Studios search lights missing?

cspencer96

cspencer96

Well-Known Member
TRONorail10 said:
This is an example of Disney being too good for itself. Clearly, the lights haven't been on in awhile and very few people noticed. The only ones who care are the die-hard fans. Is this going to stop people from going to DHS? No. So what incentive is there for Disney to run them every night? None. It's an added, and I'm sure pretty expensive, overhead expensive when it comes to their electricity bill. Unless somebody has information about a refurbishment or new lights being installed, I can see it as something they will only use for special events or holidays.
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Someone is negative...
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
I guess we'll have our answer if they are on or off tonight. Someone take note!
TRONorail10 said:
This is an example of Disney being too good for itself. Clearly, the lights haven't been on in awhile and very few people noticed. The only ones who care are the die-hard fans. Is this going to stop people from going to DHS? No. So what incentive is there for Disney to run them every night? None. It's an added, and I'm sure pretty expensive, overhead expensive when it comes to their electricity bill. Unless somebody has information about a refurbishment or new lights being installed, I can see it as something they will only use for special events or holidays.
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They were able to run them for the first, oh, 20 years of the park's existence. They really do look great, too.
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
TRONorail10 said:
This is an example of Disney being too good for itself. Clearly, the lights haven't been on in awhile and very few people noticed. The only ones who care are the die-hard fans. Is this going to stop people from going to DHS? No. So what incentive is there for Disney to run them every night? None. It's an added, and I'm sure pretty expensive, overhead expensive when it comes to their electricity bill. Unless somebody has information about a refurbishment or new lights being installed, I can see it as something they will only use for special events or holidays.
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Stuff like this is what Disney should be known for: devotion to minor details and going the extra mile.
Just because people will still show up isn't an excuse for Disney to sit on their thumbs. It's that mentality that has earned us an ancient parade at MK and a pathetic lack of a parade at DHS, amongst a great many other things.
The quote is: "if you build it, they will come". Instead, it's: "if you remove it, they will still come".
 
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TRONorail10

TRONorail10

Active Member
cspencer96 said:
Someone is negative...
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I'm not being negative. It's simply stating the truth. I don't see WESH 2 News doing a big story about the lights, it's just another Fanboy complaint about Disney. Anyone with any business sense would know that if a corporation can cut costs and still offer the same product (i.e. Studios is still open to guests), then its a win/win for the corporation because the expense of the lights is now removed from the overhead costs incurred by the park. Therefore, funds can either be diverted to other expenses, or more revenue for the corporation.
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
TRONorail10 said:
I'm not being negative. It's simply stating the truth. I don't see WESH 2 News doing a big story about the lights, it's just another Fanboy complaint about Disney. Anyone with any business sense would know that if a corporation can cut costs and still offer the same product (i.e. Studios is still open to guests), then its a win/win for the corporation because the expense of the lights is now removed from the overhead costs incurred by the park. Therefore, funds can either be diverted to other expenses, or more revenue for the corporation.
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Ah, gotta love that "run it into the ground" mentality. Although I'm sure you are serious, you just basically wrote a caricature of the typical short-term (and short-sighted) "only care about the next quarter" corporate thinking that is costing many companies their reputations these days, which isn't something that is measured on spreadsheets but does have long-term consequences. Particularly for a company who is well-known for "the details". It erodes the quality of the brand, and no amount of fancy little electronic bracelets can help that.

While in general, sadly, that is the mentality of WDW (which is why Universal is absolutely kicking it right now, because Disney can't even say - "Yeah, we may not have the latest, greatest attractions, but we still have the Disney Difference!"), I do not think you are correct. And unless you have some insider knowledge you'd like to share, you can hardly claim it as "truth".

While I am not going to brand it "truth", my opinion is that it would be unlikely that it is turned off for cost reasons. The most expensive, brightest spotlight in the world (at the Luxor in Vegas) cost $20/hr in electricity to run at full capacity - and those two lights are no where near as large or powerful and it's doubtful they require anywhere near the 300K+ watts that does (it can be seen from space). So let's be real generous and say it costs $10/hr to run - for the visual spectacle and impact, 20K a year isn't bad. It costs about the same as a part time CM. And again, that's a generous estimate - I doubt it costs that much, that would be the max.

Even taking into account maintenance, that's really small change for a big bang in a theme park, particularly since they can be seen from large distances outside the park. There really are many other things that could be cut that would be noticed far less. And let's not mistake it - everyone who has seen them up notices - consciously or not. They follow you until you are out of the parking lot, keeping the theming going until the last possible moment. It's one of those little extra "That's cool!" things as you are exiting the park, making a final impression upon you. One of the things that used to make the Disney Difference.

If you are correct, that such a relatively paltry cost with such a big impact was taken down for budgetary reasons alone, then that's probably the saddest thing I've ever heard - and we've really had little but sad news for quite some time. It would be a new low.

We do know the truth that Disney is getting their perky mouse buns handed to them right now when it comes to new, innovative, newsworthy, spectacular attractions while we sit and wait nearly a half decade for a little hill with a kiddie coaster in Fantasyland to be completed (and as much as I can't wait to ride it, as SWSA was my favorite ride, even I can't pretend it's more than that).

