Talk about theming and immersiveness! No value engineering here! You can even meet all your favorite characters. Look at (a slightly aged) Jessica Rabbit meeting people out front!
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
The Spirited Sixth Sense ...
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
Talk about theming and immersiveness! No value engineering here! You can even meet all your favorite characters. Look at (a slightly aged) Jessica Rabbit meeting people out front!
71jason
Well-Known Member
That's nice, they better send more buses to DTD
Win^
spacemt354
Chili's
Maybe it had to you, but to a majority of others it hasn't.
If popularity peaked with the release of book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...
Can you explain why in 2007, the release of book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, broke the record for the fastest selling book of all time? 15 million copies in 24 hours. This record is still held to this day.
If the popularity had peaked by book 6, can you explain why in 2010, the opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter produced these crowds?
http://www./wp-content/uploads/2010/06/54408252.jpg
If the popularity had peaked by book 6, can you explain why the theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 grossed over $1.3 Billion (with a B) making it the 4th highest grossing film of all time and the highest grossing film in the whole Harry Potter franchise?
If the popularity had peaked by book 6, why are Harry Potters film still being shown on TV? Disney own TV stations no doubt.
All of these questions can be summed up with the same answer. Harry Potter is popular among a wide variety of age-groups. You may not personally like it, but that doesn't mean just because you don't like it or don't want Uni to succeed with it, that it isn't still popular.
Last edited:
crispy
Well-Known Member
If my grandma wasn't dead, I would totally think that was her. And, no, I'm not kidding. She was quite the character.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
For example, Zack Metternberger (allegedly) sexually assaulted a waitress and he was dismissed within hours even though his momma was with the Athletic Dept for 15 years and he was groomed to be Georgia's QB.
So when you want to put things in context, lets put them in the proper context.
Choose a better analogy.
spacemt354
Chili's
Spoken like a true insider.
Don't come here with fluff. If you have information (credible), and you want to share, feel free to say it. Otherwise, please don't state opinion as fact. Just makes you look bad.
John
Well-Known Member
I agree we are all only spit balling here. But what do we know as fact? Fact: Potter has been a game changer. A financial home run. Uni will never overcome the powerhouse that Disney is but it put them in the same breath, which from years past is a miracle in of itself. MM+....again IMO wasn't about enhancing the guest experience, it was about making money. I think we all would agree that we would have a hard time believing that Disney would do to Potter as Uni has done....but lets play along and believe that they would have. The US government would be going to ask Disney for a loan. Disney has a built in fanboi fan base that Uni will be working to develop for years to come. Another fact: you mentioned the cost of development/construction that plagues every Disney project. I don't think they will ever reign that ship in...at least unitl another group of decision makers come in who are not part of the ol'boy network we have in place now.
I think there lies the problem with P&R at its core. The entire core of decision makers are all part of an inside joke. Only caring bout getting "setup for life". The end game is a golden parachute at retirement. Not to kill their golden goose. No longer is it their mission statement to give the guest the best park and experience possible, its about how can I set myself up for another promotion and more importantly....a raise or bonus. They truly believed that MM+ was going to be huge! Change the way guest would forever visit the world. It did....just isn't going to make them the money they thought it would. Not only did it not make them the money they thought it would it cost them more money they thought it would. Like some here this whole MM+ fiasco will have an impact on Avatarland. No doubt about it. Iger has no choice to be committed to Avland but at what cost? I would bet they still havnt nailed down a budget. Meaning that even the ones working on the project have no clue at this point what the end result is going to be.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I don't think DAK's problems can be traced to being too educational at all, the problem is that unlike EPCOT (EPCOT in its original form and a couple of years following its opening) DAK is lacking in enough rides and way too little has been done to address that. And the few headliners it does have are generally lacking in substance compared to ones built in 94 and prior. EPCOT's Future World was always educational in nature, but it had a huge buffer of quality substantial rides to boot besides just being an educational park (so it had appeal to everyone, even to kids such as myself who grew up visiting EPCOT in the early 90's and didn't realize they were being educated). The creators of EPCOT knew what they were doing (and bean counters left enough alone that we still got an outstanding park despite whatever budget cuts may have occurred).
Animal Kingdom has incredible potential (still does) but suffered from being built during the second half of Eisner's reign and received a lot of unfortunate budget cuts and value engineering as a result. As such the park always had the problem of too few good rides and there has yet to be enough to address this so many years later. Hollywood Studios suffers from similar problems, and even Epcot now thanks to the removal of many classics (they've made some attempts to cover this up with food and wine events).
The Safari is the only original ride i'd say is worthy of placement amongside the classic Disney greats, I have little to no problem with it and honestly really enjoy it (I find it the crown jewel of the park). Kali is largely just an off the shelf rapids ride, value engineered down from the previously fantastic Tiger River concept (basically a boat based safari that was going to be far longer with real animals to see and a thrilling ending sequence). Dinorama sucks outright, I probably don't need to beat a dead horse by saying why at this point (at least it can be torn apart quickly should they ever decide to build something better there, and almost anything would be an improvement over what amounts to a tacky roadside carnival). Dinosaur is in some ways a good ride on its own, but again was value engineered down to a tiny fraction of what it was intended to be (all the dark parts inside were supposed to be actual scenes at one point and it was supposed to be 2-3 times as long with an outdoor sequence originally). Dinosaur also gets a lot of negative comparison to Indiana Jones (some of which I agree with, these comparisons would not be happening had they gone with something closer to its original form). I also enjoy Everest, though again value engineered down heavily from what its true potential was (though I have heard that it boosted attendance substantially when it opened). The Discovery River boats are gone now but apparently lacked substance to see when they used to exist (again the original concept had more to see along the journey). And then of course you have elements never built in the first place such as Beastly Kingdom or the Excavator coaster, elements I gather were intended to be included on opening day before the budget cuts occurred.
