Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[truecoat]

While researching about Uni land buys, I came across an interesting bit from Jim Hill concerning the "negative" attitude of fan sites, like ours. Read the answer to the question that begins "Why on earth are so many Disney fan websites so negative?" in this link...

http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/jimhillmedia?url=http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2012/12/27/why-for-downer.aspx#2748

I would like to know how you all would respond to his comments about us...

What's funny is he turned the question into a way to sell someone's book through an Amazon link.

As far as negativity on Disney websites, he avoided the real question and focused on Monsters Inc. The negativity I have seen is more about cutbacks, maintenance or lack of and new attractions or lack of. When the last E-ticket in any WDW park was built in 2006, you can't really blame fans for being negative. Especially when you see what Uni is doing. It's obvious from the info leaking out that Uni isn't done by a long shot. This contributes to the negativity toward Disney considering price increases thrown about the last 10 years. It's going to come back and bite them in the .

 

[Sue_Vongello]

Eh, has anyone ever gone back and checked how many of his rumors pan out--not just the ones on his site, but also the "tips" or whatever from the Unofficial Guide over the years? Everyone loves to make snarky comments whenever Screamscape comes up, but I think Lance gets more right than Jim Hill does, and he manages to do it without coming off as a bought-and-paid-for mouthpiece of TWDC. (Which you would think would at least result in a better track record.)

Hmmm ... I haven't gone back to verify so I'll accept your thoughts as valid ... but he is a good writer and storyteller ... I think I can run with that.

(Wait, why am I trying to defend him?!)

 

[JenniferS]

Gas is pumped by the liter in Canada (not Imperial gallon). A quick calculation on my part would say our gas has hung around the 4.75-5.25 Canadian dollar per gallon over the last several years. Of course that is a moving target but our dollar has been pretty steadily around par (with 5-10% variation above or below for several years now).

Yes it's true that the value of the dollar has swung in our favour but the cost of pretty much everything has lagged behind and that's why there is a lot of cross border shopping (especially when our dollar was worth almost 15% more than USD during the height of the financial crisis). It's not the taxable total that is the problem, it is the list prices. Books are probably one of the worst offenders for people as they always have a Canadian and US list price and the US list price is often 30% cheaper prior to taxes.

However I do remember that US gas (even when our dollar was worth far less) was even cheaper for us back in the day. I think US gas has really caught up in price to the rest of the world over the last five years and that's why it is so shocking.

Still we pay a premium, a lot of it may have to do with economies of scale or what have you. I really am not an economist though...

I checked your age - you were born post-metric conversion. We switched when I was in grade 4 or 5, so 1976-1977, although it really was a multi year process.
Prior to that, we did indeed use the Imperial Gallon (4.55 litres) compared to the US Gallon (3.78 litres).
Not that any of that matters anymore.
As to book and magazine prices - that is where we really get hosed. The CAD prices were downward adjusted a few years ago, albeit nowhere near par. For a while, when our $ was above par, but CAD prices were plus 40 or 50%, there were wide reports of folks going into Chapters/Indigo/Coles and insisting on paying the US price with US cash. Walmart instituted an automatic 20% price reduction on books, magazines and greeting cards. If memory serves, Shoppers Drugmart (soon to be owned by Loblaws) offered 10% off at the till.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I don't see any Star Wars on that concept art or in Randy's description unless there swapping out tron for SW and I haven't heard anything about HK getting marvel stuff

Marvel is going to HKDL and WDSP. Was going to happen at DL, but it seems they find the new Star Wars/TRON attraction inexplicably more appealing than an Iron Man E-Ticket.

 

[PeterAlt]

What's funny is he turned the question into a way to sell someone's book through an Amazon link.

As far as negativity on Disney websites, he avoided the real question and focused on Monsters Inc. The negativity I have seen is more about cutbacks, maintenance or lack of and new attractions or lack of. When the last E-ticket in any WDW park was built in 2006, you can't really blame fans for being negative. Especially when you see what Uni is doing. It's obvious from the info leaking out that Uni isn't done by a long shot. This contributes to the negativity toward Disney considering price increases thrown about the last 10 years. It's going to come back and bite them in the .

You make some good points...

Next subject, if anyone knows the answer to... The Monsters Inc rollercoaster that was supposed to be built at Pixar Place... Supposedly, everything was practically greenlit for this project before TDO pulled the funds...

Okay, how can they just "pull the funds" without Burbank having any say in the matter? What did they use those funds for? Are those funds lost for that project indefinately now? Did pulling the funds effectively kill the project, or did it put the project on some kind of holding pattern? If it put it on a holding pattern, do replacement of funds become less and less likely as time moves foward?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I checked your age - you were born post-metric conversion. We switched when I was in grade 4 or 5, so 1976-1977, although it really was a multi year process.
Prior to that, we did indeed use the Imperial Gallon (4.55 litres) compared to the US Gallon (3.78 litres).
Not that any of that matters anymore.
As to book and magazine prices - that is where we really get hosed. The CAD prices were downward adjusted a few years ago, albeit nowhere near par. For a while, when our $ was above par, but CAD prices were plus 40 or 50%, there were wide reports of folks going into Chapters/Indigo/Coles and insisting on paying the US price with US cash. Walmart instituted an automatic 20% price reduction on books, magazines and greeting cards. If memory serves, Shoppers Drugmart (soon to be owned by Loblaws) offered 10% off at the till.

DVDs, Blu-rays and video games (media in general) are another good example of this. Not uncommon to see a 50% mark up on the same title at Best Buy Canada over Best Buy USA.

 

[flynnibus]

. That Antarctica ride is killing them. Literally doesn't matter how many people they attract. It will never pay for itself.

