The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[WildcatDen]

I do like seeing the ship split apart and Leo become a popsicle

Quoted for truth!!!

 

[WildcatDen]

Did another show ever do a better job redefining the character and atmosphere of a city than Vice did for Miami?

WKRP in Cincinnati. After all, we are a city of Les Nesman's and Herb Tarlick's. And yes, turkeys can fly (or fall with style)

 

[Darth Sidious]

It's like all of ABC's shows are synergy catalysts. So many mentions tonight.

 

[BrerJon]

If anyone in Disney actually believes we will forget about Norway just because of the big DHS redo they're dead wrong. I may get very excited for DHS but I will never forget what they will be doing to my favorite World Showcase pavilion.

That's like me with Horizons.

Today I went to the new 'retro' gift shop in Downtown Disney, where it's all retro merchandise based on closed rides of yesteryear like 20K or Mr Toad (no Horizons stuff yet though unfortunately).

I suspect that will have a Maelstrom section in a couple of years so Disney will hope at least some people remember the ride, then remember to open their wallets.

 

[BrerJon]

But the talk immediately changed from all Maelstrom/Frozen to ''What is Disney doing?''

Yeah, no accident at all.

The announcement of the Backlot closure seemed to come out of the blue. Might this have been fast-tracked to try to shut down the Maelstrom protests and give something else to discuss?

 

[Mike S]

That's like me with Horizons.

Today I went to the new 'retro' gift shop in Downtown Disney, where it's all retro merchandise based on closed rides of yesteryear like 20K or Mr Toad (no Horizons stuff yet though unfortunately).

I suspect that will have a Maelstrom section in a couple of years so Disney will hope at least some people remember the ride, then remember to open their wallets.

I won't open my wallet for more retro merch. The Maelstrom shirt I bought online was a special case for my own reasons.

 

[BrerJon]

I won't open my wallet for more retro merch. The Maelstrom shirt I bought online was a special case for my own reasons.

I'm conflicted. There is some good stuff, and the vast range of Orange Bird merch is amazing considering a few years ago I seemed to be the only person who had even heard of it, but I never know what kind of message buying it would send to the execs as far as future plans go.

 

[Mike S]

I'm conflicted. There is some good stuff, and the vast range of Orange Bird merch is amazing considering a few years ago I seemed to be the only person who had even heard of it, but I never know what kind of message buying it would send to the execs as far as future plans go.

I don't think anything would ever be brought back except maybe Imagination in a sense one day which would only need a refurb to bring it back to its former glory. The only time I've ever heard of an attraction coming back after years of being completely gone and gutted from the resort is King Kong.

 

[JT3000]

And UNI hurt themselves with DA. There was no reason to advertise the "lightning strikes twice" slogan. That's about business, how huge FJ (WWOHP) was, the lines, how much merch they sold out of their...ears. The average tourist doesn't care about that... not to mention recapturing that kind of hype is near impossible. It makes you wonder about those phase 3 plans are now. You wanted insane returns, you got incredible, and somehow that's a disappointment. Mind boggling.

You're right, the average person doesn't care (or even know) about the success of WWOHP, which is why that is the hidden double meaning of the slogan, not its primary meaning.

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter's_scars

I don't think an inside joke being overly optimistic hurt them.

 

[TP2000]

Love the way the Micechat bois described the DLR Prez position in their column this morning. Nailed. It.

I waited until this evening to read the new Miceage Update, so I could do so with a glass of Scotch in my hand. When I read their take on the Disneyland President, I immediately thought of you and figured you would approve. It does seem to ring quite true, but nice to hear the ranks in TDA keep soldiering on with high standards for Walt's park.

Speaking of which, I am pleasantly surprised that the John Lasseter Vanity Project known as Luigi's Flying Tires That Do Absolutely Nothing (much like the 1960s attraction that inspired them) is being killed so quickly. I said the attraction wouldn't last, but am surprised that they are pulling the plug so quickly.

Yeah, that is surprising. Although it's also un-surprising to think they want to set up Cars Land for the long term and ensure it's ready for the long haul of at least three or four decades of operation, if not a half-century or more.

Cars Land overall is a mega-success for the total environment of stores/rides/dining/atmosphere, but Luigi's Flying Tires was the weakest link quite obviously.

This is yet another one where the Miceage crew is way out on a ledge all by themselves, as this came out of nowhere and no one has mentioned it before. If it's closing after Christmas, we'll know very soon if they got this one right or not.

 

[BrerJon]

This is yet another one where the Miceage crew is way out on a ledge all by themselves, as this came out of nowhere and no one has mentioned it before. If it's closing after Christmas, we'll know very soon if they got this one right or not.

To us WDWers three months warning of a closure seems like a total luxury! For us it's 'BTW yeah, that ride gonna close for good next weekend!'.

 

[TP2000]

To us WDWers three months warning of a closure seems like a total luxury! For us it's 'BTW yeah, that ride gonna close for good next weekend!'.

That's because WDW has never had an Al Lutz or a Miceage of their own; A reliable yet dishy rumor website to spill the beans and pull back the curtain on TDO conference rooms and planning sessions.

If the DHS Backlot Tour closure had happened at Disneyland, it would have leaked on Miceage about 6 months ago, then been fleshed out in follow-up Miceage updates for a few months until TDA was forced to make a public statement at the 60 day mark, then covered widely by the LA Times with Al Lutz as a quoted and slightly snarky source, and then on the last day there would have been 1,000 or more APs milling around making a small spectacle out of the closure.

There's actually a part of me that thinks the tight-lipped TDO format is a more gracious and smooth way of conducting business.

