Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[WDW1974]

For the premium price I pay for Disney, I expect premium entertainment & premium service.

I'm sure folks have already commented as I'm catching up (or trying) ... but in O-Town you expect waaaaay too much. When half the visitors are addicted to Pixie Dust and would welcome S$-& Mountain -- a new attraction where you slide down a pile of feces shaped like Mickey Mouse -- and another quarter is wondering where to get the monorail from the park with the giant golf ball to the ocean one with the whales ... well, Disney does whatever it can get away with.

 

[WDW1974]

In-N-Out, though Five Guys is good.

Five Guys prices are too damn high. And while I love their fries, a lot of times they are not cooked fully ... at In N Out, I can order them well done and get them nice and crispy and without the side of saliva that I'd get if I asked that at most McD's.

 

[Lee]

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.

The one that called it "odd"? I just skimmed it.
I thought the movie was a lot of fun. Quirky, funny, thrilling...just a good time.

It wasn't perfect by any means, but I did think it was much more entertaining than Man of Steel.

Is it for kids? Probably not. But I don't think it would freak them out worse than the Pirates movies. (I don't have, nor do I routinely associate with, children, so whether or not a film is suitable for them is of absolutely no consequence to me.)

Speaking of which, I do believe I caught a Capt. Jack nod about them minutes in. Subtle, but there.

Anyhow, I certainly don't think it deserves the knocks its getting. Not at all. I think some folks are giving it a hard time just for the hell of it.

Now...I want to read the original script. The one with werewolves.

 

[Lee]

You know too much.

Indeed.

And if anything were to happen to me, it all goes straight to the media.
*evil laugh*


Note to self: Next time, get a photo of him in "that hat." Instant life insurance.

 

[WDW1974]

As long as you aren't old enough to remember the original New Orleans Pelicans

Um ... yeah ... just like the I don't know who the Miami Floridians were!

 

[WDW1974]

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.

People are conditioned to expect less nowadays ... in the 60s and 70s folks took to the streets all the time. Now, so long as they have their iPhones they're content ... and there is this tacit post 9/11 conceit that we better not protest a damm thing or the government will call in the National Guard call us domestic terrorists and open fire with real bullets. You couldn't do what is being done in Egypt right now and that sure should scare you.

Oh, but you were talking about Disney transport, right? ... Guests still are conditioned to expect less or they read online that if they walk into City Hall and start spouting f-bombs that they'll get lots of free stuff to just go away. The rest just think 'Oh, so this is WDW. Did it once. Don't need to again.'

 

[WDW1974]

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!'

The question isn't why would you be upset with those people (I get it very well), the better question, the more important question is why you wouldn't be much more upset with the continued lying, cheating and stealing done by the government, Wall Street and Big Business?

I can't blame the little guy when the powers do whetever the eff they damn well please and screw all of us in the process. Maybe when the government and Wall Street and Big Business stop screwing us all, then I'll start looking with anger at my lazy neighbor's trash and see that he is always getting new electronic toys that I'd like ... but not until we have accountability at the top.

 

[WDW1974]

Southwest will be flying the new 37s to Hawaii. Can't stand the 57, even in first.

I have only flown SW a handful of times and would never take them to Hawaii ... even when they start flying there.

I am always amused at how people swear by them when they are always considerably higher than any of the legacy carriers for flights out of SoFl. ... I did like it years ago when I could fly to O-Town for $29 each way.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Five Guys prices are too damn high. And while I love their fries, a lot of times they are not cooked fully ... at In N Out, I can order them well done and get them nice and crispy and without the side of saliva that I'd get if I asked that at most McD's.

I agree. For one meal at Five Guys, I can buy two at In-N-Out. Most likely three if I ordered just the cheeseburger meals.

McDonald's isn't a factor. I'll take In-N-Out, Fatburger or Tommy's.

 

[WDW1974]

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)

Yes. Right near the cable car, which is a great ride to the giant Buddha when it is clear ... also amazing views of HK International Airport.

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?

Yes. Because starting in the 90s, they expanded very haphazardly ... transport was pushed to the back burner with the excuse that buses were cheap and 'we'll expand the monorail down the road' (that was a direct quote from Eisner to yours truly).

Now, I don.t even know what I would do. I keep saying step one would be new monorails and the original 1990 plan of rail expansion to Studios and EPCOT resorts, but I'm not sure that's smart anymore ... and all these light rail and peoplemover and new centralized transport hub are just not realistic unless you had a spare $2-3 bil... nevermind.

 

[WDW1974]

@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.

