The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[SJN1279]

Um ... yeah ... sure ... Momma Spirit always told me when you can't say something nice ...but I don't listen to her anymore!!!

So ... get your eyes checked if you believe that ... and look around at other family coasters. You think this is going to be better than BTMRR?

The outside theming of Seven Dwarves is arguably nicer than BTM. The main drop looks like it may beat BTM. The music is iconic and is something that BTM lacks. Seven Dwarves will also have impressive animatronics, and BTM doesn't have that either. Will the coaster itself be better? Probably not, but overall attraction has potential to be superior to Thunder Mountain.

What other family coasters are themed as well as Seven Dwarves outside of Thunder Mountain?

 

[SJN1279]

Yes it is shallow, but unfortunately that's how society thinks these days...

1. The masses are , or

2. A person can be smart, but people are generally stupid

 

[Goofyernmost]

Not at all. I commented on the topic that was posted.

No, you singled them out as if to say, all the nice people are thin and we never have an unreasonable complaint from them. We never have an entitlement issue with them. But those damn fat people, they made us change our whole way of doing business just to accommodate them. Widened the queue's.. OMG, the end of the world is upon us. I guess that the money that those fat people spend is not worth as much as a svelte persons is. Theirs comes with actual gold thread embedded in their paper money. So Disney loses money on by letting them occupy a perfect persons space. You took it even a step further then Spirit. At least he didn't go to how evil they are, he just commented on how unpleasant they are to look at.

 

[sshindel]

WDW: More morbidly obese per square foot than any other vacation destination on the planet!

Man, Hershey Park should be ashamed! This should be their bread and butter. Deep fried bread and butter. Mmmmm....

 

[Funmeister]

No, you singled them out as if to say, all the nice people are thin and we never have an unreasonable complaint from them. We never have an entitlement issue with them. But those damn fat people, they made us change our whole way of doing business just to accommodate them. Widened the queue's.. OMG, the end of the world is upon us. I guess that the money that those fat people spend is not worth as much as a svelte persons is. Theirs comes with actual gold thread embedded in their paper money. So Disney loses money on by letting them occupy a perfect persons space. You took it even a step further then Spirit. At least he didn't go to how evil they are, he just commented on how unpleasant they are to look at.

Nope. Try again. I did not single anyone out! I commented on the fact that there is an obesity problem at WDW. I did not call names. I asked that you look at it from a different perspective. My point was not that people are annoying because they are fat. My point was that unfortunately there is a large population who are obese that their behavior warrants the reaction. Has nothing to do with them being fat as much as it does with them wanting a "front of the line pass" because they are lazy. Go ahead and use the argument that I should not judge because I do not know each situation. I know enough about some situations to know they are lazy and abusing the system. DO NOT try to paint me as being discriminatory. You do not know me. You do not know what I have done or what I have seen.

Goofy...did you know that in many cases major attractions have to stop operation in order to load and unload obese guests? Did you know that merchandise locations are/were redesigned not to meet ADA requirements but EXCEED them because ECVs require more turning radius than a wheelchair? Access has to be diverted in order to accomodate larger guests. Who do you think pays for it? Does Disney have a free coupon they can use because the work is done for obese people? Even though these changes are made to accommodate obese people it still costs money. All of these cost money.

Like I said. Take me up on my challenges and I guarantee you will have a different perspective.

By the way. I have never experienced a thin person asking for a "front of the line pass" in a wheelchair or ECV that did not have an excuse other than a medical reason.

BTW..please show me where I said they are evil. Once again making up sh**.

 

[spacemt354]

I have a challenge for you Goofyernmost. Not trying to take sides but I challenge you to go work City Hall for one day and remain sane the way you are treated because an overweight victim is chewing your because they are a "victim." Getting bitched out and taking a complaint from a guest that wants Disney to REDESIGN and REBUILD Splash and Space because they cannot fit in the log/train. By the way this is a daily occurrence not an isolated event. I challenge you to go work strollers & wheelchairs for one day listening to people talk about how that ECV is their ticket to not have to wait asking for an attachable basket to hold their 62oz. Big Gulp from the 7-11 on 192 they stopped at for doughnuts and cigarettes on the way to the park.

