Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[flynnibus]

Very interesting piece of PR that will no doubt help Michael become CFO of Disney down the line:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/colglazier-610577-disney-says.html

Can't believe I missed this until last night and no one brought it up.

Nice background piece on him as an individual I guess... but the whole thing just comes across as fluff to me when talking about his position at DLR without once mentioning the 3yr rotation the position has. All the comparisons with Walt's time just ring sour when the position today is a corporate operations type role.. not the 'vision and driver' the role was for the people they mention previously in the role. Yet, they don't mention anyone holding the role since it's changed over to this rotation setup..

I would have liked the piece as a 'who is michael c' piece.. and if it was 1/3 the length

 

[momof1princess]

[QUOTE="WDW1974, post: 6062655, member: 54925"
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/colglazier-610577-disney-says.html

Can't believe I missed this until last night and no one brought it up.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the link, I do get that the article has a spin to it, but it was still interesting, especially knowing very little about Colglazier. I especially liked the line about Disney a bureaucratic labyrinth. I'm going to remember that one.

 

[Funmeister]

Nice background piece on him as an individual I guess... but the whole thing just comes across as fluff to me when talking about his position at DLR without once mentioning the 3yr rotation the position has. All the comparisons with Walt's time just ring sour when the position today is a corporate operations type role.. not the 'vision and driver' the role was for the people they mention previously in the role. Yet, they don't mention anyone holding the role since it's changed over to this rotation setup..

I would have liked the piece as a 'who is michael c' piece.. and if it was 1/3 the length

Yeah but he picks up trash with his BARE HANDS! lol

 

[jlsHouston]

I don't believe so. He has a current gf and the only reason he was at that party was because he was suppose to be in XMen first class and he was invited to that party because of it, but ultimately couldn't because of scheduling conflicts...

My sister is obsessed with him so when that was mentioned on here I went searching...it would crush her heart...lol

People keep also saying that he will be called in as a witness or something because he has been to that party, however, I can't see how that is remotely relevant to te case as he would only be a few years old when those initial lawsuit parties took place

Then how was he a witness?

 

[asianway]

Very interesting piece of PR that will no doubt help Michael become CFO of Disney down the line:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/colglazier-610577-disney-says.html

Can't believe I missed this until last night and no one brought it up.

I thought OC Register had a pay wall....

 

[jlsHouston]

Not saying it outs him in the slightest (and I agree about the age), but you do realize a majority of those who have come out over the years have had girlfriends and denied being gay? Many actors and actresses are more or less "encouraged" to stay in the closet.

I remember, say, Lance Bass dating women. Just saying ...

Honestly I don't care if he is gay or straight. I was teasing about Team Edward.
I do care that child actors over the years have been sexually exploited and 18 and 19 is legal but barely. Male or female, it's pretty sick what has been condoned and hushed. The only reason any of the exploitation has ever gotten to the national news is because of the lawsuits, the almighty dollar. That Disney would be even remotely associated with any sort of child abuse at all is inexcusable.

 

[jlsHouston]

Anyone find the shirt he is wearing interesting?

I think there's an underlying message there.

The man still has an enormous ego...I think it is practically pathological it's so huge.

 

[jlsHouston]

Perhaps the message needs to be more individualistic for this self obsessed society. Even through all this narcissism the importance of social responsibility has rung through. People care. Perhaps they just care because they want others to notice that they care, but there are some powerful teachings there.

What if Epcot starts to embody more about what we want the world to be rather than what it is? Rather than an industrial message of progress it is a message of unity, sustainability, conservation, energy, and how technology makes our lives better.

Replace stark brutalist facades and landscaping with the pasture. Mix the industrial with the softness of examples of living in the next century. It can become more of a showplace rather than an expo and I believe that will stand the test of time far better.

As we get more urbanized and more densified we want; clean, green, and safe. Show how we want to live, not necessarily how we will.

This is inspiring. Is there no one at WDI with the vision or heart to take something like this and run with it?

 

[CDavid]

OK, this one is just ... well, because it has been the subject of so much rumour and because I actually was interested in video games back then and owned this horrible, terrible, awful game:

https://games.yahoo.com/news/diggers-ataris-e-t-games-landfill-193256509.html

I still have that cartridge among my old Atari collection. Still works, though i haven't played it for years.

There were a few titles from third party 2600 publishers (remember Data Age?) which give E.T. a run for its money for the title of worst game ever.

