Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[DisneyGentleman]

Yeah but this is the first time you can walk around an attraction that has a slight swaying motion.

Not quite true - CA has them earthquake thingies.

 

[TP2000]

I thought I just imagined walking around the Matterhorn - until I checked an aerial view.

Was this line about 7DMT being "the first Disney ride you can walk all the way around" from an official Disney source? A blogger? Who exactly said such an idiotic thing? Anyone have a link to where that started?

And yeah, Matterhorn has been an easy walk-around ride since 1959. In Anaheim there's also two Carousels that qualify, plus Dumbo, Teacups, Astrojets, Grizzly River Run, Jumpin' Jellyfish, and Silly Symphony Swings (on the lower level boardwalk).

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Was this line about 7DMT being "the first Disney ride you can walk all the way around" from an official Disney source? A blogger? Who exactly said such an idiotic thing? Anyone have a link to where that started?

And yeah, Matterhorn has been an easy walk-around ride since 1959. In Anaheim there's also two Carousels that qualify, plus Dumbo, Teacups, Astrojets, Grizzly River Run, Jumpin' Jellyfish, and Silly Symphony Swings (on the lower level boardwalk).

I'm pretty sure it was in the WDW AP Mickey Monitor (their quarterly newsletter), if I remember correctly. I saw the PDF - I'm sure the neighbors thought I was having a tea party on the ceiling.

 

[wedenterprises]

There's a rather large berm that separates the main entrance of Epcot from a parking lot... a parking lot that has a lot of ample space...

With direct access to an empty epcot plot.. Hmmm.

 

[Mr. Peabody]

What a great find! That was part of the sponsorship agreement Walt made with American Motors to sponsor CirCARama in Disneyland's Tomorrowland in 1955, as well as being the "official car of Disneyland". CirCARama became more popularly known as CircleVision by the 1960's, and American Motors got replaced by the Bell System as it's sponsor by then too.

But when Disneyland first opened, American Motors and its Nash, Hudson and Rambler divisions were the big sponsor. Heck, they even parked brand new 1955 American Motors vehicles inside the actual Disneyland movie theater!

Subtle, it wasn't. But it paid the bills and got Walt another show for Disneyland, so it was good.

I can only imagine the howls of horror from 21st century Disney fans who don't know their Walt-era history if TDA or TDO got a car sponsor for something and just parked cars inside the actual attraction. But Walt did it, because he loved the sponsors and was happy to please them to get their money.

That's an interesting little slice of Disney history. Thanks for sharing!

This post on Cartoon Brew has links to more commercials with Disney characters and a Jim Korkis article about Disney's commercial unit in the 1950s. Tom Oreb, one of the foremost stylists of animation's Golden Age, designed these commercials and is responsible for their distinctive look (including the "cartoon modern" Mickey Mouse); he helped design some of Ward Kimball's famous short films, such as "Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom".

 

[Cesar R M]

MK certainly doesn't need more people. But Epcot and DAK have a lot of room and could accommodate higher crowds fairly well, I would think (maybe not on special occasions like NYE at Epcot but in general). Avatar and the new FOTLK area in Africa will actually expand the "onstage" land at DAK a bit and help with traffic flow by providing a path on the west side of the park. Epcot probably would benefit from spreading attractions around more, like having some actual rides on the west side of the WS. And putting something back in the WOL building would help too.

DHS can get more crowded, so hopefully any additions will expand the onstage areas, as well as make more of the park walkable (e.g. replacing LMA/Backlot with a "land" that can be walked around would help to disperse crowds). Personally, I also think DHS would really benefit from a path between Animation Courtyard and RNR -- Sunset can get pretty crowded at times and an escape valve path would be nice.

Agree with you on Epcot and AKL.
But disagree on how DHS needs more ppl.

The after fantamic! hours gets as bad as MK when Wishes ends.. D:

and agree with you in how the parks needs more roads and connections between zones.
the main ones can get awfully cluttered.

