Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[StarWarsGirl]

I only ever ride Pan during the parades.. I don't want to waste a FP on it. I do love the ride, but I've never quite understood why it attracts the waits it does. And I shudder to think what will happen when the ride eventually does get refurbed. (I guess that's an assumption that it will ever get refurbed, but seriously, the ride is showing a lot of wear and tear. Though I wouldn't be surprise if they take it until its in dire need the way Splash was).

I have never understood why that ride is so popular...and it's just as popular at DL. To me, it's a nice ride, but not worth that insane wait. If I do it, I do it during the late EMH when no one is on it

 

[Californian Elitist]

The story of Peter Pan itself is very popular. It's about adventure, childhood and staying a kid forever. Forever young. Peter Pan's theme appeals to pretty much everyone. That's one reason the ride is so popular.

The ride suspends you... It is unlike any other dark ride and it is probably the most unique. You feel like you're flying and it's a happy ride. The other dark rides are scary. When I worked at Disneyland, the only two rides I didn't see children come crying off of were Alice and Pan. The other three, Pinocchio, Snow and Toad ALWAYS had children screaming and crying, especially Snow. Pan is happy. I always had guests begging me to let them ride again. The others... People were vowing never again.

 

[sshindel]

I've always thought the long lines for Pan were due to the low hourly capacity of the ride, not as much of it being that much more popular than the other MK dark rides.

 

[Nemo14]

I've always thought the long lines for Pan were due to the low hourly capacity of the ride, not as much of it being that much more popular than the other MK dark rides.

exactly!

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I've always thought the long lines for Pan were due to the low hourly capacity of the ride, not as much of it being that much more popular than the other MK dark rides.

Same. Rode it once, no need to ever do it again, unless its greatly improved. And go the love of all that's holy, ...dusted.

 

[sshindel]

Same. Rode it once, no need to ever do it again, unless its greatly improved. And go the love of all that's holy, ...dusted.

I like it just fine, it's a great nostalgia trip for me. I was not heartbroken last trip when I missed it though.

The lines at Pan are going to keep being massive unless they change the ride-system, and IMO, I just don't see them caring enough about it to really make changes that drastic. Some fresh blacklight paint, run a Dyson through it every once in a while, some more foil for the volcano, but other than that, I'll bet it remains pretty unchanged.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

New dramaz?

I find it curious how Mongello has tried very hard to emulate Steves and what that means for the WDW vacation in terms of complication.

 

[ScoutN]

I find it curious how Mongello has tried very hard to emulate Steves and what that means for the WDW vacation in terms of complication.

Fly a paper airplane over my head. No idea what this topic is lol.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Weekend Musings I:

No, I don't feel that justice was done (since I know it was on your minds);

Talked to a west coast friend til the wee hours late this week and a few subjects were broached;

Iger, indeed as some Spirits speculated, had the Board at DLR because they are holding up plans for major investment in Anaheim AND Orlando;

Some members are extremely displeased with the way money has been spent in P&R of late, most notably the HUGE overruns of NGE at WDW and Iger is on a full court press to get the funds required for DCA's Monstropolis, DL's Tomorrowland's remake and Studios Extreme Makeover .. Oh, and two new ocean liners as well;

I just want to be crystal clear that the only thing that has prevented those three projects on land from going forward is BoD approval, approval that would have been guaranteed before the NGE boondoggle;

Word from Burbank is still VERY positive that Bob will get exactly what he wants;

No, this doesn't make him a good guy or a good leader to me;

One reason why Bob has lost a lot of support is his terrible record with the Studios. Sure, he brought Iron Man 3 to Disney. Do you know how little Disney will actually profit on the film (relatively speaking)? Do you know that Lone Ranger had to make OVER $800 million dollars just to hit the black. A few members of the Board have confronted both Bob and Alan Horn over this;

Just so you understand the preposterous amount of money Disney films cost, understand that Despicable Me 2 was in the black after its first weekend. Monsters U had to cross the $500 million mark to do so. Neither Brave nor Wreck It Ralph made profits in their releases, that is effing nuts;

Too bad that the NSA/Snowden/Shadow government story can't get half as much attention as the trial of the month deal ... First Arias, then Zimmerman ...who will be the next distraction from what is REALLY important?

Has Disney announced a tenant for Disney Springs yet? Nah, I didn't think so.

Has Disney cut back August hours yet?

Remember when visiting a Disney Store was the next best thing to a park?

Any truth that George Zimmerman will be honored at the MK tomorrow? (too soon? Do you think I care?)

 

[WDW1974]

Oh, I have well over 600 alerts and no time to go over them. IF you really need my attention, try again!

 

[WDW1974]

That neither addresses nor counters his point. You could hardly expect someone to make a connection to something they've never experienced... That's a rather odd thing to expect.

You can make the same argument for Avatar. Avatar stole a lot of its elements and tone from other movies and stories like Fern Gully or Pocahontas (and probably others I can't remember or don't even know about). But just because someone hasn't seen those movies, doesn't mean the connections aren't there. As many people have complained, the movie feels like a blander version of the stories it ripped off.