I always thought the amount of hype that was getting in the boards was so overhyped and illustrated just how misguided so many 'fans' are. They got a hardon for lps and were blinded by that alone. Lps doesn't meant crap by itself.

 

[flynnibus]

Yes. They headlined what was supposed to be the park's unique signature E-Ticket attraction, basically a RnRC type ride through a CTX environment, heavily borrowed from DAK.

Wow , so everything that is 'not' a castle park

 

[GLaDOS]

Just wanted to point out what was brought up in another thread, but apparently the FOTLK theater project has hit a snag that will delay Avatar Land further

 

[asianway]

Eh, has anyone ever gone back and checked how many of his rumors pan out--not just the ones on his site, but also the "tips" or whatever from the Unofficial Guide over the years? Everyone loves to make snarky comments whenever Screamscape comes up, but I think Lance gets more right than Jim Hill does, and he manages to do it without coming off as a bought-and-paid-for mouthpiece of TWDC. (Which you would think would at least result in a better track record.)

Are you excited about the Super Adventurers Club at Night Kingdom? Im counting the days.

Once you establish yourself as being on the take or that you are in it for profiteering you lose all credibility...

 

[truecoat]

Just wanted to point out what was brought up in another thread, but apparently the FOTLK theater project has hit a snag that will delay Avatar Land further

Any idea on the snag?

 

[GLaDOS]

Any idea on the snag?

Nope. Seems the information is coming from Orlando Park News on twitter.

 

[Goofyernmost]

HA - well you taught me something new. Unfortunately the metrification goes back before I was born (I know I am dating... (or anti-dating?) myself.


I forgive you! However now I have to return the educational favour... The version of Canada's accent that Americans think a lot of us have is more akin to an East coaster (Newfoundland especially). Canada is huge and has a wide variety of accents just like America. Surprisingly I'd say an "Ontarian's" accent is more akin to a Californian one even though we are far closer to Detroit and New York.

Unfortunately, I do not say "Eh"... Nor do I say "about" funny. I also have no idea where in Canada people say "aBOOT" for that matter.

Although we generally spell it litre, not liter.


Oh and any good Canadian uses "sorry" liberally. It's nice to be polite!

You know I originally did spell liter as litre, but spell check said I was wrong. And who am I to argue with spell check aboot spelling, eh? Sorry! In my experience they may say "sorry" but they're not sorry at all!

 

[GoofGoof]

I always thought the amount of hype that was getting in the boards was so overhyped and illustrated just how misguided so many 'fans' are. They got a hardon for lps and were blinded by that alone. Lps doesn't meant crap by itself.

I'm guilty of this myself. I really wanted to love this ride. When the first reviews came back and were mostly negative I dismissed it as people being overly critical... then I rode the thing. The actual penguin part at the end was very cool and well done. The ride part was just strange and kinda pointless. It didn't help that it broke down multiple times and it took me almost 3 hours to finish including the wait.

 

[bubbles1812]

While researching about Uni land buys, I came across an interesting bit from Jim Hill concerning the "negative" attitude of fan sites, like ours. Read the answer to the question that begins "Why on earth are so many Disney fan websites so negative?" in this link...

http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/j...l/archive/2012/12/27/why-for-downer.aspx#2748

I would like to know how you all would respond to his comments about us...

His answer was idiotic. Ignores the actual issues such as the decreased maintenance, the increases emphasis on toddlers, the lack of attractions, the poor management by executives... Need I go on? I'd have to agree with Sue in that his response seemed very canned. There certainly is a "I must post first" mentality existent on the Internet, but it is far far far removed from why there is "negativity" (ie legitimate criticism pansy Pixiedusters poor little sensitive hearts can't take). What a load of crap... I hope someone calls him out.

 

[bubbles1812]

Just wanted to point out what was brought up in another thread, but apparently the FOTLK theater project has hit a snag that will delay Avatar Land further

This shocks me! Shocks me I tell you! Avatarland delayed further? How could this be? It's Disney! Things never get delayed.

*sarcasm*

I wish Disney would exceed my expectations sometimes... Just sometimes.

 

[IHeartArt]

Just wanted to point out what was brought up in another thread, but apparently the FOTLK theater project has hit a snag that will delay Avatar Land further

Avatarland, coming in 2020!

 

[71jason]

I always thought the amount of hype that was getting in the boards was so overhyped and illustrated just how misguided so many 'fans' are. They got a hardon for lps and were blinded by that alone. Lps doesn't meant crap by itself.

In defense of the interwebs, a lot of that hype was drummed up by Sea World themselves. You don't build an entire land around a C-ticket ride (Dumbo being the exception that proves the rule). Much like Turtle Trek, SW implied this was going to be a lot more than it ended up being.

(Agreed, btw, a ride system is nothing without story and theme).

 

[71jason]

Are you excited about the Super Adventurers Club at Night Kingdom? Im counting the days.

No, I've been too busy playing in Disney's World of Harry Potter, after they got an airtight lock on the rights 5 years ago.

It's not even that I enjoy piling on the guy--not a huge fan of his folksy style but a lot of people seem into it, and deep down it comes across he really, really loves everything Disney--it's that he gets a pass when Screamscape doesn't.

 

[71jason]

Marvel is going to HKDL and WDSP. Was going to happen at DL, but it seems they find the new Star Wars/TRON attraction inexplicably more appealing than an Iron Man E-Ticket.

But for glorified extended cameos in the Avengers II and maybe III, Iron Man movies are done. There's nothing we can do to prevent at least 5 or 6 more Star Wars movies from coming out. Probably more. Synergy, man, SYNERGY!!!