The Spirited 11th Hour ...

[WDW1974]

Thanks for the update on EuroDisney. Can't believe the door situation, what a load of crap. Glad to hear the resort is starting to turn around, definitely on my bucket list.

My question about the resort concerns security. Seems like of all the Disney parks the one in France would be the most vulnerable to a terrorist attack since France seems to be on front lines lately. Don't know how recent your trip was but did you notice a increase security presence while on your visit? Do you know if Disney execs are concerned about a possible attack at one of the parks?

They absolutely are concerned. They have insurance policies supposedly that cover such things. Disney parks, and other theme and amusement parks, are certainly targets of crazies. But I still believe they are much more likely to see (at least in the USA) a home grown crazy or ex-CM with an armory etc.

They still are insisting on security theater instead of ending bag checks and all that stuff that is a waste and bringing in top notch people (you could start with the Israelis) to just watch the crowds and people. Sure, Disney profiles now ... but simply doing it on race and skin tone is racist and stupid. And they do this no matter what they say, for legal reasons (naturally), and even if your 89-year-old Granny from Ames, Iowa had to be scanned at the MK entrance on 12/29. They need to do thorough background checks on their CMs (not simply in Paris, all over) because it is much more likely that one of them has potential evil intentions than someone is going to try and walk into the park and just do something. At DLP, because of the setup, I would be much more concerned about the train station or Disney Village than I would the parks.

As to your question, at DLP it was more of a pain as they had people at the entrance to Disney Village and, depending on time of day, were wanding every male (because there are no female evildoers, right?) You saw armed security with assault rifles at the RER station, which I actually think I have seen before. You had security walking around the lobby of hotels with wands (but never saw anyone use one). Now, the resort still has a significant ownership stake by the Saudi prince. But folks in that part of the world love to murder each other, so I doubt that would prevent any attack.

I am rambling here (too much coffee) but I found it very interesting that at Europa Park there was absolutely no security theater at all. You walked up to a turnstile, handed your ticket to the employee and entered the park. It was quite pleasant and made me feel far more secure than the theatrics at Disney.

 

[WDW1974]

Does this mean that a placemaking/re-do of WDSP, a la DCA style, will begin taking shape?

That has already happened to some extent. But I doubt you will see a WDSP 2.0. They will just keep adding quality and, hopefully, the ugliness will disappear a bit at a time.

The thing is that the park is now a full day destination with lots of quality attractions. You can say that it is ugly, but what is the point? That the corpse of Disney-MGM is a better place to walk around in? I can send people to beautiful places to walk that don't cost $100 a day to get in!

 

[WDW1974]

I am not the moral police, but, do yourself a favor and stay out of that massive pile of irrelevant BS. What happened, happened years ago and isn't important to anything anywhere. It's just gossip and never should have been on these boards to begin with. It was just mean and useless justification of hate.

I don't want to have that discussion here. And I certainly don't want to give a publicity even more attention. But it wasn't irrelevant at all. And bringing it up was fair and balanced. If I had had that info, you would not wanted to have read my response, believe me. I got the distinct feeling when reading along that some folks were taking it personally, like they had some ugly stuff in their past that they wouldn't want known. The public record is just that. And the individual may not be involved in criminal enterprises against Disney any longer (one would hope), but as @AEfx (someone I often disagree with, especially on his love for Iger!) put in an amazing post back on the old thread, the pathology and attitude and mindset of the individual hasn't changed one iota! It has been consistent right through the years and continues to this day.

And, please, if you want to discuss this, take it to the other thread or PM people. You don't feed people who are just begging for it.

 

[WDW1974]

One interesting thing about this Newport refurb is that they finally brought back the 1992 menu to the Yacht Club restaurant. The prices are not the same anymore, but you can order the Surf n Turf and other dishes that dissapeared over time again.

As I pointed out in the other thread, the refurbs looked really good and I was specially impressed by Small World. All the lighting was redone, the sets repainted and the one complaint people had: some overhead animation not working is not due to the park. It is more of a case where the local safety commission has to come look at the work done there and validate it.

That Small World refurb was a major departure from the others before then since WDI from Burbank was in charge and applied real confidenciality to the work site. No pictures of the inside leaked out at all while it was underway. The same thing is going on at Big Thunder Mountain because you will notice this about all the construction pictures: they are all taken from the Phantom Manor doors! No one has access inside to take pictures.

Did not know that about the menu. Interesting.

Small World just looks amazing. And using a brighter, Tokyo-like colour palette suits the climate there much better. I was shocked because this attraction has, sadly, looked downright ghetto on recent visits. I even noted that they finally removed one of the Twin Towers from the American scene. They would have been better to remove both, but I guess they think that since there is a new WTC with one tower that it makes sense ... But I felt that the attraction probably would have brought a smile to the face of Mary Blair.

