The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[wogwog]

People don't like to hear this. Well, WDW-only addicts don't. But I have noticed this since becoming a regular, and later a part time local, to DLR in the 1990s. People are so much more laidback and happier, whether they work there or are visiting.

So many WDW visitors are simply miserable. You see it in their looks, in their interactions with family, friends and cast. And so many WDW CMs act like they are simply working jobs ... bad service sector jobs.

I am sure weather plays a factor. In my week in Anaheim, I think after a hotter than normal weekend (80s during the day), the temps went from lows around 58-60 to highs between 70-76. All with no humidity. That weather is so damn liveable.

Then let's be blunt: DLR is so much simpler and easier to visit. You don't have to sell your soul to Disney and stay 'on property' ... you want a $1 McChicken? It's a closer walk than from MK to the bus depot. Want a Denny's Grand Slam breakfast? Same thing. Something better? Mimi's Cafe, Millie's, Tony Roma's right acoss the street for starters. No need to make meal reservations at all, much less ride ressies. It's just people going to a fun place to have fun.

Workers tend to take more pride in the resort and many have never been to WDW, so they don't get the whole mass market MAGIC that folks have become used to in O-Town. People stay out late and party, they don't leave after the 9 p.m. fireworks because they have a 7:30 character breakfast the next day.

The smarmy corporate O-Town 'Have a MAGICal Day!' BS is no where to be heard. Nope. Not once in a week did I ever have to listen to someone telling me that. Only one 'welcome home' and I'll forgive that since we were staying on a DVC ressie.

What it comes down to for me is that DLR is great place to escape and have fun ... relaxing and a great place to unwind and enjoy Disney. It's just not the same at WDW (not saying you can't have relaxing WDW trips, but that to do so is work and requires planning!)

Contributing factor to that observation may be DLR cast are entirely local to my memory of living in So Cal for decades. WDW has hundreds if not thousands of College program short term workers from the US and other countries. Some programs are as short as three months. Not the only reason for the difference but one of them along with the just greater amount of visitors every day at WDW.

 

[WDW1974]

Well, In all honesty, every action movie requires extreme disconnection from reality. Iron man probably dies within 15 minutes of the original movie from internal injuries due to his suit testing.

There are films that are easy to suspend disbelief or accept the world that is created. I find Marvel films very difficult. I am still trying to get what super powers Captain America has and why his shield acts so differently depending on convenient circumstance.

But the bottom line -- and I said this last year after seeing Star Trek (which I enjoyed) and Man of Steel (which I did not) -- is that in the CGI age of making more and more mind-numbing 'splosions that filmmakers are paying no heed to what the human carnage would be and simply ignoring it.

Marvel is king of this.

 

[Skyway]

Contributing factor to that observation may be DLR cast are entirely local. WDW has hundreds if not thousands of College program short term workers from the US and other countries.

I was going to point out this same thing.

DLR employees seem to have much more of a life outside the resort than WDW CM's do.

That's not a knock on them socially. But if you're away from home living in a tourist town, chances are you're less likely to be exposed to other experiences which add to your quality of life.

 

[WDW1974]

Do you have any other information on this? Should we expect the DLR and WDW (and maybe Tokyo?) additions to happen roughtly simultaneously or will DHS be postponed to later?

And if they have "thrown out plans", so that mean the previous rumored slate of attractions is off the table? We heard rumors of:

* Endor speeder bike coaster
* Ewok village and walk-through attraction
* Indoor Jedi Training show
* Millennium Falcon walk through
* Mos Eisley Cantina with "interactive dining experience"

I'm keeping quiet on Star Wars right now. Too much is in flux. Too many things have been tossed out. ... I will say to expect Star Tours 2.0 in Paris next year. And that MAJOR additions will come to DL and Studios down the line. Some of the above has been tossed, some is still in play. That's all you're going to get from me until I feel that things have firmed up.

I wouldn't expect any Star Wars product, beyond these obscenely priced character meals, to be added for years. Anything significant will take a 3-4 year build AFTER they announce it and start groundbreaking -- this isn't UNI working on Kong while Diagon hasn't even opened yet. I don't expect any announcements this year. You do the math.

 

[WDW1974]

The day care thing was close to 2 decades ago and Disney got heaps of bad press over it.

Again, Disney can't keep the fake characters from meeting outside their flagship store in TS (and they could stop it if they wanted). They won't do anything about this.

