Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[culturenthrills]

Jay Rasulo opposed LucasFilm properties being put in the parks.

Yoda to JR

"That is why you fail"

 

[WildcatDen]

I too would

Ah, the 1 %'s use of the English language. Poetry in motion my friend. So Spirit. . . what's up? Seriously, anything new? Oh and for what it is worth, both 6 flags and some Cedar Fair locations draw an interesting caliber of guests as well, I mean King's Island is a short drive from Kentucky after all. . .

 

[culturenthrills]

It could very well be true. But a simple start to a more complex issue would be remove the powers that regulate these decisions. Meet and greets over substance, price increases over attraction increases, and profits over show and maintenance. Nothing is going to get solved if these decisions continue to be made.

They need to go back to their roots. If only the days could return where Future World was an educational metropolis rather than a place we find Nemo and meet Mickey in Innoventions. There are plenty of places to do that. Epcot is not one of those. Epcot is the park that annoys me the most because it has the potential to be the greatest theme park in the world, yet it decides to dumb down attractions to fit the masses, rather than having the masses rise up to the integrity of the attractions.

Epcot is a shell of its former self. Future World is a mess and the only thing World Showcase has added is new restaurants and upcharging for the best spots to view Illuminations. If is wasn't for the 2 festivals I bet the parks attendance and guest spending would be down severely. I realize most of the love I have for that park now is nostalgia. It made such imprint on me when I was younger that it still holds a place in my heart. But even that is wearing thin. Cause as much as I loved MK as a kid I can't help noticing all of its failings. That was made even more obvious after my first visit to DL over 10 years ago.

 

[pheneix]

People can correct me on this, but I also heard that EuroDisney had been considered in Spain instead of France, but Eisner overruled others in the company who thought it would be better for any number of reasons.

Any truth to this rumor?

100% true, the Euro Disney project was initially focused on the coastal region of Spain and in the south of France just outside of Marsailles. Marne le Vallee came into the running late in the game when the Marsaille location turned out to not be viable for construction (soil turned out to be unstable. not that it stopped them in Florida!).

The Spanish and French governments both competed with incentives to lure the project to their respective nations, but ultimately the site outside Paris was chosen above the objections of EVERY feasibility study and expert that had been hired to develop the resort. It was Eisner's call. One of the Spanish locations went on to become the site of Port Aventura, a less attended but substantially more profitable resort than EDL.
If Disney really wanted to build a profitable theme park resort in Europe, they would have built outside of Berlin or Amsterdam. That terrific "central European location" didn't turn out to be so central as the continent's wealth (and jobs!) have rotated to eastern and northern Europe over the past 20 years.

Also, German and Dutch work ethic > Spain/France by miles. Sad, but true. If you want a theme park run well, don't open it in France or Spain. But that may also be why Disney hired De Efteling for emergency consulting work during DLP's opening stages.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I don't know how much validity these specific tweets have, but they make me angry.
https://twitter.com/ECardonWalker

If they really were going to build the Oz attraction they probably wouldn't have pushed out the guy who designed it.

If Oz does show up, look for the original author's name to be erased out and "Tom Fitzgerald" written over it in crayon

 

[The Empress Lilly]

While I agree with this, and always have...I do think part of it is the fact that "education" is a bad word to many American kids and teens...the way we learn things in our schools is so much worse than it should be...we think being educated while on vacation, as an idea, is "boring" "un-cool" "waste of time", etc.

Ironically the original EPCOT Center model of "edutainment" should instead have given a visceral way to bring teachers in to learn about more ways to educate.

I do know that in Orlando, making a field trip to EPCOT Center for many schools was a standard thing.

Yes. And what's perhaps saddest of all, is that EPCOT was barely educational in the first place. It's just that as soon as something touches on real world subjects it is deemed educational, and if doesn't involve celebs, sensationalism and instant thrills it is deemed boring.

EPCOT was a perfect middle ground between a science museum and a theme park. You'd think parents would be delighted.
Personally I still think it is a golden formula, and that TWDC has been sitting on a goose with golden eggs for three decades without figuring out how to market it. (Middle class) parents want only two things for their children, and will pay any price for it: they want to see them have fun, and they want them to learn. And lo and behold, TWDC, the company that brands itself on family values more than any other was dealt this as a winning hand, only was too confused and too chicken to play it.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Also, German and Dutch work ethic > Spain/France by miles. Sad, but true. If you want a theme park run well, don't open it in France or Spain. But that may also be why Disney hired De Efteling for emergency consulting work during DLP's opening stages.

*cough* Amsterdam underground, Municipal Museum, Modern Art Museum...all build with a delay of eight, ten, fifteen years, and three, five, ten times over budget.

Which still beats the Germans. The Hamburg Concert Hall, scheduled to be build in three years, to be finished in 2010 for $100m is at this moment expected to be finished a decade late and ten times over budget.

Not even the Italians build more corruptly than the Dutch and Germans.

Rather leave big prestige objects to Paris and the French, who renovated the Louvre beautifully and on schedule around the time DLP was build, leaving it the world's best and most heavily attended museum.

 

[pheneix]

*cough* Amsterdam underground, Municipal Museum, Modern Art Museum...all build with a delay of eight, ten, fifteen years, and three, five, ten times over budget.

Which still beats the Germans. The Hamburg Concert Hall, scheduled to be build in three years, to be finsihed in 2010 for $100m is at this moment expected to be finished a decade late and ten times over budget.

Not even the Italians build more corruptly than the Dutch and Germans.

Rather leave big prestige objects to Paris and the French, who renovated the Louvre beautifully and on schedule around the time DLP was build, leaving it the world's best and most heavily attended museum.

