tell me something good

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Nov Sun 16, 2008 7:22 pm

I've been out-of-touch with WDWness for the past few months...nothing too interesting, just a couple of big projects at work, some trips, hurricanes to prepare for, and the slow crush of messages piling up, making returning more daunting every day.

I noticed most of the messages I wrote right before I left were even grumpier than usual, so in an effort to think happy thoughts...

...tell me something good.

What's happened at WDW in the past few months that wouldn't make me want to punch someone in the face?

The free birthday thing is kind of cool, and I'm actually considering it...although I don't know that I'd want to spend my birthday having my senses assaulted by things that will make my blood boil.

spodie · Post by **spodie** » Nov Sun 16, 2008 7:36 pm

If you go to WDW any time from January 4-March 29 and buy a 4-night package, you get 3 nights free AND a $200 Disney gift card. If you go from March 28-sometime in June, you get the 3 free nights with the purchast of 4 nights without the gift card. I would say that's pretty good news, especially if you're going during your birthday!

Donalds1Fan · Post by **Donalds1Fan** » Nov Sun 16, 2008 11:58 pm

A new baby male giraffe was born healthy at Animal Kingdom recently! Granted, that's not something to do with Imagineering, but I think it's a happy thing.

Post by **Len90** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 1:45 am

Donalds1Fan wrote:A new baby male giraffe was born healthy at Animal Kingdom recently! Granted, that's not something to do with Imagineering, but I think it's a happy thing.

I believe he was born sometime before July because they were talking about him on the safari ride. Here is a picture to cheer you up!

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 2:16 am

Before a discount matters to me, I have to actually want to return! I'm not even convinced that I want to go back for free...

That giraffe is pretty awesome, although I'm a bit spoiled in that I'm 10 minutes away from a zoo where I can feed the giraffes.

bamato · Post by **bamato** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 9:09 am

Why wouldn't you want to go? If I could afford the journey I would go

You should be happy that you have the oppurtunity to enjoy it

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 11:29 am

Schnemo does this mean you live near Lion Country or Metro Zoo?? I lvoe feeding the girafees when I am there! I felt the Food and Wine festival was a hit. We loved it!

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 11:43 am

We just returned from 6 wonderful nights and 7 glorious days in WDW! It went by way too fast and I can't wait to go back again. The magic is all still there. The crowds were light and the food was good!

We tried some different things this time, a carriage ride through POFQ and a Seway tour through Epcot. We did Dive Quest for the second time too!

Why are you so bitter about Disney Captain Schnemo?!

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 1:45 pm

I'm trying to think of something, but I'm having difficulty...

The somewhat unoriginal Toy Story Mania was a lot of fun. Does that count?

Oh. I don't know if you've seen the Haunted Mansion update. That's not 'in the past few months' but it should be non-punch inducing.

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 4:43 pm

YAY! SCHNEMO!
I've missed reading your posts!

Good...? umm... uh... eh... yeah...

edit: The holiday decorations are up

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 6:05 pm

Come on people, It's almost depressing reading this thread. It seems like everyone is unhappy with the way things are ow. Yes they aren't perfect, but come one people, its WDW the best place on earth!!!

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 8:43 pm

boilerbabe wrote:The magic is all still there.

If I thought that were true, I'd still be going to the parks.

Why are you so bitter about Disney Captain Schnemo?!

Long-time forum readers have heard this from me many times over, so I'll try to keep it relatively short. (Ha ha.)

Basically, I fell in love with WDW growing up in the 70s and 80s. During that time it had a well-deserved reputation for unparalleled quality, and even when something they tried failed, it was clear that they were really trying to construct unique and diverse experiences.

Starting roughly 15 years ago (although with some signs even before that which I managed to ignore, even though they are kind of obvious in retrospect), mostly due to Eisner, the quality and service started to noticeably decline. Around 10 years ago, it went into freefall, with the closing of large number of classic attractions (with the insult compounded by dismal replacements) and contempt for the fans.

That was when I decided to stop going to the parks, although I've been watching hopefully from the sidelines ever since. Things seemed to get worse and worse as the years went by, but there was a glimmer of hope when Eisner was ejected and Lasseter was put in charge of the parks.

I've been waiting for a positive sign from Lasseter, but I haven't seen much hope. They managed to not completely destroy Spaceship Earth, which is nothing to crow about really, but is what passes for good news these days.

