Walt Disney World: Non-Theme Park Discussion

[Davezilla]

Really hope they scrap the whole reservation system soon. I'm going in July but won't be able to buy my park tickets until early April so having some anxiety about parks being booked up for the days I'm there. On top of that, I much prefer the freedom of changing my holiday plan if I feel like it. Previous trips I'll change plans based on weather, how tired I am etc.

 

[venny]

Ironically, according to several sources, the dropping of the park pass reservation system was put in motion by Chapek before he left in an attempt to win back some favour. He didn’t last long enough to see it through and Iger’s timing has been perfect to pick up the credit.

Hilarious if true.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Actually, you have to remember a lot of current crappy pieces of media coming out from Disney either on film or Disney+ were actually greenlit from Iger himself and his timing of his first departure just seems to tie with rather well that he could avoid much of the bad press labeled at him and let Chapek be the fall guy for all the problems at Disney, even if the latter honestly had nothing to do with them and was only trying to clean up house yet seemed to have enemies everywhere in the Mouse House who were utterly loyal to Iger.

Had Iger remained and Chapek never got in then Iger's legacy would have been ruined and it would be interesting to see how he would have coped with the bad press of late aimed at Disney. Him coming in just as things are hitting the fan just seem a little too perfect in which he can ride on it and 'save' the company from further trouble even if ironically a lot of what we're seeing are his own fault such as the dreaded wokeness bleeding through any media related thing from Disney. I don't deny he has done many good things for the company such as getting Marvel and Pixar yet you can see things start to slide once Disney bought Fox which was only done to help add content for Disney+ which was always Iger's baby though as it turns out, getting Fox was arguable a big mistake that has causes more harm than good for the company. I can go into this in a another topic but when you look into what's going on, it's far more interesting than anything being released from Disney. But anyway, with the parks...

 

[jon81uk]

Outside the parks more news has began to trickle out, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Iger was “alarmed by increases in prices at Disney theme parks”.

Yet food and drinks at Disney are still significantly cheaper than Seaworld and a bit cheaper than Universal.

 

[Ian]

Yet food and drinks at Disney are still significantly cheaper than Seaworld and a bit cheaper than Universal.

It’s true, though I think we’re kidding ourselves if we consider SeaWorld pricing “fair market value”…

$42 for two paninis, packets of crisps and fountain drinks + tax + 5% surcharge from a grab-and-go outlet? Madness.

 

[jon81uk]

It’s true, though I think we’re kidding ourselves if we consider SeaWorld pricing “fair market value”…

$42 for two paninis, packets of crisps and fountain drinks + tax, + 5% surcharge? Madness.

I suppose at Seaworld at least their tickets are relativly cheap.
But yes none of their food is worth the money, its reasonably poor quality and pricey.

We got UK tickets that included all-day dining for a good price (1 day each SeaWorld, Busch and Aquatica with meals was the same as 14 days across them), we only ate lunch and snacks but it meant at least I didn't have to pay attention to menu prices.

 

[Dave]

Him coming in just as things are hitting the fan just seem a little too perfect in which he can ride on it and 'save' the company from further trouble even if ironically a lot of what we're seeing are his own fault such as the dreaded wokeness bleeding through any media related thing from Disney.

What Wokeness came in and how has it resulted in you feeling dread?

Genuine question

 

[QTXAdsy]

What Wokeness came in and how has it resulted in you feeling dread?

Genuine question

Wokeness as in identity politics as we've seen in Star Wars in which in either of the films or shows seem full of it such as how for some reason, they seem to only interested in marketing something about same gender kiss scenes, female empowerment, diversity and that stupid subverting expectation plot they seem to go for are all they seem to care about appealing to the Twitter mob rather than tell good stories.

I wouldn't mind all of these personally, it's just that a lot of the media they have all seem to be doing this, promoting nothing but this as it is the only thing they have done, and have all made such a bad job at it such as how Disney have handled Star Wars in which is now well documented of how badly they screwed up the sequel trilogy to the point where Star Wars will never be the culture iconic brand it once was due it being badly handled, even if hadn't gone woke. I'm afraid to say if what I'm hearing of what a train wreck Indiana Jones 5 is then I'm fearing of a possible bait and switch approach of Indy being replaced. Marvel looks to be going the same way if phase 4 so far is anything to go by and with their animated films not doing well at thr box office such as Lightyear and now most recently Strange Worlds, both of which have got their own identity politics which I'm not going to cover in detail, which is looking doomed to fail, you can see how things have not gone well for Disney.

With that remember, a lot of these projects were all greenlit by Iger from a few years ago and the reason for the whole woke if you read his book is that he has made no secret in wanting to run for president as a Democrat candidate and to appeal to them with his credentials, he flooded the Disney company with, dare I say, activists who were more interested in saying a message rather then tell a good story and all of this led to trust in Disney from the public to slump if their recent financial reports are to go by.

