The Spirited Back Nine ...

[TP2000]

Fires like last night's little adventure on Mine Train Mountain wouldn't be happening IF WDW did what DLR and TDR regularly do: namely cancel pyro shows in windy and poor conditions.

Either that, or TDO needs to pay up to redesign their pyro shows to avoid the major new attractions now operating underneath the fallout zone.

I have a glassy house on a hill in Villa Park, California where most rooms have windows that face Disneyland a few miles due west. For the last two decades I have seen the fireworks every night I'm at home, and Disneyland cancels fireworks either beforehand, or mid-show, about 10 to 20 nights per year due to wind. When was the last time we heard that Magic Kingdom cancelled their fireworks show due to "unfavorable wind conditions at higher elevations" (that's the in-park spiel that plays at Disneyland on windy nights)?

As for flying overseas, I'm actually more comfortable flying in a jet overseas than I am over land. If it's a Boeing, the plane has a dramatically better chance of making a surviveable crash landing on water than it does on land. I only fly Boeing planes, mainly 777's or 747's, when it's time to go overseas for that exact reason. William Boeing made a point of over-engineering his aircraft to survive water landings. Other plane manufacturers, notably Airbus, never put as much effort into designing their aircraft to survive a water landing.

That said, even a lowly Airbus can survive a water landing nicely when the pilot knows what he is doing.

And if you are going to Tokyo Disneyland, you absolutely must fly JAL or Singapore! If you fly a US airline to Japan, you are doing it wrong.

I'm far more comfortable shooting through the stratosphere at 600 miles per hour when the plane is over water. So much so that I have the stewardess stop bringing me drinks after my second, so that I can coherently put the life vest on and jump overboard and swim to the raft without drunk drowning.

But when the flight is over land? We're all gonna die, so I'll have another Scotch, please!

 

[FigmentJedi]

You know that museum George Lucas is putting into Chicago? Design just got unveiled, it looks like Space Mountain, and I am just loving it.

 

[stevehousse]

You know that museum George Lucas is putting into Chicago? Design just got unveiled, it looks like Space Mountain, and I am just loving it.

That looks really cool! Where exactly is it going downtown in relation to other museums and landmarks?

 

[FigmentJedi]

That looks really cool! Where exactly is it going downtown in relation to other museums and landmarks?

It's replacing the Soldier Field parking lot, with those parking spaces being moved into an underground facility.

 

[Cody5294]

Spirited Monday Musings:



Still not confirmed but 99% sure that the Ozzy and Sharon Lightacular will not be shown in 2015, at least not in current form.

I guess I'll be spending most of my time at HS this holiday season. It truly is the best holiday offering at Disney World

 

[Cesar R M]

Other plane manufacturers, notably Airbus, never put as much effort into designing their aircraft to survive a water landing.

I hope you're joking lol.
Id say both companies are comparable as both companies have had their huge rows of errors.
Still, id blame part of the airplane survival rate and plane safety on the carriers ( who love to skimp on maintenance or use shortcuts).

Anyone remembers the famous American airlines flight 191? (where the engine detached and they found the airlines, including 3 other carriers.. used a not approved maintenance procedure to speed up the engine swap)?

 

[Next Big Thing]

You know that museum George Lucas is putting into Chicago? Design just got unveiled, it looks like Space Mountain, and I am just loving it.

It looks like what a modern/"futuristic" Space Mountain SHOULD look like.

 

[xstech25]

I think that Disney Parks & Imagineering needs to substantially increase the amount of people that work on new rides and do these kind of rehabs. There is just so much crap now that is constantly needing to be upgraded and replaced all over the world, plus the demand for construction of new parks & hotels, that it has impacted their ability to do things timely. In the last 5 years DCA got a major facelift, Shanghai (the entire property) was designed & started being built, DAK/DHS/Downtown Disney all getting these huge facelifts, and I think Epcot is probably not going to be long after that, and by the time all that is done a lot of the stuff at MK will be outshined by all the new and better stuff so that will need major $$ as well. Plus take into account all the hotels that will be getting and needing renovations (Poly, Swan & Dolphin, Beach Club going on now as an example). Another thing that needs to be said is how technology has gotten so much better in the past decade that now all these old attractions that were "fine" for decades now are now totally lame (GMR being a good example of this).