I do not think he put someone down as much as @WDW1974 speaks the truth. It is a FACT that Disney caters to the obesity epidemic. Don't believe me? Go to DAK. When you enter Discover Island take a look at the edges of the walkways. Notice the defined seam in the concrete? Notice the color difference? They "had" to widen the access due to the increased number of wheelchairs and ECV's. WDW has become the Wal Mart of theme parks. When kids are old enough to walk...let them walk.

It is a real problem.

I think it's a real shame that this type of talk goes on through the forums. Is there a rise in nationwide obsesity trends over the last few decades? Yes. And at wdw, yes it's true I've seen people take advantage of the ECV system. However, can you categorically proclaim that is how everyone in those carts acts?
It's very easy to categorize all overweight people as being the type of guest you described. However, I try not to judge all these people with a universal assessment because I have seen first hand the difficulties some people have to deal with regarding their weight that has nothing to do with big gulps and cigarettes. Many times it's biologically based.

When I observe people throughout the park who are riding around in the carts, I try not to judge. While shadowing in hospitals, I've seen endomorphic patients that simply were born with more round shaped bodies. I've seen people who have had thyroid conditions their whole life. And others, who's biological disposition makes it immensely difficult to lose weight. These people, who don't have big gulps and cigarettes, don't deserve to be categorized like this. Obesity is a growing concern for the US and I fear for rising medical costs over the next few years nationwide as the obesity issue leads to more health issues down the road.

I only comment on this because I don't think it's fair. While there are people (I've even met them in the parks) that act as if they are entitled to everything, I know there also are people who would probably wish to be walking around like everyone else. They just can't.

 

[Funmeister]

I think it's a real shame that this type of talk goes on through the forums. Is there a rise in nationwide obsesity trends over the last few decades? Yes. And at wdw, yes it's true I've seen people take advantage of the ECV system. However, can you categorically proclaim that is how everyone in those carts acts?
It's very easy to categorize all overweight people as being the type of guest you described. However, I try not to judge all these people with a universal assessment because I have seen first hand the difficulties some people have to deal with regarding their weight that has nothing to do with big gulps and cigarettes. Many times it's biologically based.

When I observe people throughout the park who are riding around in the carts, I try not to judge. While shadowing in hospitals, I've seen endomorphic patients that simply were born with more round shaped bodies. I've seen people who have had thyroid conditions their whole life. And others, who's biological disposition makes it immensely difficult to lose weight. These people, who don't have big gulps and cigarettes, don't deserve to be categorized like this. Obesity is a growing concern for the US and I fear for rising medical costs over the next few years nationwide as the obesity issue leads to more health issues down the road.

I only comment on this because I don't think it's fair. While there are people (I've even met them in the parks) that act as if they are entitled to everything, I know there also are people who would probably wish to be walking around like everyone else. They just can't.

Just to clarify my response. I responded in regards to obesity and how it affects business at WDW. I did not group all obese people together. I am speaking on personal experiences so I feel I have the right to make those comments. Not once did I call names. WHen I made the comment about the obese guest asking for a "front of the line" pass in an ECV with chocolate on their mouth? That is true. The guest even admitted that if they didn't eat so much they would not have to get an ECV everytime they come to the park. THEY said that. That is not me trying to pull a punch. I am sharing my experiences supporting a comment that someone else said. If that makesme a bad person...then I am a bad person. I just think that Goofy has a personal connection (whatever it is I do not care) and took personal offense to it. I am not going to apologize because I gave a different point of view. If anyone called anyone names it would be Goofy. Still waiting for the quote where I called obese people "evil."

 

[spacemt354]

Just to clarify my response. I responded in regards to obesity and how it affects business at WDW. I did not group all obese people together. I am speaking on personal experiences so I feel I have the right to make those comments. Not once did I call names. WHen I made the comment about the obese guest asking for a "front of the line" pass in an ECV with chocolate on their mouth? That is true. The guest even admitted that if they didn't eat so much they would not have to get an ECV everytime they come to the park. THEY said that. That is not me trying to pull a punch. I am sharing my experiences supporting a comment that someone else said. If that makesme a bad person...then I am a bad person. I just think that Goofy has a personal connection (whatever it is I do not care) and took personal offense to it. I am not going to apologize because I gave a different point of view. If anyone called anyone names it would be Goofy. Still waiting for the quote where I called obese people "evil."

