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The Miscellaneous Thought Thread
- Thread starter mickEblu
- Start date
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Splash Mountain is an excellent example of properly building the "same" ride in three different parks. Yes, it's the same- each one has the big drop, is a flume ride, and a similar story- but each one is aesthetically unique and designed to fit beautifully in their respective parks.
Each one is Splash Mountain, but each is unique in its own way- creating diversity between the different parks and creating an incentive to visit each.
Compared to modern day WDI's "Let's build the exact same land in three different resorts" approach with Galaxy's Edge.
Each one is Splash Mountain, but each is unique in its own way- creating diversity between the different parks and creating an incentive to visit each.
Compared to modern day WDI's "Let's build the exact same land in three different resorts" approach with Galaxy's Edge.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
It really bothered me when they put it in, but I saw no mention of it online at the time. I was surprised and thought I was going crazy- but I guess in the long list of Splash Mountain maintenance issues to complain about, the color of the final drop's flume is pretty low on the list.
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
The three Star Wars: Galaxy Edges are very different from one another! There’s the big one, the small one, and the slightly smaller one!
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
We had a board going at my workplace... had the Rams made that field goal at the end, I would've won $75. That one stung. Not to mention it would've been great to have LA win a Superbowl.
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
Is that why we can't say Dick van on these forums?
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
There's a few Disneyland and theme park focused podcasts I follow. Often, production quality is low, but the unique interviews that these shows are able to get makes it worth it.
The Sweep Spot just had an interview with an attractions CM from the 60s-80s, the dude worked on everything. Lots of great stories. He was also extremely candid on the decline of customer service he's witnessed at Disneyland. It was striking to hear someone who knows talk about the differences.
Sweep Spot Episode 252- attractions CM
At a time when Disneyland is more expensive than it's ever been, I wish there was a larger internal push to re embrace some of Walt's management philosophies to help strengthen Disneyland's cultural reputation, which has mostly been riding on what it built in the 1900s- not today. I'd love to see a push to get CM's pay up (which has been a hot topic recently), and in addition, better training and expectations for both the entry level CM's and management- it'd be a win win. Customer service would go up, and employees would get paid more.
Over the last few years, I've become more aware of the CM's and the role they play on guest experience. The Jungle Cruise skippers these days are uninterested and mediocre. The food service CM's are often poorly trained, inefficient, and unprofessional. Recently, Disney's been relying on social media buzz gimmicks like having their custodial CM's do water paintings with their mops, instead of focusing on core customer service philosophies that Disneyland used to be known world wide for. That's not to say all are bad- most are excellent, or perfectly average.
I'm in a generation that grew up never knowing what the park was like when Jack Lindquist, Dick Nunis, Dominguez, and other legendary Disneyland management were around calling the shots. The more I've learned about how things used to be pre 1995, the more I understand why Disneyland is what it is- and why many consider it to be a shell of its former self.
The Sweep Spot just had an interview with an attractions CM from the 60s-80s, the dude worked on everything. Lots of great stories. He was also extremely candid on the decline of customer service he's witnessed at Disneyland. It was striking to hear someone who knows talk about the differences.
Sweep Spot Episode 252- attractions CM
At a time when Disneyland is more expensive than it's ever been, I wish there was a larger internal push to re embrace some of Walt's management philosophies to help strengthen Disneyland's cultural reputation, which has mostly been riding on what it built in the 1900s- not today. I'd love to see a push to get CM's pay up (which has been a hot topic recently), and in addition, better training and expectations for both the entry level CM's and management- it'd be a win win. Customer service would go up, and employees would get paid more.
Over the last few years, I've become more aware of the CM's and the role they play on guest experience. The Jungle Cruise skippers these days are uninterested and mediocre. The food service CM's are often poorly trained, inefficient, and unprofessional. Recently, Disney's been relying on social media buzz gimmicks like having their custodial CM's do water paintings with their mops, instead of focusing on core customer service philosophies that Disneyland used to be known world wide for. That's not to say all are bad- most are excellent, or perfectly average.
I'm in a generation that grew up never knowing what the park was like when Jack Lindquist, Dick Nunis, Dominguez, and other legendary Disneyland management were around calling the shots. The more I've learned about how things used to be pre 1995, the more I understand why Disneyland is what it is- and why many consider it to be a shell of its former self.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just duplicate SpectroMagic instead of going through the whole drawn-out process of designing, redesigning, value engineering, "fixing", testing, hyping etc Light Magic?
