Insiders - Please comment!

[airlarry!]

AV:

Would "Soaring Over ______" have a much better chance if ABC is sold, as some of the rumors mention?

I still doubt that they could find any stooge....err....investor to jump into the ABC money pit, but if they do, it would seem that the pressure would be off, and the spigot sending flows of money out of the parks could be reversed, right?

 

[David in Manassas]

Various sites are practically giddy about a forthcoming announcement for Soaring addition to the Land, to the point that, according to a wdwmagic post, guest relations have even been given an FAQ to use when called by guests about this....

So...Mr. Voice ...if so you were correct!

Mr. Scoop - your Pal Mickey bet may be in jeopardy

Any more hints if this is really coming to fruition?

 

[d-r]

I can understand the felt need to keep beefing up future world to try to get it to a point where people who aren't wdw fans would actually want to go there. But I think there are a couple of better places. I agree with Show that OLC could kill two birds by making a film in Epcot's Japan pavillion and also in TDS. That could give TDS a needed additional attraction after tower of terror and roller coaster is complete as well as epcot. But personally, I would really rather have AK with soarin over austrailia themed as a bush pilot place achoring a land with kangoroo, wallaby, platypus, koala bear, etc. walk through trails. That would really add more to AK than soarin would add to the Land, to me. The net gain as a guest would be more for the same amount of investment from disney.

I think that side of future world could benefit with some sprucing up of the land - do something with food rocks for goodness sakes, or maybe make circle of life more interesting - an overlay of the living seas, and a weather pavillion with storm chaser stuck in there. I know that doesn't have the promotional appeal of soarin, but this type of revamp plus soarin in AK would benefit the entire resort and the guest experience would be as good or better than putting soarin in the land.

After building a show building, theming it, putting in the hydrolic systems and machines and computers, I don't think that a three minute imax movie shot out of a helicopter would be the deal breaker for the budget, frankly.

 

[wdwguide]

If that is true, we'd have three E-ticket attractions under construction simultaneously. That is pretty amazing, and would have been unimaginable under Pressler. Car #2 is becoming more and more comfortable.

Still, there is LOTS still to be done... A new WS pavilion with a major attraction. Living Seas rehab. Something for the 20,000 K lagoon in the MK. And a couple of other major attractions for the AK to bring it up to par with the other parks in terms of rides for those who do not just visit for the theming. Then there's the water parks, which could use some love as well. I think that Spaceship Earth should be the least of their worries right now.

 

[raidermatt]

Still, there is LOTS still to be done...

Yes, many of the effects of neglect are cumulative. If Epcot "needs" additions/updates at "x" rate, and that is not provided over a lengthy period of time, the rate of additions/updates will have to be faster than x in order to "catch up".

 

[jlambrig]

I think they company will use its enormous synergy to produce Soarin Over ABC. It will offer them the capacity to showcase the new shows and stars at ABC. Imagine buzzing over Drew Carey, zipping past George Lopez or dive bombing Al Michaels and John Madden. This will be in EPCOT's new Air pavilion. The Invisible Air, or The Breathable Air, or Break Like the Wind...wait that's already taken.

 

[Planogirl]

Originally posted by jlambrig
I think they company will use its enormous synergy to produce Soarin Over ABC. It will offer them the capacity to showcase the new shows and stars at ABC. Imagine buzzing over Drew Carey, zipping past George Lopez or dive bombing Al Michaels and John Madden. This will be in EPCOT's new Air pavilion. The Invisible Air, or The Breathable Air, or Break Like the Wind...wait that's already taken.

Soaring over ABC? Now you're talking Ei$ner's language!

Seriously, I keep thinking about how nice a Soarin' over Africa would be in AK or a Soarin' over (insert country here) would be in World Showcase. Oh well.

 

[Another Voice]

'Soaring Over ABC'...you have no idea how cloe that came to not being a joke.

The reason for all the flurry doesn't have anything to do with letting Epcot "catch up" after years of being ignored. Let's just say someone figured out a magic number that would let the twins seperate.

 

[wdwguide]

Originally posted by Another Voice

The reason for all the flurry doesn't have anything to do with letting Epcot "catch up" after years of being ignored. Let's just say someone figured out a magic number that would let the twins seperate.

Somebody didn't watch the news, or they would have learned what happens when you try to separate twins that have been conjoined for over 20 years.

 

[mrtoadslastride]

Originally posted by Another Voice
'Soaring Over ABC'...you have no idea how cloe that came to not being a joke.