Please, they let Jeff Lange sell DVDs. They decide who they are going after based on all sorts of personal reasons based on who the person is and what the upside/downside is.

BTW, I'm sure they are quite happy they stopped letting him and his partner get free cruises and left the damage to Carnival. Micky Arison has very deep pockets!

 

[WDW1974]

I think its time you switch to the Florida resident seasonal pass at $339 with a $286 renewal. I mean, do you really need to be there when school is out?? and we all know there are ways around parking fees

You misunderstood, dearest A. I was talking about DLR PAP prices.
At WDW, my AP is still the least expensive although I have no idea what it went up to when they raised prices earlier this year. I think it likely is around $425. Of course, when I started getting it in 1982 (a Junior pass for ages 12-17) I believe my folks paid around $70 for it.

As for parking, I do not believe in paying for it ... sorta like Coke!!!

 

[WDW1974]

Why, what did he say?
I've got him on ignore...

I'd be careful, Numero Dos, lots of bad things can happen on a cruise ... especially one that goes to foggy Alaska!

It would be terrible if I had to comfort the grieving widow.

 

[WDW1974]

Skipping pages of Disney vs. UNI posts now ... brb ...

 

[KYWDW]

There was a lady who decided to live on the Delta Queen Steam boat and even had a spare room for all her junk. Not sure I'll ever understand living on a ship, must be a illness. My last DLR visit was so laid back and enjoyable (spent a day in both parks and literally rode everything) that it made my last WDW trip a tiring and unenjoyable time. I really wish more people would venture cross the country and visit, flights in all honesty aren't that expensive.

 

[WDW1974]

The Spirit does not need us to discuss him, that dude walks on water.

Actually, my fanboi minions carry me on water in a chariot throne made of gold-encrusted vinylmations ... but close enough!

 

[WDW1974]

The Cars Land stuff is still selling because it's still a popular franchise. If they built a Frozen village in Fantasyland and had a Frozen merchandise shop that sold exclusive merchandise should we praise them for selling themed merchandise?

They're selling what sells. You know full well that if the Cars Land stuff doesn't sell it's moving out. I suspect the same would be true over at Universal. I would expect that in time that the offerings in the candy shop might start decreasing, or the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes may start with more products then what it levels out at. Disney will continue selling theme relevant merchandise if people keep consuming it. The alternative now for us fan boys are the limited edition print runs of shirts. I'm sure they've concluded that Horizons shirts aren't viable enough to take up a spot on an Emporium shirt rack, but a week long ordering run is more than sufficient.

I think you may have missed the point. Sure, it's selling. It's selling because it is UNIQUE and, largely, quality stuff that is unique to its area. Much like Potter merchandise (although I have seen some of that in Port of Entry's large shop and even the MCO UNI outlets, while, right now, Cars Land merchandise remains sold only there).

I love what I see. And, I'll gladly admit to being more into the Cars franchise than the Potter one (although I love them both) ... I don't love smarmy attempts to sell fanbois on nostalgia by offering crap like Horizons and Dreamfinder tees or pins or vinyls ... and I hate that most fanbois are too gullible and fall right into it and buy the stuff.

I will NEVER purchase a Horizons item to give Disney $$$ for destroying something that was so important to my growth as an individual.

I didn't buy a $25 Orange Bird pillow they were selling at WoD, either.

 

[WDW1974]

Oh and since it is a Friday night, let me state that I am very displeased (but expected it) that ABC canceled The Neighbors and Trophy Wife for that matter while I was at sea ... yet greenlighted another Marvel show that only crazies like @Lee will watch.

Not very happy that CBS did likewise with The Crazy Ones while giving another pickup to Two and a Half Men or that NBC dropped Revolution after sticking it at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays when it was a 9 or 10 p.m. show.

 

[aladdin2007]

Just throwing this out there but after seeing Maleficent today, (and by the way thought it was fantastic, Jolie owns the screen of course) I kept thinking wow this would/could have been an amazing addition to Animal Kingdom instead of the whole avatar mess that no one seems to give a flying fig about lol.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Oh and since it is a Friday night, let me state that I am very displeased (but expected it) that ABC canceled The Neighbors and Trophy Wife for that matter while I was at sea ... yet greenlighted another Marvel show that only crazies like @Lee will watch.

