The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
OK, I did give Deb Wills kudos a few hundred words ago, but I will take a bit of a shot at her in that one of her complaints was that the Oogie show was a bit more adult than what Disney is known for. I'm sorry, but I just don't think that flies for a hard-ticket after hours event that isn't at MK. I haven't seen a video of the show (I may later this week), but I doubt that the show was even 20% of what you'd see at HKDL's Halloween let alone say at Bill and Ted's show over at UNI. This is the mentality that PARTLY allowed PI to be destroyed. No, everything Disney does doesn't have to be suitable to a 'special' eight-year-old. It's OK to be a little out there at times. ... Bob Iger does use the 'f-word' quite a bit, ya know? Let's cut the (s-word removed for your protection) and be serious about what harms kids (like say pedophiles working in theme parks or authority positions).
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Man, what I wouldn't give for a stateside version of Hong Kong's Halloween.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
SJN1279 said:
For my money, no Marvel or Superhero movie has come close to topping the original Iron Man.
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I totally agree with this. I remember when Iron Man came out and I was telling people that it was the best super hero film ever (better than that Dark Knight one was that out at the same time). While I have thoroughly enjoyed the MCU movies, I still think that their first film was the best. Just a great combo of character development, entertaining plot and a health balance of action/humor/drama.

Guardians of the Galaxy was awesome though and I would highly recommend it to most anyone.
 
baymenxpac

baymenxpac

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
OK, I did give Deb Wills kudos a few hundred words ago, but I will take a bit of a shot at her in that one of her complaints was that the Oogie show was a bit more adult than what Disney is known for. I'm sorry, but I just don't think that flies for a hard-ticket after hours event that isn't at MK. I haven't seen a video of the show (I may later this week), but I doubt that the show was even 20% of what you'd see at HKDL's Halloween let alone say at Bill and Ted's show over at UNI. This is the mentality that PARTLY allowed PI to be destroyed. No, everything Disney does doesn't have to be suitable to a 'special' eight-year-old. It's OK to be a little out there at times. ... Bob Iger does use the 'f-word' quite a bit, ya know? Let's cut the (s-word removed for your protection) and be serious about what harms kids (like say pedophiles working in theme parks or authority positions).
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this is the biggest problem i have with the current WDW product (outside of declining upkeep/quality).

when i was a kid, i understood why people would keep going to WDW after the grew up. it was a true resort, with world-class golfing, beaches (albeit man-made) where swimming was actually permitted, real adult-themed nighttime activities (PI), etc. even the in-park product had more aspects that were like any animated disney film in the '90s: appeal to kids, but jokes that only the adults got.

but then disney moved the goalposts on us, to the point where when i go to central florida exclusively to WDW, i feel odd. at times, uncomfortable. because no, meeting college kids playing prince and princesses don't do anything for me. and the parks are so stale, what's driving me back there other than addiction? nothing.

making everything exclusively with eight year olds in mind is awful, but it's reality in WDW.
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
GiveMeTheMusic said:
They are not involved in every day casting - they're out in CA - but they do have veto power. In the case of Frozen faces, operational needs have outweighed casting, I assume at the demand of management.
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Which makes sense, since beggars can't be choosers LOL - there is no shortage of good looking aspiring actors of all kinds appropriate types that can afford them the ability to be more choosy in the greater LA area, not so much in Orlando these days (since Jive Records has gone the way of the Skyway and Entertainment at WDW is shrunk down as far as it has, they just don't flock to Central Florida these days).
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
Which makes sense, since beggars can't be choosers LOL - there is no shortage of good looking aspiring actors of all kinds appropriate types that can afford them the ability to be more choosy in the greater LA area, not so much in Orlando these days (since Jive Records has gone the way of the Skyway and Entertainment at WDW is shrunk down as far as it has, they just don't flock to Central Florida these days).
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Seems like now is a good time to bust this out.... thanks @71jason for finding it originally

 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
mostabjectandhumble said:
Agreed that it's worth the wait for people. There's authenticity to it and it makes it special.

I just got back from Villains Unleashed, and I had an absolute blast. I got to the park during the daytime so as to not fight traffic and sweated it out in however many degrees it was, lol. The rainstorm was welcome, and I'm so happy that it didn't rain out Fantasmic. I figured I'd not get to see everything so I planned conservatively--watch the opening announcements, fall in line for Fantasmic and the villain-themed pre-show, then run over to the line for a character. (The villain-themed sing-along during the preshow was actually pretty challenging, and some of the trivia was pretty obscure) I was lucky that the only character I wanted to see had an hour-long line, so I got to do more things than I had planned.