If on top of that, we can't even get them to kick 20K a year to one of the true spectacles in the resort (the reason the spotlights are there is because they are very Hollywood, very few people see spotlights with any regularity in the rest of the world), while they are spending 1 BILLION on a program designed to solely benefit those who stay on property for the stated reason of getting them to spend just a few percent more on junk in stores because of the magical electronic jewelry - then man, Mickey just not only hung up the towel, he tossed down his gloves, left the arena, and retired in Boca.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
wdwmagic said:
They light way above the hat, and you can see them throughout WDW property. They have not been seen operating for a couple of weeks. I'm trying to work out if they are being refurbed or removed, and when they were last seen working.
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They have gone to Valhalla with all their comrades from the MK...
 
TRONorail10

TRONorail10

Active Member
AEfx said:
Ah, gotta love that "run it into the ground" mentality. Although I'm sure you are serious, you just basically wrote a caricature of the typical short-term (and short-sighted) "only care about the next quarter" corporate thinking that is costing many companies their reputations these days, which isn't something that is measured on spreadsheets but does have long-term consequences. Particularly for a company who is well-known for "the details". It erodes the quality of the brand, and no amount of fancy little electronic bracelets can help that.

While in general, sadly, that is the mentality of WDW (which is why Universal is absolutely kicking it right now, because Disney can't even say - "Yeah, we may not have the latest, greatest attractions, but we still have the Disney Difference!"), I do not think you are correct. And unless you have some insider knowledge you'd like to share, you can hardly claim it as "truth".

While I am not going to brand it "truth", my opinion is that it would be unlikely that it is turned off for cost reasons. The most expensive, brightest spotlight in the world (at the Luxor in Vegas) cost $20/hr in electricity to run at full capacity - and those two lights are no where near as large or powerful and it's doubtful they require anywhere near the 300K+ watts that does (it can be seen from space). So let's be real generous and say it costs $10/hr to run - for the visual spectacle and impact, 20K a year isn't bad. It costs about the same as a part time CM. And again, that's a generous estimate - I doubt it costs that much, that would be the max.

Even taking into account maintenance, that's really small change for a big bang in a theme park, particularly since they can be seen from large distances outside the park. There really are many other things that could be cut that would be noticed far less. And let's not mistake it - everyone who has seen them up notices - consciously or not. They follow you until you are out of the parking lot, keeping the theming going until the last possible moment. It's one of those little extra "That's cool!" things as you are exiting the park, making a final impression upon you. One of the things that used to make the Disney Difference.

If you are correct, that such a relatively paltry cost with such a big impact was taken down for budgetary reasons alone, then that's probably the saddest thing I've ever heard - and we've really had little but sad news for quite some time. It would be a new low.

We do know the truth that Disney is getting their perky mouse buns handed to them right now when it comes to new, innovative, newsworthy, spectacular attractions while we sit and wait nearly a half decade for a little hill with a kiddie coaster in Fantasyland to be completed (and as much as I can't wait to ride it, as SWSA was my favorite ride, even I can't pretend it's more than that).

If on top of that, we can't even get them to kick 20K a year to one of the true spectacles in the resort (the reason the spotlights are there is because they are very Hollywood, very few people see spotlights with any regularity in the rest of the world), while they are spending 1 BILLION on a program designed to solely benefit those who stay on property for the stated reason of getting them to spend just a few percent more on junk in stores because of the magical electronic jewelry - then man, Mickey just not only hung up the towel, he tossed down his gloves, left the arena, and retired in Boca.
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You have way too much time on your hands... :facepalm:
 
TRONorail10

TRONorail10

Active Member
AEfx said:
Not really, I spent about ten seconds googling how much it costs to run a spotlight, and there ya go. Facts are helpful when having discussions.
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I really think you need to go eat a Mickey Bar and just have yourself a magical day, you are way too passionate about a spotlight.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
TRONorail10 said:
OMG! The world is ending because there are no spotlights at Hollywood Studios! Seriously people, GET OVER IT and MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE!
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Yes, we could spend our lives repeatedly bending over, getting screwed, or we could call people for their laziness and demand quality.

What do you notice when you look at the original concept for the park?
71102-800.jpg


Next, you'll suggest that we should just move on and accept reduced quality in just about everything produced nowadays?
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
ISTCNavigator57 said:
Yes, we could spend our lives repeatedly bending over, getting screwed, or we could call people for their laziness and demand quality.

What do you notice when you look at the original concept for the park?
71102-800.jpg


Next, you'll suggest that we should just move on and accept reduced quality in just about everything produced nowadays?
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Precisely - Other than the Chinese theater what sets the mood for Hollywood at night more than SPOTLIGHTS.
what some of the posters forget is that its the relentless attention to DETAILS which create the magic
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Now that we have a stage in front of a hat in front of the theater for the park's entrance weenie, maybe now we need a new set of searchlights in front of the stage in front of the hat in front of the theater.

spotlight4.jpg
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
I don't know if this is the case but I remember always seeing them from Rte 192. I never was sure where they came from but thought it must be from the Studios. Anyway it has been a long long time since I have seen them, maybe a couple of years. That might just be coincidence, but they used to always catch my attention.

It would be funny though if investigative work did find out that they have been out that long and no one noticed. Now all of a sudden they become crucial to the show even though no one noticed that they were missing. If you want to go strictly with theme, since DHS stopped a long time ago trying to kid anyone about it being an actual studio, the lights were totally unnecessary to maintain the "look".
 

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