 

[marni1971]

od and abroad. BUT ... they have issues too. And one of their big ones is a reliance on screens in every major attraction they are building.

The entrance area upto Twister is referred to internally as 'glasses alley'.

Screens are a good thing. But only to supplement the main event. Not replace it.

Even IYHW and Dreamflight knew that.

But there again, if an attraction has me leaving feeling 'wow' with a huge grin then something is going right. And year on year USO are adding more than just half finished, lacklustre refurbs and small D tickets.

 

[danv3]

Ya'know, the screen thing wouldn't be nearly as bad if they used it like it should be used and updated it frequently or used it (like Star Tours) to have randomly generated differentiating scenes. That is the one area where these types of attractions could really excel.

The idea that TSMM has been as insanely popular as it has been and has only had a very small amount of scene changes is somewhat obscene IMO. A rider should be able to go on at any time and not know what scenes they're going to get. Gameplay and scores wouldn't even be effected if the targets are the same but the characters and scenery are changed randomly.

And Star Tours. Why would it be so hard to add new planets every once in a while? I understand the cost of ILM and programming the attraction, but that's nothing compared to keeping it new and exciting. Rotate some in and some out every few months. Keep the attraction fresh.

+ Philharmagic

 

[Darth Sidious]

And as for Oswald...yeah, I like the history behind the character. But I'm not an obsessive fan the way, say, some of the Muppet defenders around here are. Why any Disney fan would NOT get a little excited about the way the character finally came home, and wouldn't like him to be revived in some way, beats me. Yet they weep over some other guy's hand puppets. Yeesh!

You realize Disney hardly broke bank to purchase The Muppets right? You're against them why exactly? It's one thing to not care for them but it's another to have a vendetta against a set of fictional characters.

 

[Darth Sidious]

If being white, upper middle class and obsessed with an entertainment company isnt the ultimate FirstWorldProblem, I'm not sure what is....

Rockin the suburbs, just like private Ryan did?

 

[stlphil]

No. I was talking in general. I don't even recall whether I read your comments.

But the meal was one of the best of the trip and the menu had been freshened since my last visit (sometime last year, not sure when). I had meatloaf for the first time ever and it was great. Added a salad (a smaller version of the entree spinach salad) that Disney would have charged $14 for for $2.99 before the TM discount. No one had a sandwich, so I can't comment about the potato salad. And we didn't have desserts saving room for Happy Hour drinking at Jimmy Buffet's.

But I see no drop-off in quality whatsoever based on our experience. It is the best value theme park dining experience in O-Town.

And not only that, you don't have to make reservations six months out.

 

[Todd H]

Correct but the difference is, with a regular machine each soda has its own hose piping, on the freestyle, it all comes out the same hose so if someone before me had poweraid and I come up for a coke, I know have poweraid flavored coke. I even just run water first now to flush out the system but I can still taste other flavors mixed in with my coke. I have a problem, I'm a coke addict, I can tell the difference between the good mix and bad mixes lol.

Same here. I'm so bad I can tell the difference between Coke from different restaurants around town. And plain Coke from a Freestyle machine tastes nothing like the real thing. And I've also tried running water through the machine to no avail. It always has a slight aftertaste of whatever concoction someone else had earlier. Glad I'm not the only one that notices this.

 

[sshindel]

Rockin the suburbs, just like private Ryan did?

Thank you. I was JUST about to have The Imagination Movers theme song stuck in my head all day, and now, I'm much happier to have this song there instead. Kids are still home so I'll pull out the "Over the Hedge" soundtrack version featuring William Shatner.

 

[sshindel]

Man, can you think if Disney based their entire new high-profile expansion around a screen-based ride that was similar to something they already had in their parks. People would go crazy over... oh... wait... they are, and they are.

 

[Rogue21]

Before building one additional hotel/DVC room, fix it by building a fifth gate with quality attractions to create an experience demand that will draw in added guests. Then, reduce level of free dining/ discounts until average zero based occupancy rates average 92%. Then build rooms based on demand on increased ride capacity.

