Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[WDW1974]

Is it bad that I literally can't stop laughing at this post?

Some would say so, I wouldn't be one ...although I find morbid obesity so sad and WDW is absolutely Ground Zero for the epidemic.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I, actually, think Toontown would have worked better over there. Roger Rabbit + the heyday of the Movies? Perfect fit.

It's too bad they thought of Toontown years before DCA.

That's a perfect example of something better going into the area. I remember someone mentioning the idea of putting the Ink and Paint Club in.

 

[englanddg]

I don't think anyone would be impressed to ride Matterhorn in this day and age, honestly.

Ya'll have us beat with Pirates. No question. And, I prefer your Haunted Mansion theme (and queue) to ours, but I prefer the WDW ride!

I like our Castle better, but I like that your Castle is actually a walkthrough (a neat one too)...while ours is a clusterbomb of strollers and angry people trying to get into BBB or CRT without reservations.

 

[WDW1974]

John likes individual high quality and that means expense, but he used up so much capital on Cars Land. I just don't see him pushing for much outside of their vision. Both coasts are still measured by Pressler's mall-based business model and the medium of themed entertainment is still consider inferior to others.

True enough. But the proximity to Burbank, Emeryville and John and being located where it is (media and entertainment capital of the world) always will give DLR a step up on getting new and quality things. WDW might as well be located in the middle of a swampy wasteland. Oh wait ...

 

[HMF]

Planes is going go make well over $100 million globally. It barely cost anything to make and they in no way came close to spending $40 million on marketing. Add merchandise and this thing is printing money.

I really liked Planes but I can't stress enough how poorly it was marketed. I felt that it really would appeal to a wider audience if Disney would just market it outside the Kiddie audience. I feel that the film could have been even more successful had it been effectively marketed to a wider audience. If I were John Lasseter I would personally be furious with marketing pigeonholing my films into Kids Fare when I am trying to attract a mass audience. Remember the days when they would release two posters for Beauty & The Beast, One aimed at kids, One aimed at adults?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Some would say so, I wouldn't be one ...although I find morbid obesity so sad and WDW is absolutely Ground Zero for the epidemic.

Yes, morbid obesity is pretty tragic. I'm mainly focusing on the guy's sorcerer hat with the cigarette in his mouth, though... The image is hysterical.

 

[englanddg]

Some would say so, I wouldn't be one ...although I find morbid obesity so sad and WDW is absolutely Ground Zero for the epidemic.

What baffles me is, I took a pedometer (a fitbit) with me this last trip and measured it. You can quite literally easily burn off all those goodies on the parks.

This isn't a condition that has anything to do with Disney. And, while I have many morbidly obese friends, I do get that the only answer is the one answer they don't want to hear. Change your habits.

 

[englanddg]

I really liked Planes but I can't stress enough how poorly it was marketed. I felt that it really would appeal to a wider audience if Disney would just market it outside the Kiddie audience. I feel that the film could have been even more successful had it been effectively marketed to a wider audience. If I were John Lasseter I would personally be furious with marketing pigeonholing my films into Kids Fare when I am trying to attract a mass audience. Remember the days when they would release two posters for Beauty & The Beast, One aimed at kids, One aimed at adults?

I think some of that has to do with that they changed their minds from a Direct to DVD marketing strategy to a theater one at the last minute.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Ya'll have us beat with Pirates. No question. And, I prefer your Haunted Mansion theme (and queue) to ours, but I prefer the WDW ride!

I like our Castle better, but I like that your Castle is actually a walkthrough (a neat one too)...while ours is a clusterbomb of strollers and angry people trying to get into BBB or CRT without reservations.

Those, too, even... We as Disney fans would be impressed to experience the classics, like Mansion and Pirates. But, honestly, I can't see the majority of just "regular people" with no emotional tie to Disney being all that impressed with those rides.

 

[englanddg]

Those, too, even... We as Disney fans would be impressed to experience the classics, like Mansion and Pirates. But, honestly, I can't see the majority of just "regular people" with no emotional tie to Disney being all that impressed with those rides.

And that is what I think Disney is trying to find a way around...

 

[HMF]

I think some of that has to do with that they changed their minds from a Direct to DVD marketing strategy to a theater one at the last minute.

I also think not having the Pixar name might have inhibited it. I know it was done by DisneyToon (Why that studio still exists is quite baffling) Putting the Pixar name there even though not entirely accurate would have probably gotten more attention than just the Disney name. Especially since the Walt Disney Studios has been pretty much dependent on Pixar for about a decade, now.

 

[nytimez]

What baffles me is, I took a pedometer (a fitbit) with me this last trip and measured it. You can quite literally easily burn off all those goodies on the parks.

This isn't a condition that has anything to do with Disney. And, while I have many morbidly obese friends, I do get that the only answer is the one answer they don't want to hear. Change your habits.

Yes, you can burn a lot of calories at Disney. If you walk. In an ECV, not so much.

 

[Californian Elitist]

And that is what I think Disney is trying to find a way around...

I think they're trying to do that as well.

 

[HMF]

I am not buying any more at all. I bought practically everything on VHS. Then, I did the same on DVD. Now, I may have Blu but no desire to start collection numero tres.