I'm sorry if I'm swaying off topic but I highly recommend the Midnight's Edge channel on YouTube which covers all these behind the scenes stories far better than I can with some regarding the park's. Either way, Disney is not in a good place right now and I do feel that things will be getting worse before they become better but I would need to take this chat elsewhere before I go off topic here.

 

[Dave]

Wokeness as in identity politics as we've seen in Star Wars in which in either of the films or shows seem full of it such as how for some reason, they seem to only interested in marketing something about same gender kiss scenes, female empowerment, diversity and that stupid subverting expectation plot they seem to go for are all they seem to care about appealing to the Twitter mob rather than tell good stories.

I wouldn't mind all of these personally, it's just that a lot of the media they have all seem to be doing this, promoting nothing but this as it is the only thing they have done, and have all made such a bad job at it such as how Disney have handled Star Wars in which is now well documented of how badly they screwed up the sequel trilogy to the point where Star Wars will never be the culture iconic brand it once was due it being badly handled, even if hadn't gone woke. I'm afraid to say if what I'm hearing of what a train wreck Indiana Jones 5 is then I'm fearing of a possible bait and switch approach of Indy being replaced. Marvel looks to be going the same way if phase 4 so far is anything to go by and with their animated films not doing well at thr box office such as Lightyear and now most recently Strange Worlds, both of which have got their own identity politics which I'm not going to cover in detail, which is looking doomed to fail, you can see how things have not gone well for Disney.

With that remember, a lot of these projects were all greenlit by Iger from a few years ago and the reason for the whole woke if you read his book is that he has made no secret in wanting to run for president as a Democrat candidate and to appeal to them with his credentials, he flooded the Disney company with, dare I say, activists who were more interested in saying a message rather then tell a good story and all of this led to trust in Disney from the public to slump if their recent financial reports are to go by.

I'm sorry if I'm swaying off topic but I highly recommend the Midnight's Edge channel on YouTube which covers all these behind the scenes stories far better than I can with some regarding the park's. Either way, Disney is not in a good place right now and I do feel that things will be getting worse before they become better but I would need to take this chat elsewhere before I go off topic here.

Star Wars went off the rails because multiple writers couldn’t work out what the story was and Disney where so greedy for money they wouldn't wait to sort out the script. It had nothing to do with the protagonist being a woman. I have had the misfortune of coming across midnight edges YouTube channel and it’s a bit of a car crash of fragile masculinity so not exactly guaranteed fact.

But thank you for confirming that your hate of “Wokeness” (whatever that is) is less about reality and more about insecurity though I agree this is a little off topic.

 

[tayspru]

It’s not identity politics to have characters that aren’t straight and white - it’s just reflective of the reality we live in

 

[QTXAdsy]

Star Wars went off the rails because multiple writers couldn’t work out what the story was and Disney where so greedy for money they wouldn't wait to sort out the script. It had nothing to do with the protagonist being a woman. I have had the misfortune of coming across midnight edges YouTube channel and it’s a bit of a car crash of fragile masculinity so not exactly guaranteed fact.

But thank you for confirming that your hate of “Wokeness” (whatever that is) is less about reality and more about insecurity though I agree this is a little off topic.

I have no trouble with such identity politics if the story was good and was organicly worked well (I wanted Rey to be good but sadly they screwed with her character) with how it added to the story and maybe made the lore much richer which unfortunately, with the case of Star Wars, it was just a car crash that was handled so laughbly bad that honestly it could have had the potential to overtake Marvel in being still being the biggest IP in the world and now looks highly unlikely it'll ever unless Marvel goes off the rails itself which given all the problems at Disney is shockingly not exactly out of the realms of possibility. Honestly, Star Wars has not been the same since Disney took over but there is that funny statement in which no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans which is something that'll never date.

But on the parks as this is a theme park forum, the one Disney park I fear for is Hong Kong Disneyland in which since Shanghai opened has really been taking the hit and what it's future might be; not the first time as such with DLP which funnily enough does seem to be on the up if the expansion to the studios is anything to go by though I really can't stand them inserting IP's for all new rides even if sadly that is what the public wants.

 

[Dave]

It’s not identity politics to have characters that aren’t straight and white - it’s just reflective of the reality we

I have no trouble with such identity politics if the story was good and was organicly worked well (I wanted Rey to be good but sadly they screwed with her character) with how it added to the story and maybe made the lore much richer which unfortunately, with the case of Star Wars, it was just a car crash that was handled so laughbly bad that honestly it could have had the potential to overtake Marvel in being still being the biggest IP in the world and now looks highly unlikely it'll ever unless Marvel goes off the rails itself which given all the problems at Disney is shockingly not exactly out of the realms of possibility. Honestly, Star Wars has not been the same since Disney took over but there is that funny statement in which no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans which is something that'll never date.

