The Spirited Back Nine ...

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

We have tons of food trucks here in So Cal. Most of them are terribly over-priced. It's all about the gimmick, and actually good food in many cases, but it's not about value at all. However, when they are charging $7.00+ for a regular old grilled cheese (yes, we have the grilled cheese truck), it's people getting caught up in the moment versus the actual food.

Same here in pittsburgh.

Frankutuary (yep, hot dogs and veggie dogs) for crazy prices. Also a Mac n cheese truck, and during the summer a gourmet ice cream truck that I'm guilty of stalking. Ever have rose ice cream? It's incredible.


If I'm on vacation at disney I willnot be looking for food trucks when their restaurant s are supposedly top notch eating. If nothing else, unique. Some of them, at least.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Trying to catch up after my internet free weekend (no access at the lake house). Holy **** Batman. Meanwhile, here in the center of "Winter Storm Astro"...I am looking at over a foot of snow on the way. Luckily, we finally got the leaf thing done at the lake house, the driveway marked with orange stakes and we are ready.

One pertinent comment...I agree with Mr. Spirit...I just spent 9 days with the mouse on site and I am a stockholder (but rely on others for the analyses). I have every right to my opinion. I'll be back with mine when I catch up.

I know! Winter sucks!!!!! It has dropped to 68 here in O-town. I'm making a good chowder and breaking out the '80 Cosby sweaters.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I know! Winter sucks!!!!! It has dropped to 68 here in O-town.

You know, some of us would be thrilled with 68 in November.

Just sayin'.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

I know! Winter sucks!!!!! It has dropped to 68 here in O-town. I'm making a good chowder and breaking out the '80 Cosby sweaters.

When I left Orlando on November 1st the temperature was in the 60s. I saw a lot of locals in sweaters, jackets and gloves. I would give anything for 68 degrees right now. More like 30 with snow and sleet. Snow IS the other four letter word beginning with "s".

 

[Hula Popper]

Food trucks ain't what they used to be. There's all kinds of new,

Walking by one of the downtown Disney food trucks and seeing prices, I honestly think they're missing the concept.

Food trucks are supposed to be inexpensive and good quality. Like the taco bus in St. Petersburg Florida. But when you're trying to sell me a grass fed slider for $9.50? You're clearly missing the conceptual idea of what a food truck is.

The food truck concept has evolved, at least here in the Washington DC area. Tons of specialty food trucks nowadays. Nothing like the greasy spoon food trucks serving the all the blue collar workers that I remember back in the day. Almost every time one of these food trucks in the city catches my eye, I check it out and end up deciding it's just not worth the extra money they charge, and head over to one of the many less expensive brick and mortar places. Sounds like Disney's food trucks fit right in with what I see around here.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Thanks for popping in, Spirit! I really look forward to your posts- they break news and not wind...

 

[Matt7187]

It's a tough call to say what is really going on with Pixar. Brave was "meh", Cars 2 was horrific and Monsters U underperformed (although, personally, I really enjoy it).

It's nice to see Pixar getting out of sequel-mode temporarily. We'll get a better idea of what Pixar still has left when Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur come out. If those two are amazing, then Pixar will remain the king.

It's just too bad they'll go back into sequel-mode again (Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4). It'd be nice of they could come out with a release schedule that had one original and one sequel each year.

...and I completely agree with you about Frozen. Highly overrated. As a similar movie, Tangled was miles better. What saved Frozen's weak story and horrible pacing were the songs. It's too bad Tangled didn't have songs the quality of the ones in Frozen. The song during the lantern scene was completely forgettable. If they would have hit a home run with that one song, Tangled would have been as big, or bigger, than Frozen.

I think I saw somewhere that someone at Pixar said that they would be coming out with 1 original movie a year and a sequel every other year. Not sure of the legitimacy, but I thought I would share

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Local Disney Store has one tiny corner devoted to BH6 merchandise. Shelves and shelves of Planes crap. Honest to God, when will these people learn? They have now been burned twice in the past year - coming up shorthanded for Frozen and Guardians merch.

But last year, plush was made for virtually every single character in Monsters U, including nameless background characters no one cares about.

Common. Sense.

