Originally Posted By Tiggirl Yesterday my boyfriend (he posts here on occasion as Crystalskull) was chatting with a WDI guy working on "Pirate Island". Mr WDI asked him if the canoes were still operating at Disneyland. Kind of frightning that people in charge of this TSI pirate overlay and rethemeing don't even know whats going on in the area their looking at making changes to. ~Beth
Originally Posted By trekkeruss WDI employs many different people, not all of which work on attractions and their design and engineering. It's entirely possible that the guy your boyfriend spoke with works for WDI, but is not an "imagineer" so-to-speak. That's the only explanation I can think of. But it is sad that any Disney employee wouldn't know such common knowledge.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ The area within WDI is no excuse. If you are there and working on a project, you should know this basic stuff!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss But I don't know the guy is actually working on it... maybe he only has knowledge of it. We are talking about a secondhand account of the conversation, after all. Regardless, I did say it's sad.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl Also sad is the fact that the guy was AT the park, on the island. He didn't even know where to look to see if the canoes were still there. He seemed surprise to find out they were still there. When Mark assured him they were still operating and were in fact operating at that moment the WDI fella said... "With guests in them?!" LOL! ~Beth
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Maybe he meant 'are the canoes running...today?' Of course, if he asked about The Aluminum Hall of Fame, then maybe there's cause for alarm.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl Maybe... but his question was "Do we still run the canoes at Disneyland?". So unless he has a very poor grasp of the English language (which I suppose could be true) then I don't think he meant that. Hehe! ~Beth
Originally Posted By pecos bill Sounds to me like the guy just isnt a big Disneyland fan. I would bet that there are a lot of those Imagineering folks who dont have a detailed knowledge, or passion for the park. To them its just a job. Meanwhile, there are a lot of us fans who would die to have that kind of job.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA When I worked at WDI Training and Development, we were hiring in a lot of new Imagineers for all sorts of jobs -- not just creative. Show Managers, Technicians, Machinists, Finance, et al. I created a program that took these new Imagineers to the Walt Disney World property for a 4 day overview / educational program -- most of them had never been to Walt Disney World and so they needed to be able to check it out first hand. Maybe this Imagineer has been working in Walt Disney World -- where the canoes no longer run. I'm just saying that, while it may seem incredible for us Disney Nerds that a person working at WDI doesn't know that the canoes are still running at Disneyland -- maybe the guys new.
Originally Posted By DlandDug This reminds me of the evening I was trying to cross the park as the Candlelight Procession was wending its way past the hub. Two cast members were standing at the crossover point. One said, rather loudly, "What is this? This sounds like religious music. Why is this going on?" So I am no longer surprised when a manager in a suit, wearing a Disney badge, cannot direct a guest to the nearest bathroom. Or when someone with a clip board walks right past trash on the ground. Or when someone from WDI has no working knowledge of present park operations.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl True, it may not be surprising but that doesn't make it any less disheartning. Jim, I could be willing to give him a little leeway if he's new. That being said I *still* think he should know whats going on in the area that directly relates to the project he's wotking on. Its one thing to not know if Mansion is back up in NOS... but another to not know what attractions are on the river where the island you're about to make changes to is located...IMO. (That sentance was a mouthful. Hope it made sense. LOL!) ~Beth
Originally Posted By DlandDug I'm with you, Beth. When I go to work on a project, I find out as much as I possibly can about it. Not knowing something this basic is, frankly, inexcusable.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA DlandDug, I'm not so concerned that the cast member doesn't 'get' the 'religious' music going on. To me, it shows what kind of training is going on. Back in the day, the new cast member would be working with a more seasoned veteran who would advise the new person to just 'act like he knew what he was doing' or would have explained what was going on during Candlelight. But certainly don't shout across a busy sidewalk that you don't know what's going on. With all the turnover at Disneyland, it's like the blind leading the blind.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Absolutely, Jim. The two baffled cast members were so distracting (the area was packed with guests) that I finally leaned over and quietly explained what Candlelight was to them.
Originally Posted By tangaroa I was at the park all day yesterday and the canoes were not running. Typically they don't run on weekdays during the off season - and a few years ago they didn't run at all from Sept to June.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl Hmmm, I may have got that part of the story wrong (the fact that the canoes were operating at that moment). I wasn't there, obviously. (or manybe not so obviously. LOL!) I still maintain that he should still know the attractions that operate in conjuntion with the attraction he's on the team to alter. ~Beth
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I don't know why I'm defending this WDI person -- I don't even know the whole story. I'd be interested to know what his role is at WDI, how long he's been with the company, what he was really asking et al... Maybe someone told him at WDI that the canoes WERE NOT running at Walt Disney World, but he understood that person to say 'not running at Disneyland' and he was asking a smart, handsome Cast Member on Tom Sawyer Island for the true scoop. I hear so many people using the phrase 'You'd think that....' 'You'd think that my neighbor would take his trashcans off the street after the trash gets picked up.' 'You'd think that if a parent were helping my 4th grader's class, she's wear the appropriate clothing.' 'You'd think that if those people moved to the United States, they'd learn to speak the language.' 'You'd think that the young tattoo artist would know who Goodtime Charlie is' 'You'd think that a Disneyland Cast Member would know about Candlelight' 'You'd think that a guy working at WDI would know if the canoes were running at Disneyland.' And on and on... And while it might be accurate, I've recently been trying to cut people a break.