They've completely abandoned almost all aspects of coherent theming and respect for the customer, so until I see some sort of seismic shift, I'll just keep watch and hope for the best.

There have been some symbolic moves, but Lasseter doesn't seem much interested in anything that doesn't involve Pixar, and I've not been terribly impressed with most of his work in that area either.

Anyway, I guess I didn't keep it all that short, but that's the history behind my request in this thread.

A baby giraffe is pretty frickin' great, but what I'm looking for is some evidence of a turnaround in the company's respect for the customer and Disney ideals. The first thing I read when I came back was the Kim Possible thing, which is not a disaster, but certainly doesn't give me anything like hope.

I've seen what they did with the Toy Story ride and while it looks like it's good fun, it's not exactly creative or innovative or indeed interesting in any significant way. Better than some of their other stuff, and, like I said, fun, but embarrassingly-designed for Imagineer work. The queue seems to be the best part, from a design standpoint.

I'm not a huge Xmas fan, but it is a good sign that they continue to do some of these extras. It means someone somewhere doesn't mind spending a little money just on atmosphere, but they really need a new Big Brain who understands Disney if they're ever going to get back on track.

I recently visited Atlanta and finally got to see their awesome aquarium. I'm pretty sure their Ocean Voyager exhibit is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my entire life and is exactly the kind of thing my younger self would have imagined Disney would be doing these days. (It'd be a perfect fit for the AK.)

Today, I'm slightly amazed that they don't spit on you when you check in.

I have been back a couple times to wander the grounds (although I can't bring myself to pay to visit a park that will leave me deeply depressed), and I can still catch a whiff of the old magic. They haven't destroyed it all and some of the employees know exactly what I'm talking about but continue to give it their best. It's still undeniably one of the most impressive entertainment centers on the planet, if nothing for the sheer scale of it all.

Of course, that was all true in the 70s, back when Disney wasn't afraid to give us hopeful and optimistic entertainment. If I want cynical marketing packaged as entertainment, I'll visit the World of Coke.

Ahem.

See what happens when you press the "Rant" button?

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 8:54 pm

Captain Schnemo wrote:Before a discount matters to me, I have to actually want to return!

If you are willing, good sir, to change venues to Disneyland I would like to challenge you to come to DL5 (the 5th Subsonic radio Disneyland Gathering) in February. If you permit us to show you the good and the bad up close and in person. You would be able to see the new attractions and themeing being constructed in DCA. You would also get to see many of the right things and wrong things, in my humble opinion, with both parks.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 9:12 pm

Captain Schnemo wrote:There have been some symbolic moves, but Lasseter doesn't seem much interested in anything that doesn't involve Pixar, and I've not been terribly impressed with most of his work in that area either.

The more I see of Lasseter, the less I like him (in a variety of milieus). I find it hard to really blame him, though. I mean ... he's a creative 'genius' (let's just say). As was Walt. Walt wanted to do his own thing with his company. I think any creative genius would want to do the same. This is the key reason I'm losing hope that someone who will 'share Walt's vision' is ever going to come along.

I've seen what they did with the Toy Story ride and while it looks like it's good fun, it's not exactly creative or innovative or indeed interesting in any significant way. Better than some of their other stuff, and, like I said, fun, but embarrassingly-designed for Imagineer work. The queue seems to be the best part, from a design standpoint.

I went into the ride with the same impression (as you may or may not recall from previous threads) and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised - one of the benefits of having low expectations, I suppose. I'm not going to give them a pass for creative innovation, but the application of tech, taking the engineering viewpoint of the Imagineering job, is really pretty impressive. It's a lot more sophisticated that Buzz was. Thematically, I think they still could have done better, obviously, and the story they came up with is, again imo, kinda stupid. However it does give me hope that they'll tank Buzz Lightyear now as they've essentially created a perfected form of the same ride here. That hope is diminished somewhat by contemplating what they might chuck into Tomorrowland, though.

I recently visited Atlanta and finally got to see their awesome aquarium. I'm pretty sure their Ocean Voyager exhibit the greatest thing I've ever seen in my entire life and is exactly the kind of thing my younger self would have imagined Disney would be doing these days. (It'd be a perfect fit for the AK.)

Did you touch a shrimp? I make everyone who comes to visit me here touch the shrimp. And the horseshoe crabs.

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Nov Mon 17, 2008 9:23 pm

Schnemo, did I understand you correctly when you said you haven't been to the parks in 10 years?