Heck, I only recently bought a DVD of Hunchback when I realized there were no VCR's left in my house anymore to play my old tape. I still have not upgraded Mulan or Hercules and still only have them in tape form.

 

[englanddg]

I'll be frank, I grew up with Disney. I am American, but I can say that I spent most of my youth in Germany...4 years at least, and while I learned to speak the language fairly well, and my sister was born there...there really wasn't much that we had to entertain us but Disney shows and movies on Beta and VHS. DIC also had shows (Transformers / GI Joe)...but as a kid, it was pretty much Disney.

By the time we moved back to the states, my grandparents had retired near Ocala, and my grandfather still worked part-time at a college in Orlando.

So...what is the cheapest babysitting service for a teen? Well, and annual pass at Disney! (this was well before they really started caring about the ages of people coming through the gates)...

I quite literally grew up with Disney during the Eisner expansions. I even applied there, at the then "brand new" Cast Member facility which isn't even the same place today...I took the CM tests, went through the first few phases, but wasn't hired. I suspect because I was only going to be there a few months a year, because the tests were not very hard at all (but, I note...did include how to calculate tax and change...dunno if they still do those)...

I remember thinking how ugly the Swan and Dolphin were.

I was there when HS opened. I was there when Universal opened. And I learned to love that part of the country because it meant I was someplace I could ground myself...someplace I could call "home"...as my family moved (I went to 11 schools in 12 years of primary school, all in different states and sometimes different countries, thanks military!)...I've since moved a lot more.

So, I'd get dropped off at Disney every time my Grandfather had to go to work, in a move that would probably be seen as Child Neglect or Child Abuse now (sad when you think about it)...but at the time no one questioned it.

My point is...Disney played a huge role in my life.

Not sure why I went into all that detail, but there you go.

 

[englanddg]

I also think not having the Pixar name might have inhibited it. I know it was done by DisneyToon (Why that studio still exists is quite baffling) Putting the Pixar name there even though not entirely accurate would have probably gotten more attention than just the Disney name. Especially since the Walt Disney Studios has been pretty much dependent on Pixar for about a decade, now.

I was on the Fantasy when it premiered, and they threw a "premier party" the day before the domestic launch.

Kiddo and I skipped it (her choice) in exchange for the pool.

 

[englanddg]

Yes, you can burn a lot of calories at Disney. If you walk. In an ECV, not so much.

ECVs are like giving crutches to a person who broke their leg 3 years ago...

 

[HMF]

I ask that same question every time Disney announces a new attraction for the DLR. They always seem to make it fit, like Drisella's foot in Cinderella.

Rumor has it Monstropolis would go where the Muppets/Mad T Party/pointless "soundstages" area is. I don't know how that would work. I didn't know how Cars Land would work either, but it did. Eh... I don't know. I do know that it shouldn't be going into the park at all.

I personally think the way to make sense of it is to discard the California thing and think of DCA as a collection of loosely-related locales like a Magic Kingdom Park.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I personally think the way to make sense of it is to discard the California thing and think of DCA as a collection of loosely-related locales like a Magic Kingdom Park.

Something like that wouldn't sit right with me. I've been visiting DCA since its opening year... Changing it in that way just wouldn't be right, IMO.

 

[HMF]

I'll be frank, I grew up with Disney. I am American, but I can say that I spent most of my youth in Germany...4 years at least, and while I learned to speak the language fairly well, and my sister was born there...there really wasn't much that we had to entertain us but Disney shows and movies on Beta and VHS. DIC also had shows (Transformers / GI Joe)...but as a kid, it was pretty much Disney.

By the time we moved back to the states, my grandparents had retired near Ocala, and my grandfather still worked part-time at a college in Orlando.

So...what is the cheapest babysitting service for a teen? Well, and annual pass at Disney! (this was well before they really started caring about the ages of people coming through the gates)...

I quite literally grew up with Disney during the Eisner expansions. I even applied there, at the then "brand new" Cast Member facility which isn't even the same place today...I took the CM tests, went through the first few phases, but wasn't hired. I suspect because I was only going to be there a few months a year, because the tests were not very hard at all (but, I note...did include how to calculate tax and change...dunno if they still do those)...

I remember thinking how ugly the Swan and Dolphin were.

I was there when HS opened. I was there when Universal opened. And I learned to love that part of the country because it meant I was someplace I could ground myself...someplace I could call "home"...as my family moved (I went to 11 schools in 12 years of primary school, all in different states and sometimes different countries, thanks military!)...I've since moved a lot more.

So, I'd get dropped off at Disney every time my Grandfather had to go to work, in a move that would probably be seen as Child Neglect or Child Abuse now (sad when you think about it)...but at the time no one questioned it.

My point is...Disney played a huge role in my life.

Not sure why I went into all that detail, but there you go.

I think many of us have similar backgrounds in that respect. The thing that really makes me angry is when the DOM Brigade calls me a hater. If I was a hater why would I even bother to say anything I would be completely apathetic. I literally fell in love with this place at a young age and I can't describe how painful it is for me to see it's decline, especially with so many people around who are either in denial or could care less.