I was referring more to the fine and sustainable operations of Europa Park and De Efteling, which generate a higher operating profit in one year than Euro Disney SCA has in the entirety of its existence.

Also, newly renovated Rijksmuseum kills the Louvre. Simply kills it.

Don't get me wrong. I like France. Great place to visit. I have wonderful individual French friends who are some of the most awesome people on Earth. But it's kind of like Orlando, once you hit that "sell by" date where your time there stops being fun, its time to GTFO or get ready for a life of hell.

BTW we've having loads of fun with the Italian built Fyra trains that can't even make the circuit from Amsterdam to Brussels....

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Love Paris, their Disneyland, the Louvre and France in general. Gorgeous and wonderful country that is.

Can't speak for DLP of today, but I visited it when it was almost brand new and it was absolutely stunning. At least it doesn't look like they tore down a ton of the original rides and replace them with garbage like EPCOT. Heard maintenance sucks nowadays though. Again, only ever visited when it was almost brand new and had a wonderful time (absolutely gorgeous park).

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Also, newly renovated Rijksmuseum kills the Louvre. Simply kills it.

BTW we've having loads of fun with the Italian built Fyra trains that can't even make the circuit from Amsterdam to Brussels....

The French Thalys on the contrary runs like a charm between Amsterdam and Brussels!

If only corrupt Dutch and Belgians hadn't been bought by Italian mafia to buy their inferior 'trains' they would've had those awesome French TGV's too!
Luckily, French build high speed rail connection was part of the DLP deal. Heaven forbid Disneyland Amsterdam would've had to rely on those non-running Dutch Fyra trains.

 

[pheneix]

The French Thalys on the contrary runs like a charm between Amsterdam and Brussels!

If only corrupt Dutch and Belgians hadn't been bought by Italian mafia to buy their inferior trains they would've had those awesome French TGV's too!

Ha.... Thalys is supposedly going to pick up Amsterdam Centraal - Marne la Vallee sometime next year. I hope they hurry the hell up. Transferring from Gare du Nord over to RER A train is a pain in the .

And yeah, Thalys trains are superior all around. No argument from me.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Ha.... Thalys is supposedly going to pick up Amsterdam Centraal - Marne la Vallee sometime next year. I hope they hurry the hell up. Transferring from Gare du Nord over to RER A train is a pain in the .

And yeah, Thalys trains are superior all around. No argument from me.

Question: Is/Was there a film production facility located in Marne la Vallee?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Ha.... Thalys is supposedly going to pick up Amsterdam Centraal - Marne la Vallee sometime next year. I hope they hurry the hell up. Transferring from Gare du Nord over to RER A train is a pain in the .

And yeah, Thalys trains are superior all around. No argument from me.

You can transfer in Brussels from Thalys to TGV, and so travel directly by high speed train from Amsterdam all the way to Disneyland's entrance!

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/resultat?hid=BEF

 

[pheneix]

Question: Is/Was there a film production facility located in Marne la Vallee?

As far as I know, only the facilities Disney maintains.

 

[pheneix]

You can transfer in Brussels from Thalys to TGV, and so travel directly by high speed train from Amsterdam all the way to Disneyland's entrance.

Ah yes, an alternative solution that I usually value engineer out of the equation because of cost of tickets or timing of trains.

But with Hollande's government putting on their show at Gare du Nord with border police and canines searching every train in-bound from Amsterdam, I may seek this alternative on my next trip into France.

 

[Scuttle]

*cough* Amsterdam underground, Municipal Museum, Modern Art Museum...all build with a delay of eight, ten, fifteen years, and three, five, ten times over budget.

Which still beats the Germans. The Hamburg Concert Hall, scheduled to be build in three years, to be finished in 2010 for $100m is at this moment expected to be finished a decade late and ten times over budget.

Not even the Italians build more corruptly than the Dutch and Germans.

Rather leave big prestige objects to Paris and the French, who renovated the Louvre beautifully and on schedule around the time DLP was build, leaving it the world's best and most heavily attended museum.

To defend the Germans, there country was bombed to hell and to this day still finding bombs, but the country completely rebounded and is now the economic power in Europe and probably will be for a while. Pretty amazing feat when you look at pictures from the war.

Just wanted to throw that in there.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

As far as I know, only the facilities Disney maintains.

WDSP is capable of film production?

 

[Captain Neo]

What is the deal with the Oz project? I know it was the last project Tony Baxter was developing for WDI and things were looking good for it depending on how well the movie would perform (it did phenomenal and a sequel is on the way). But then tony was kicked out so what's happening with it? I believe this might have been the attraction why lightbulb mentioned Baxter was working on for the MK. It was probably being considered for both DL and Wdw

 

[stlphil]

Well IJA would have already been approved and budgeted by the time EDL opened. Tey didn't just snap their fingers in 95 and IJA appeared fully constructed ready for guests

And my recollection is that Pressler tried to kill it around '93 or so, but it was too late. It had too much momentum by that point.

Edited to add: Sorry pheneix, I didn't see that you had already made this point, and better.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I think the problem was they got it into their heads that they were building a piece of art rather than a theme park. Because Paris is a cultural and artistic hub Eisner had the idea that Disney had to play into that or otherwise look like a tacky tourist attractions. The budgets escalated in pursuit of artistic excellence; they supposedly overspent on the castle because they didn't want it to look out of place on a continent that was famous for it's castles. Considering the amount Disney spent in Paris and the initial return on that investment, the only way to go really was down. I'm looking forward to going back there soon, my only visit so far was on a week where there were numerous maintenance problems across the two parks, from what I've been told I missed out on some of the best attractions.

It was the excess building of hotels, not the park, that was EDL's downfall.