Lights of Winter - EPCOT archway ??

[Macdonx]

Why not pass some of that cost savings on it is customer base, especially given the economy.

You mean like free dining, buy four get three free, 40% off rooms, half-off Pirate's League, and so on?

 

[FigNewton]

And yet there are already hundreds of posts expressing extreme displeasure.

 

[live4christp1]

http://cfnews13.com/Entertainment/HeyJohn/2009/11/12/epcot_pulls_plug_on_holiday_lights.html

Don't know if this is posted yet. Linked to it from CNN. Says the technology is obsolete.

 

[disprincessatheart]

http://cfnews13.com/Entertainment/HeyJohn/2009/11/12/epcot_pulls_plug_on_holiday_lights.html

Don't know if this is posted yet. Linked to it from CNN. Says the technology is obsolete.

I get that dancing christmas lights might not be "state of the art" but it works just fine for the Osborne lights and it worked last year.... It's just a Disney excuse for cutting something they don't want to do. I mean, Carousel of Progress is obsolete technology too, but that's still there... for now.

 

[lpizzuro123]

I get that dancing christmas lights might not be "state of the art" but it works just fine for the Osborne lights and it worked last year.... It's just a Disney excuse for cutting something they don't want to do. I mean, Carousel of Progress is obsolete technology too, but that's still there... for now.

I agree "WHO CARES IF IT IS OBSOLETE". We love it. We also love the Electric Water Pagent, Carousel of Progress, even the Tiki Birds. I have not read through the entire thread but I am planning on letting Disney know how disapointed we are that they are not having them.

Linda

 

[unicorn1]

I know this sounds corny, but I wish I had known it wasn't coming back. I would have spent a little more time there. If you normally go during the holidays, it's one of those things you just assume will always be there.

 

[jessrose18]

i've never been during the holidays, just seen the pics....are the white tree's w/ the lights part of this or are those staying around, those looked neat

 

[Robo]

I get that dancing christmas lights might not be "state of the art" but it works just fine for the Osborne lights and it worked last year.... It's just a Disney excuse for cutting something they don't want to do. I mean, Carousel of Progress is obsolete technology too, but that's still there... for now.

When they say the technology is obsolete, they usually mean that the various components that operate a system are not being built anymore.

If repairs and updates need to be made, they can't get the components
to do so.

OTOH, they could fully REBUILD the electronics for the lights based on current technology if they wanted to.

It's possible that they might do that at some point, too.

 

[StrikerObi]

If Disney says they are obsolete, I'm sure they don't just mean that the technology is old. I'm sure it has something to do with the lights themselves, as in they aren't working and as they are so old the cost to repair them is too high and honestly better spent somewhere else (perhaps on development of a replacement using newer technology).

Some people can never be happy. You get an answer and then immediately dismiss it as a lie fabricated to "quell the masses". I doubt the company would lie about this. What do they stand to gain from lying over just staying quiet (which is what they would have done 2 years ago before social media blew up).

 

[Rip]

If Disney says they are obsolete, I'm sure they don't just mean that the technology is old. I'm sure it has something to do with the lights themselves, as in they aren't working and as they are so old the cost to repair them is too high and honestly better spent somewhere else (perhaps on development of a replacement using newer technology).

Some people can never be happy. You get an answer and then immediately dismiss it as a lie fabricated to "quell the masses". I doubt the company would lie about this. What do they stand to gain from lying over just staying quiet (which is what they would have done 2 years ago before social media blew up).

You answered your own question, they are pretty much compelled to give some sort of excuse and they certainly aren't going to admit it was to save money.

Sorry, but they are lights, they aren't obsolete and they can be replaced. Disney almost did this last year, so they've had at least a year (if not 2) to come up with newer technology if that was really the problem. If this little place can continue to do this year in and year out, one of the world's largest corporations can certainly do the same.

 

[StrikerObi]

You answered your own question, they are pretty much compelled to give some sort of excuse and they certainly aren't going to admit it was to save money.

Sorry, but they are lights, they aren't obsolete and they can be replaced. Disney almost did this last year, so they've had at least a year (if not 2) to come up with newer technology if that was really the problem. If this little place can continue to do this year in and year out, one of the world's largest corporations can certainly do the same.

They aren't compelled to give an excuse. If they lie then they will be called on it, making things even worse. This is an absolute in the internet age. If they stay quiet they can't silence the mob. So the only option left is to tell the truth.

