Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[the.dreamfinder]

Dropping a bomb.

 

[Cody5242]

They are all wonderful resorts. I spent 11 days at DAK Lodge in May and have over 100 nights at both Lodges and a few dozen at Contemporary.

But the service and upkeep etc are not up to the prices the resorts command. And, again, you picked three of my favorites and hotels that generally are better maintained than say BC and YC, which are 3-star all the way.

Yacht Club only a 3-star resort??? I've been visiting YC recently and I feel like I'm walking around close to a 5-star resort! Crews Cup Lounge at the YC is definitely my favorite lounge in WDW and you don't see much slobs walking around the resort. The new hotel I've stayed at so far though is the Waldorf at Buena Vista Resort. Had a breathtaking view and was treated like a 5-star guest

 

[WDW1974]

Ah, wait, I had Planes in mind. Puzzled by your reply I did a quick google that reveals it isn't Pixar, but DisneyToonStudios. My bad. I must confess to not having seen it. Then again, I rarely do watch direct-to-video fare.

Cars 2 is rubbish. Brave was a frustrating movie. It has all the ingredients for a terrific flic, but somehow manages to mangle them.

Planes may or may not be good, but it has made over $80 million in the USA alone and will be a BIG money-maker for the company ... Not to mention the loads of merchandise it has sold. Putting it in the theaters was a very smart movie.

I thought Cars 2 was fine, for a children's film. Better than most critics give it credit for, but still not very good.
Brave was such a chop job that it is amazing it wound up as good as it did. But also, a kids film.

Pixar from 1995-2009 made great films for all audiences, not kids films.

 

[Ignohippo]

Yes, I have been to Legoland Florida. I think it relies on a lot of what people dislike about Disney's recent creative strategies with theme parks.

Are you dead inside?

But seriously, I would never in a billion years compare it to a Disney Park. It's hardly on the same level as your hometown Six Flags.

That said, your point about it being geared towards kids is exactly my point! Uni has the adult and thrill seeker demo sewn up. What they really need, to truly compete with WDW, is something that appeals to young families. Legoland would have been the perfect fit.

Uni has a bunch of things that would appeal to tots, but not enough to even be close to WDW. And we all now, the family is truly where the money is.

 

[englanddg]

Have you even been there? parents get a kick out of it as much as kids and there are enough thrill rides to keep everyone interested.

And no, costs would have been maybe double at most. Attendance would have been through the roof. They were too conservative in their location and it's got to be killing them in attendance.

Um...I would ask...have YOU ever been there?

(not trying to be offensive)...I was just there a few weeks ago, and just saying, as a parent...there are NO thrill rides that interested me. They are all scaled down to kid size and many left me with a headache afterwards (and I'm in my mid 30s...imagine grandpappy doing the rides!)

Add to that the fact that the first 3 attractions IN A ROW that we went on broke down...including a movie theater show...HOW do you break a MOVIE THEATER??? They found a way.

The best thing there was the Water Ski show (and that was for nostalgia alone since I used to go back in the 90s when it was still Cypress Gardens...a nostalgia that most park goers won't have). After that, the Legend of Chima area is neat...but cheap. The whole park, in fact, feels cheap. And is dirty.

Their waterpark is a joke compared to Wet & Wild (and I won't even bring up the Disney waterparks)...

So...yeah...

Lego has huge draw with respect to brand recognition, but it also has interests in multiple IPs. I can see why they'd want to stay out of the UNI / DIS feud and camp a bit further down south.

Mind you, I don't have a wholly negative view of Legoland Florida based on my experience...but, I don't have the fondest memories either.

 

[TalkingHead]

"The thing that we’re most excited about, what really transformed our park in Orlando was opening Harry Potter, which happened a few years ago. We’re opening a second Harry Potter attraction in Orlando, which I think is one of the most creative ideas I’ve ever seen in the theme park business. The first attraction is in one of our gates – it’s called Islands of Adventure. The second attraction is in the other gate and the way you get from one gate to the second gate is you take a train, and the train is the Hogwarts Express, and so the actual transition or the movement from one gate to another gate is part of the attraction which has never been done before and it’s a wonderful, creative idea. That opens next spring.

You don't say? What is "spring" in theme park terms? @HTF

 

[Ignohippo]

Planes may or may not be good, but it has made over $80 million in the USA alone and will be a BIG money-maker for the company ... Not to mention the loads of merchandise it has sold. Putting it in the theaters was a very smart movie.

