Wand Lovers

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Well, I have a couple of comments.

Since so many people are talking about what "average guests" think about the wand I'll share with you the reaction of my family when I told them the wand was coming down...

My sister, "Oh, is the wand a big deal? I haven't really thought about it."
My mom, "I kind of liked it. Oh well."
My dad (who just went to Epcot with me in May) "Wand? What wand? There's is a wand on the golf ball? When did they put that there? What does it look like?"

From that I am lead to believe that the average guest could careless.

Now if we are talking about why some people think it is the worst example of the cheaping of Epcot I will share an anlagy that I thought of while I was talking to one of my Star Wars geek friends.
Putting the wand on SSE is just like if Lucus had added a big red glittering sign that said, "DEATH STAR" to the Death Star when we went and re-did the earlier Star Wars episodes.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

Instead he created Jar Jar. Hed have been better with a sign.

 

[JimboJones123]

Instead he created Jar Jar. Hed have been better with a sign.

No kidding. You could only be lucky enough to get a Glitter Sign. Be glad you don't hit the "George Lucas Raped My Childhood" sites.

Along with taking down the wand, I propose a few other changes to WDW.

1. Take the color stripes off the monorails. Just numbering them is fine. This isn't Vegas.

2. There is a drink stand on Tom Sawyers Island. Everybody knows that Huck Finn didn't carry a MasterCard. This is terrible show.

3. There are some statue busts at MGM in front of the ABC/Sounds Dangerous theaters. TAKE THESE OUT. I'M SO TIRED OF SEEING IDEAS REPLICATED ACROSS PROPERTY! Yeah, the busts that are in HM are enough busts for everybody. This isn't Walt Disney's Bust World.

4. When are they going to put in a REAL TREE to replace that obviously fake one at AK.

5. Illuminations is trying to tell a story -- and all those fireworks keep getting in the way and disrupting the point of the whole thing. IT ISN'T ABOUT DESTRUCTION AND BLOWING THINGS UP??? When are they going to get that?

6. When are they going to change the name to the Grand Californian and not the Grand Floridian? The original hotel is in CALIFORNIA. At least call it the Grand Diegoian.

7. Dougnuts -- at the French pastery shop. It's France. They can do better than offering the same thing that the place at the corner, next to the laundrymat, does.

8. Will Blizzard Beach ever dome that place off so they can finally have the indoor skiing venue like Dubai? They promise one thing and never followthrough to Imagineer attractions to their intended glory.

9. I hope the rumors of changing the Richard Petty Racing Experience to the Watch Lightning McQueen Drive Fast By Himself Because He Doesn't Need A Driver *Plus*ing doesn't go through. Not only would people be upset because they would be paying $399-$1249 for the experience to not even drive a car -- just watch it -- but I think I would throw up -- choke it back down -- and throw up again if I had to see one more Pixar overlay.

10. Finally, why do they let the Lovebugs out during the late summer/early fall? VALENTINES DAY -- Did the suits forget about that one?

 

[bassman]

im a post wand vistor and honestly,i think that it looks better without the wand.

i mean,it looks great with it but SE just looks so majestic and almost mysterious in some of the old pics ive seen of it,and that too me looks better.
i cant wait to see it at the end of september,hopefully everything will be done by then wand wise.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

And I think sentences look better with capital letters in them.

 

[Sherrybaby]

This has been my whole guess ever since they announced the wand being gone.

If you think about it for a minute, they had to have motivation to spend the money to take that thing down. There had to be a reason. And as much as I'd love to think it was them listening to those of us that hated the thing, common sense dictates that has very little to do with it.

My guess is that they want to use SSE as a platform to showcase some major lighting tech that they can attribute to Sylvania... A division of Siemens. They want to, essentially, put up another sponsorship ad.

That being said... I'm okay with that... If they do a killer lighting package. That'd be much better than the wand.