Lone Ranger did indeed feel like a Pirates knock off during many parts of it. One of the villains (Butch Cavendish) is very reminiscent of Captain Barbossa (especially in looks), though infinitely more bland and predictable in his villainy (Barbossa you could actually almost sympathize with as well as hate him even in the first Pirates, and he got even more interesting as the movies went on, awesome actor playing him too). Tonto just acts like a more quiet and calm Jack Sparrow throughout, but often does things directly out of Jack Sparrow's repertoire of stunts and silliness (never bought Depp's performance in this one even though i'm a big Jack Sparrow fan and generally a huge fan of Depp in other roles). It honestly just felt like Jack Sparrow dressed up as an Indian and was making fun of the situation he was in most of the time. And the Lone Ranger himself played second fiddle to Tonto throughout, feeling very much like a retread of Will Turner (including copying a lot of his goofball moments).

That's not why I disliked the movie myself. I can forgive movies being derivative as long as they do something good with the material they're taking from. But that wasn't the case throughout most of the movie. I felt Lone Ranger had a lot of bland and pointless filler that just dragged the movie throughout its too-long runtime (along with often uninteresting dialog). It could get very boring in parts. Certainly had some highlights, particularly the action scene at the end with the train, loved that. I don't think it deserves the beating it's getting on many sites. Particularly since there are many far worse movies that have gotten better reviews and box office sales. But I wouldn't call it a good movie by any means.

You are entitled to your opinion.

I strongly disagree with most of it. But I don't wish to argue what largely comes down to taste.

You wouldn't call it a good movie. Fine. I'd call it a very good summer popcorn flick.

 

[WDW1974]

Would be great to see his touch on it if hes involved, at least he wouldnt let it go the way of P&F, hopefully his clout on the project would be high enough, but whatever comes of it would be nice to have his imagination involved again.

I can only say Tony has input by way they are letting him poke around and talk with those folks working on the project ...clout isn't a word that I'd use.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

I just want to be crystal clear that the only thing that has prevented those three projects on land from going forward is BoD approval, approval that would have been guaranteed before the NGE boondoggle;

As if we needed yet another reason to dislike NGE and the MM+ nonsense.

One reason why Bob has lost a lot of support is his terrible record with the Studios. Sure, he brought Iron Man 3 to Disney. Do you know how little Disney will actually profit on the film (relatively speaking)? Do you know that Lone Ranger had to make OVER $800 million dollars just to hit the black. A few members of the Board have confronted both Bob and Alan Horn over this;

Just so you understand the preposterous amount of money Disney films cost, understand that Despicable Me 2 was in the black after its first weekend. Monsters U had to cross the $500 million mark to do so. Neither Brave nor Wreck It Ralph made profits in their releases, that is effing nuts;

Well, its nice to hear overspending and lack of fiscal responsibility is not just limited to Imagineering. Can we consider that a silver lining in some way?

Thanks as usual for the morsels of info.

 

[WDW1974]

"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney

hey, I've read that on DVC construction walls!!!

 

[Rodan75]

Locally TLR is playing in more theaters and with more show times this weekend than both Pacific Rim and Grown Ups 2 combined.

Glad to hear about the BoD getting close to approval. Sounds like the random press release on MM+ guest spending this week wasn't so random.

Is the DL TL redo more cohesive than it has been described? It sounds like a hot mess.

What size are the ships @WDW1974?

 

[WDW1974]

Throwing this one out from left field.... I expect the new soundtrack coming to the ride is going to help flesh out some moments that are lost in translation now. Especially to first time Chinese visitors who absolutely have no idea what the hell is going on.

WDW has kicked tires around exploring doing some work on Jungle Cruise. Maybe they'll follow through on that work now that OLC is taking the initiative to complete it.

I doubt that the tiny number of guests from outside Japan are behind the OLC's decision here ...but I am very intrigued by what they are going to be doing.

 

[WDW1974]

Is the imagination building staying or will it(or parts of it) be torn down?

Staying.

 

[Lee]

Do you know how little Disney will actually profit on the film (relatively speaking)? Do you know that Lone Ranger had to make OVER $800 million dollars just to hit the black. A few members of the Board have confronted both Bob and Alan Horn over this;

Just so you understand the preposterous amount of money Disney films cost, understand that Despicable Me 2 was in the black after its first weekend. Monsters U had to cross the $500 million mark to do so. Neither Brave nor Wreck It Ralph made profits in their releases, that is effing nuts;

Just got back from Pacific Rim. (Liked it a lot, but didn't love it.)

Visually it was stunning. It looked amazing in almost every scene.
A huge film, tons of effects....and it cost less than Monsters U. That's ridiculous.

 

[WDW1974]

Knowing Spirit is such a legendary foodie, I thought I'd mention I've had some incredible meals down in the Keys this week. And at Disney prices too, but I hardly care when the food's been as tasty as it has been.

No official Disney pixie dust or MagicBands down here. Too bad I couldn't make purchases with a wrist band. Definitely would've made this trip much, much better.

The Keys are good for three things ... Eating and drinking and I can't recall the third. You should have told me you were passing through my area, we could have met for a burger and mojito or just Starbucks and cinnamon buns.

 

[HMF]

Any truth that George Zimmerman will be honored at the MK tomorrow? (too soon? Do you think I care?)

I really don't think WDW would do that, Remember, They didn't even invite Ray Lewis when he was Super Bowl MVP to be honored thanks to his Obstruction of justice charge. The potential Public Relations disaster that any association with Zimmerman would cause will make NGE look like a minor image problem.