 

[Bairstow]

Local Disney Store has one tiny corner devoted to BH6 merchandise. Shelves and shelves of Planes ****. Honest to God, when will these people learn? They have now been burned twice in the past year - coming up shorthanded for Frozen and Guardians merch.

But last year, plush was made for virtually every single character in Monsters U, including nameless background characters no one cares about.

Common. Sense.

Well Cars 1 and 2 had been a merchandise juggernaut for them, so I guess they expected the same out of Planes 2.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Well Cars 1 and 2 had been a merchandise juggernaut for them, so I guess they expected the same out of Planes 2.

Planes junk may be selling well, I have no idea; I just know the movie bombed. The issue isn't that there's Planes merch, the issue is that there isn't adequate BH6 merch. Just like there wasn't adequate merch for Frozen or Guardians of the Galaxy. They have become woefully bad at predicting what the market wants, and despite losing untold millions last fall, it's clear no one has gotten any wiser.

Baymax is a breakout character. I saw more than one not-so-happy guest in the store last night asking why they had already run out of the plush. Maybe it's just my store, but looking over the offerings on DisneyStore.com, they're largely uninspired to say the least.

It would be nice to see Disney give its own films the vote of confidence instead of playing catch up. They'll end up with egg on their faces sometimes, but being prepared for something like Frozen mania would have made up for it in the long run.

Aaaand we've reached the crux of the matter. The long run. Something almost no one at Disney cares about.

 

[spacemt354]

I know! Winter sucks!!!!! It has dropped to 68 here in O-town. I'm making a good chowder and breaking out the '80 Cosby sweaters.

68 in the winter? If you don't want it I'll take that!

-Sent from Boston

 

[bhg469]

You know, some of us would be thrilled with 68 in November.

Just sayin'.

My breaking point is in the above freezing Temps when it's like high 30s and raining. There is no more miserable weather on earth than cold rain. You cant do anything in it. There is nothing fun about it. At least snow can be recreational for some people. I'm just chomping at the bit to get a contract with the rays.

 

[BrerJon]

A grass fed slider in NYC is only 7 bucks or so around 115'th !!!!

And twice the portion size I bet, Disney sliders are barely a mouthful.

 

[FigmentJedi]

But last year, plush was made for virtually every single character in Monsters U, including nameless background characters no one cares about.

Common. Sense.

I actually got some of those because I wanted to try and get at least one rep per house (though I couldn't find the manic looking PNK I was after and I ended up getting Johnny in figure form). Also Brock and Claire. I was actually impressed they went through the trouble, though considering how popular some of those houses were with periphery demographics online, it's nice they were able to get something.

 

[BrerJon]

It would be nice to see Disney give its own films the vote of confidence instead of playing catch up. They'll end up with egg on their faces sometimes, but being prepared for something like Frozen mania would have made up for it in the long run.

Aaaand we've reached the crux of the matter. The long run. Something almost no one at Disney cares about.

What's frustrating about this is that none of it was a surprise. Anyone who's ever read a Marvel comic could have told you Rocket Racoon was going to be popular. Baymax was specifically designed to make great toys and be the must-have Christmas item, Anna and Elsa dolls were obviously going to appeal to little girls just as much, most likely more, than the aisles and aisles of Tinkerbell merch they always ship in.

If the animators and directors are putting this stuff in, but Consumer Products isn't noticing, there's a real broken link somewhere in the chain of command.

 

[BrerJon]

I actually got some of those because I wanted to try and get at least one rep per house (though I couldn't find the manic looking PNK I was after and I ended up getting Johnny in figure form). Also Brock and Claire. I was actually impressed they went through the trouble, though considering how popular some of those houses were with periphery demographics online, it's nice they were able to get something.

I'm pretty sure they were hoping for a Harry Potter type thing where everyone would adopt one of the houses as their own and buy the associated merch for it.

 

[WDW1974]

OK, so y'all know how much I hate to be right and hate to point out when I told you so ... but ...

Did you see today's DLP announcement of a ST redo in time for the 25th anniversary (one that will also include footage and scenarios from Episode VII), as well as the start of a SW mini-land including dining and retail and another attraction?

Y'all do recall that I said this was happening frequently over the last year, even as fanboi Twits were talking about the resort shuttering (because we all know that's realistic!) Y'all do recall that I said DLP was the first resort likely to see new and significant SW product, right?