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

 

[Sherrybaby]

While I can't speak for everyone, I hope you don't find the boards attacking for personal opinions. There is a large distinction between disliking something done at/to the parks and disliking those who enjoy it. The think with Disney is that the Parks mean a lot of different things to different people. In fact, "you" (meant with all due respect) were the reason the wand went up in the first place. It was an attempt to offer something for everone at each of the parks, a homogonization of sorts. Unfortunately, that destroyed what many of us who grew up with EPCOT Center as a wonderful place loved about the park and WDW as a whole. For the amount I'm spending, I don't feel the need to compromise on what I want (nor should anyone).

If you feel it was a mistake, speak up. You can and should defend your position. Flaming and bashing only comes from those that are not articulate or responsible enough to have an appropriate debate. Who knows, something you may say may help someone understand something new and vice versa. Imagination and communication are some of the best things we have as people. I learned that at EPCOT Center. :wave:

Yes, I do find the boards attacking for personal opinions, that's why I don't say much. But this whole wand debate really ticks me off. Like others have said it's just a way to get on the bandwagon and try to become friends with the more popular people on the board. This is a community like any other "real" community and if you agree with the leader of the pack then you are going places.

And I don't think the wand was put up for "me". If it was, then it would be staying.

Sherry.

 

[WDWFigment]

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

I can see your point here, and I really hope it doesn't come to this. If Siemens does the level of research they should, I'm sure they have seen the stink raised about the wand in the first place. That was/is a divisive issue, and it only put the label of the park on SSE. If they blatantly advertise on it (I mean something more extensive than the "Siemens" cast during ROE), a lot more people will be in the 'upset' column.

I would think they would do their advertising with an awesome new nighttime light display on the geosphere to showcase the power of their Sylvania lighting products. Maybe put a little display somewhere outside to explain the lighting, and right there you have a lot more discrete advertisement for your products.

Again, this is what I *hope* will happen. I can understand what you're saying, and I really hope it doesn't happen.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

Cool! How much are you willing to bet?

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Yes, I do find the boards attacking for personal opinions, that's why I don't say much. But this whole wand debate really ticks me off. Like others have said it's just a way to get on the bandwagon and try to become friends with the more popular people on the board. This is a community like any other "real" community and if you agree with the leader of the pack then you are going places.

And I don't think the wand was put up for "me". If it was, then it would be staying.

Sherry.

Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I think you will find the bandwagon travels in both directions, though. But, as with everything, these are opinions which we are all entitled to have. Happy posting if you choose to do so.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Yes, I do find the boards attacking for personal opinions, that's why I don't say much. But this whole wand debate really ticks me off. Like others have said it's just a way to get on the bandwagon and try to become friends with the more popular people on the board. This is a community like any other "real" community and if you agree with the leader of the pack then you are going places.

And I don't think the wand was put up for "me". If it was, then it would be staying.

Sherry.

Well, on every board I've been on they've put up polls in which a pretty consistent around 80% of respondants said they didn't like the wand, very few said they did and a larger percentage were indifferent. I don't think it's people jumping on the bandwagon, I think it's just that a lot of people really, really don't like it and have amply justified that opinion. Sometimes if you're in the minority on something it can feel as though everyone is attacking you, but I don't think people mean to.

 

[Enderikari]

Well, on every board I've been on they've put up polls in which a pretty consistent around 80% of respondants said they didn't like the wand, very few said they did and a larger percentage were indifferent. I don't think it's people jumping on the bandwagon, I think it's just that a lot of people really, really don't like it and have amply justified that opinion. Sometimes if you're in the minority on something it can feel as though everyone is attacking you, but I don't think people mean to.

Well, that's fine... Disney boards have people who care alot about the wand... But, bring up the Orlando Sentinel's poll about the wand, and you get a better cross section of guests to the Walt Disney World Resort.... What are their numbers?

I'll show you

What do you think about Disney's plans to remove the Mickey Mouse arm and wand from Epcot's Spaceship Earth?

It's about time (656 responses) 43.3%
Leave it, leave it (559 responses) 36.9%
Who cares? (299 responses) 19.7%
1514 total responses

and those numbers were after a concentrated push of several sites to push the "Its about time" responses up...