It was fun trying to scour for roaming villains, and I saw Frollo twice, but was too intimidated by him to to ask him for a photo, lol. XD

The lighting in that area where the villains were was really cool, it was all blue and eerie--and Shan Yu's area was completely dark.

Then I got dinner, and I loved the villain decorations at the Brown Derby. One thing I was eyeing but didn't get were the Maleficent Staffs--they sounded kind of hefty.

I missed most of the fireworks, but what I saw of them wowed me. : D It was so cool hearing "Sanctuary"--I think that's the name of the song during Frollo's part. There was so much smoke, lol : D Oh right, they played the Stampede during Scar's part. Awesome!

I finished up the night with face painting--I never tried the FX face painting that Hollywood Studios usually has there but maybe I will after now, the villains face painting was really fun ^^. Makeup artists were awesome ^___^

It was also awesome seeing all the cosplayers around, many of them had really gorgeous costumes, and dedicated to their villains of choice. : D

And the merchandise--yay! : DD It's so rare for there to be villain merchandise, it's even rarer for there to be male villain merchandise--I really like the laniard and the T-shirt, with Hades breaking out of shackles and some other villains looking on. Something that surprised me is how popular Shan Yu has become, he's even on the laniard! Good for him! : D

What I love about villain lines at both Rock Your Disney Side 24-Hour Party (also hero lines) and Villains Unleashed is that the meetings are so personal and memorable, at least has been my experience--you can interact with your favorite villain for a few moments and you are just in that line to see that one, before maybe running to catch another one and see this next one personally, in their own personal space.

I wouldn't want them all randomly lined up in a row and it just be a fast photo with each of them-- : ( the thought the staff puts into the locations of the villains--during Rock Your Disney Side, Hades was at Dumbo's area, I heard--who would have thought? : ) But it's perfect, since he's like a ringmaster. And same for the locations of the villains during Villains Unleashed---Evil Queen kind of off by herself in the park, Facilier and Cruella in the thick of things in the middle of the main road, Shan Yu in the Chinatown? area of Streets of America, Jafar by the public library in Streets of America, which fits since he reads quite a bit in the movie. : DD

I also like how there were more villains being unleashed---I definitely don't remember Prince John or the Song of the South villains being there before, that was a treat.: ) It seems like Hades' minions ascended to villain status for the countdown of 50 villains, which was also cool. : D

Finally, I think the hard ticket did make a difference--if there had been a cap on tickets, a lot of people who wanted to go would not have been able to go, but if it was open attendance, then a lot of people would just show up out of curiosity. The people that were there at least knew what they wanted to do. Of course the trick is to prioritize, but even with an attendance cap for the event, if a thousand people want to go see this one character, the line is going to be long and might get cut off. This happened during the 24-hour party with Hades---there were plenty of other villains and I heard their lines were fine (Certainly Jafar's was : DD) but Hades got swamped.

In sum, I love Villains Unleashed and I really hope they do it again next year. I don't have any criticisms, and I really hope they keep the villains meet-and-greets as they are now--one-at-a-time. They are truly special--yes, the princesses are special, too, but villains have never been in a "set" or "line" as the princesses have been. Each villain is unique and the ones that have their own separate meeting space deserve to keep their own separate meeting space. I do hope that some of the roaming villains will come back next year with their own meeting space. : DDDDDDD

I rate this event, on a scale of 1-10, an 11. XDDDD
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Woah, this is the post of the decade. Pure Gold, should go in the WDW magic post hall of fame. Almost as if it were written by someone at Disney...oh, wait.

I'm really surprised that someone from Disney would actually come here, post this AND expect peeps to not see right through it lol : DDDDDDD XDDD ;DD : D whatever all that carp means. I think I'll need to have my 13 year old daughter come read this and translate for me.
 
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MKCP 1985

MKCP 1985

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
Spirited Weekend Musings:

If even Deb Wills is ripping your hard ticket event, then you likely effed it up bigtime.

Look, I find the kind of adults that want to hang out with special 'rare' foamheads to be ... well, a bit strange at best. But that's their choice and they aren't harming anyone. But Disney is so taking advantage of this group/demo (see: any of my posts on mental health and the Disney -- and now UNI too -- fan community) that we all suffer with in park product. If you are George Kalogridis, who was seen skulking around last night's villains event trying to get his own meet-greet-and-grope location, how can you not view these passionate, devoted and, in many cases, crazy fans as a never-ending revenue stream?