How about another told ya so from an unlikely source?

You do recall me saying that Alan Horn took over for Rich Ross because John Lasseter went to the BoD (when Iger wanted the status quo) and said either Ross leaves or he does? Well, today, in a placed piece of PR for Horn and Disney, none other than Brooks Barnes of the NYT strongly hinted at something that, as far as I know, no one else but yours truly has placed anywhere online or in traditional media. Yes, indeed, Lasseter was behind Ross' ouster from Disney and that he has a very good relationship with the newish Studio Head.

Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/b...-ship-at-disney-and-fortune-follows.html?_r=0

 

[WDW1974]

David's just hiked their DVC point rental price from $14/point to $16/point for 7+ months-in-advanced bookings at BLT, BWV, BCV, VWL, and VGF because demand exceeds supply.

At $16/point, a BLT Lake View Studio on the weekend of December 12-14 costs $304/night.

$304/night is pretty darned expensive but WDW's rate (with tax) for a Lake View room in the Contemporary Tower is $745/night.

Even with 30% off, that's still $522/night.

Those prices made David's $304/night look like a bargain.

It's not really surprising that so many want to rent points, and why DVC rental places like David's are pleading for points at key resorts.

By Disney standards, $304 a night for a BLT studio in mid-December is a great deal. I wouldn't agree, but I don't think it's crazy either. I do think $522 is and I think anyone who would pay $745 a night for a standard WDW hotel room anytime needs electric shock therapy and should be giving some of their wealth to a homeless shelter or a children's charity of their choice because they have no sense of money or what itss value truly is. Seriously.

And, as I have found out by dating a DVCer, early December is value season for DVC resorts and offers some of the best values for points during the year. It's why pretty much every DVC resort (excepting Saratoga Springs because DVCers want to stay at WDW deluxe resorts, not DVC ones) is damn near impossible to book the first three weeks of the month.

Have no idea if you saw or commented on my post about deluxe availability and the reality of what is happening at WDW today.

 

[Mike S]

OK, so y'all know how much I hate to be right and hate to point out when I told you so ... but ...

Did you see today's DLP announcement of a ST redo in time for the 25th anniversary (one that will also include footage and scenarios from Episode VII), as well as the start of a SW mini-land including dining and retail and another attraction?

Y'all do recall that I said this was happening frequently over the last year, even as fanboi Twits were talking about the resort shuttering (because we all know that's realistic!) Y'all do recall that I said DLP was the first resort likely to see new and significant SW product, right?

How about another told ya so from an unlikely source?

You do recall me saying that Alan Horn took over for Rich Ross because John Lasseter went to the BoD (when Iger wanted the status quo) and said either Ross leaves or he does? Well, today, in a placed piece of PR for Horn and Disney, none other than Brooks Barnes of the NYT strongly hinted at something that, as far as I know, no one else but yours truly has placed anywhere online or in traditional media. Yes, indeed, Lasseter was behind Ross' ouster from Disney and that he has a very good relationship with the newish Studio Head.

Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/b...-ship-at-disney-and-fortune-follows.html?_r=0

Since Star Tours 2 is apparently easy for Disney to update could we see those Episode VII scenes added to DL and DHS around the same time?

 

[WDW1974]

Pick your favorite corporate whipping boy. Wal-Mart, Starbucks, doesn't matter. Go into the nearest store and begin screaming "You suck!" at the first front-line employee you see. Repeatedly. Encourage other customers to do the same. Then please compare that company's response to TWDC's.

WDW and my good friend George Kalogridis treat CMs like a word I can't use here. A word that doesn't exist in Disney's UNIverse, except when execs are talking behind the scenes or Guests are abusing a front-line CM.

WDW CMs can be physically assaulted and have their lives put in danger by crazy guests and if they do anything to protect themselves and stop the attack they are automatically fired. No questions asked. None. You touch a guest, even one trying to end you, and you lose your job. No, even Walmart isn't that bad. Starbucks certainly isn't.

Now, am I sure that many lawsuits based on this have been filed? Sure. Am I sure that many CMs have been paid off and given non-disclosure docs for their silence? Absolutely.

But it is insane. (Of course, so are a large number of people who visit WDW!)