Losing The Neighbors was quite annoying.

 

[WDW1974]

It's avatar land isn't it? They are gonna surprise us all with soft openings tomorrow. Joking aside I am guessing it's the festival of the lion king. Also if the seats were designed for shanghai then did the shanghai budget cover the cost of development for this ride and we just implemented it first? If so that is hilariously sad, even our unique crowning jewel to fantasyland was a clone of something else, meaning we couldn't really pay for developing one single unique attraction.

To be fair, I was just joking about the SDL part. But one does wonder if they manufactured them at the same time to the same specs. As someone who has lived in China, I can tell you the typical Chinese person would fit in the pockets of the average WDW visitor. ... I have had multiple friends ride now, all overweight to be fair (but none obese and certainly not morbidly obese) and they have all commented on this. To be fair, they all loved the one dark ride scene and the Dwarfs cottage at the end ... but the point is it would seem to be this attraction is going to be a tough fit for WDW's bread-and-butter-and pasta-and-steak-and-taters-and-cheesecake-and DIET Coke guests.

 

[Kman101]

I enjoyed The Crazy Ones, Neighbors and Trophy Wife so I was disappointed in their [expected] cancellations. I'm glad ABC kept The Goldbergs, personally I like it. And they actually made, IMO, a smart decision to move it to Wednesday's, where it should have been. Trophy Wife should of been after Modern Family. ABC's scheduling often never makes a lot of sense.

 

[WDW1974]

The Spirit was suggesting it was irresponsible to show a child (1) sitting at the bar (2) drinking a clearly alcoholic drink. (WDW has strict rules in what cups drinks come in when you get them at a bar.) While kids will likely be allowed in the bar area--and non-alcoholic beverages will no doubt be served--I don't think WDW meant to suggest kids could sit at the bar and chug down a rum-based tiki drink. That was all I was discussing.

Flat out, the artwork sucks. And a large number of people are going to think those are kids at the bar ... wonder what braniac thought that was great art to place out there.

BTW, having been back to Trader Sam's, again I will state that with a few EPCOT exceptions, WDW's adult drinks might as well be kiddie drinks because they are so lacking in alcohol.

Anymore than two drinks at Sam's would have me severely buzzed and likely unable to walk a straight line. In other words, they're great!

 

[WDW1974]

Good points, and everything in ride building is a compromise, right? The ride is supposed to be family friendly, some even term it a kiddie coaster. If that's true, then sizing it for kiddies, of at least a certain height, makes sense. If that's who Disney wanted to please, with a ride smack in the center of Fantasyland, I'm fine with it.
Heck, look how small the Matterhorn sleds used to be. Don't see many morbidly obese fitting into those.

Not all that different than old Space Mountain ride cars, I think.

To be honest, today's new Matterhorn bobsleds aren't much larger. They certainly aren't comfortable. I think we rode this about 4-5 times because they added a single rider line, which meant no more than a 10-minute wait even on the crazy busy days.

But the sleds are not comfortable and I can't imagine what anyone taller than myself (meaning average height) or heavier than me (typical American) would think of riding.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 can you clarify your understanding of the Avatar situation?Many pages back you posted that you had no new news on Avatar but had heard strong rumors the boat ride was cut or pushed to phase 2 (which is pretty much the same thing as cut). I thought you also said somewhere in there that nothing was confirmed.

There is a thread here that was started in April when the Mice Age update claimed that the boat ride was canceled. Some people think your earlier post is confirming the Mice Age story. Is this really confirmed or still just rumors?

I can't confirm the Miceage story, but it is sounding like that is the reality. When I know more, I'll say more.

 

[WDW1974]

Hey, I'd love to discuss it with the OP. As soon as '74 is back online, and if he finds it interesting enough to comment on, then I'll be happy to discuss it with him.
Are the new rules that we have to wait around until he is available for comment though? If so, I guess I'll tap out. I'm never up late enough in the evenings anymore to be online when he is.

I am here right now, although I am peacing out for the night very soon. At least I feel like I can talk about some things now that won't have 21 pages of filler in between (BTW, the Philly steak sandwiches on DCL are tasty, but they most definitely are not the real deal!) ... I like to post late when I can, but I am often free at all sorts of hours (although I did sleep 11 hours last night as I am still exhausted from five weeks of fun! ... I am getting OLD!!!!!)