There are a ton of options to fix DAK's problems while still being appropriate to its theme. It just requires money and the right creatives behind it. But it would require a mixture of new rides along with (IMO) a reworking of lacking ones such as Dinosaur and Kali to reach their full potential. Dinosaur needs to be actually finished at least inside (preferably with the original outside part). Kali needs to just been redone entirely using the Tiger River concept. Everest needs some better theming on the inside backwards part and some other show enhancements (JUST to start with switching back on the yeti and fog effects). For new rides i'd like to see a South America land possibly with a Splash Mountain like boat thrill ride (mixing safari elements with real animals along with animatronics and dark ride elements). I'd like to see Dinorama gutted and replaced with a large indoor multi-floor POTC like ride through the history of extinct animals (with animatronics of long dead species). I've other ideas as well, but that would be an excellent start (just needs the proper budget, creative teams and advertisement). And for the kids, I might not be against quality Jungle Book and Lion King dark rides (or boat rides).
Last edited:
WDWDad13
Well-Known Member
Spoken like a true insider.
Don't come here with fluff. If you have information (credible), and you want to share, feel free to say it. Otherwise, please don't state opinion as fact. Just makes you look bad.
I'm not giving my sources and I'm not saying anything specific unlike most on here do that turn out to be wrong. I know how these things work...things change up to the minute they dig dirt so we'll all just have to wait and see but I'm very optimistic as I am as well about the final result of Disney Springs. We just have to be patient (and I know it's hard haha)
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Ive been as patient as I can be with the parking disaster that is DTD.
I'd love for upper management to be forced to park there on a daily basis.
spacemt354
Chili's
I know how these things work too.
If it turns out to be a success, you'll say "see I told you! I know my stuff! You just had to wait!"
If it turns out to be a failure, you'll say "I never stated any specifics, sources, or actual info, so you can't hold me accountable. Things changed."
It's hard to pull one over on WDWMagic veterans. People on these boards are smart. it's clear you're not telling us anything other than opinion. If you want credibility? Back up your optimism with information. If you can't state anything other than "i'm very optimistic" and you don't want to give away your sources, etc, then why advertise the "optimism" you got from these "sources"? That's just going to draw more attention to the credibility of said sources and drum up interest as to what the sources are, which you claim you don't want to reveal.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
I don't necessarily disagree with your assessments, but, the only thing of any substance that was left in DAK was the animal edutainment venue. That alone, has proven to be a loser even in a park that was as spectacular and laden with quality rides as Epcot was. Rohdes ideas and design I have no doubt but think were probably spectacular, but value engineering cut it down to pitiful. You don't think that the suits are going to blame themselves do you? No Rohdes will get that blame.
DHS, as it was planned, could have remained a great park, but when they decided to change the theme from working studio they completely changed the atmosphere of the place. Hence the Ugly Big Blue Hat. They were a complete park when the backlot/stage tours existed and looked on real activity as opposed to what is there today. Almost all of DHS could be torn down and new movie based attractions could be put in place and be, at least, passable as Disney Hollywood Studio. Right now the massive nothing, the empty, lonely feeling places that are still open do nothing to inspire or really entertain. As I said, if they hadn't shutdown the live studio, it might still be relevant today.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Fixed that for you.
WDWDad13
Well-Known Member
With that logic then why even have a "rumors" board
What anyone thinks they know around here usually doesn't pan out and I'm not saying what I know will either so take it for what it's worth
WDWDad13
Well-Known Member
John
Well-Known Member
Everything all about "rides" to most of you all isn't it?
Could you give me the Rosetta Stone version please?..........huh?
Well they definitely missed some details with FLE. WDI has largely forgotten how to do forced perspective.
FWIW, after looking from high and low and all around I finally did find the one place in Fantasyland where the forced perspective works for Beast's castle- deep in the queue for Philharmagic, looking back just as you are about to enter the theatre. From most places the castle looks just as small as it actually is.
Last edited:
crispy
Well-Known Member
Everything all about "rides" to most of you all isn't it?
If we wanted pretty without substance, we already have FLE so, yes, it is about the rides and attractions for most people.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Have we really gotten to such a low point where trolls have become so desperate to shove their heads up corporate bums that we're seeing them actually mock anyone for expecting good rides out of Disney? Really now. Animal Kingdom NEEDS quality and substantial rides. It has lacked this ever since it opened and even so many years later there hasn't been nearly enough effort to address this problem. It already has gorgeous covered but that isn't nearly enough for a Disney park. It needs both to look fantastic AND have quality rides of substance, anything less than that is unacceptable for the standards one expects from Disney. It didn't used to be too much to expect both elements in Disney's park projects (with amazing AND beautiful rides like Splash Mountain), and Universal doesn't seem to have any problem with pulling off both either...