Clearly the move is to save money. If the lights are broken, they can be fixed. But the lights are old, and past a certain point it becomes prohibitively expensive to fix old technology (try buying RAM for a 10 year old computer, it costs as much as RAM for a brand new computer). The only option left then is to replace them. Ordering or building a brand new set of the Lights of Winter isn't exactly going to be cheap even if they are just standard Christmas lights. You have to buy the lights and affix them to the old display, or perhaps build a brand new display. You need to sync them to the equally ancient music system. They need to be tested. It's not as simple as just replacing the lights.

To be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of the removal of the Lights of Winter. I'm upset that they're gone. I think they are fantastic. I'm just saying it's much more likely that Disney's reason for retiring the lights is legitimate. Somewhere along the line they made a decision that when the lights stopped working they wouldn't replace them. It's unlikely that the Lights of Winter were drawing many people to the parks. They're nice decoration for sure, but nobody is going to cancel their entire trip to Disney World because there are no Lights of Winder. Perhaps if this was the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights things would be different, but as pretty as the Lights of Winder are, they aren't exactly a "spectacle".

 

[doconeill]

When they say the technology is obsolete, they usually mean that the various components that operate a system are not being built anymore.

If repairs and updates need to be made, they can't get the components
to do so.

OTOH, they could fully REBUILD the electronics for the lights based on current technology if they wanted to.

It's possible that they might do that at some point, too.

That is what I was getting at in my (admittedly facetious) post. They may have discovered that some critical controller component is beyond repair and cannot be replaced easily. To reprogram some new device on what may have been a custom system might take too long. Not impossible, but simply difficult to do in such a short time.

Now if that is the case, then they could also take advantage of the time until next year to make it even better - LED lights, more lights, more dynamic, etc.

But unless they actually SAY that is the case, I'm not holding my breath. And they won't say it because plans could change later and then we'll be just as POd as we are now.

 

[Rip]

That is what I was getting at in my (admittedly facetious) post. They may have discovered that some critical controller component is beyond repair and cannot be replaced easily. To reprogram some new device on what may have been a custom system might take too long. Not impossible, but simply difficult to do in such a short time.
Now if that is the case, then they could also take advantage of the time until next year to make it even better - LED lights, more lights, more dynamic, etc.

But unless they actually SAY that is the case, I'm not holding my breath. And they won't say it because plans could change later and then we'll be just as POd as we are now.

They've had a year, minimum.

 

[brunette8706]

Clearly the move is to save money. If the lights are broken, they can be fixed. But the lights are old, and past a certain point it becomes prohibitively expensive to fix old technology (try buying RAM for a 10 year old computer, it costs as much as RAM for a brand new computer).

***

If your analyse is correct then they should have fixed or solved the problem on January 10, 2009. This way they could have had another Light of Winter Spectacular. What's next, stop lighting Cinderalla's castle because the electric bill is too high, or it is yesterday's technology? People from around the world come to Disney for magic and fantasy. The Lights of Winter was just that. Heck last year, there was a line 50-75 people deep trying to get their pictures taken in front of LoW. This is a bad business move in my humble opinion. They keep raising prices (on dining, strollers, parking, tickets etc.) and taking away more magic. It's ridiculous! And I think this is the last year I will become an annual pass holder. It STINKS!

Has anyone here thought about crafting a petition?

Thanks all!
Brunette

 

[doconeill]

They've had a year, minimum.

You know that they discovered there was a fault in the system a year ago? As far as I know, they could have discovered it last week.

To update it and make it better? Sure - but they probably didn't see a need to at the time. Now that they know they have to work on it, they could potentially spend the full year to get it done now.

 

[SpudNut]

A dumb question to many of you, but what does that walkway look like without the Christmas lights?

I'm a one-time visitor to WDW--went last Christmas, so that's the only way I've seen that area. Glad we took lots of pictures there! We're going again this Christmas, and I'm thinking that area of EPCOT will seem very bare.

 

[Rip]

They aren't compelled to give an excuse. If they lie then they will be called on it, making things even worse. This is an absolute in the internet age. If they stay quiet they can't silence the mob. So the only option left is to tell the truth.

You earlier stated that before the growth of social media they would have just kept quiet. They know that they no longer have that luxury, they would get bombarded with enough complaints/inquiries that they would have to say something, so in that sense they certainly are compelled to give an excuse.

They are lying on it, and they are being called on it, so I don't disagree with that statement at all.