 

[jlsHouston]

Well, true, but many still remain in the closet. And a young leading man girls fawn over won't be coming out of the closet anytime soon. But yes, things have changed a lot. I've still read and heard Hollywood isn't as accepting as they want everyone to believe.

I think there is a ton of non acceptance everywhere still. The Churches are grappling with acceptance/tolerance of the gay lifestyle, states, communites, right on down to the family unit. No matter how tolerant or open minded people are today, there remains alot of prejudice and stigma, so coming out of the closet so to speak to face possible rejection/ridicule/alienation has got to be difficult.

But I don't care about sexual preference between consenting adults, that is not my moral compass to point on another. I am disgusted by Brian Singer and that bunch though. And Collins-Rector was convicted what 7 years ago and has yet to make restitution to his victims? And he's doing the same thing over in Europe now as what he had done in SoCal?

 

[jlsHouston]

Very interesting piece of PR that will no doubt help Michael become CFO of Disney down the line:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/colglazier-610577-disney-says.html

Can't believe I missed this until last night and no one brought it up.

Well he sounds like he should be Iger's replacement

 

[NoChesterHester]

This is inspiring. Is there no one at WDI with the vision or heart to take something like this and run with it?

Thank you.

 

[bhg469]

I still have that cartridge among my old Atari collection. Still works, though i haven't played it for years.

There were a few titles from third party 2600 publishers (remember Data Age?) which give E.T. a run for its money for the title of worst game ever.

As a young gamer I was baffled by that game. I thought I was doing something wrong but nope, it was just that bad.

 

[Absimilliard]

Yeah, and I think Gurr wouldn't have overlooked the fact the new coaster that SWINGS needs to be far enough away from sides, stairs, props etc to safely do so.

But Gurr's Disney isn't today's.

Gurr's Disney wasn't perfect, but they at least got things working right more often than the current Disney.

Arrow Development had to bail Disney out on the Matterhorn Bobsleds project because the flat iron coaster track system that WED enterprises had come up with did not work at all. Arrow came in and came up with their tubular steel track and that allowed all the modern coasters that followed. One amazing Arrow idea is that the tubular tubes are hollow... so one tube is filled with the electrical wires that operate the attraction and the other tube is a pneumatic line that make the braking system work!

The initial guiding system for the Submarines at Disneyland did not work reliably. So, Admiral Joe Fowler (in charge of DL construction at opening and later) invited Arrow to come back and fix it up for them. He's the one who created the "annual refurbishment" for the occasion.

One last thing... if you look at any modern roller coasters, such as Everest, Incredible Hulk, etc., WED enterprise and one man in particular allowed those amazing rides. In 1975, Bill Watkins, then in charge of engineering at WDW invented a new way to design roller coaster turns. Instead of the rough method, he came up with a type of curve that allow smooth high speed banked turns similar to what someone in an airplane would do. If you look at any coaster built today, Bill Watkins method is what is used in every case. Sadly, as talented as Bill Watkins was, he only got to design 3 rides for Disney before he was let go along with the rest in the after EPCOT Center purge: Space Mountain WDW, Space Mountain DL and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at DL. The father of modern coasters then created a company called Ride & Show Engineering that worked with Universal and Disney later.

 

[Kman101]

Honestly I don't care if he is gay or straight. I was teasing about Team Edward.
I do care that child actors over the years have been sexually exploited and 18 and 19 is legal but barely. Male or female, it's pretty sick what has been condoned and hushed. The only reason any of the exploitation has ever gotten to the national news is because of the lawsuits, the almighty dollar. That Disney would be even remotely associated with any sort of child abuse at all is inexcusable.

Oh, I agree. I personally don't care who is or isn't. There is some strange fascination though with many in the world desperate to know one way or the other. I don't get it. Their business is their business.

But it is pretty sick what has been condoned and hushed. Hollywood really is full of them. I agree with you on everything, as I do most of your posts Anywho .... back to Disney haha

 

[HTF]

I don't get the crack down on @HTF or OU. We're talking a very small subset of Universal guests who, generally, are so pro-Universal they make Jimmy Thick look unbiased. HTF's teased hints just hyped the hardcore fanbase up even more, made being a Universal fan feel like being part of an exclusive club.

I suspect it comes back to 2010, when (anecdotally) AP sales dropped 50% between the announcement and opening of WWoHP. Corporate always fights the last war, and I don't know that the higher-ups realize in 2014 Hogsmeade, Despicable Me and Transformers will continue to pull people in no matter what they announce they're building next.

