Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[ChrisFL]

Really?! The one in the mall on the second floor? When headed from work out to HKDL, I'd stop there for a FRESH Big Mac meal (all for $2.50 USD) and then grab a drink at Pacific Coffee Co in the mall.

I've been there too! It's right near the cable car to Ngong Ping if I'm not mistaken, though I've had more meals at Silvermine Beach ("Beach" is pushing it, it's more like a small bit of sand next to the water)

 

[ChrisFL]

Spirit, quick question...do you think the layout of WDW now, with how far the parks and hotels are spread out, mean that transportation for it will always be a relative nightmare?

 

[GoofGoof]

My thing is this: I can't imagine being a new guest and shown this pile of mediocrity. The bus service alone would make me not come back.

My theory on that is new guests tend to park hop less or not at all. They probably also tend to eat in the park they are at that day or at their home resort. Not a scientific fact or anything, just an educated guess. If they only take 2 bus trips a day and have a 20 to 30 minute wait they probably aren't as disgruntled about it. If you try to park hop each day and/or travel to DTD or the Boardwalk for meals it gets pretty damn frustrating at times. I think that's why a lot of regulars end up renting a car when they visit.

 

[Nubs70]

Sounds like an experimental prototype community of tomorrow...

No just better utilization of existing resources. It just chaps my a** when they say an average wait time of 20 minutes. When staying at CBR in 2012, an entire bus queue were waiting 45 minutes to get to DHS as no less than 2 busses from every other park passed us by with only the driver aboard. Every day I would pick up the courtesy phone and inquire as to when we could expect the correct bus. All I got in reply is "Soon" and "our average wait time is only 20 minutes."

After three days of this routine I finally replied "If you average 20 minute waits and based on a normal distribution in these wait times, you must have a portion of your bus fleet that is able to travel faster than light. If you have an average wait of 20 minutes, the maximum wait time can be 40 minutes and we have been here for 45 minutes." The next day there was an Industrial Engineer at the next stop with a clip board taking TAKT times.

MM+ would show a whole group of people a certain bus stop with DHS as there destination who have been waiting in excess of the 20 minute average. Dispatch could then send a bus directly to that stop, then fill the rest up on the way to DHS.

 

[Cody5242]

Just got back from the Lone Ranger and loved it. Very entertaining and funny

 

[xdan0920]

@WDW1974 or anyone who knows...

All this talk of Staggs, Rasulo, Crofton ect... What's Lasseter's role right now? As far as theme parks go. A couple years ago it was looking like he was a genuine threat to preserve Walt's legacy.

Now we hardly hear him mentioned at all.

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I try and keep up with everything, but occasionally real life interferes.

 

[Lee]

Just got back from the Lone Ranger and loved it. Very entertaining and funny

Same here.
Easily my favorite movie of the summer.



Unrefrigerated.

 

[MattM]

The same people crying bloody murder and I'm a victim - while people like me have been living within my means and working my tail off to get ahead? Yeah, why would I be upset at those kind of people...

I was the type of guy screaming 'A housing correction?? YES PLEASE!'

Living within your means, what is that? Everyone is entitled to what they want when they want it, long term consequences be #%^*+=. They deserve it, after all!

 

[WDW1974]

I must be lucky. I haven't had problems with WDW transportation. I think the longest I've waited is 20 minutes and that's what they tell you to expect.

You are lucky.

 

[Cody5242]

Same here.
Easily my favorite movie of the summer.



Unrefrigerated.

Same here! I have no idea what the critics are talking about. I feel like its a cool to hate movie. My theatre gave it a standing ovation. I hope it receives great word of mouth so that it can receive a sequel.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirit, I believe you said it yourself but your Spirited Musings posts remind me a whole lot of Larry King's newspaper columns. And boy does that give me mixed feelings. Spirit, one of my heroes, and Larry King, who is...well, Larry King, may be the same person! I guess that explains why you are so knowledgeable about the entertainment industry. Now if you start dropping Angie Dickinson's name around I will know for sure...

I have never worn suspenders in my life.

 

[HMF]

@WDW1974 or anyone who knows...

All this talk of Staggs, Rasulo, Crofton ect... What's Lasseter's role right now? As far as theme parks go. A couple years ago it was looking like he was a genuine threat to preserve Walt's legacy.