TROR
Well-Known Member
The criteria for whether or not a theme park is good is if it has an elephant (excluding Dumbo). That means every park with a Jungle Cruise (Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland) are all good parks. Both Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland USA feature a baby Indian elephant with Trader Sam which also gives them both an edge. Disneyland is the best of these parks, however, as it also has the crystal elephant in Adventureland. There's also elephants in the Eye on the Globe portion of Indiana Jones Adventure's preshow, again giving Disneyland an edge over the other Magic Kingdom parks. The only castle parks that fail to meet this basic quota are Shanghai and Disneyland Paris, thus they both suck.
As for second gates, currently only Disney's Animal Kingdom and Tokyo DisneySea have elephants in them. That said, unlike any of the other parks on this list, the ones at DAK are real and therefore it's the best Disney park no matter what. The elephants in DisneySea can be found on Sinbad's Storybook Voyage. Disney's Hollywood Studios did have an elephant when it opened in the Tarzan scene of The Great Movie Ride, but since its closure there are no more elephants and therefore Disney's Hollywood Studios sucks. Sticking with Walt Disney World, Epcot did have elephants in the late 1980's as part of a circus show, but seeing as I find circus elephants to be barbarian, Epcot is getting points taken away and is therefore the worst of these parks for it. Walt Disney Studios has never had any elephants. The last park, DCA, had elephants on opening day at the entrance to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot but were removed in 2011.
Disney parks with live elephants that are treated well and therefore best Disney parks:
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney parks listed from most to least elephants (best to worst):
Disneyland USA
Tokyo Disneyland
Magic Kingdom
Hong Kong Disneyland
Tokyo DisneySea
Disney parks that have removed elephants and therefore have gone from being good to bad:
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney California Adventure
Disney parks with no elephants (awful parks):
Disneyland Paris
Walt Disney Studios Paris
Shanghai Disneyland
Disney park with live elephants but were treated cruel and therefore worst Disney parks:
Epcot
This concludes my study. If I have missed any elephants within any of the parks, please let me know and I will correct my findings.
As for second gates, currently only Disney's Animal Kingdom and Tokyo DisneySea have elephants in them. That said, unlike any of the other parks on this list, the ones at DAK are real and therefore it's the best Disney park no matter what. The elephants in DisneySea can be found on Sinbad's Storybook Voyage. Disney's Hollywood Studios did have an elephant when it opened in the Tarzan scene of The Great Movie Ride, but since its closure there are no more elephants and therefore Disney's Hollywood Studios sucks. Sticking with Walt Disney World, Epcot did have elephants in the late 1980's as part of a circus show, but seeing as I find circus elephants to be barbarian, Epcot is getting points taken away and is therefore the worst of these parks for it. Walt Disney Studios has never had any elephants. The last park, DCA, had elephants on opening day at the entrance to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot but were removed in 2011.
Disney parks with live elephants that are treated well and therefore best Disney parks:
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney parks listed from most to least elephants (best to worst):
Disneyland USA
Tokyo Disneyland
Magic Kingdom
Hong Kong Disneyland
Tokyo DisneySea
Disney parks that have removed elephants and therefore have gone from being good to bad:
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney California Adventure
Disney parks with no elephants (awful parks):
Disneyland Paris
Walt Disney Studios Paris
Shanghai Disneyland
Disney park with live elephants but were treated cruel and therefore worst Disney parks:
Epcot
This concludes my study. If I have missed any elephants within any of the parks, please let me know and I will correct my findings.
The_Mesh_Hatter
Well-Known Member
You need to revise your assessment of Disneyland Paris. This is from the Aladdin Walk thru attraction in Adventurerland.
TROR
Well-Known Member
I didn't even know such a thing existed. That said, I'm excluding Dumbo so it does seem fair to exclude all cartoon elephants from movies.
The_Mesh_Hatter
Well-Known Member
If the cartoony elephants in Sinbad count, so should the ones in it’s a small world. Advantage DLP
TROR
Well-Known Member
Sinbad's elephants, though cartoony, do not come from a specific Disney cartoon.
TROR
Well-Known Member
I completely forgot about the elephants on IASW. I'll have to go through all of them later.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
For those interested;For those who visit from out of state and go for longer trips; do you find Anaheim tap water gives you a sore throat, and soon afterwards, you get a cold? But when you drink less, on any given trip, you get further into your trip before getting the sore throat, the cold, and the symptoms are less severe?
It seems to be caused by foreign pathogens that locals have adapted to; and the more you drink it, the more your body can't fight it. You can eliminate them by various means; bottled water that has gone through reverse osmosis is probably the easiest.