Clearly the move is to save money. If the lights are broken, they can be fixed. But the lights are old, and past a certain point it becomes prohibitively expensive to fix old technology (try buying RAM for a 10 year old computer, it costs as much as RAM for a brand new computer). The only option left then is to replace them. Ordering or building a brand new set of the Lights of Winter isn't exactly going to be cheap even if they are just standard Christmas lights. You have to buy the lights and affix them to the old display, or perhaps build a brand new display. You need to sync them to the equally ancient music system. They need to be tested. It's not as simple as just replacing the lights.

I never said that it was, I said the excuse that the tech is obsolete is a crock - it's about saving money. Again, they've had a minimum of a year to do it. Did you click on that link I posted and watch the video? Seriously, you should.

To be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of the removal of the Lights of Winter. I'm upset that they're gone. I think they are fantastic. I'm just saying it's much more likely that Disney's reason for retiring the lights is legitimate. Somewhere along the line they made a decision that when the lights stopped working they wouldn't replace them. It's unlikely that the Lights of Winter were drawing many people to the parks. They're nice decoration for sure, but nobody is going to cancel their entire trip to Disney World because there are no Lights of Winder. Perhaps if this was the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights things would be different, but as pretty as the Lights of Winder are, they aren't exactly a "spectacle".

I never assumed you were arguing in favor. I just think you're looking at Disney's motives rather rosily.

 

[StrikerObi]

Clearly the move is to save money. If the lights are broken, they can be fixed. But the lights are old, and past a certain point it becomes prohibitively expensive to fix old technology (try buying RAM for a 10 year old computer, it costs as much as RAM for a brand new computer).

***

If you analyse is correct then they should have fixed or solved the problem on January 10, 2009. This way they could have had another Light of Winter Spectacular. What's next, stop lighting Cinderalla's castle because the electric bill is too high, or it is yesterday's technology? People from around the world come to Disney for magic and fantasy. The Lights of Winter was just that. Heck last year, there was a line 50-75 people deep trying to get their pictures taken in front of LoW. This is a bad business move in my humble opinion. They keep raising prices (on dining, strollers, parking, tickets etc.) and taking away more magic. It's ridiculous! And I think this is the last year I will become an annual pass holder. It STINKS!

Has anyone here thought about crafting a petition?

Thanks all!
Brunette

It's wrong to assume that they would have known about the lights being broken on January 10, 2009. They were working last December, so why would they be broken a few weeks later? It's more likely that they broke at some point while in storage, they were hauled out a month or so ago, and were discovered to be broken. They didn't have enough time/money to fix them, and as a result we get no lights this year. The lights might be back next year, but they can't confirm that so they can't say it.

You earlier stated that before the growth of social media they would have just kept quiet. They know that they no longer have that luxury, they would get bombarded with enough complaints/inquiries that they would have to say something, so in that sense they certainly are compelled to give an excuse.

They are lying on it, and they are being called on it, so I don't disagree with that statement at all.

If they're lying about then they will certainly learn the hard way that you can't lie about things like this in today's internet age. I'm making the assumption that they are already aware of this. Perhaps they are not. Thinking about it more, it is very possible that they are lying. They are a very old company that is used to playing things extremely close to the chest.

I never said that it was, I said the excuse that the tech is obsolete is a crock - it's about saving money. Again, they've had a minimum of a year to do it. Did you click on that link I posted and watch the video? Seriously, you should.

To me, admitting that the tech is obsolete is the same as admitting it's about saving money. The two are one in the same. If the tech was obsolete and the fix was cheap, they would justfix them. They're not fixing them because the tech is obsolete, which means the fix is also expensive.

 

[brunette8706]

t's wrong to assume that they would have known about the lights being broken on January 10, 2009. They were working last December, so why would they be broken a few weeks later? It's more likely that they broke at some point while in storage, they were hauled out a month or so ago, and were discovered to be broken. They didn't have enough time/money to fix them, and as a result we get no lights this year. The lights might be back next year, but they can't confirm that so they can't say it.

**
Um, so with your logic, they would assume that the castle lights for Christmas are working perfectly a month before Christmas? They would take that much of a risk? No, I don't think so. You don't think they test and retest those lights 6 months in advance to make sure everything is in perfect working condition for the BIGGEST HOLIDAY of the year? Heck this is the BIGGEST MONEY maker month for Disney. Believe in me I am not DISNEY BOT or Disney appologist. This whole thing is wrong in my humble opinion.

 

[danielle782001]

This whole thing is wrong in my humble opinion.

I agree