But on the parks as this is a theme park forum, the one Disney park I fear for is Hong Kong Disneyland in which since Shanghai opened has really been taking the hit and what it's future might be; not the first time as such with DLP which funnily enough does seem to be on the up if the expansion to the studios is anything to go by though I really can't stand them inserting IP's for all new rides even if sadly that is what the public wants.

That’s the point it’s bad writing not woke that killed the IP, but no one brought up woke other than you…

I agree with you that Hong Kong is struggling due to Shanghai, I think Disney has always been IP heavy due to its nature but yes Hong Kong’s identity as a park is a worry

 

[QTXAdsy]

That’s the point it’s bad writing not woke that killed the IP, but no one brought up woke other than you…

I agree with you that Hong Kong is struggling due to Shanghai, I think Disney has always been IP heavy due to its nature but yes Hong Kong’s identity as a park is a worry

Oh indeed, the writing and bizarre plot threads threads they went with did kill it, the identity politics they threw into the mix only added to the debacle to make things worse than they were. Crazy to think now we are living in an age when they are starting to appreciate the prequel trilogy far greater than it ever saw back in the day. Something I honestly never thought would happen but then again that's what Disney has done.

The IP nature of the parks is pretty much the future of them if we like it or not and the days of original themed attractions are gone and any we do get are just cloned classic attractions like POTC and THM. Still not gotten over the utter mess they've done with Discoveryland in Paris though, now it's a strange mix of Jules Verne, Buzz Lightyear and Star Wars...I really miss the area pre-Mission 2 days.

Bring back the Moon...

 

[Zeock]

Still not gotten over the utter mess they've done with Discoveryland in Paris though, now it's a strange mix of Jules Verne, Buzz Lightyear and Star Wars...I really miss the area pre-Mission 2 days.

I did find Discoveryland a little saddening when I went to Disneyland Paris a couple of weeks ago for this reason. Even though this won't happen, they should bring back De la Terre a la Lune, especially because the ride building itself fits Jules Verne a lot better than Star Wars.

 

[Ian]

So in a surprising turn in events, Reedy Creek looks set to stay, albeit with “changes”.

The lawmaker who drafted the bill for dissolution says there is now supposedly a pathway to compromise after Chapek left the company following the “Don’t Say Gay” controversy. Funny really given he only really spoke out in the first place after Iger and others challenged him over Disneys stance/silence on the matter!

The expected changes could include barring Disney from building a nuclear power station or airport on property, both of which they could technically do today if they wanted (it’s these odd and hilarious quirks of Reedy Creek and the whole WDW setup that make me love it so much!).


Looks more like someone finally realised it’s unrealistic for the state and local governments to take on the billions or dollars of infrastructure and debts that Disney currently takes care of itself

Florida Lawmakers Now Working to Reverse Dissolution of Reedy Creek Improvement District - WDW News Today

Florida lawmakers are now working to reverse the decision to dissolve Walt Disney World's Reedy Creek Improvement District.

wdwnt.com

 

[Joel]

The expected changes could include barring Disney from building a nuclear power station or airport on property, both of which they could technically do today if they wanted (it’s these odd and hilarious quirks of Reedy Creek and the whole WDW setup that make me love it so much!).

Gutted this won’t be a reality

Glad RCID might stay though… can’t be doing with any more unsightly gift shops or Taco Bells on the “Disney Property” (aka actually nice looking and maintained bit) of the US 192

 

[Rob]

In reality they were never going to dissolve Reedy Creek. It was all a Republican publicity stunt, the Florida Govenor seems to be a bit of a nutter (god help us if/when he one day becomes President).

 

[Zeock]

I have a question that's been bugging me for a few days. Is the Shaman animatronic in Na'vi River Journey an A100 (like the Wicked Witch in the Great Movie Ride) or an A1000 animatronic (like Hondo in Smugglers Run)? I have looked at many different websites for the answer, and some seem to suggest the latter, but more suggest the former.

 

[Dave]

I have a question that's been bugging me for a few days. Is the Shaman animatronic in Na'vi River Journey an A100 (like the Wicked Witch in the Great Movie Ride) or an A1000 animatronic (like Hondo in Smugglers Run)? I have looked at many different websites for the answer, and some seem to suggest the latter, but more suggest the former.

It’s an A100 according to this interview with Imagineering. But there has been a lot of work on the A100 between the first one (wicked witch) and the current crop of them.

The A1000 Is Disney's Advanced Animatronic Bringing Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge to Life

Fifty-five years of animatronics, from Pirates of the Caribbean to pirates of the Outer Rim.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[John]

If they call their next one the T1000 we're all in deep trouble