. . .

OK, I did give Deb Wills kudos a few hundred words ago, but I will take a bit of a shot at her in that one of her complaints was that the Oogie show was a bit more adult than what Disney is known for. I'm sorry, but I just don't think that flies for a hard-ticket after hours event that isn't at MK. I haven't seen a video of the show (I may later this week), but I doubt that the show was even 20% of what you'd see at HKDL's Halloween let alone say at Bill and Ted's show over at UNI. This is the mentality that PARTLY allowed PI to be destroyed. No, everything Disney does doesn't have to be suitable to a 'special' eight-year-old. It's OK to be a little out there at times. ... Bob Iger does use the 'f-word' quite a bit, ya know? Let's cut the (s-word removed for your protection) and be serious about what harms kids (like say pedophiles working in theme parks or authority positions).
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First, what is the point in criticizing (or labeling) people who have fun taking a photo with Disney characters and who collect photos with characters the way other people collect magnets, stamps, or anything else?
It seems to me the normality of any of us is subject to being questioned by others with different interests.

Second, and this relates to the first, if you are going to criticize adults for taking part in the childish pursuit of taking photos with Disney characters, how do you reconcile that judgment with defending the Oogie Boogie show which combines a Disney cartoon character with non-Disney entertainment designed for an older crowd? The show itself consisted of a sword swallower, a duo of trick shooters who shot crossbow bolts into targets being held by their partner and another duo of fire swallowers, all with Oogie Boogie and his dancers introducing each set. I don't know where that fit in the theme of a Disney Villains Unleashed party.

My thoughts of that particular show, having seen it and the audience it attracted are that it is not a natural fit with Disney branded entertainment. People walked out - presumably not from boredom as happens at the Tiki Room, but perhaps because they were made uncomfortable. On the other hand, the show was also one of the most memorable things from Saturday night's entertainment.
 
ChrisM

ChrisM

Well-Known Member
baymenxpac said:
this is the biggest problem i have with the current WDW product (outside of declining upkeep/quality).

when i was a kid, i understood why people would keep going to WDW after the grew up. it was a true resort, with world-class golfing, beaches (albeit man-made) where swimming was actually permitted, real adult-themed nighttime activities (PI), etc. even the in-park product had more aspects that were like any animated disney film in the '90s: appeal to kids, but jokes that only the adults got.

but then disney moved the goalposts on us, to the point where when i go to central florida exclusively to WDW, i feel odd. at times, uncomfortable. because no, meeting college kids playing prince and princesses don't do anything for me. and the parks are so stale, what's driving me back there other than addiction? nothing.

making everything exclusively with eight year olds in mind is awful, but it's reality in WDW.
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This is one of the best posts I've read in years; 100% spot-on accurate.

I'm doing another blow out all-WDW trip with my kids (G7 and B6) in a few weeks and that's probably it for us. We'll head back down to Florida in a few more years when they'll be old enough to really appreciate the Potter attractions at Universal, maybe spend a day at Discovery Cove, and spend some time at the Cape. If Disney finally has Pandora or something new to check out, they might get a day or two from us. But a whole week? Forget it.
 
PrincessNelly_NJ

PrincessNelly_NJ

Well-Known Member
GiveMeTheMusic said:
They are not involved in every day casting - they're out in CA - but they do have veto power. In the case of Frozen faces, operational needs have outweighed casting, I assume at the demand of management.
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I wonder if that is why we have yet to see a Character meal with A&E.

I just read that a Travel agency is hosting an Anna & Elsa breakfast for $80 pp on Sept 24th in Epcot...
I thought that was weird.
 
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GiveMeTheMusic

GiveMeTheMusic

Well-Known Member
PrincessNelly_NJ said:
I wonder if that is why we have yet to see a Character meal with A&E.

I just read that a Travel agency is hosting an Anna & Elsa breakfast for $80 pp on Sept 24th in Epcot...
I thought that was weird.
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It's probably a one-off special event, and they are probably paying dearly for their presence. You could call tomorrow and book your own private Anna and Elsa party - if you've got the cash.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
danv3 said:
More $$$ special events? You betcha. Disney just announced a hard ticket event within a hard ticket event. ($99 dessert party at MNSSHP).
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