Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[DisneyDad1977]

Underrated? Given his extensive work with Bergman (not to mention movies like The Exorcist), it's not like he's a secret talent.

Definitely the Alec Guinness of this cast.

You are correct but anybody born after 1980 probably had to do a Google search to see who he was. My point is that he is not shown nearly the amount of respect that he deserves and does not have nearly the same name recognition as the other great actors of his generation.

 

[Atomicmickey]

That Miceage paragraph is so depressing. They're basically saying nothing new for any
of the North American parks, and what has been announced is being cut back.

So, people here are questioning the credibility. But--honestly--has anyone, including our
much beloved insiders here, had a great track record, lately? Disney has been doing a
great job keeping things sealed as tight as a drum, it would seem. Or information isn't
being divulged due to, perhaps, a climate of fear surrounding the leakers?

Even our beloved Spirit had a post about a large Star Wars announcement a while back,
and nothing materialized. And his track record is pretty solid. It seems the sands shift
far too quickly these days.

And perhaps we just have to get used to the parks being considered 'a mature business' that
Disney feels can bring in money without any major additions. Epcot is a giant restaurant and
shopping mall (Spirit's comparison calling it 'Pleasure Island' had a sickening resonance), DHS
waits for, I don't know, some Star Wars cash to come in, MK is done for many years, DAK
gets one Avatar ride, and oh, did we mention a new shopping mall is getting lots of love,
because it's basically all rental property. DVC for restaurant and retail chains.

I try to be optimistic. I sneak in a few drops of pixie dust here and there to try to keep my
glass half full, but Disney does their best to evaporate them faster than I can add them.

Heavy sigh.

 

[flynnibus]

Only posting this here to hopefully get some reactions or thoughts from folks. This is a very public site and is on display for everyone to see. Enjoy!

http://www.coroflot.com/rexmoon/Simpsons

the release the hounds derby game is awesome

 

[Mr. Peabody]

I want more muppets. I want a walk through of the Muppet Theatre. I want an entire land of Muppets. I want mulch sweat and sheers style band doing "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" on the streets.

It's a shame that the "Muppet Studio" land that was supposed to be built around the MuppetVision building never came to fruition. DHS is woefully lacking in family rides; the Great Muppet Movie Ride would have been such a benefit to that park. (And a great ride, too!)

 

[WDWDad13]

That Miceage paragraph is so depressing. They're basically saying nothing new for any
of the North American parks, and what has been announced is being cut back.

So, people here are questioning the credibility. But--honestly--has anyone, including our
much beloved insiders here, had a great track record, lately? Disney has been doing a
great job keeping things sealed as tight as a drum, it would seem. Or information isn't
being divulged due to, perhaps, a climate of fear surrounding the leakers?

Even our beloved Spirit had a post about a large Star Wars announcement a while back,
and nothing materialized. And his track record is pretty solid. It seems the sands shift
far too quickly these days.

And perhaps we just have to get used to the parks being considered 'a mature business' that
Disney feels can bring in money without any major additions. Epcot is a giant restaurant and
shopping mall (Spirit's comparison calling it 'Pleasure Island' had a sickening resonance), DHS
waits for, I don't know, some Star Wars cash to come in, MK is done for many years, DAK
gets one Avatar ride, and oh, did we mention a new shopping mall is getting lots of love,
because it's basically all rental property. DVC for restaurant and retail chains.

I try to be optimistic. I sneak in a few drops of pixie dust here and there to try to keep my
glass half full, but Disney does their best to evaporate them faster than I can add them.

Heavy sigh.

I agree some "insiders" aren't really true insiders as much as maybe they were in the past... you almost wonder if Disney uses them (knowing it happens) to leak whatever information they want to leak to gauge fan reaction/response, see who is leaking what information, or even throw people off track

 

[Ignohippo]

I want more muppets. I want a walk through of the Muppet Theatre. I want an entire land of Muppets. I want mulch sweat and sheers style band doing "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" on the streets.

I dream of a MuppetVision 3d where it's more like your at a taping of the actual show. You could see the goings on backstage and the mishaps as they happen. They could have random scenes (like Star Tours) so you'd more than likely always see a new show. It would be AMAZING!

 

[bhg469]

the release the hounds derby game is awesome

Not too many people mention the simpsons area of universal here but when I visited a few weeks ago I really felt like it was really quite cool. It was very well themed and walking into Moe's gave me chills. I had a big dumb smile plastered on my face and I was in awe of how cool it looked. It was such a fun experience that I was not expecting to enjoy as much as i did.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

Max von Sydow is one of the most underrated actors of his generation. He can play nefarious like nobody else.

