MK Walt Disney to Appear in Carousel of Progress with New Audio-Animatronic at Magic Kingdom

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

This worries me. Lets say there really is problems with the Walt animatronic at DLR. Lets say they give up on Walt in CoP because of problems with the Walt animatronic, THEN the finance folks can make a case for cost savings by scrapping the the Walt animatronic in CoP and then CoP is BACK on the chopping block.

I hope this is just my irrational thoughts

Honestly, if it does Infact get to that point.. why not just simply cut the Walt AA if they can’t get it right and simply introduce some upgrades to the show. But if they know they can’t get it right atm, maybe they should just refurbish it (maybe upgrade the AAs similar to how Country Bears did it but just make sure the high pressure parts are replaced with the servo controls, and the lesser, you can keep hydraulic) maybe enhance some of the spfx here & there but keep the show the same. And with that, why not up the amount of merch. Sell plush toys (Rover anyone?) & figures (maybe even adult collector figure dioramas, ornaments maybe??) of the characters, come out with a Little Golden Book (or just a regular full sized storybook would do), get some themed t-shirts/sweaters (how about that progress city university sweater Patricia is wearing? The “My Food Rocks” apron John’s wearing at the end, Sarsaparilla/Root Beer mug anyone? ) out that rep and feature memorable scenes & lines from the show, and commemorative merchandise out to celebrate it, promote it properly on social media & other appropriate channels. The point is to get more people to see the show & help disperse capacity in the park better, correct? Then just do that. No more chopping block/closing worry.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Truth is too. The big fans, the social media influencers, or even just guests that wanna get something specific and special to take home from their park experience/visit. They wanna get something like that to take home or to gift someone. I promise. Release that stuff, they ‘will’ sell. Maybe Funko Pops of the characters would do too? Just imagine getting all the different eras of each character, repping each scene. Folks will wanna collect that, I promise. Same goes for the Country Bears on that note.

 

[jah4955]

Wonder if this could give them time to figure out ways to fix the Walt figure to look & sound more accurate to how he should.
View attachment 893723(Should use the Blaine Gibson sculpt for the partners statue for core sculpture reference/usage, and the audio should have the AI modulation taken out, present the clips as they were, properly restored/remastered) And if the Walt AA at the Carousel of Progress is gonna be dressed differently, etc. Maybe that one will be done right this time around. Time will tell. You’d hope they’d taken the guest (and even the Disney family) criticism to heart though.
Also, perhaps we could switch the opening film DL audio to Julie Andrews doing the narration again?

This! Or use Navckid Keyd for narration (they censored his REAL name when I tried to type it ?). It was just reported he's still looking for work, and he did great with Walt centennial TV special organized by the Greenes (whom I also love!).

Crazy that next year is the 125th anniversary of this birth. It "feels like yesterday" we were celebrating his centennial

 

[MisterPenguin]

This! Or use Navckid Keyd for narration (they censored his REAL name when I tried to type it ?).

Forum filters are dumb. Some naughty words are naughty only in context, but OK in other contexts. But the filter isn't an AI trained to tell the difference. At one time "Dick" was censored, but not any more. However the second word of "Van Dyke" is still on the forbidden list.

 

[Chester&Hester Enthusiast]

At one time "Dick" was censored, but not any more. However the second word of "Van Dyke" is still on the forbidden list.

Unless you're a penguin who has a working history with the man, of course.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Honestly, if it does Infact get to that point.. why not just simply cut the Walt AA if they can’t get it right and simply introduce some upgrades to the show. But if they know they can’t get it right atm, maybe they should just refurbish it (maybe upgrade the AAs similar to how Country Bears did it but just make sure the high pressure parts are replaced with the servo controls, and the lesser, you can keep hydraulic) maybe enhance some of the spfx here & there but keep the show the same. And with that, why not up the amount of merch. Sell plush toys (Rover anyone?) & figures (maybe even adult collector figure dioramas, ornaments maybe??) of the characters, come out with a Little Golden Book (or just a regular full sized storybook would do), get some themed t-shirts/sweaters (how about that progress city university sweater Patricia is wearing? The “My Food Rocks” apron John’s wearing at the end, Sarsaparilla/Root Beer mug anyone? ) out that rep and feature memorable scenes & lines from the show, and commemorative merchandise out to celebrate it, promote it properly on social media & other appropriate channels. The point is to get more people to see the show & help disperse capacity in the park better, correct? Then just do that. No more chopping block/closing worry.

I agree with everything you said and the moment I saw the Progress Tech sweat shirt on Sara I wanted one!

The problem is you are thinking like an Imagineer NOT like the Finance/spreadsheet committee that is running the parks today.

BTW, I came up with a Progress Tech shirt of my own:

 

[Figments Friend]

I think it's very appropriate that the new sign on the Seas pavilion says "Aquarium" on it because it is very descriptive that we are no longer pretending you are going to a seabase on the ocean floor. You are literally just walking into a lightly Finding Nemo-themed aquarium. Nothing special, Nothing futuristic. Just an aquarium.

And the fact that the folks running Epcot now consider this rebranding ‘okay’ really annoys me.
It cheapens the experience, although the experience was cheapened years ago as we both know.

They had something unique and cool that fired the imagination -
Descending to the bottom of the ocean to visit a futuristic ‘SeaBase Alpha’ and explore the surroundings.

Today we have something generic and common that requires no imagination -
A aquarium in a unusual setting that is overrun with cartoon sea creatures.

-

 

[jah4955]

And the fact that the folks running Epcot now consider this rebranding ‘okay’ really annoys me.
It cheapens the experience, although the experience was cheapened years ago as we both know.

They had something unique and cool that fired the imagination -
Descending to the bottom of the ocean to visit a futuristic ‘SeaBase Alpha’ and explore the surroundings.

Today we have something generic and common that requires no imagination -
A aquarium in a unusual setting that is overrun with cartoon sea creatures.

-

I feel sorry for those who didn't have that absolute thrill of adventure in believing you were going DEEEEEEEP. With this perspective, The Living Seas, WAS a thrill ride of sorts.

As a kid, I loved it thoroughly, but was also soooo relieved (with a pride of accomplishment) to be "back on the surface" (as UT thanked us for visiting while the (less frilly) exit hydrolators were "bringing us up."

I really believe many well-educated adults believed the illusion too (albeit a lesser/different/shorter degree), as Disney's reputation at the time was far-and-ahead leading in theme parks, such that many believed they could do ANYTHING.