I thought Cars 2 was fine, for a children's film. Better than most critics give it credit for, but still not very good.
Brave was such a chop job that it is amazing it wound up as good as it did. But also, a kids film.

Pixar from 1995-2009 made great films for all audiences, not kids films.

How is $80 mil a success? They had to have spent at least half of that on marketing. But yeah, it'll probably kill it on home video.

Cars was a religion in our family. Cars 2 was atrocious. IMO, the critics have always been way too hard on the first flick. If anything, they weren't hard enough on the second.

Cars 2 was darned near a franchise killer.

 

[HMF]

So, anyone's wife, boyfriend, cousin's lawn man, etc want to defend a blogger/podcaster/lifestyler tonight?

That was a hoot, wasn't it?

But MUCH, MUCH more importantly, what do you guys/gals think is the difference in mindset between the way Universal views its park buiness, particularly in O-Town, and the way TWDC views its theme park business, particularly in O-Town? And what is the better vision for fans of quality themed entertainment in general?

I know that Walt Disney World actually believes they are invincible and when an entity believes it's invincible and takes it's guests for granted has been the downfall of many once-cherished institutions.

 

[Kuhio]

You don't say? What is "spring" in theme park terms? @HTF

If we're talking about Universal, then "spring" likely means March or April.

If we're talking about latter-day Disney, then "spring" means sometime in the second quarter of a fiscal year that's 24-36 months after the time a construction project of the relevant scale reasonably should have been completed...

 

[Ignohippo]

Um...I would ask...have YOU ever been there?

(not trying to be offensive)...I was just there a few weeks ago, and just saying, as a parent...there are NO thrill rides that interested me. They are all scaled down to kid size and many left me with a headache afterwards (and I'm in my mid 30s...imagine grandpappy doing the rides!)

Add to that the fact that the first 3 attractions IN A ROW that we went on broke down...including a movie theater show...HOW do you break a MOVIE THEATER??? They found a way.

The best thing there was the Water Ski show (and that was for nostalgia alone since I used to go back in the 90s when it was still Cypress Gardens...a nostalgia that most park goers won't have). After that, the Legend of Chima area is neat...but cheap. The whole park, in fact, feels cheap. And is dirty.

Their waterpark is a joke compared to Wet & Wild (and I won't even bring up the Disney waterparks)...

So...yeah...

Lego has huge draw with respect to brand recognition, but it also has interests in multiple IPs. I can see why they'd want to stay out of the UNI / DIS feud and camp a bit further down south.

Mind you, I don't have a wholly negative view of Legoland Florida based on my experience...but, I don't have the fondest memories either.

Been there and have annual passes. My point was never that it is on par with WDW or Uni or Wet & Wild (or even Sea World or Busch Gardens or Six Flags or Cedar Fair or Six Flags). It isn't even close to any of those parks.

My point is simply that it would have been the perfect draw to seal the deal for families to choose the Uni Resort over WDW - which is something that Uni currently lacks.

While I completely agree that it's kind of a mini-theme park, I don't agree at all with your assessment of the quality of attractions or cleanliness of the park - but those things are way off topic anyway.

Not that it matters when discussing whether it would ahve been a good fit for the Uni resort or not, but for $100 for an annual pass that gets me in the gate to both the park and the (small-ish) water park, it's a complete bargain and my 8-year old is in complete heaven. That's all that matters to me.

The location blows though.

 

[Ignohippo]

I know that Walt Disney World actually believes they are invincible and when an entity believes it's invincible and takes it's guests for granted has been the downfall of many once-cherished institutions.

So true.

 

[Ignohippo]

I dunno. The music was OK to me, but not nearly as good as ANY Disney animated film from the 90s. But the fanbois seem to love it.

Yeah and the fanbois love Pocahontus, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Hunchback, etc., too. Doesn't mean any of them are any good.

(and before we get into a flame war of "this movie was good" or "that movie wasn't" no one can argue that any of the mentioned titles were anywhere close to Mermaid, Beast or Aladdin)

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Yeah and the fanbois love Pocahontus, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Hunchback, etc., too. Doesn't mean any of hem are any good.

Whoa there speedy - Hunchback and Mulan ARE good.

 

[Ignohippo]

Whoa there speedy - Hunchback and Mulan ARE good.

Meh. Point made.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Yeah and the fanbois love Pocahontus, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Hunchback, etc., too. Doesn't mean any of hem are any good.

