What is up with Disney's Imagineers?

[Humpbacks1962]

Well, in the last few years we've had to put up with some aberrations in design. I recall that for the 25th anniversary, the castle turned in to a hideous, bubble gum pink cake full of gummies. But thank goodness, it returned to normalcy after a year.

Then it was the legacy "monument" they planted in Epcot, blocking that beautiful view in front of Spaceship Earth. On top of it, the etched images of those showing their teeth alone are Haunted House wall material.

Now it is the Pop Century resort. OK, another value resort was not a bad idea (although its need may be debatable, especially if Disney continues to take away perks from resort guests) but what do they really think of the guests who seek these resorts? That they have no sense of taste? What were they smoking when they designed such a monster? It really looks more like it came out of someone's regression, delusion episode...

Obviously you can't blame them on budget cuts!

Is it just me the one who gets the impression that Disney is splurging on poorly planned projects and then singing broke? What are your impressions?


Wanda

 

[Tigger-fan]

The Birthday cake was very forgetable.There is a discussion on the Pop Century Fiasco on the News and Rumors board and I have a post about my opinion on this. As far as leave a legacy I like the conception of it BUT it does not belong at the front entrance of the park. It looks like a cemetary. Why would it have been so hard to put these stones spaced apart individually all around the world showcase. That way there it wouldnt be so over whelming when you see it and you would have had fun finding and walking to the location of your stone. And YES it does take away from the beautiful entrance to the park. I Also thought that Primevil Whirl was a complete waste of space. To me it was just another cheap carnival type ride. Or replacing the lion king show which is one of the few live shows left at DW and replacing it with another 3-D movie. Now dont get me wrong, I like 3-D movies, but once you see it the effects are not that impressive the second time. And it is NOT LIVE thus taking away jobs from the talented puppeteers at the Lion King show, and replacing it with a film. I hope Mission Space does not follow the same disappointing trend. IMHO

 

[ChiTownZee]

We missed this one.....does anyone have a photo?

 

[Buzz2001]

 

[vicb]

whoa... that cake castle is pretty garish... I must say I do like the new socerer Mickey hat in MGM and I hope they will keep that.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

For one full year it stood as you see it. It was repulsive.

I am disappointed in them taking away AK's Lion King... Such a beautiful show! But I think it may have a lot to do with the way that auditorium is set up. I mean, look at the Hunchback, Beauty and the Beast Show, etc., those have been there for a long time.

I am honestly disappointed. Cut after cut, you'd think Disney reevaluates where it spends money and instead it is punishing us guests for its failures.

I wonder what the difference would be if, like M&Ms, they'd ask for the public's opinion before they add something new...

Wanda

 

[trustknoone]

Ok maybe I'm confused, but I was under the impression that it was the Lion King show in MK that was being replaced with a Mickey 3-d show not the live show in AK

Angela

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by trustknoone
Ok maybe I'm confused, but I was under the impression that it was the Lion King show in MK that was being replaced with a Mickey 3-d show not the live show in AK

Angela

Yes you are correct....the Lion King show in Aniamal Kingdome is not...is not gone.

The Lion King show in the Magick Kingdom has been shut down and will be repalced.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

WOO HOO! Thank you for letting me breathe again! I love that show...

But an LK loss is an LK loss to us LK fans...

Wanda

 

[nativetxn]

In an effort to keep Theme Parks Attractions & Strategies on topic, and since this topic is not related to planning trip, I'm going to move it over to our News and Rumors board.

Katholyn

 

[skiwee1]

I thought the castle looked cute! It was only for a birthday celebration. I like the hat over at MGM also but I hear some complain that it is blocking the theater. Personally I like the hat better. As far as Pop Century goes, I haven't seen it. The values are tacky anyway so this is along the same line I would think. I say tacky but not in a bad way. They are bigger then life tacky and look fun. I hear kids love them so that is what counts. You don't have to stay there. I don't. Where else can you find something so fun and so out there then at WDW? I think everyone ought to lighten up. Just because it isn't to your taste doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it.

 

[Bob O]

I agree with the original posters comments. Im not going to miss the LK show at MK, it has been their long enough and its time for a change as shows do get stale as i believe that one did.
I wouldnt blame the imagineers as much as the money changers who wont give them enough money to do a better job. They are making cutbacks at the theme parks because they know the apologists will take what is thrown at them and keep coming and using that money to pay for all the bonehead decisions that the company has made that has cost them billions!!!!!

