanation. I just know how hard he works on his site, which is free to you buy the way, so it's seems a little harsh to call him a . I think he deserves a few freebies every now and again. You don't think he deserves it or works hard enough for it?

Miss, either your husband is a professional, objective journalist or he's not.

It's that simple.

 

[bhg469]

So he doesn't do it for the innate pleasure of helping people and sharing his love of Disney. And, if he's still losing money after all these years as you mentioned in another post, he's clearly not doing it as a viable business. So he's working just so TWDC will provide him with the "freebies" he deserves?

Thank you for proving WDW1974's point.

PS--I know a lot of Cast Members who work a lot harder and a lot longer than any lifestyle blogger, and don't get nearly this kind of reward or show of respect from the Rat.

Not lately anyway. I'm sure there was a time when cms had more respect.

 

[englanddg]

Boy I've come to love this thread and appreciate the personalities that fill it. I also recognize that most of what is said here is par for the course in the world of online forums and that will never change. However, it feels like it's time for the obligatory post requesting everyone pump the brakes, take a breath, and some other metaphor that means cool it. It's DisneyWorld. Why u mad bro???

Because it's my childhood, bro. And it's my kid's childhood, bro. And that's how they market it to be, bro. So, people should be upset, bro. Disney doesn't say "come here because we have great roller coasters", bro.

They play on emotions, bro.

Because if they are not given what they are presented (how long did Disney use the fully functional Yeti in their adverts?)...they are being ripped off, bro.

Not to mention how the overall quality of the experience has dropped while the prices have gone up.

So, bro...

That's why people are mad...bro.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Thanks for calling my husband a .

We'd like to thank your husband for erroneously perpetuating the Iger/Lucas may the 4th rumor.

 

[skippyrules104]

So he doesn't do it for the innate pleasure of helping people and sharing his love of Disney. And, if he's still losing money after all these years as you mentioned in another post, he's clearly not doing it as a viable business. So he's working just so TWDC will provide him with the "freebies" he deserves?

Thank you for proving WDW1974's point.

PS--I know a lot of Cast Members who work a lot harder and a lot longer than any lifestyle blogger, and don't get nearly this kind of reward or show of respect from the Rat.

No, we're definitely not losing money. His videos do VERY well. But getting freebies is certainly a wonderful bonus. Do you think he should decline free cruises and invitations to events?

 

[skippyrules104]

We'd like to thank your husband for erroneously perpetuating the Iger/Lucas may the 4th rumor.

You've been holding that in for a while. Let him know yourself. You have his email I'm sure.

 

[bhg469]

Miss, either your husband is a professional, objective journalist or he's not.

It's that simple.

It is simple put that way.. In that room was there one objective journalist?