^ This. Although I would not be upset to replace "reduce" with "eliminate". Flame on!

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Man, can you think if Disney based their entire new high-profile expansion around a screen-based ride that was similar to something they already had in their parks. People would go crazy over... oh... wait... they are, and they are.

Shanghai's Pirates is a Tom Fitzgerald joint.

 

[doctornick]

Agree with you on Epcot and AKL.
But disagree on how DHS needs more ppl.

The after fantamic! hours gets as bad as MK when Wishes ends.. D:

and agree with you in how the parks needs more roads and connections between zones.
the main ones can get awfully cluttered.

That's the main reason I am suggesting a pathway from RNR to Animation Courtyard. When F! lets out, everyone goes stright down Sunset Blvd and it is massively crowded. Having an alternative pathway where you can go to RNR and go around would be nice for crowd control.

Of course, it would probably be most helpful to have a direct exit gate from F! straight out of the park. Given it's location, it would be easy enough to do and you could place a small part time merch shop there to entice people as they leave since they aren't going out the main entrance.

Also, I think youmisunderstood what I was saying. I was not saying that DHS needs more crowds, I was saying that DHS already is crowded (despite being the least attended park at WDW) because of the small footprint and lack of pathways in the park. The layout is a mess, so I hope that when/if they do a large scale refurb and additions that they will address the park flow. If they build a Star Wars expansion and don't improve the layout, it will be chaos with the increased crowds that will come.

 

[maxairmike]

I've thought this for years, another option would be to close off the current RnR entrance and re-orient towards animation courtyard. That option is kinda counter productive though

Personally, I also think DHS would really benefit from a path between Animation Courtyard and RNR -- Sunset can get pretty crowded at times and an escape valve path would be nice.

This isn't really possible unless you create a raised and enclosed walkway over the backstage areas you would need to cross, as those are essential areas for the operation of that section of the park. If you sit at the tables in Ranch early in the morning you can hear the semi trucks coming and going constantly until early afternoon sometimes making deliveries, mostly food. Then you need to make the walkway accessible, which would mean either a massive ramp structure (it would be massive, as it would have to be high enough to let semis pass under) or elevators in addition to any stairs.

Of course, it would probably be most helpful to have a direct exit gate from F! straight out of the park. Given it's location, it would be easy enough to do and you could place a small part time merch shop there to entice people as they leave since they aren't going out the main entrance.

They actually already do this, but typically only for the last show (when there are 2 or even 3) if the rest of the park including Hollywood Blvd. is already clear, I've had it happen me. Instead of bringing you out the gate by the restrooms at the front, they'll have you go out the gate they use for the marathon runners that is just to the side of the gates and ticket buildings.

 

[Travel Junkie]

I think his idea was more to spread the crowds, not to shove more crowds in the same 4 parks.
MK is bursting at its seams.. so unless they rise the mainstreet buildings, move the buildings to the sides to make a wider main street.. and add more stuff to make the movement better.. it wont take more people.

Plus not many people like the "crowded parks" feeling.

The best way to fix MK overcrowding is to copy their west coast sibling. DL suffered a massive overcrowding problem. Revamping DCA did 2 things. It grew the overall attendance of the entire resort while also relieving DL, which was bursting at the seams. Imagine the pressure relieved from MK if they developed the other 3 parks. They would more than likely grow the overall pie as well.
This is also better from a financial standpoint as they only have to operate 4 theme parks instead of 5 to accomplish the same task.

 

[Fe Maiden]

I can tell you that I'm firmly planted in the middle/middle upper (i'm the classic so cal soccer dad, wife, 2 kids, minivan-hers, nice house in the suburbs).

You could be my evil twin, except baseball/basketball and 3 kids, but I'm calling you out for that sly little wuss move.

Just own the minivan, dude. Don't try and say it's your wife's. Who cares what someone thinks? We're a family of 5, sorry I'm not cool I own a minivan, but you try sitting in the third row of an SUV.