Nobody (at least not me) is claiming that you are a bad person or you need to apologize for an opinion.

I will say now that you have clarified. It makes more sense. I think it probably could have been worded a little better before, but there's nothing that can be done about it now and it really doesn't matter.

I've dealt with guests like you have as well. I know where you're coming from with that and to be honest I was more responding to the general obesity debate, not necessarily just your comment, where I felt people were categorizing all overweight guests based on a bad encounter with one or two.

 

[HM Spectre]

The problem for WDW today is that there already are signs that they are pushing prices to their limits, without providing a corresponding improvement in content.

The number of empty rooms at WDW is at an all-time high.

In 2013, WDW averaged about 5,700 empty rooms per night.

This absolutely blows my mind. You'd think that with that kind of vacancy rate, WDW would be laser focused on getting people on property. When guests stay on property, convienience alone would suggest they'd be more likely to go to Disney parks than leave for a long Universal stretch, more likely to buy food on property, merchandise etc... without even mentioning the money made on the room itself at what has to be a low marginal cost.

Just goes to show you how short-sighted these executives are. They prefer to take their current customer base, gouge them via price increases and spend $2B on spyware to figure out how to try and milk them dry (as though people don't have set budgets and overpriced tickets/resorts don't drive people away). Meanwhile, Universal builds Potter for far less and sees their attendance go up at IoA from 4.6M in 2009 pre-Potter to 8M in 2012.

But hey, who uses money to attract guests to take advantage of excess capacity? That's crazy talk. Gotta keep grabbing for the nickels and dimes on the ground as dollars fly over their heads.

 

[Funmeister]

Nobody (at least not me) is claiming that you are a bad person or you need to apologize for an opinion.

I will say now that you have clarified. It makes more sense. I think it probably could have been worded a little better before, but there's nothing that can be done about it now and it really doesn't matter.

I've dealt with guests like you have as well. I know where you're coming from with that and to be honest I was more responding to the general obesity debate, not necessarily just your comment, where I felt people were categorizing all overweight guests based on a bad encounter with one or two.

Well, I felt it necessary to clarify because accusations (not from you) were being made. Also, I made it a point not to comment on the problem nationwide but how it affects WDW and business practices to contribute to this thread.

 

[Cesar R M]

Yes, I was 7 and my family and I were at MGM for the day. We got to the park and saw Beauty and the Beast first thing. We then went to meet Mickey. Apparently Eisner and other suits were watching the meet n greet interactions between Mickey and various kids.

After I met Mickey, my family was approached by him and the suits. They told us that they were looking to cast real kids vacationing in Disney for their new Disney parks commercial they wanted to film, scouting for kids to fit that bill, and they loved seeing me met Mickey and wanted me to be in the commercial. They then asked us if we wanted to tour the studios!

They took us to see te new mermaid show that just opened up that year. We got front row seats. After that was the backlot studio tour, private, just my family and the suits and the cms working. I got to do all the "stunts", my favorite being riding the bee from HISTK. We got an entire red tram to ourselves, an after that we got to tour the actual studios and got to watch the MMC rehearsing for a few minutes!

Afte all this we were taken to offices and started going over all the details with my parents. For some reason everything they said kind of scared me, and my parents made it seem like this was a huge deal and that if I didn't want to do the commercial I didn't have to. I was quite shy as a kid, so I ended up saying that I was too scared to do it!!!
They gave us some free souvenirs and were escorted back to the park.

One of the biggest regrets of my life! But it was fun getting to have that experience and it has always been my favorite memory of the Mouse!

What if they requested full rights of your face for your entire lifetime? or sell your soul to corporate Disney? Id be scared too

Many did not have issues with Starbuck's infiltrating WDW. Yes, there were some Starbucks haters but, in general, the view was that WDW coffee was pretty bad.

No one said squat about Starbucks new Epcot location.

However, in the world of theme parks, MSUSA is holy ground. Overwhelmingly, the protests against Starbucks centered on its invasion of MSUSA.

Port of Entry (POE) has an impressively themed exterior. However, many of the interiors of the POE shops are cookie cutter.

