There’s probably no reasonable scenario where it will ever be “fixed”
Tourism has increased but his projects saw obvious growth at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I challenge you to come up with any Imagineering lead that has spent money more efficiently with the same level of consistency as Rohde?
Stay on top of the bridge with those that are actually discussing potential here…my advice.
Ok. WDI doesn’t directly “drive attendance”. But I don’t want to get into a WDI fanclub discussion. I think we can have our areas of concern/focus and they differ. That’s fine.
This just doesn't speak to the reality of the situation, though. There are far more blatantly broken things that even the uninitiated can detect. Those warrant attention before this does. Essentially swapping out an overly complex animatronic for a lighted stationary figure is not the same as "letting the attraction rot", especially when they've clearly done some level of cost-benefit analysis. The reality is that they've decided you see it for such a brief moment that B-mode is acceptable as the only mode. There is probably a more elegant middle ground, but it's honestly sensible to save that for an extensive refurbishment given how difficult it apparently is to modify in its current state. If there is a blight on Imagineering, it's not that they haven't fixed it; it's that they built something so ridiculously complex and implausible to repair in the first place for a blink-and-you-miss-it figure. I actually wish they would reassess and simplify unreliable elements more often.
I haven’t been rude to you one time. But with that said, if you don’t want to talk to me, I’m pretty sure nobody is forcing you to keep responding to me. Anyway, whatever you decide, have a great night, my friend!
WDI itself has been remarkably inefficient and bloated. But singling out Joe Rohde is incorrect. You're changing your argument in the face of a valid counter argument.
I don't disagree on Tony Baxter or Kevin Rafferty. I'm not sure Rafferty has headed many projects but he has certainly had his hands in major ones. Tony Baxter didn't have much influence over the last 20 years. Rafferty did, but in DCA Kathy Mangum was more of the lead if I'm not mistaken. That was also $1.2 billion to get a 2 million attendance boost at DCA.
I’m not arguing with you. Joe rohde has been involved with many projects that have gone haywire. Original dak being one…Aulani being another.
I didn't claim your statement was factually incorrect, just that it represented the most negative perspective possible and, relative to the scope of the problem in the eyes of the average guest, isn't reflective of general public perception. "Blight" is a strong word for something that most people won't notice, whereas ...
You slowly pass by dozens of figures in poor repair in attractions like Journey into Imagination, it's a small world, and, until recently, Splash Mountain. You have rides like Space Mountain and Spaceship Earth where the entire system feels as if it's about to shake apart. The carnotaurus frequently makes appearances as a head on a pole. Audio cuts in and out and is of awful quality on various rides. These are all obvious-to-anyone problems, unlike the yeti.
I meant the reality of how it is broadly perceived rather than how it is perceived by the small group of people who ever saw it functioning, remember, and care in a disproportionately outsize way.
I fail to see how something functioning in permanent B-mode is worse than something not functioning at all, constantly feeling as if it may derail at any moment, or regularly utilizing recognizably compromised figures. I suppose your opinion is your opinion, but it has always seemed to me to be such a weird hill to die on. We at least know that there are extenuating circumstances in this case, whereas there is absolutely no reason why, say, it's a small world cannot be kept in working order at all times.
If that is the case, then I retract the statement about it being inherently flawed. I thought I'd read that extraction and replacement were supremely difficult. I do still maintain that the animatronic is overly complex for how it's implemented if it is indeed especially costly to maintain.