Now we hardly hear him mentioned at all.

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I try and keep up with everything, but occasionally real life interferes.

My understanding is that Iger and Rasulo have used their influence to largely undermine Lasseter and keep him in check. That said, He still somehow manages to run a good ship over at Pixar.

 

[JenniferS]

Same here.
Easily my favorite movie of the summer.



Unrefrigerated.

A girlfriend of mine, who is similarly uptight and prudish, also enjoyed it, so now I have to wait until next week for $6.00 Tuesday.
Have you read the Huffington Post review? How did your "take on it" differ? Thx.

 

[WDW1974]

There was a time when Walt Disney World prided itself upon being more efficient than municipalities. Heck, there are a number of news pieces from the 1970s and 1980s discussing just how many lessons government could learn from Disney in terms of city planning (and public transportation is frequently discussed in those).

For the amount of money guests pay (part of which is a built-in cost for transportation--so no, that bus service isn't any more free than that ride on Space Mountain is), Disney should be a model of efficiency and quality. It shouldn't be less efficient than the government...


I find it a bit depressing that fans consider Disney transportation to be, "good enough--it is free after all!"

And I find it amazing and yet another sad sign of our society and people being sheeple that folks who pay $300-???? a night for a hotel room are willing to wait for however long it may be only to have to STAND on buses (not safe) and packed like sardines with other folks of varying degrees of cleanliness.

And WDW transport is many things, efficient isn't one of them on a CONSISTENT basis ... I have had very good experieneces with them and nightmarish, all depends on your luck and where and when you are and where you are headed.

 

[WDW1974]

Wasn't he just acting as a mouthpiece for Pressler/Harris?

Not at all. He was Sr VP of Ops, meaning he was the No. 2 exec in Anaheim and was in charge of running the entire resort on a daily basis. They didn't even have the individual park VPs that they now have.

And I surely wouldn't place all the blame on his shoulders with Paul and Cynthia above him, but he made some boneheaded moves while in Anaheim and he was very insistent that the WDW model could be placed on DL. It couldn't and it failed. ... Believe me, he wasn't welcomed back in 2009 with open arms by most of the CMs who had been there his first stint.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

No just better utilization of existing resources. It just chaps my a** when they say an average wait time of 20 minutes. When staying at CBR in 2012, an entire bus queue were waiting 45 minutes to get to DHS as no less than 2 busses from every other park passed us by with only the driver aboard. Every day I would pick up the courtesy phone and inquire as to when we could expect the correct bus. All I got in reply is "Soon" and "our average wait time is only 20 minutes."

After three days of this routine I finally replied "If you average 20 minute waits and based on a normal distribution in these wait times, you must have a portion of your bus fleet that is able to travel faster than light. If you have an average wait of 20 minutes, the maximum wait time can be 40 minutes and we have been here for 45 minutes." The next day there was an Industrial Engineer at the next stop with a clip board taking TAKT times.

MM+ would show a whole group of people a certain bus stop with DHS as there destination who have been waiting in excess of the 20 minute average. Dispatch could then send a bus directly to that stop, then fill the rest up on the way to DHS.

It's bad math, but I'll allow it. Waiting for the bus sucks.

 

[WDW1974]

And Saratoga Springs CM's didn't ask us about getting Ap's for the first time this year. Any correlation to the smaller price increase?

Doubt it.

 

[WDW1974]

I thought a certain Spirit had a hand in almost derailing the Shanghai deal, though unintentional..


Uh-oh....movie starting...

You know too much. It can get dark in the Tennessee woods on cold winter nights, bad things can happen, people can just disappear ... me and the Mrs have already discussed this.

 

[WDW1974]

Michael Eisner: Future President of Shanghai Disney Resort?

Michael will never have a role with TWDC again.

 

[lazyboy97o]

@WDW1974 or anyone who knows...

All this talk of Staggs, Rasulo, Crofton ect... What's Lasseter's role right now? As far as theme parks go. A couple years ago it was looking like he was a genuine threat to preserve Walt's legacy.

Now we hardly hear him mentioned at all.

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I try and keep up with everything, but occasionally real life interferes.

From what I have gathered he used up a lot of political leverage to keep Cars Land on track. I also think he, and probably more so his wife, realized that trying to be everywhere is very demanding and draining.