Think of how much time and effort it takes just for one attraction at one park and it seems like the reason more work isn't getting done is they just don't have the volume of talent to do everything necessary at the proper times. Take into consideration that Disneyland Paris needs major work as well, Tokyo Disney is finally getting badly needed upgrades to the main park. On the bright side though is that even though it sucks how long everything is taking at least they seemed to have learned their lesson about building cheap and focusing on quality (no more Primeval Whirls or WDS/DCA/HKDL type projects).

 

[omurice]

No, because then the Alice ride wouldn't be anchored by the existing Alice Restaurant.

You CAN get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant! 'Cept Space Mountain (and Alice)


EDIT: Aww, RSox way beat me to it pages ago.

I'm very confused as to how a 23 minute Arlo Guthrie ballad fits in thematically into Tokyo's Fantasyland.

Well played... this round goes to you. Curse you! (shakes fist)

 

[John]

I think that Disney Parks & Imagineering needs to substantially increase the amount of people that work on new rides and do these kind of rehabs. There is just so much **** now that is constantly needing to be upgraded and replaced all over the world, plus the demand for construction of new parks & hotels, that it has impacted their ability to do things timely. In the last 5 years DCA got a major facelift, Shanghai (the entire property) was designed & started being built, DAK/DHS/Downtown Disney all getting these huge facelifts, and I think Epcot is probably not going to be long after that, and by the time all that is done a lot of the stuff at MK will be outshined by all the new and better stuff so that will need major $$ as well. Plus take into account all the hotels that will be getting and needing renovations (Poly, Swan & Dolphin, Beach Club going on now as an example). Another thing that needs to be said is how technology has gotten so much better in the past decade that now all these old attractions that were "fine" for decades now are now totally lame (GMR being a good example of this).

Think of how much time and effort it takes just for one attraction at one park and it seems like the reason more work isn't getting done is they just don't have the volume of talent to do everything necessary at the proper times. Take into consideration that Disneyland Paris needs major work as well, Tokyo Disney is finally getting badly needed upgrades to the main park. On the bright side though is that even though it sucks how long everything is taking at least they seemed to have learned their lesson about building cheap and focusing on quality (no more Primeval Whirls or WDS/DCA/HKDL type projects).

BS! even though some of your statement is factually incorrect ( which I wont even address ) its because of decades of ignoring these things that it has come to this point. Its possible to do all these things you mentioned if the company truly had the desire. Expensive? No doubt. Its always more expensive when you let things go till the last minute.

When you make a list of exactly what they are doing as far as rides and attractions are concerned....what are they doing? Avatar?......see you in four years. DHS? Nothing to see but closings. I don't care what they say they are "going" to do. Don't expect this park to be completely reimagined for many years. The hub? Exactly why are they doing this again? FLE?......:yawn: How long did that take?


I said it a many times here. I wouldn't care if they didn't build another ride/attraction for years if they would take all that money and put it back in to the little things that to make the "Disney difference" Park ambiance, dining menu, equity actors....I am going to so miss Fife and Drum! maintenance, cleanliness. True guest service. They cut all these things and the only thing I here around these parts is give us more rides....a insatiable appetite that never gets satisfied. I honestly never understood that line of thinking. How long does a ride last? 3 minutes? But your stay at the resort last for days. In between those three minute rides that what I would like to see improved.

 

[BrerJon]

On the subject of EPCOT's revisionist history: my 4-5 year old self wasn't interested in EPCOT. I think I liked Kitchen Kabaret and Imagination. I slept through the American Adventure. Maybe the park played better for older kids, but I didn't get much from it at my kindergarten age. You'll never make me believe that 4-5 years old loved EPCOT Center, but I'm sure someone will tell me they loved it at the age of 24 months.