 

[OnWithTheShow]

"few live shows" ha! What parks are you visiting?

 

[eeyore0062]

OK, I am going to weigh in with my opinions:
Castle Cake--- no thank you, I've had enough!
Lion King show at MK-- yes, it is time for something new, and at least they are bowing to Mickey...afterall, it all started with a MOUSE!
Primeval Whirl, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and Triceratops Spin... ok, yes, something like carnival rides, but with limited budget as least they are putting in something new... and Primeval Whirl looks like a lot of fun!
As for Pop Century...is it really an worse looking than All Stars, and plenty of people LOVE that resort. The idea was a good one, even if the icons are a bit...uh...tacky?
As for live shows... there is the new one in front of the castle, there are Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Festival of the Lion King, and Tarzan Rocks, not to mention Fantasmic...there are probably more live shows now that in the history of WDW.

 

[King Triton]

Pop Century just doesn't make sense. Too bizzar!! Stick to Disney themes please.


The legacy looks like a graveyard - what a waste of valuable space. Come on Disney Suits, get it together.

King Triton

 

[Testtrack321]

The Leave a Leg(acy) statues are very debated. I love them. They complament SE. Some say that it blocks the view of Spaceship Earth. But are your heads on the ground? I love it when you put your head at the right angle and it looks like the statues support SE without any view of the other supports, like all those people built what Epcot is now. Plus, what was there before? Nothing. So a waste of space isn't true, better to have that there than pavement, imho. Plus the updated fountain outside of SE is also cool. Very rough and innoventive. I remember when the old The Aviators show came around in front of SE durring the Millennium Celebration. They hid along the statues and came out, as the astronomer stood onto of the fountain, climbing up and down to retreave the mystical stones the Aviators brought to him. And the music is up there with ToN/D.

 

[Planogirl]

Ooh, that cake! I didn't hate it but I was glad to see it go!

As for Leave a Legacy, I remember walking into the original Epcot (oh, to go back in time!) and marveling at the scope and grandness of it all. Part of that in my opinion was due to the wide open entrance plaza with Spaceship Earth sitting in the center of it all. Now it looks like something crumbled and fell apart in front of SE or as the original poster said, a cemetary. Maybe some of what made FutureWorld great at one time is buried there.

 

[mistermouse]

What about the big rhinestone "wand" over the top of SE - introduced for the millineun celebration and then converted to a permanent feature? I always thought it was severly out of place.

 

[HorizonsFan]

Leave a Legacy = Graveyard of the Gargantuans.
I feel like Gulliver when I stand among the headstones.

 

[JeffH]

If it isn't popular (in demand), no one will go (Chester and Hesters, Pop Culture...) and it will stand empty and it will be shut down and replaced (like CoP and TimeKeeper). Just because some people don't like something, doesn't mean it was stupid to build...these things were built for the people who WOULD like them not for those who wouldn't. If parks based their decisions on the logic of this topic, then nothing would ever be built. There are those who hate thrill rides, others who would never ride a 'kiddy' ride, others who hate movies, others who don't care a whip about landscaping or never pay attention to theming, and others who are content with eating burgers the rest of their lives. Disney builds things to appeal to many different types of people, and it is quite impossible to build something that appeal to everyone. Mickey's Philharmonic should be quite a great show, finally replacing the Mickey Mouse Revue and giving the MK a Mickey Mouse based attraction. To condemn it as just another 3D movie is silly. You could also say that IOA's Spiderman is 'just another 3D movie' (in a moving theatre). 1 3D theatre in each park is far from overkill, and each new 3D movie at WDW has so far greatly improved on the medium. Although the LK puppet show was great, it really had no business being in Fantasyland, and there are plenty of Lion King based attractions throughout WDW (Tiki, Circle, Festival), and this would be quite easy to bring back somewhere else in the future (in Adventureland?)
********************
Great idea about the Epcot stones, and a great way out for Disney...assuming they still have all the names and images on file, they could contact all the people who paid their money and tell them that they plan on moving the stones to locations around the World Showcase and ask them which country/stone would they like their picture to be located? Then they could create new picture sheets based on the answers. This way no one would be disappointed and they all would love finding their 'new' picture at it's new (somewhat themed) location.