At least two or three of those are actually fantastic. Mulan and Hunchback at the very least (Hunchback actually gets better with age too IMO). I personally really like Treasure Planet to an extent as well, not as much as the 90's movies but still good IMO.

Pocahontas I'm not a fan of much, though at least it still has stunning animation and awesome music.

I'm not much of a fan of Tangled. I liked Princess and the Frog a lot better but even that isn't up there with the standards of their 90's animated movies.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That said, your point about it being geared towards kids is exactly my point! Uni has the adult and thrill seeker demo sewn up. What they really need, to truly compete with WDW, is something that appeals to young families. Legoland would have been the perfect fit.

Uni has a bunch of things that would appeal to tots, but not enough to even be close to WDW. And we all now, the family is truly where the money is.

I agree that Universal Orlando Resort is still demographically skewed, but I think the answer is more genuine family offerings, not kiddie offerings. That's what I see is the big problem with Legoland, because it's for little kids and unabashedly so, meaning that's exactly who they want to impress. It's not a high target and not where Disney built their huge success in the family market.

 

[71jason]

Photodave's attorneys are danged good!

You bet your @$$ he is. He didn't even do anything and the video got taken down!!!

 

[nytimez]

You don't say? What is "spring" in theme park terms? @HTF

pretty sure it means "open in time to pull the summer crowd away from Disney."

...again.

 

[englanddg]

Been there and have annual passes. My point was never that it is on par with WDW or Uni or Wet & Wild (or even Sea World or Busch Gardens or Six Flags or Cedar Fair or Six Flags). It isn't even close to any of those parks.

My point is simply that it would have been the perfect draw to seal the deal for families to choose the Uni Resort over WDW - which is something that Uni currently lacks.

While I completely agree that it's kind of a mini-theme park, I don't agree at all with your assessment of the quality of attractions or cleanliness of the park - but those things are way off topic anyway.

Not that it matters when discussing whether it would ahve been a good fit for the Uni resort or not, but for $100 for an annual pass that gets me in the gate to both the park and the (small-ish) water park, it's a complete bargain and my 8-year old is in complete heaven. That's all that matters to me.

The location blows though.

Thanks for the clarification.

My 8 year old adored it as well. In fact (and this should be noted) it was the ONE place she wanted to go to this summer...not Disneyworld, not Universal, not a Disney Cruise.

She wanted to go to LEGOLAND!

Myself...outside of Miniland and the very well done (I think) inclusions of lego into the Gardens and overall park...did not enjoy it so much. Actually, if I can suggest an immediate improvement, that would be the food service / offerings.

And yes, it was dirty. They could do with a good high pressure hose or a low powered pressure wash every now and then. The cleanliness is obviously there, but it's limited to certain "new" areas. Miniland, for example, was nasty. So was much of the standing water. That being said, the food service places were immaculate as were the gift shops. I could go on, but I won't.

Would I go back? Yes. No question. We had fun, and the park overall is enjoyable.

Would I say it's awesome (even Six Flags level?)...no....

I left thinking I hoped that Lego keeps pumping money into it, because you can tell the attractions they are "keeping alive" vs the "new things"...

I won't get too far into it, because you are right, this isn't the thread, but, I hope it does well. Overall, not a bad experience. Worth a day of my Disney trip.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Animation, yes. Music, no.

You can't even name the song! I'l bet you can name at least 3 songs from Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin AND Little Mermaid.

Easy enough! And I'll even pit Tangled against BatB.

1 When Will My Life Begin. Rapunzel and Pascal upbeat routine beats Belle reading her book.
2 Mother Knows Best. The 'psychedelic scene'. Beats Be Our Guests for visuals, if not for memorable showbizz.
3 I See The Light. What a beautiful song, and what a mesmerising scene with the lantarns. One of the all-time greatest Disney scenes. Then again, so is the BatB song scene. Beast all dressed up, Belle in her gorgeous yellow dress on the staircase, the tenderness of the song - it can scarcely be beat for romance.
But Mandy Moore is a better singing voice than old Paige o'Hare.

I also know the Duck bar song, 'I have a Dream', but that's one of my less favourite scenes.

I didn't look any of that up!


/grown men talking Disney princess movies. I demand a mob calling me mentally ill, fat, and a boi! Even though I'm none of the three - and not being the last will devastate the hopes and dreams of WDW1974 - I simply crave the attention!