But it would also help WDW overall if they had their own Al Lutz to spill the beans and embarrass some folks in TDO that really should be embarrassed of themselves.

 

[misterID]

You're right, the average person doesn't care (or even know) about the success of WWOHP, which is why that is the hidden double meaning of the slogan, not its primary meaning.

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter's_scars

I don't think an inside joke being overly optimistic hurt them.

I know about the scar, and got the meaning, but the success of the WWOHP was all over the news and net, pictures of the lines, etc. The commercial was targeted at people who go to theme parks and the majority of these people know about the success of the WWOHP.

I think the slogan represented UNI's mindset going in about how big it was going to be, success-wise, not so much about the land itself, that lightning was going to strike twice. And according to insiders the numbers that were predicted were overblown and near impossible to attain and expectations that couldn't be met -- and that goes back to the lightning strikes twice slogan. And DA is now considered a disappointment by UNI. Spirit mentioned this as even having an adverse effect on future projects. It looks to be more than just being optimistic, but overestimated and even unrealistic.

That commercial and train of thought was the wrong move, imo. They should have concentrated on selling DA more. And DA should have been viewed by the suits as needed growth to expand the resorts appeal to vacationing families and their Disney Days they're trying to steal. Seeing it as the game changer FJ wasn't the right move. The moment I saw the commercial it hit me that they were expecting it to be more than could be delivered and placed it very high (even in their own minds) in regards of expectation.

DA is awesome. EFG is very, very cool. But I think it was marketed wrong. It struck me that it was more about business than pushing a cool new land, imo.

 

[Darth Sidious]

LOTR would require an entire new park to do it justice, bigger than Potter. They say the estate isn't interested in having it in a theme park. They say a lot of things... At one time there was no interest at all of making a film out of LOTR.

ST would be like one ride.

And UNI hurt themselves with DA. There was no reason to advertise the "lightning strikes twice" slogan. That's about business, how huge FJ (WWOHP) was, the lines, how much merch they sold out of their...ears. The average tourist doesn't care about that... not to mention recapturing that kind of hype is near impossible. It makes you wonder about those phase 3 plans are now. You wanted insane returns, you got incredible, and somehow that's a disappointment. Mind boggling.

Diagon Alley raised the bar and set the standard for top notch themed areas. Maybe the Gringotts ride isn't as amazing as Forbidden Journey but it is good and still produces lines on slow days that you'd typically see in WDW on New Years Eve.

Universal was silly to expect huge increases again when they've already grown so much attendance wise from the first HP. They need to realize that as they grow their base average attendance the percentage uptick won't be some huge number anymore. They still hit a home run! Lol... Nobody's perfect though.

 

[stevehousse]

The announcement of the Backlot closure seemed to come out of the blue. Might this have been fast-tracked to try to shut down the Maelstrom protests and give something else to discuss?

But I don't think people care as much about the BLT closure as they do with Maelstrom...

 

[71jason]

BTW, two UNI tidbits.

But I want to be crystal clear:

UNI doesn't have theme park rights to either LoTR and/or Star Trek.

Could it change? Sure. But they don't have them now, no matter what some fanbois think or what UNI has blue-skied.

After that interview with Christopher Tolkein a couple years ago, not shocked.

So does UNI have the rights to any new IP? Or will KidZone re-do be a property we've already seen somewhere else?

 

[tahqa]

Diagon Alley raised the bar and set the standard for top notch themed areas. Maybe the Gringotts ride isn't as amazing as Forbidden Journey but it is good and still produces lines on slow days that you'd typically see in WDW on New Years Eve.

There's no debate that Gringotts is a good ride. But right now, at this moment, it has a 10 minute wait compared to 30 minutes for Minions and 15 minutes for Transformers.

Again, not debating the quality of the ride... just the assertion that it produces lines one slow days that rival WDW on New Years Eve...

 

[PhotoDave219]

There's no debate that Gringotts is a good ride. But right now, at this moment, it has a 10 minute wait compared to 30 minutes for Minions and 15 minutes for Transformers.

Again, not debating the quality of the ride... just the assertion that it produces lines one slow days that rival WDW on New Years Eve...

Well, it was creating those lines for technical issues. When you only had 3 ride vehicles on the track, you had a giant line.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Diagon Alley raised the bar and set the standard for top notch themed areas. Maybe the Gringotts ride isn't as amazing as Forbidden Journey but it is good and still produces lines on slow days that you'd typically see in WDW on New Years Eve.

Universal was silly to expect huge increases again when they've already grown so much attendance wise from the first HP. They need to realize that as they grow their base average attendance the percentage uptick won't be some huge number anymore. They still hit a home run! Lol... Nobody's perfect though.

Just proves that Uni execs are as number driven as the Mouse.

 

[Reddog]

BTW, this week marks the 30th Anniversary of Miami Vice. I was a fan of the show. I even may have dressed a bit like Crockett and Tubbs back in the 80s. But really, anyone who enjoys TV today should understand and appreciate that the show set the mark for an entire new style of big screen production values (music, fashion, lighting) on the small screen that everyone takes for granted today no matter what they watch. It really did things that were just not part of the medium before. Anyone interested, I'd advise checking out the Miami Herald as they have some great stories about the impact of the show (South Beach didn't exist until Miami Vice showed what could exist).

If I'm remembering correctly (it WAS 30 years ago), I recall seeing an entertainment news show talking about how the producers on Miami Vice were purchasing the rights to use original recordings in the show instead of the cheaper studio band re-recordings that were so prevalent at that time.