His role hasn't changed. He is a creative advisor to WDI. He pops in when he can. I know he has been involved in the Monstropolis planning for DCA.

But his first responsibility is to Pixar. And his second is to WDFA.

He's also getting older and enjoying running the Lasseter Family Winery.

There's only so much time in the day. I'm sure he'd like to be more hands on with park projects all over, but the reality is that beyond Anaheim he has very little input at all ...

 

[WDW1974]

Same here.
Easily my favorite movie of the summer.



Unrefrigerated.

Interesting ... although you do have weird (hillbilly) tastes. But I'm still glad to hear it.

 

[crispy]

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.

I think you are right. If I am helping a first time visitor plan a trip, I encourage them not to park hop because most are confused enough as it is without adding another set of complications. If they want to eat at a resort, I encourage them to do a MK resort where they can catch the monorail or take a boat from the park.

We will occasionally use the bus for the MK just because it's a more direct route, but now we always drive to the other parks. I guess that's why I always get confused when people complain about some of the resorts being "so far away" from the parks. If you are driving, it only takes a few minutes to get from any of the resorts to any of the parks.

 

[WDW1974]

Indeed.

And if anything were to happen to me, it all goes straight to the media.
*evil laugh*


Note to self: Next time, get a photo of him in "that hat." Instant life insurance.

You should know I only let Mrs. Lee have pics of me ...bet she hasn't shown you the tasteful nudes yet!

 

[Captain Neo]

Spirit, Is Jim Hill's rumors about Star Wars land true? Please tell me theres more to it than just a ride whree you sit on a speeder bike and they blow air in your face while you stare at a screen pretending to race around and an X-wing spinner ride.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirit, Is Jim Hill's rumors about Star Wars land true? Please tell me theres more to it than just a ride whree you sit on a speeder bike and they blow air in your face while you stare at a screen pretending to race around and an X-wing spinner ride.

I hadn't heard that and it isn't at all what I was told (speeder bikes using same general layout as Tron coaster for DCA).

So ... 'nother 248 pages ... and that's almost without trying (you know ... like Disney in O-Town ... OK, OK, cheap shot, but one that had to be taken!)

 

[RunnerEd]

People are conditioned to expect less nowadays ... in the 60s and 70s folks took to the streets all the time. Now, so long as they have their iPhones they're content ... and there is this tacit post 9/11 conceit that we better not protest a damm thing or the government will call in the National Guard call us domestic terrorists and open fire with real bullets. You couldn't do what is being done in Egypt right now and that sure should scare you.

Oh, but you were talking about Disney transport, right? ... Guests still are conditioned to expect less or they read online that if they walk into City Hall and start spouting f-bombs that they'll get lots of free stuff to just go away. The rest just think 'Oh, so this is WDW. Did it once. Don't need to again.'

I think the first way to begin fixing the transportation system (and crowd control for that matter) is for George to require middle management and up to be in MK for Wishes (in plain clothes/no name tag) and then try to leave the park and take a bus back to whichever resort they park at. It would improve tons and would do so very quickly. I'm sorry for suggesting something that Walt might have done but I have a suspicion that it would work.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I have only flown SW a handful of times and would never take them to Hawaii ... even when they start flying there.

I am always amused at how people swear by them when they are always considerably higher than any of the legacy carriers for flights out of SoFl. ... I did like it years ago when I could fly to O-Town for $29 each way.

Southwest is getting my family to LA in October for $200 cheaper than any other carrier (and the next cheapest is Airtran)... two hours faster than the next cheapest flight... with no bag fees... with no change fees... with no plane change... and with no shady commuter airline that I have to take to get to a real airport that the real legacy carriers feel like servicing themselves. Plus, before JetBlue and Southwest showed up at lowly BUF, the legacy carrier fares were absurdly expensive; now, they're just ridiculously expensive.

So yeah, I kinda luv them.

 

[Captain Neo]

I hadn't heard that and it isn't at all what I was told (speeder bikes using same general layout as Tron coaster for DCA).

So ... 'nother 248 pages ... and that's almost without trying (you know ... like Disney in O-Town ... OK, OK, cheap shot, but one that had to be taken!)

Ah ok so you heard it was an actual coaster. Jim Hill claims he over heard Baxter and Sotto talking about tron being a Soarin' type simulator thing. Thanks for your input!

 

[crispy]

Oh, and I asked my friend who works in Imagineering if the rumored Star Wars/Carsland rumors were true just to see his response, and all I got back was "I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors, but I can say I am not assigned to that project." Yep, that's about as inside as I get! At least he confirmed that there was a project.