The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[ford91exploder]

Would it also make them eligible for income tax?

I would assume so, Also Workers Compensation which will be a godsend. Considering the number of crippling injuries after which the college program just dumps the player(s) and leaves them to their own devices since they are no longer 'useful' to the athletic program. Which in my mind calls into the validity of these so called scholarships and the fact that the players are employees instead of students.

If a student on a academic scholarship has a serious injury it does not affect their scholarship status, On the other hand if a player on a ATHLETIC scholarship has a serious injury 9 times out of 10 the scholarship is pulled.

 

[ford91exploder]

I believe that the scholarships are currently exempt up to the cost of tuition, room and board. If this stands up in court, that will probably change.

But right now this is just a regional federal bureau decision. It will certainly be appealed but if the NLRB in DC upholds it, you can expect to see court challenges after that, and the NLRB has not done well in court recently.

If this does go to court, and it survives, athletic scholarships will probably end at most schools.

Agree, And then the college teams will go back to their old intermural status where players played because they ENJOYED it rather than being a de facto farm team for the NFL/NBA.

 

[SirLink]

Wait, you're saying that DAK is the best looking and designed....seriously?

In the states ... yes. Moving from area to area feels organic in approach. Best looking stateside Disney park.

 

[ford91exploder]

If they built a new land based on the latest movies we would be stuck with a value engineered John Carter Land.

What a horrible thought, I need a container of ACME Brain Cleanser STAT, It's amazing how Disney screwed up an Edgar Rice Burroughs classic.

 

[WDWDad13]

They're planning Harry Potter spinoff films based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them right now with JK Rowling writing them. Plus Potter has proven itself as a timeless franchise, which you can't say about Avatar. Going for Avatar first instead of a Star Wars/Pixar Place expansion for the Studios comes off as some seriously skewed priorities.

Pandora land could be called anything and have nothing to do with the avatar movie....because it's going to impress a lot of people...it won't matter

 

[SirLink]

What a horrible thought, I need a container of ACME Brain Cleanser STAT, It's amazing how Disney screwed up an Edgar Rice Burroughs classic.

Wouldn't the classic be Tarzan, John Carter isn't the classic. They should of taken the premise and bring it into a 21st Century feel. It looked way too goofy ... they should of killed it.

 

[CDavid]

Disney will land with Star Wars after Pandora which is also going to be full of surprises

Pandora land could be called anything and have nothing to do with the avatar movie....because it's going to impress a lot of people...it won't matter

Source please? What kind of surprises does Pandora hold? How do you know it is going to impress a lot of people?

 

[yellowstone7123]

In principle I agree with you, However at the athletic powerhouses the 'student athletes' are treated as employees and expected to sacrifice their academic careers for the benefit of the athletic department. Further as part of this so called 'scholarship' they are not allowed to hold down a job to meet their expenses.

The schools so far have been able to have it both ways, I think this draws the line in the sand the kids in this program are either STUDENTS and expected to meet the same academic standards as the rest of the school, Or they are professional ATHLETES employed by the college.

Right now the students in the NCAA Football and basketball have a federal graduation rate of under 50%.

So I think the colleges need to decide are they STUDENTS or EMPLOYEES?

Here is the top 25 University rankings concerning graduate success rate for football players, in descending order:

Northwestern, Notre Dame, Boston College, University of Miami, Rice, Duke, Rutgers, Penn State, Stanford, Army, Navy, Air Force, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Miami of Ohio, Northern Illinois, Iowa, Boise State, University of Central Florida, Utah State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Colorado State, TCU, LSU.

Northwestern is at 97% and LSU is at 77%.

The bottom 25 goes from 58% to 40%.

So between the top 25 and the bottom 25, the rate is definitely above 50%.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Pandora land could be called anything and have nothing to do with the avatar movie....because it's going to impress a lot of people...it won't matter

If it has quality then it will impress people regardless of whether it's a movie tie in or not. But there's already a lot to fear that the substance is going to be lacking. An already clearly massively value engineered version of the expansion is in effect, with the main E ticket coaster having been cut out per what insiders have stated here. So we're left with a Soarin-inspired simulator along with a (potentially drop-less) boat ride described as a "C ticket".

Of the two, the boat is the only one i'm really interested in at this point. Tired of simulators entirely, not an acceptable substitute (as a headliner attraction) in my book for a real ride travelling through a show building with actual physical sets and animatronics (don't care if they're labeling it as an E ticket). So the boat ride is the only real thing in this expansion i've even got my eye on. But it's extremely concerning that the imagineers have so little faith in it that internally they've classified it as merely a C ticket in quality. Little Mermaid after all was described as an "E ticket lite" during construction, and the Mine Train is only considered a D ticket internally. That doesn't give much hope that the boat ride will be better than an already disappointing New Fantasyland.