In POE, I'm more bothered by the Starbucks exterior than its interior. To that extent, you're right. Uni should be held to the same standard.

I think the problem is, Starbucks is everywhere.. having one inside WDW is like "something mundane" from "everyday" is inside a bubble supposed to let you let loose.
I honestly would as a student (after seeing one and entering one every day) hate to see starbucks in places I want to "be free". lol

So today is MLS soccer at WDW.... gonna be interesting. Hoping to god I dont have to fight for positions on the endline.

I dont think MLS attracts much people.. do they?

Ignorance can be fixed but stupidity is forever

But stupidity can be alleviated by education.

I had the "pleaseure" of visiting City Hall on Saturday afternoon. I was there to buy a Tables in Wonderland Card, but had the pleasure of listening to most of the others in line asking each other questions about guest assistance. I have never seen so many scooters in one place. There were some parent and grandparents with special needs children, a lady with a back brace, a guy in a cast, and some over weight people. I decided it was not my place to judge any of them - but for anyone who wants to complain just go watch guest relations for like 10 minutes and see for yourself. Some are real issues and some....well, if there is an advantage they will exploit it.

Been there, Seen that.
But not many people are like that, when I went.. I really seen people who really had an issue.. like this people who I think got mugged inside Magic Kingdom (more like stolen her purse when she wasn't looking)

It is also hard to take some guests serious when they literally have chocolate all over their mouth while asking for a "front of line pass."

or a giant pack of cheese or dorito dust.

Spirited Minion anecdote of the day ...

WDW is having a charity bowl-a-thon. CMs who volunteer to help out have been told they will NOT get a T-shirt for their trouble if they got one for helping out last year.

Billions in profit, they won't give volunteers (who make maybe $8/hour when they aren't donating their time) a cheaply made T-shirt. And people wonder why CM morale seems at an all time low.

Man, Hershey Park should be ashamed! This should be their bread and butter. Deep fried bread and butter. Mmmmm....

Next they all will have the delight to receive online "print by yourself" official stock disney images, so they can buy their own tshirt, print in their own printers, and iron the volunteer logo on it!
THAT YACHT AIN'T BUYING ITSELF, RIGHT IGER?

This absolutely blows my mind. You'd think that with that kind of vacancy rate, WDW would be laser focused on getting people on property. When guests stay on property, convienience alone would suggest they'd be more likely to go to Disney parks than leave for a long Universal stretch, more likely to buy food on property, merchandise etc... without even mentioning the money made on the room itself at what has to be a low marginal cost.

Just goes to show you how short-sighted these executives are. They prefer to take their current customer base, gouge them via price increases and spend $2B on spyware to figure out how to try and milk them dry (as though people don't have set budgets and overpriced tickets/resorts don't drive people away). Meanwhile, Universal builds Potter for far less and sees their attendance go up at IoA from 4.6M in 2009 pre-Potter to 8M in 2012.

But hey, who uses money to attract guests to take advantage of excess capacity? That's crazy talk. Gotta keep grabbing for the nickels and dimes on the ground as dollars fly over their heads.

Perhaps they're gouging these occupancy on purpose? aka, making it like the occupancy is scarce and thus gouging the prices up artificially?

 

[flynnibus]

WDW is having a charity bowl-a-thon. CMs who volunteer to help out have been told they will NOT get a T-shirt for their trouble if they got one for helping out last year.

Pinching pennies to keep that bottom line growing!

 

[flynnibus]

Well, I felt it necessary to clarify because accusations (not from you) were being made. Also, I made it a point not to comment on the problem nationwide but how it affects WDW and business practices to contribute to this thread.

Yeah, but your comment about the chocolate mouth, while even 'individualized', stands to paint a negative connotation for the group at large. True or no... in this politically correct society you can't single out fat by guilt because you might offend others who may or may not be fat by guilt.

And yes, WDW does cuddle this demographic (by guilt or not..). The concentration of overweight people at WDW ancedontally far exceeds the ratios observed elsewhere. It's a self-feeding cycle (ha.. see what I did there?)... WDW coddles out of the spirit of customer service... the number of people needing this grows as people become found of the coddling WDW offers compare to other locations.