The reason for all the flurry doesn't have anything to do with letting Epcot "catch up" after years of being ignored. Let's just say someone figured out a magic number that would let the twins seperate.

Do they really think people will pay to go into just the WS when they can't even force people into that half of the park by closing FW at 6?

If they think Epcot attendance is really suffering now wait till they see what it does once they cut the park in half!

 

[d-r]

I really don't think that they will ever have these as separate gates. They might add a "back door" and parking lot to WS someday for locals with an epcot after 4 pass / dining experience card kind of thing, but most out of town guests would not even notice really.

 

[David in Manassas]

Mr. Scoop

Thank you for replying and providing some insight. It's quite amazing how some practically have the concrete pylons being pored when in fact the we are a ways off from a go...

Regarding whether we should get the "glass half full" Soaring or reject the "glass half empty" one.....I am in a mixed marriage - I enjoy a yearly trip to Disney and my wife hates the place. The only way I can confince her to accompany me is if she has something new to look forward to...whereas...I personally would rather wait for a complete feast then partake of some empty calories that provide a sugar high that quicly dissapates.

David in Manassas, VA

 

[walt's assistant]

I find the track of Disney management's thinking, as conveyed by the Insiders on this thread, to be outrageously stupid.

1) MK has two attractions right now that have been completely vandalized due to poor decision making and shortsighted thinking: 20,000 Leagues AND The Skyway. 20K should have been modernized, safety issues remediated, and re-opened LONG AGO. Skyway, ditto. Two treasures lost forever due to stupidity.

2) Soarin' over "whatever"...oh yeah, I plan to make a special trip to WDW to see this....BFD....

3) Reductions in CM LOS to guests due to cutbacks....this needs to be addressed immediately. WDW has a high standard that must be maintained if management expects to continue to be able to demand top dollar admission and resort fees. God Bless the CMs, they're doing their level best!

4) Living Seas...vandalized by management via a scaled back, watered down attraction (no pun intended). Modernize, ehnhance, leveage the existing investment to make it better. Leverage the "Nemo" success!!!

5) Add a nation to EPCOT. Why is this so difficult? A lot less expensive than another Test Track (I love Test Track but it cost the company a fortune).

Oh I wish I could have Al Weiss's job!


WA

 

[mitros]

Just thinking out loud, why do so many folks think soarin over california would not go over well in WDW? Aren't there a lot of people that go to WDW that never have, and may never go to california, and would like to see some of what california looks like? Those people, I think, Myself included, would like to see something like that since I will probably never go to california {for numerous reasons} Maybe some of you guys that can afford to go to california think that it's a lousy idea, but we cannot all afford to travel to the other coast, and so soarin' over anything, including the black hole of calcutta, would be new for us. Oh, and PS, AV: What is it that you have againest smiley faces? {that wasn't being sarcastic, by the way}

 

[hopemax]

The thing about Soarin' is that as neat as it is, and it is pretty cool, it's not quite E-ticket repeatable fantastic. But with the rest of DCA being what it is and DL not having anything E-ticket fantastic since 1995 (Indy) the hype has gotten a little out of control.

Soarin' is more like a new Circle-Vision, or 3-D movie w/ theater effects. The first time, seems very cool with the way the mechanism is put into place, the huge Imax screen. But like the other film based attractions, the ride "euphoria" is subduded a bit as you start to memorize what happens. (HISTA's mouse effect isn't quite the same after you know it's coming)

I think there is a danger with Soarin', that people who haven't ridden it will expect something "greater" than what it really is, and feel a little let down.

 

[daannzzz]

One thing about it being in California is that they chose ( IMHO) somewhat generic scenes. Yes San Francisco and Yosemite are there along with LA and San Diego. But some of the other scenes while pretty are extremely generic as to where they could be. Lake Tahoe is used but not to great advantage. Mount Shasta is an awesom sight and was over looked. The golfing scene in the desert is nice. I understand they wanted to show the diversity of the lands in California so we see some other desert scene with horses or the orange grove scenes but it comes off a bit less than spectacular. I am sure that they shot loads of footage and it wasn't easy to choose the scenes that best represent the state. Not everything can be spectacular but when I am at a theme park I would prefer it to be. The film is also a bit grainy and distorted on the sides. I don't mean to be picking it apart and I know many, many people think of it as an E ticket. But I don't think everyone should be setting their expectations so high as it will not reach that far for some.