Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[fosse76]

I recently returned from a trip to Canada, staying several nights at the downtown Montreal Marriott.

Portofino Bay is better.

I think he was comparing the Marriott to the Disney hotels, not the Universal ones, (i.e. even a Marriott is better than Disney's deluxe resorts).

 

[vagabondarts]

Damn, I didn't realize I wasn't welcome to respond to something on here.

Some posters here can't see past their own high minded fedora wearing opinions enough to even listen to anything you have to say. Don't worry about these people. They are clearly suffering from jealousy overload or hatred of your access.
Maybe both.

 

[vagabondarts]

Universal also recognizes that the properties are the initial draw, but the difference is they are looking to "wow" us with how they present those properties in ride form. I sincerely hope that Mine Train is better than expected and truly does "wow" us, but I don't think there was ever that expectation of any component of New Fantasyland. It never had a Forbidden Journey or Transformers anchor, nor was it ever intended to. Now, it's the only project currently under construction while the competition is building great attractions and it looks poor by comparison. No amount of great rockwork and theming is going to make up for the lack of that anchor attraction.

I think they genuinely positioned little Mermaid to be that anchor. After seeing videos of it though, I have to wonder why...
FLE has been a really strange misstep. Compared to the Fantasyland that Tony Baxter spearheaded for Disneyland, it's been kind of all over the place thematically as well.

Maybe it's a "Too many cooks in the kitchen" leadership by committee problem

 

[scout68]

what?! Any fan of anything knows there are good things and bad things to what they are a fan of. If they have a fan site, podcast, or whatever... they can say whatever they want to do. Some of the blogs and podcasts out there share news, information, etc. and others are more opinionated and share both the good and the bad based on their personal beliefs.

I don't think we have any right to criticize a fan for having some kind of public outlet for sharing whatever news and information he or she wants with others... if Disney or tom morrow gives them a few little things as a way of saying thanks for the publicity and advertisement... so be it

do you honestly think now that Disney gives them a few things here or there as a way of saying thanks now changes his mind to never say anything bad about Disney when he wasn't before???



just my opinion

This is not directed at any one blogger or site-owner rather the idea of the perks for pay group.

WHAT? The UN-INFORMED are just that un-informed. I believe if you choose to inform them you should do it completely and without bias.

Bias is an helcrow of temperament or outlook to present or hold a partial perspective and a refusal to even consider the possible merits of alternative points of view.

Without a doubt.
Its certainly not a way of saying thanks (seriously???) More like a way of saying lets keep this just how they are.

 

[ford91exploder]

There isn't a standard hotel room in O-Town that should come close to commanding $500. $300-400, maybe, not that I'd pay that.

Anyone who would I believe lacks the ability to place a true value on things and would be better served sharing with a charity since so many Americans are in trouble. (unless you are a crazy rightwinger who believes you should never help anyone and that they should just get a job at taco bell with their multiple degrees and stop expecting handouts!)

True - Currently there are no properties in Orlando which currently could command that price level, All UNI needs to do is to build a boutique hotel say all club level with services and amenities commensurate with that price in Orlando and the crowd who @TheEmpressLily noted will abandon the Poly and GF in an instant, Now some Disney hotels their lobbies have a WOW factor but that's as far as it goes.

 

[WDWDad13]

This is not directed at any one blogger or site-owner rather the idea of the perks for pay group.

WHAT? The UN-INFORMED are just that un-informed. I believe if you choose to inform them you should do it completely and without bias.

Bias is an helcrow of temperament or outlook to present or hold a partial perspective and a refusal to even consider the possible merits of alternative points of view.

Without a doubt.
Its certainly not a way of saying thanks (seriously???) More like a way of saying lets keep this just how it is.

I just don't get the point you're trying to make (sorry)... any fan of anything can choose whether or not they want to share the good, the bad, or both to anyone they so choose....and people can decide if they want to listen.

for example... if I like Tonga Toast and I'm telling you about it I'm probably not going to say
"hey man.. you really should try this Tonga Toast stuff... it is awesome.... oh but since I should completely and without bias share with you both sides...it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat and it smells a little funny too"

so compare that to the news today... it's skewed everywhere right...if I watch MSNBC and watch Fox News shouldn't they be telling us the exact same things? (that's debatable haha) but the point I'm trying to make is there are a ton of Disney fan news and opinion outlets, blogs, podcasts, message boards like this one... all with a different flavor...and people can do whatever they want, however they want, and the people can decide what they like and don't like

I would have no problem with Disney giving a few perks to the owner of WDWMagic for what news and information it does a very good job at providing and delivering ...is that wrong?