I think this is all fair, under 6 or 7 I can see there wouldn't be much appeal, but at that age much of entertainment is sensory and they are usually as pleased with seeing a duck waddling or a custodial make a Mickey with a broom as they are with attractions, so there's no need for WDW to design its parks to the whims of 5 year olds who will barely remember the trip in years to come at the expense of every other age group's interests (especially when they're not the ones paying thousands of dollars).

By 7 or 8 years old kids are totally able to appreciate it though, so it's doing them a disservice to say they, or any kids older than that, would be bored by EPCOT.

 

[Absimilliard]

probably due of the Inverse winds in high attitudes. aka "Jet Streams"
very strong between Japan towards the US.
Thus flying from US to Japan = more time and uses more fuel.

Incorrect I am affraid. It is simply a shorter flight by distance. Remember: the Earth is not flat and it take longer to fly across the ocean than just going over the Polar region. This link shows the "Grand Circle" route for the Toronto-Tokyo flight. Grand circle mean it is the shortest flight by distance when you count in the shape of the earth.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=yyz-nrt

Notice it is nearly the same as today's flight?

 

[BrerJon]

I think that Disney Parks & Imagineering needs to substantially increase the amount of people that work on new rides and do these kind of rehabs. There is just so much **** now that is constantly needing to be upgraded and replaced all over the world, plus the demand for construction of new parks & hotels, that it has impacted their ability to do things timely.

It's under investment over the years mounting up to bite them, and poor management.

People say how thinly Disney is having to spread itself nowadays, but in the 1990s it was building Disneyland Paris, Animal Kingdom, many new resorts, DVC in Hilton Head and Vero Beach, plus had new parades and attractions every year... that all adds up to *way more* than they're doing now, even if we include Shanghai (which isn't that much bigger than Paris when you look at the plans, despite all the hype). And that was at a time when they didn't have much money... now they have billions upon billions more to spend than they did back then, so there is no excuse whatsoever.

 

[TP2000]

There will be a few major attractions as part of this, and when I say few that usually means two. There will also be ... others, the kind that only insane folks plan $5,000 weeks at WDW on.

Al Lutz and his Miceage boys have a new update up this morning. You should go read it @WDW1974 , as it plays directly into what you have been saying here for weeks. Some of Cars Land is going to be cloned for DHS... http://micechat.com/85860-miceage-update-bridge-to-nowhere/

The rest of the new Miceage Update is the usual dishy goodness that is aimed almost exclusively at Disneyland and West Coasters. But once every three or four months the Miceage team remembers that there is a Disney theme park also in Florida and mentions it in passing. This is one of those updates.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Al Lutz and his Miceage boys have a new update up this morning. You should go read it @WDW1974 , as it plays directly into what you have been saying here for weeks. Some of Cars Land is going to be cloned for DHS... http://micechat.com/85860-miceage-update-bridge-to-nowhere/

The rest of the new Miceage Update is the usual dishy goodness that is aimed almost exclusively at Disneyland and West Coasters. But once every three or four months the Miceage team remembers that there is a Disney theme park also in Florida and mentions it in passing. This is one of those updates.

Well, the DHS makeover sounds less impressive with every iteration of rumors. I hope the Star Wars part is impressive, at least. If Mater's is coming with a different theme, it doesn't sound very good for any substantive Cars presence. If they were going to do RSR or a ride like it, why would they bother to retheme Mater's?

 

[spacemt354]

I don't dispute that each park needs major work (even MK). The question was which ones need it more. Nobody can argue DHS is #1 now by a lot since Avland is coming to AK. I still think EPCOT is 3rd but way more needy than MK which is a distant 4th.

I feel there are different categories of need for the parks. The two main ones seem to be thematic identity and/or need of improved/upgraded/more attractions

DHS needs help in both establishing a concrete identity and more attractions. DAK has a strong story and identity. All it needs is some more attractions to help complete the park.