As to Big Thunder, yep, we got some pics from the entrance to the PM and some from the fort walkthru (which is desperate for a rebuild/refresh) as well.

 

[WDW1974]

A part of me wonders if every menu decision came down to: "let's pick all the things HKDL does not have and start from there".

It really does not bother me honestly, I know they are quintessential Disney castle experiences - but they've been done five times over already. Plenty of places to experience them, better a completely different take then the copy and paste job HKDL received.

If we are talking about removing those attractions from any park that's different story, but SDL is and should be a clean slate. What is silly is the fact they are still using a station for an entrance with no train on it...

I think your first statement very well likely nails it. The only direct lift (because they are too cheap to do a Hunny Hunt) is Winnie The Pooh, which was almost totally ignored in any official materials. Even Dumbo and the carousel are crowed about as being unique (Dumbo because it is in front of the castle for the first time and the Carousel because it is themed to Fantasia).

As to the others, I think because they are quintessential Disney castle park experiences is why they should have been included here.

I don't get the train station entrance unless it was left from a plan to have a RR to start. I really have never heard a reason for it.

 

[Nubs70]

Really management is a lot more then knowing how to operate a ride (or whatever). Management is organization and motivation projected to those that work for them. Learning the nuts and bolts of a job is relatively easy. Getting people to put those nuts and blots together is what management is all about. Anyone that graduated with a degree in Business Management is told that from day one. You can focus on a specific field of technical knowledge if you want, but, it isn't necessary. All you have to convey is a willingness to listen, to delegate properly and support your workers. (fight for them if necessary). That doesn't in anyway describe today's manager. All you have to do to be in management now is carefully memorize the words. "Yes, sir, your right sir! Right away sir! And the occasional... My staff sucks, it's not my fault.

And those are the spectacularly craptastic managers that are my customers.

 

[WDW1974]

Also speaking of first impressions - I managed to wander through Disney village a few days after visiting DLP and giving you my report, we were catching the TGV back to CDG Rossy.

Now there's a place that has all the design sensibilities of the 90's. It's funny that everyone is talking about Anaheim getting the Springs like redo. Their downtown disney is miles better by comparison.

Big changes are coming to DV as well. I would expect a large chunk of it to be demo'd and replaced ... but I think it has been ugly since I started visiting. I would have liked to have experienced it in '92, though, before all the additions and deletions etc ...

 

[WDW1974]

Not trying to defend anything, but aside from inside the airport and the UNI garage, are moving walkways really that common? I think they were a dumb proposal in the first place.

Not dumb at all. A necessary part of having a structure like that. I do not get how people don't understand this. It is a basic thing.

 

[WDW1974]

Welcome back Spirit! Tell me, did you ride Ratatouille? If so, what did you think?

I loved it. Charming and true to the film. Great family ride. If they opened in the swamps they would be marketing as the greatest thing ever. I would have liked a few more physical sets and/or AAs ... but it absolutely is quality and works. And people absolutely love it. I think Angie and I rode it about six times. And the new restaurant is excellent as well.

 

[WDW1974]

We were at DL Paris yesterday......heading home early because of the east coast storm.....I have to say there are a ton of repairs that still need to be made. Buzz was a mess..broke down several time.....Space Mountain didn't open till about Two....still showing Ant man in the Discovery land theater.....Dragons lair closed.....of course we knew BTMR was down...so was the island.....my daughter said it need about 4 or 5 more attractions.....Ate at the Crystal Palace and it looks original..needs a return......old school Star Wars...etc.....But at 70 euros a day for two days the price is right..

We never did Buzz. I usually do it once or twice at DLP. Just didn't fit into our touring. Space Mountain looks like new on the outside now and many effects have been restored. But until they get the roughness out of and make sure the audio is working all the time (it wasn't for us), it is a 1-2 ride per trip deal for us. Never paid attention to the Discoveryland Theater. The dragon was working just fine for us, although they had the hidden stairway closed from inside the castle. You had to use the Fantasyland entrance to the lair. Crystal Palace? Do you mean Plaza Gardens?

I felt we got good value for our money (yes, we actually paid on this trip! No freebies, unlike our comped week, it is good to have lots of friends, at DL and UNI-Hollywood and Knott's over the summer!) I think DLP is absolutely headed in the right direction. Having visited in 2012, 2014 and now 2016, quality of the entire experience is so much better than four years ago and considerably better than two.

 

[WDW1974]

When I was there in October (well before the situation on 11/13) that type of showing was all over Europe. France and Italy in particular. I didn't notice any huge amount in Spain.

Wait, old-timer. YOU LEFT THE USA?!?!?! (I really have been gone too long!)