The only possible good news is the involvement of Rohde and Cameron, but there's only so much that can be done with a project if crippling budget mutilation ends up occurring (which is likely at this point due the failed money pit of nextgen). There also isn't anyone with real power involved with the creative process who will be willing to conduct political leverage in order to keep the bean counters from ruining things (like Lasseter was able to do with Cars Land when bean counters attempted to ruin that project). Like Fantasyland, I expect this to be a pretty new area to look at (again especially with who is overseeing the project), but I have my expectations for actual ride substance and quality set extremely low.

It is absolutely impossible to make the assumption that Pandora will be good at this point. We've only got a couple of models and concept art to go off and no substantial work has even started yet. We know too little to assume the best from this.

 

[Figments Friend]

I still do not think this makes any more sense. As I stated earlier, Song of the South was not yet the obscure title it is today. It was in theaters only four years before. The story only really makes sense today where the intellectual property has become unknown. This is why your analogy of a winter-themed attraction being given a Frozen connection is not quitter accurate. It would be more like someone pitching a Frozen aspect to an Edward Scissor Hands attraction because he too makes it snow at the end.

Yes, "Song of the South" was re-released into movie theatres in 1986 in honor of it's 40th Anniversary in a short, limited run.
My memory is fuzzy, but i believe it was a Summertime release. I have the old newspaper adverts for it somewhere in my archive...they were nice.
Anyone who went to see the film for the first time then were unknowingly being primed for what was about to unfold at Disneyland with the opening of 'Splash Mountain' in 1989.

It has been said that part of the reason for the 86' re-release was so the film could help promote the upcoming attraction....although i personally cannot recall if 'Splash Mountain' was even being talked about/promoted at that early stage.
The earliest i remember hearing about it publically was late 1987...early 1988.

The tale i have heard told was that 'Song of the South' was chosen as the theme as it fit the planned area the original Attraction was being placed in DL, and it would also make it possible to re-use all the critters left over from the 'America Sings' show that was slated to be closed.
Certain parties involved in the project did not want to see those fabulous AAs disposed of, so they were purposely recast as 'bayou critters' to fill out the cast ( and save a lot of fabrication costs).

Even back in the mid 80s when the film was re-issued i don't think Brer Rabbit and his friends were recognizable to most people.
I don't recall their really being a awareness of them...besides the random character appearance in the Parks.
They really came into the spotlight once 'Splash Mountain' opened.
They were EVERYWHERE...in marketing spreads, truckloads of merchandise, numerous tie-ins, and the like.
Most Guests today, as many did then, only associate the characters with the Attraction..not the movie...since many have still not seen it.

A shame too...as the animated segments are great and the film itself is worth seeing.

 

[ParentsOf4]

In case anyone missed it, WDW is raising parking another $2, from $15 to $17.

I can just imagine the conversation that thought up that one (referencing characters from Dilbert, in case anyone is wondering):

The C.E.O.: “Theme park gross margins are still well below what they were when my predecessor ran the company. It's making me look bad. I want you to think outside the box to come up with some original ideas to raise margins. Come on people. As a group, I pay you multi-millions each year to imagine the most creative ideas in the industry. Surely, you people can come up with something that will generate billions and convince everyone that I am the company's most amazing CEO ever."

Pointy-haired boss: “Hey, I have a great idea that no one has ever considered. Let’s raise parking another 13%!”

The C.E.O.: “Wow, that is brilliant. I wish I thought that one up. No doubt about it now. It’s only March and you’ve already earned your annual bonus!”

 

[yellowstone7123]

Agree, And then the college teams will go back to their old intermural status where players played because they ENJOYED it rather than being a de facto farm team for the NFL/NBA.

They would more likely go to club status which is a step above intermural. After Title IX, a number of schools had some of their sanctioned sports drop to club level.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

A shame too...as the animated segments are great and the film itself is worth seeing.

Agreed. If I recall correctly, they actually would occasionally run those animated shorts in a standalone form on the Disney Channel when I was little. It may have been alongside other Disney shorts in the compilation shows such as Donald Duck Presents, Quack Attack and Mickey's Mousetracks aired in the 90's.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

In case anyone missed it, WDW is raising parking another $2, from $15 to $17.