Just odd to think of a SW film without James Earl Jones but obviously Vader is dead.

I would love to have seen Billie Dee or Jeremy Bulloch listed. One can dream....sigh.

I agree on all counts. Prevailing wisdom on 501st forums right now is his involvement is either being kept a secret or his part is more a cameo and not part of the main cast (thus he wouldn't be in this announcement).

I wouldn't be surprised if we see Bulloch (and other original castmembers) in small parts and cameos ala his EPIII appearance.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It's quite obvious that Star Wars projects were planned and got close to greenlit (perhaps they even were at one point), even if they never end up happening. Disney imagineers teased it at D23, so it confirms that spirit's information was 100% spot on at the time he said it. The insiders know what they're talking about. What insiders can't predict are the daily whims of the company regarding such projects. This has ALWAYS been the case from the beginning, and even projects Disney has confirmed to the public have often ended up being canned.

One example is the Western River Expedition. Land was actually being prepped for its construction before it was suddenly canceled in favor of building Pirates instead. This was a last minute change rushed through development. That doesn't change the fact that WRE was going to happen originally though (some animatronic figures were even built for the ride before its canning and were used later in other rides such as The Land at EPCOT). Also, Westcot in the 90's was planned and announced but never happened (instead they got DCA). There tons of officially announced projects that fall through at the last minute or change drastically from their original form. New Fantasyland is another that went through dramatic changes and alterations since its announcement (most famous being the canning of Pixie Hollow and Tremaine Chateau and the push instead of the Dwarf coaster and a new princess meet n greet). Hell, the most famous examples of these drastic changes is probably EPCOT itself. Originally planned and confirmed by Walt Disney himself as a real futuristic city along with an industrial complex (announced in detail by him on TV), later changed to a permanent Worlds Fair type theme park after his death. I could go on and on about many more examples...

It's not about the accuracy of comments from 74 and Lee, that is not in question. It's about the whims of the Disney company. Insiders are only able to tell what plans there are, they have never been able to tell you what will absolutely happen. Even Disney themselves have a far from perfect record at making accurate announcements for future projects.

 

[truecoat]

It's possible they weren't paying enough attention and thought that the coaster ride being cut a long time ago from Avatarland was the boat ride instead. They don't say the boat ride is cut, they just mention the land having one ride. Those two statements are not exactly the same thing.

 

[Malin]

MiceAge encourage people to respond to the articles in the comments section. But this only applies if you are going to write to praise the site. I made a comment recently about the site seeing its credibility slipping away with contradiction after contradiction. Next I received an angry message from DustySage calling me a douchebag and threatening to cancel my account. To me this is very unprofessional conduct something which would have never been seen during the Al Lutz days at the site. What is reported now days is full of inaccuracies and misleading remarks. I see it and most other regular readers also see it going by the comments here and at the website. Sadly the people that need to see it are just too ignorant to recognise a problem. What also damages the site is when Disney executives are disputing the claims being made. And right now I'm more incline to believe Disney over anything reported by that site. Disney have a press event coming up and I really hope it addresses and gives us an update on the Avatar progress.

 

[CDavid]

What is reported now days is full of inaccuracies and misleading remarks. I see it and most other regular readers also see it going by the comments here and at the website. Sadly the people that need to see it are just too ignorant to recognise a problem. What also damages the site is when Disney executives are disputing the claims being made.

What exactly about today's article do you find to be inaccurate? Also, what particular Disney executive has disputed which specific MiceAge claim?

I'm not saying they are right or wrong, but if there is a public statement from Disney which pertains to the information reported, it helps to confirm (or at least provide context to) the MiceAge article.

 

[PirateFrank]

Serkis is quickly becoming King of the Nerds, obviously going crazy mo-cap alien or the like. A few other thoughts: 1) No Billy Dee? 2) Max van Sydow is an awesome actor, villain perhaps? 3) Interesting the Boyega, Driver and Issac rumors stayed true. 4) Glad the Sac Efron rumor died on the vine.

Im going to throw my vote in that Max Von Sydow is the Obi Wan replacement. A while back, Ewan MacGreggor tweeted that they were looking for someone older who looked more like Alec Guiness for an Obi Wan.

Which, if this is the case....it saddens me. Ewan was one of the few positives of the prequel movies and i was hoping JJ Abrams would have at least brought Ewan into the cast for some continuity, without resorting to any other references to the prequels.