 

[ford91exploder]

No, what they really need to compete is the hotel rooms and state of the art attractions- and they getting both.

Beyond that comes a state of the art water park and who knows what they'll do with third gate plans, which they have.

Disney is going to lose tremendous gate at any park not called the MK in the years ahead if they stick to their current business models.

Disney is going to lose massive gate PERIOD

 

[ford91exploder]

I know I will get flamed for this, but I really wonder how much impact this will have. How much of the Disney core audience is also the UNI core? I believe there is an overlap but it may not be as much as people believe. As I have said in the past, we will EXTEND a trip a day or two (most likely 2 in the future) in order to go to UNI but will still spend 5 or more at WDW. It is unfortunate that it is me and people like me that may have the suits at Disney resting because they will still get theirs, so to speak? For us, the draw of UNI is almost entirely Potter. If that was not there, I would seek my 'thrill rides' at King's Island or Cedar Point. That being said, loved the Mummy and Spiderman but I would not make a special trip just for those rides.

Think families with 'Tweens and TEENAGERS the same demographic with their noses buried in their iDevices at Disney and no these guys are not going to be thrilled with being stuck with a band either.

 

[fosse76]

I think they genuinely positioned little Mermaid to be that anchor. After seeing videos of it though, I have to wonder why...

Especially considering how poorly it was received in Anaheim. It's always a walk-on.

 

[GLaDOS]

New, completely original Potter material, huh?

But weren't there people a few weeks ago telling me that won't ever happen?

 

[fosse76]

I just don't get the point you're trying to make (sorry)... any fan of anything can choose whether or not they want to share the good, the bad, or both to anyone they so choose....and people can decide if they want to listen.

for example... if I like Tonga Toast and I'm telling you about it I'm probably not going to say
"hey man.. you really should try this Tonga Toast stuff... it is awesome.... oh but since I should completely and without bias share with you both sides...it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat and it smells a little funny too"

so compare that to the news today... it's skewed everywhere right...if I watch MSNBC and watch Fox News shouldn't they be telling us the exact same things? (that's debatable haha) but the point I'm trying to make is there are a ton of Disney fan news and opinion outlets, blogs, podcasts, message boards like this one... all with a different flavor...and people can do whatever they want, however they want, and the people can decide what they like and don't like

I would have no problem with Disney giving a few perks to the owner of WDWMagic for what news and information it does a very good job at providing and delivering ...is that wrong?

Because the CREDIBILITY of that source of information then becomes questionable. Especially when that is not disclosed. Someone can say that Disney is perfect until they are blue in the face, but if they are receiving perks from Disney, how do we know that opinion holds any merit? Are they really that much in love with Disney? Do the perks make them unwittingly look past the negative? Do the perks incentivize them to not say anything negative? Do they actually pay for anything at Disney, or did they become bloggers for the perks? The disdain for the significant majority of these bloggers arises from the fact that they are being rewarded for positive blog coverage (whose reach and influence is pretty negligible) when most of them probably wouldn't be blogging were it not for the perks.

 

[ford91exploder]

Speaking of high priced rooms, say the Poly, and the upcoming villas. Have you heard why they are scaling back on the DVC component at the Poly? Why are they building Grand Villas, that are smaller than the others, and studios only? I've been following Tikiman's posts on this.

One Because DVD is running out of DVC inventory,
Two ) The TDO Cheap-n-Nasty has finally taken root in DVC
Three ) this is a cheap way to shift Poly OPEX to credulous DVC members

Any Questions???

 

[magicallactose]

To anyone who thinks the Potter Train is going to loose steam, JK Rowling just announced that she's writing a spinoff movie series based around "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=108842

Just think, if Disney was willing to deal with Rowling, we could have had a Beastly Kingdom based on the adventures of Newt Scamander

This just made my day!