I can just imagine the conversation that thought up that one (referencing characters from Dilbert, in case anyone is wondering):

The C.E.O.: “Theme park gross margins are still well below what they were when my predecessor ran the company. It's making me look bad. I want you to think outside the box to come up with some original ideas to raise margins. Come on people. As a group, I pay you multi-millions each year to imagine the most creative ideas in the industry. Surely, you people can come up with something that will generate billions and convince everyone that I am the company's most amazing CEO ever."

Pointy-haired boss: “Hey, I have a great idea that no one has ever considered. Let’s raise parking another 13%!”

The C.E.O.: “Wow, that is brilliant. I wish I thought that one up. No doubt about now. It’s only March and you’ve already earned your annual bonus!”

Soon they're going to start charging you for thinking about parking in their lots.

 

[doctornick]

Been sitting on this, but the Star Wars project is being called "the 10 year plan" internally. Still no guarantee it will happen--again, words from the horse's mouth--but that's the current timeline. No details other than it will be "awesome" if you're a SW fan.

I think it would be pretty reasonable to make any Star Wars project pretty significant and to stage it (as was done with Harry Potter) to get multiple bumps. Star Wars as a property lends itself to multiple stages of development since different projects can be different worlds with different visual looks.

 

[WDWDad13]

Source please? What kind of surprises does Pandora hold? How do you know it is going to impress a lot of people?

 

[Computer Magic]

Eisner issues was not promoting Jeffrey Katzenberg and allowing Pixar to steal animation by using CGI where Disney refused to go. Both was caused by Eisner big ego. Frank Wells wasn't around to keep the egos in check. This all happened around 1995.

Iger know how to bring people together for a common cause. Steve Jobs health played a part with selling Pixar. I'm not sure what exactly brought George Lucas and Steve Jobs to Disney.
Was it the hate of Eisner or the smooth talking Iger that brought Pixar and Lucas to Disney?

I agree with those stating Iger biggest issue is he is not creative thus not playing attention to WDW.

 

[Goofyernmost]

In case anyone missed it, WDW is raising parking another $2, from $15 to $17.

If the purpose of that (other then just plain old increase in revenue) is to encourage people to stay onsite, they have to raise it a whole lot more before it isn't worth not paying the per night rate at a Disney Resort. I don't like it, but, it's not a deterrent for me yet. It's not even close yet! So... if you're listening Disney Exec's keep bringing it up until I can say... well, that's it for me. To connect it with Frozen...

Spoiler

I really should spend time at other places anyway.

 

[ford91exploder]

Here is the top 25 University rankings concerning graduate success rate for football players, in descending order:

Northwestern, Notre Dame, Boston College, University of Miami, Rice, Duke, Rutgers, Penn State, Stanford, Army, Navy, Air Force, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Miami of Ohio, Northern Illinois, Iowa, Boise State, University of Central Florida, Utah State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Colorado State, TCU, LSU.

Northwestern is at 97% and LSU is at 77%.

The bottom 25 goes from 58% to 40%.

So between the top 25 and the bottom 25, the rate is definitely above 50%.

You are talking about the School's graduation rates. I am talking about the FEDERAL graduation rate, i.e. once enrolled did the student earn a degree ANYWHERE. That number is below 50%, Remember if a student transfers to another college they no longer count toward the school graduation rate, Same holds true if the student is unable to attend due to financial issues.

The Fed's figure for a change is the most accurate in that it tracks students through their entire college career.

 

[WDW1974]

So the better question is....why are you pushing this so hard? Why does this have to be about a winner or a loser. They have both been good for TWDC in different ways...and they both have their own growth opportunities. (As most ppl do). Why is ME promo worth 20 pages in your thread?

I am not pushing anything. There was some interesting news this week when Michael visited WDW and that led to a conversation that was far more thought-provoking and deep than most of the threads around here. People joined in and it has been quite interesting conversation. Certainly better than talking about the kiddies coaster or MAGIC bands or UNI Vs. Disney: Round 7,890,654.

I do take issue with you saying the last 20 pages have been Eisner promotion here. That's just not accurate. I had/have some MAJOR issues with the way he ran the company his last 5-6 years. Some of the decisions were just horrible. That does not change all the great things that he accomplished, however.

I do appreciate your insight @WDW1974 , just don't understand the strong push to to make Eisner the end all be all.

And I appreciate the fact you appreciate what I bring to the table here.

My only push is for there to be accuracy in what is being discussed.

There's too much fanboi angst about Michael that has very little basis in facts. I believe in simply being honest, whether that means good, bad or ugly.