 

[TalkingHead]

Next I received an angry message from DustySage calling me a douchebag and threatening to cancel my account.

He was on a podcast recently claiming that Disney hadn't announced an opening date for Dwarfs Mine Train because of the possibility that Disney could be sued.

Now, that sounded totally bogus to me. The fine print on the tickets clearly says that attractions may be closed when you visit. Not to mention the whole Test Track fiasco in which the opening date was pushed back a couple of times.

He didn't exactly project credibility on that podcast -- but, then again, maybe I'm just over the whole podcast thing. It was interesting to listen to some of these theme park shows for a few months while I exercised. And, clearly, the hosts of the podcasts are enthusiasts, but some of them just don't need to be playing radio talk show host for 90 minutes every week.

 

[Kman101]

Yeah, too many people want to play radio host or blogger and many just aren't suited for it. I've never been much of a fan of podcasts. Some are OK.

And, to me, if someone has a comments section, then ALL comments (within reason of course) should be allowed. Good and bad. IMO. You may not like what's said but it's called feedback for a reason. Why have a comments section when all it's all positive? Constructive criticism isn't a bad thing. It's like how Disney monitors and doesn't allow anything really negative. And clearly he didn't like someone questioning him. Why so defensive if you're so sure of what you wrote about?

And why do so many of them practically fly off the handle? Ricky ... now this Dusty person. Relax. It's not that serious. LOL

 

[Malin]

What exactly about today's article do you find to be inaccurate? Also, what particular Disney executive has disputed which specific MiceAge claim?

I'm not saying they are right or wrong, but if there is a public statement from Disney which pertains to the information reported, it helps to confirm (or at least provide context to) the MiceAge article.

Bob Iger himself during the Shareholders meeting promised the Subs will return after the site had originally said Disney was closing them for good to save on costs. Instead of admitting it might be wrong it has instead created several excuses like how the Subs will sit untouched for months and will either return in the Autumn or be closed for good. In reality MiceAge has no idea what is going to happen with the Subs and are now desperately trying get the story right.

 

[Tigger1988]

Im going to throw my vote in that Max Von Sydow is the Obi Wan replacement. A while back, Ewan MacGreggor tweeted that they were looking for someone older who looked more like Alec Guiness for an Obi Wan.

Which, if this is the case....it saddens me. Ewan was one of the few positives of the prequel movies and i was hoping JJ Abrams would have at least brought Ewan into the cast for some continuity, without resorting to any other references to the prequels.

Continuity? The film takes place after Jedi, Obi Wan is dead and wouldn't have looked like Ewan anyway.

 

[Absimilliard]

Miceage is incorrect regarding at least one executive move. The french guy is not taking over Disneyland Resort Paris. He will be in charge of operations at the resort and Philippe Gas is still the CEO of Euro Disney.

 

[Ignohippo]

Im going to throw my vote in that Max Von Sydow is the Obi Wan replacement. A while back, Ewan MacGreggor tweeted that they were looking for someone older who looked more like Alec Guiness for an Obi Wan.

Which, if this is the case....it saddens me. Ewan was one of the few positives of the prequel movies and i was hoping JJ Abrams would have at least brought Ewan into the cast for some continuity, without resorting to any other references to the prequels.

If Max were playing Guinness' Kenobi role (which would be a great replacement), he'd most likely be a spirit and would only have a line or two – definitely not worth bringing him in for this big of an announcement and certainly no reason to allow him to see the whole script.

 

[truecoat]

Bob Iger himself during the Shareholders meeting promised the Subs will return after the site had originally said Disney was closing them for good to save on costs. Instead of admitting it might be wrong it has instead created several excuses like how the Subs will sit untouched for months and will either return in the Autumn or be closed for good. In reality MiceAge has no idea what is going to happen with the Subs and are now desperately trying get the story right.

They said the subs were going down for good and right now it looks that way. Empty lagoon with no work whatsoever being done. Companies change their minds all the time and Bob "promising" the subs will come back doesn't mean they will or won't. I'm not sure what excuses you think they need to make with info they report and think is correct at the time.

We also thought there would be a big Star Wars announcement park wise for both coasts quite a while ago and it didn't happen. Does that mean someone should be making excused for why it didn't? No, this company has had to make a lot of changes lately due to the MM+ expense and until that is cleared up, don't be surprised with a good number of changes in information that is shared by insiders.