 

[ford91exploder]

I'm still waiting for Universal to start offering discounts to DVC members... I really think it should happen.

It WILL happen, Think about it DVC members have a base in FL, AND by discounting UNI can pull gate away from Disney

 

[scout68]

I just don't get the point you're trying to make (sorry)... any fan of anything can choose whether or not they want to share the good, the bad, or both to anyone they so choose....and people can decide if they want to listen.

for example... if I like Tonga Toast and I'm telling you about it I'm probably not going to say
"hey man.. you really should try this Tonga Toast stuff... it is awesome.... oh but since I should completely and without bias share with you both sides...it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat and it smells a little funny too"

so compare that to the news today... it's skewed everywhere right...if I watch MSNBC and watch Fox News shouldn't they be telling us the exact same things? (that's debatable haha) but the point I'm trying to make is there are a ton of Disney fan news and opinion outlets, blogs, podcasts, message boards like this one... all with a different flavor...and people can do whatever they want, however they want, and the people can decide what they like and don't like

I would have no problem with Disney giving a few perks to the owner of WDWMagic for what news and information it does a very good job at providing and delivering ...is that wrong?

I just don't get the point you're trying to make (sorry)... any fan of anything can choose whether or not they want to share the good, the bad, or both to anyone they so choose....and people can decide if they want to listen.

for example... if I like Tonga Toast and I'm telling you about it I'm probably not going to say
"hey man.. you really should try this Tonga Toast stuff... it is awesome.... oh but since I should completely and without bias share with you both sides...it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat and it smells a little funny too"

so compare that to the news today... it's skewed everywhere right...if I watch MSNBC and watch Fox News shouldn't they be telling us the exact same things? (that's debatable haha) but the point I'm trying to make is there are a ton of Disney fan news and opinion outlets, blogs, podcasts, message boards like this one... all with a different flavor...and people can do whatever they want, however they want, and the people can decide what they like and don't like

I would have no problem with Disney giving a few perks to the owner of WDWMagic for what news and information it does a very good job at providing and delivering ...is that wrong?

Would it change your view if msnbc was taking payola from the current administration (or fox from the other side) and not disclosing it?

The tonga toast analogy although funny is an opinion. The deficiencies I mentioned before are referring to the undeniable ones ( broken lights, broken attractions, broken show).
If you can't see the difference our debate ( one I'm enjoying) is as broken as our beloved resort.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I see where you're going but wouldn't that be more incentive to purchase DVC?

Yes, except in theory DVCers are hooked on the Pixie Dust anyway, so this would be an attempt to get money out of them that they otherwise wouldn't be getting. I'm also talking about a 10-20% discount on an AP or tickets. I doubt that savings of $50 is going to prompt someone to spend $15K+

 

[WDWDad13]

most of them probably wouldn't be blogging were it not for the perks.

How do you know? Most of them were blogging way before any perks and many blog without any perks period

 

[WDWDad13]

Would it change your view if msnbc was taking payola from the current administration (or fox from the other side) and not disclosing it?

Not really because that is probably happening now lol

 

[RSoxNo1]

I think they genuinely positioned little Mermaid to be that anchor. After seeing videos of it though, I have to wonder why...
FLE has been a really strange misstep. Compared to the Fantasyland that Tony Baxter spearheaded for Disneyland, it's been kind of all over the place thematically as well.

Maybe it's a "Too many cooks in the kitchen" leadership by committee problem

I don't buy that. It was a secondary attraction at DCA, why would they consider it to be a primary attraction in Florida?

 

[ford91exploder]

Yes, except in theory DVCers are hooked on the Pixie Dust anyway, so this would be an attempt to get money out of them that they otherwise wouldn't be getting. I'm also talking about a 10-20% discount on an AP or tickets. I doubt that savings of $50 is going to prompt someone to spend $15K+

I am a DVC member, Right now I am sorry I bought DVC with the advent of MyMagic Minus, The resorts themselves are fine they could be better but they are fine for now, I now have a base in Central FL

For next year I am looking at vacations without a visit to ANY Disney Parks, I'm sure i'm not the only one with these feelings.