I'm glad you enjoyed while I was doing it! There is so much more to all of this than anyone will ever know. The people I've met, the places I've been, the things I've seen it was just amazing. But all good things must come to an end eventually, and I can assure everyone it was my choice to step back and get priorities in life in order. The whole crackdown thing on social media or its fans by Universal is a little harsh. While yes their no where near the level of media and or public relations as Disney was 5 years ago but things are improving.

Universal realized several faults and is fixing things for the better. Many people complained about the severe crackdown on construction photography and Universal listened to the complaints. Not saying its all 100% fixed but the improvement is noticeable. Finally I can assure everyone that most at Universal Creative are without a doubt fans of their fans and love to see picture updates of the work they do. If everyone saw what I saw, heard what I heard, and so on we wouldn't be having this conversation nor MANY others across numerous threads and sites.

 

[Figments Friend]

This is inspiring. Is there no one at WDI with the vision or heart to take something like this and run with it?

There once was....but most of the real drivers with the original passion for what EPCOT was are now semi-retired, fully retired, outright fired, have moved on or been forced out, or sadly passed on.

I am sure there are still a few around that have some good ideas to improve the Park, including some enthusiastic newbies, but most are likely not in a position to really flex the muscle needed to make the important changes happen.

The politics and slightly crazy atmosphere that takes place within those hallowed halls at Flower Street make it quite a challenge to overcome when it comes to trying to make some truly creative waves.

 

[Figments Friend]

I still have that cartridge among my old Atari collection. Still works, though i haven't played it for years.

There were a few titles from third party 2600 publishers (remember Data Age?) which give E.T. a run for its money for the title of worst game ever.

Oh most certainly.
The article states that it was the E.T. games poor sales that killed Atari as king of the video game era in the 80s, but in actuality it was shoddily designed 3rd party games flooding the market that killed them.

I still have my original 1978 system, and a boatload of games. All still work..and i play them to this day when the mood strikes me.
Never bought another game system....i like it *old school*.

Funny thing is, i LIKE the E.T. game. Have since it first came out.
I found it challenging, and sometimes frustrating at times....but never blew it off as a completely wasted effort.
Never really considered it the loss so many have labeled it through the years.

Personally, i found Atari*s original cart for Pac-Man to be FAR worse.
Talk about a dissapointment..even by 1982 standards.....
I consider that one to be one of the lamest versions.

 

[Funmeister]

Oh most certainly.
The article states that it was the E.T. games poor sales that killed Atari as king of the video game era in the 80s, but in actuality it was shoddily designed 3rd party games flooding the market that killed them.

I still have my original 1978 system, and a boatload of games. All still work..and i play them to this day when the mood strikes me.
Never bought another game system....i like it *old school*.

Funny thing is, i LIKE the E.T. game. Have since it first came out.
I found it challenging, and sometimes frustrating at times....but never blew it off as a completely wasted effort.
Never really considered it the loss so many have labeled it through the years.

Personally, i found Atari*s original cart for Pac-Man to be FAR worse.
Talk about a dissapointment..even by 1982 standards.....
I consider that one to be one of the lamest versions.

I think Adventure was probably one of the best if not the best game on Atari. Haunted House was entertaining.

 

[Goofywilliam]

Thanks for dropping in and sharing what you did. I think, since we're all here, we really want these things they tell us to be both meaningful and significant from a park development/re-development standpoint. If only it could happen. Yep, as my grandma use to tell me, if wishes were horses, then everyone would ride...

A quick note, as I know you're getting ready to head on vacation. My family and I had a terrific time today at Kings Dominion, which is part of the Cedar Fair group, which I believe is under Matt O's guidance (former Disney, right?). Nicely done. They are celebrating 40 years of being open, and I'd heard they spent the whole off season really polishing things up...well, I have to say, it's pretty nice. Still things I'm sure they could do, but for the price, I think the value is there (well, not the food) without question.

I hope you have a terrific time away, wherever it is you're headed! 'See' you when you get back.

I am a Kings Dominion regular and I have to say I have seen sooooo many improvements in the park over the past few years. I visited opening day this year with some friends and I have to say they really did clean up the park for the 40th celebration. The park really felt fresh and clean. I also finally got to ride intimidator 305 and all i can say is that it is the most intense roller coaster I have ever ridden. It definitely lived up to the hype! Now if only they can improve ride operations on some rides, and the food.