That's why, for me, if any park needs improvement it's DHS because of the thematic mess it's in.

 

[Next Big Thing]

I feel there are different categories of need for the parks. The two main ones seem to be thematic identity and/or need of improved/upgraded/more attractions

DHS needs help in both establishing a concrete identity and more attractions. DAK has a strong story and identity. All it needs is some more attractions to help complete the park.

That's why, for me, if any park needs improvement it's DHS because of the thematic mess it's in.

This is how I feel (mostly). I do feel all parks need help in one way or another, but there's a difference like @spacemt354 has said here...

DAK simply is in need of more rides, same with MK (because of capacity reasons). EPCOT and DHS have identity issues and Epcot also has a decent amount of pavilions that need help, but there's no denying that DHS is most in need of help at this point.

 

[spacemt354]

Al Lutz and his Miceage boys have a new update up this morning. You should go read it @WDW1974 , as it plays directly into what you have been saying here for weeks. Some of Cars Land is going to be cloned for DHS... http://micechat.com/85860-miceage-update-bridge-to-nowhere/

The rest of the new Miceage Update is the usual dishy goodness that is aimed almost exclusively at Disneyland and West Coasters. But once every three or four months the Miceage team remembers that there is a Disney theme park also in Florida and mentions it in passing. This is one of those updates.

Excerpt of the article regarding Mater's...

"A copy of the ride, re-themed to Woody from Toy Story, will be one of three small rides being added to a new Toy Story Playland area, to be built where much of the shuttered Backlot Tram Tour currently is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The plans to directly clone Cars Land for WDW may have died at the hands of Orlando’s accountants, but at least one of the three Cars Land rides will make the trip to Florida, albeit with a different character and theme."

So is this suggesting that Mater's will be rethemed to Woody? And the actual Mater attraction isn't coming?

I'm confused because the last line suggests that at least 1 of 3 Cars Land rides are coming to Florida. Luigi's (I would assume) is out. RSR probably isn't coming; if it does it be different, correct? And Mater's seems to be getting rethemed to a Woody ride, so is Florida getting just the Woody version or both Woody and the Cars verison with a different character playing the role of Mater?

If both come, well that's just repetitive. If only Woody comes, well, I'm really having my doubts about this Pixar "expansion."

 

[twebber55]

Excerpt of the article regarding Mater's...

"A copy of the ride, re-themed to Woody from Toy Story, will be one of three small rides being added to a new Toy Story Playland area, to be built where much of the shuttered Backlot Tram Tour currently is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The plans to directly clone Cars Land for WDW may have died at the hands of Orlando’s accountants, but at least one of the three Cars Land rides will make the trip to Florida, albeit with a different character and theme."

So is this suggesting that Mater's will be rethemed to Woody? And the actual Mater attraction isn't coming?

I'm confused because the last line suggests that at least 1 of 3 Cars Land rides are coming to Florida. Luigi's (I would assume) is out. RSR probably isn't coming; if it does it be different, correct? And Mater's seems to be getting rethemed to a Woody ride, so is Florida getting just the Woody version or both Woody and the Cars verison with a different character playing the role of Mater?

If both come, well that's just repetitive. If only Woody comes, well, I'm really having my doubts about this Pixar "expansion."

i get the sense that the Pixar part of the expansion will be the weakest and cheapest

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Well this DHS expansion isn't exactly inspiring confidence in me so far. Osborne Lights almost certainly leaving in 2015 in its current form (with no word on whether it'll return in some way), only carnie rides confirmed for Pixar so far (maybe all we're getting there, probably lacking a RSR caliber ride), no one knows what the heck Star Wars will be and even mixed messages from trusted people about the future of Great Movie Ride (74 says it's not among the rides that are safe while photodave says it's entirely safe). So far, except for the removal of the hat I am feeling very turned off by this mess...