 

[WDW1974]

Don't you think Sequioa makes a mockery of Disney's US hotel prices? It's basically Wilderness Lodge, yet is much cheaper than you'd ever pay stateside and is only considered a 'moderate', because the French compare themselves to actual luxury hotels.

Unlike WDW, where you can take an average hotel, give it the label 'Deluxe', and people will pay hundreds of dollars a night just because they gave it a fancy category name, regardless of how it stacks up to the competition.

Not at all. We got something like 35% off, including admission and their half board meal plan. And that was off of value season rates.

Normally, their prices are so ridiculous that we would never stay onsite. And SL is in no way WL (which Disney seems in the process of destroying right now). It is absolutely a few rungs (maybe more) down in overall experience. It is nice enough, but it isn't a deluxe resort like WL is (was?).

Hell, Disney doesn't have a hotel in Paris right now that would compare to the WDW deluxes overall. The DLH often charges between $1,000 and $1,500 a night (the most pricey Disney hotel in the world, FYI) and the carpeting hasn't been changed in at least 15 years in most of the place. And 23 years in, it still hasn't had a top to bottom redo or anything close.

Disney needs to upgrade the resort experience in Paris and they are trying ... to some degree. But they really need quick serve dining locations or grab and dos at the resorts. At SL, one restaurant is closed and the other is a fairly good (just don't compare to Europa) buffet. You can buy a small selection of sandwiches at the bar, but I don't think it's enough. Every Disney resort on the planet has hotels with a QS option, except Paris. Yes, European tastes are different, but not that different. McD's and Earl of Sandwich wouldn't be packed if Europeans were only interested in buffets or full serve meals. And ... gotta run.

 

[NearTheEars]

Not dumb at all. A necessary part of having a structure like that. I do not get how people don't understand this. It is a basic thing.

Like I said in my first post, moving walkways are rare, are they not? I typically only encounter them in airports where I assumed they are there to help speed up your walk to the gate.

It would be different if they were installed all over the place.
Guess that's why I'm confused.
Maybe I don't get out enough.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Like I said in my first post, moving walkways are rare, are they not? I typically only encounter them in airports where I assumed they are there to help speed up your walk to the gate.

It would be different if they were installed all over the place.
Guess that's why I'm confused.
Maybe I don't get out enough.

Or in the walkways from the parking garages to City Walk in Universal Studios.

 

[NearTheEars]

Or in the walkways from the parking garages to City Walk in Universal Studios.

Correct, mentioned that in my first post.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Like I said in my first post, moving walkways are rare, are they not? I typically only encounter them in airports where I assumed they are there to help speed up your walk to the gate.

It would be different if they were installed all over the place.
Guess that's why I'm confused.
Maybe I don't get out enough.

Why are there trams in the Walt Disney World parking lots? You don't see those in most parking lots and the walk isn't that bad.

 

[NearTheEars]

Why are there trams in the Walt Disney World parking lots? You don't see those in most parking lots and the walk isn't that bad.

Now that's a better comparison.
It's just when I think moving walkways, I think airport.
Just wanted to see if they were more common than I thought.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Just a bit more on Chappie, because while I like the Bob Weis move, that came from Iger and/or Staggs.
Chappie has been going about learning his job and one can question yet again with all the talented parks and hospitality execs out there (and there are plenty) why this dude was given reign over Disney's kingdoms.

I did have an interesting anecdote passed to me by someone with intimate knowledge of the man. Here's a bit of what said individual had to say: ''Chapek has had and still has a tremendous amount of learning to do -- about the basics of his core businesses. It was clear he had absolutely no working knowledge about DL or the theme park industry in general. Even as a Guest. The average tourist staying across the street at the Best Western knows far more about Disneyland than Bob Chapek does.''

That doesn't mean he is a bad guy or even a bad choice to run the division. It does give one pause as to how these decisions are made, though. Imagine a similar scenario in your own lives? How likely would it be that you'd get to run a division with absolutely no experience in it whatsoever, not even teen internships or part time jobs while in college? It's sorta like being the head of nutrition at a hospital and suddenly you are the head of neurology. Why? Are you detecting a pattern that in these "decisions'' there are really no choices to be made at all?

File this one under the "Any good manager can manage anything" philosophy prevalent at many corporations today.

The reality is that this mantra is often used by executives who want to think of themselves and their inner circle as brilliant masters of the universe.

Organizations sometimes crash-and-burn with these types of "leaders" while convenient scapegoats are nearly always found.

 

[KLinder7]

I think this is a good thing. I thought it was a poor choice to load both GoTGv2 and SW EpVIII into the same month. I also imagine we will see a shuffle on the Avatar 2 date soon as well.

You called it on Avatar...

 

[NearTheEars]

You called it on Avatar...

Avatar was my concer. You would think the parks folks would want that film to do pretty well, and going up against SW won't help.