Just as Disney was seen as a 'gay friendly' company... WDW is seen as a 'fat friendly' place.

 

[marni1971]

Can't the same be said about most of Universal's shows though? Sinbad, the Pet Movie Stars, Terminator, and Shrek have been there for as long as I can remember

You have a short memory I guess. They haven't always been there.

And both Shrek and T2 still play to packed audiences. So much so T2 is in the midst of a huge infrastructure upgrade.

Guess they must still be popular. Since you compared to Universal.

 

[marni1971]

The outside theming of Seven Dwarves is arguably nicer than BTM. The main drop looks like it may beat BTM. The music is iconic and is something that BTM lacks. Seven Dwarves will also have impressive animatronics, and BTM doesn't have that either. Will the coaster itself be better? Probably not, but overall attraction has potential to be superior to Thunder Mountain.

What other family coasters are themed as well as Seven Dwarves outside of Thunder Mountain?

Soooo.... about BTM at DLP being a superior attraction to this kiddie coaster....

You obviously don't agree? Just for clarification.

 

[TalkingHead]

Can't the same be said about most of Universal's shows though? Sinbad, the Pet Movie Stars, Terminator, and Shrek have been there for as long as I can remember

I don't think any of Universal's shows haven't been updated since the 90s.

DHS, on the other hand, is still running shows that debuted in 1989.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I think the problem is, Starbucks is everywhere.. having one inside WDW is like "something mundane" from "everyday" is inside a bubble supposed to let you let loose.
I honestly would as a student (after seeing one and entering one every day) hate to see starbucks in places I want to "be free". lol

My opinion ...

I am less bothered by the introduction of common brand names within WDW (or Uni). Disney has been doing it for decades, all the way back to the early days of Disneyland.

My main qualm at WDW is that a modern trendy brand like Starbucks is out-of-place for an idealized version of turn-of-the-century Marceline, Missouri. Couldn't they get another coffee brand that's at least a century old? Or simply have located it around the corner by the Tomorrowland Terrace?

At least the MSUSA Starbucks storefront is discrete.

At Uni, it's worse. Port Of Entry has such enthralling exteriors. The Starbucks sign is just ugly and grossly out-of-place.

 

[Cody5242]

You have a short memory I guess. They haven't always been there.

And both Shrek and T2 still play to packed audiences. So much so T2 is in the midst of a huge infrastructure upgrade.

Guess they must still be popular. Since you compared to Universal.

I just recently started going to Universal again. The first time I went was when I was about 7 and I remember T-2, Sinbad, Beetlejuice being there. Not sure about the Animal Actors show. So they've been around for 12 years. Shrek is crap but it is popular because of the franchise but I hope it doesn't stay around much longer. I'm part of the 50% that doesn't like Beetlejuice (wasn't a fan of the movie) but I understand why some people like it. T-2 is good and I'm glad it's getting an upgrade. I've never seen Sinbad but I haven't heard good things about it. Universal does a great job in the ride department, but they can definitely improve on their show department. That's why I'm not looking forward to their new nighttime shows, but I hope they surprise me. Just stating my opinion but I know I'm about to get bashed by you or @Pumbas Nakasak because it's a sin to critique Universal on this forum

 

[TalkingHead]

At Uni, it's worse. Port Of Entry has such enthralling exteriors. The Starbucks sign is just ugly and grossly out-of-place.

Not sure if Port of Entry's is worse, because I haven't seen the one on Main Street.

But the IOA sign is, at least, partially themed:

(Photo by Seth Kubersky)

The other thing about the IOA store is that it practically faces the lagoon, so when you see it, you aren't "deep in the heart" of Port of Entry.

Like others have said, it's not an ideal solution, but it's one I'm not particularly bothered by. The interior may look like your local location in Strip Mall, USA, but the exterior doesn't upset the area's atmosphere too much.

 

[Cody5242]

I don't think any of Universal's shows haven't been updated since the 90s.

DHS, on the other hand, is still running shows that debuted in 1989.

But they are still better than 3/4 of Universals shows. Little Mermaid is the show that's most overstayed it's welcome and there's no excuse on why Disney hasn't replaced that it B&tB yet with all of the franchises that they own