So I say 80% is a bit high of a number

 

[Epcot82Guy]

What do you think about Disney's plans to remove the Mickey Mouse arm and wand from Epcot's Spaceship Earth?

It's about time (656 responses) 43.3%
Leave it, leave it (559 responses) 36.9%
Who cares? (299 responses) 19.7%
1514 total responses

And I would argue that is still really skewed b/c it is the Sentinel (not because of the Sentinel, but because it is an Orlando paper so the responses are from the "local" population which is not huge for WDW). I would guess that, of guests, the third option would be much higher.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Well, that's fine... Disney boards have people who care alot about the wand... But, bring up the Orlando Sentinel's poll about the wand, and you get a better cross section of guests to the Walt Disney World Resort.... What are their numbers?

Yeah, but we were talking about people 'ganging up' on other people on the boards and I was just saying that I think it's more that there's an overwhelming majority opinion. As for the general public, I'm surprised it wasn't 98% Who Cares?

 

[TestTrack]

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

They already used to do that. At the end of Iluminations '88 they wrote "Sylvania"(I believe...need to check the tapes) on SSE with the lasers. This scrolled accross SSE and then alternated to other designs. I can't say I really minded it...It was done in good taste IMO.

 

[DisneyMissy]

I have been to WDW pre-wand and with the wand and I gotta tell ya Spaceship earth just looks so plain without the wand. The wand in my eyes makes it look more like Disney and gives it that extra magic. I will be missed by me and my family.

On another note what a huge debate about this. WOW!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

I don't think they'll use SSE as a giant billboard constantly at night. I could see them splashing "goodnight from sylvania" and things like that on SEE in lazers after Illuminations (don't they do that already, or am I crazy??), which I would be fine with for 30 minutes after the show or something. It won't be a constant billboard during all night time hours. That's just common sense.

Other than that, a great lighting package with a few locations that show and describe what equipment they use for it would be cool, I think.

 

[goofyfan13]

This is just Siemens' chance to put a big spotlight on SSE that says "Siemens'" Ok fine, they paid for the darn refurb and should get some advertising out of it but watch it happen. And then everyone will be complaining about that. Who wants to see advertising on SSE at night time? Is this better than the wand? Sure I think we will get a new light show, but it's going to be geared arond Siemens advertising. I would bet money on it.

Sherry.

I'm willing to bet that Disney isn't going to let that happen. All of the sponsors get a small logo put somewhere, but nothing larger that underneath the rides name from what I can recall. If anything, there may be a little something put up there, but it'll be tastefully done, much like the 4 minutes after ROE now, where the current sequence has presented by Siemens on SSE for about 4-5 seconds every 15-20.

Disney isn't going to turn their park icon into a billboard they made that mistake once already and are just now repairing it. :lookaroun :lol:

 

[jmvd20]

Siemes and Sylvania will only be shown on SSE immediately following RoE. During the remainder of the evening hours SSE will be a billboard for Disney's Best Kept Secret...

 

[Justin Jones]

I don't really see the point of trying to convince people who liked the wand that SSE is a piece of art that is degraded by the presence of a wand. If they don't understand that on their own, they're probably the type of people who would wear gym shorts that say "princess", "b****", etc across the rear. I have come to expect tactless people in the world as the norm; I don't think the rest of us should pander down to those people just because they are the majority.

So the majority liked the wand? Big deal. Not everything is an exercise in the rule of the majority or capitalism. People aren't going to stop taking vacations to Disney because the wand is gone, so the only money Disney needs to worry about losing is that which they spend to tear down the wand. That amount probably is roughly equivalent to annual maintenance of the wand, so it looks like a wash. In this case, Disney can focus on something other than money or majority opinion--artistic integrity of the parks. I know it's something that many of us think is long gone, but with the wand coming down, it looks like that integrity may be back.

You just stereotyped all people -- who like the wand -- into a single group of "tactless people," and you wrote as if you are superior to them all. Let everyone have an OPINION without the degradation.

 

[Flight Safety]

Bye Bye Wand...

You should view my post http://http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=2360231&postcount=202

It looks better this way.