Originally Posted By davewasbaloo No, I was sadly quite serious. To me, he was one of my heroes. Disneyland and the spirit of Walt (trying to succeed and betting the farm, aiming to do the best and not copy etc.) Was inspirational. That is why I hate the move away from edutainment and the push of characters so much. To me, Walt was one of the most important people of the 20th century and a great mentor (albeit from afar)
Originally Posted By gadzuux We have that much in common. I'd add that Walt - with a major assist from Roy - found a way to merge art and commerce together to be both popular and groundbreaking, and financially successful at the same time. That was the 'real' trick - to create a business model that could support the creation of such an enormous and elaborate experiment.
Originally Posted By Sparrow <<<Unless it's a walk in closet.>>> Of course it is! Gotta have room for the life size cardboard figure!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Disney Parks Blog posted this video on the installation of Carthay's cupola today: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAjj18ey4GQ&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...embedded</a>
Originally Posted By leobloom Am I too late for the clueless guest stories? There was a guest at Epcot who was confused because he couldn't find anything that was on his park map. Made sense when I realized he was using a map for Universal Studios...!
Originally Posted By leemac <<"Too bad this wasn't the idea for the main entrance from the very beginning.">> Difference between a budget of $17.5m and a budget of $185m. The budget drove the original idea for the entrance - it needed to be cheap. To put BVS into context - Weis is spending more on that one section (with one new attraction) than was spent on Paradise Pier (with half the park's attractions). And the impending disaster that is Radiator Springs Racers is now a $400m attraction on its own - and will continue to head north of that until all of the engineering problems are fixed. It is remarkable that an attraction using existing technology that isn't even being pushed to the max (RSR's top speed will be little more than Space Mountain at 35mph compared to TT's top speed of 65mph). That $400m would have built everything inside the original DCA except for HBP - incredible.
Originally Posted By leemac <<It is remarkable that an attraction using existing technology that isn't even being pushed to the max (RSR's top speed will be little more than Space Mountain at 35mph compared to TT's top speed of 65mph). >> Not a good (or complete) sentence: It is remarkable that an attraction using existing technology that isn't even being pushed to the max (RSR's top speed will be little more than Space Mountain at 35mph compared to TT's top speed of 65mph) is turning out to be such a headache for the delivery team.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> Weis is spending more on that one section (with one new attraction) than was spent on Paradise Pier << Are you referring to the red cars as the 'one new attraction'? If so, it's a humble one - if not in budget and effort, then definitely in end result. It's not much more interesting than the omnibus or horse drawn carriages of MSUSA - nice to look at (I `spose) but something most people will never set foot on. And I wonder if most people will even get the reference to the original red cars of LA's days of yore. I would imagine that even most locals know little or nothing about them. Or much care. The trolleys seem mostly about "show" - just like on Main Street. While the imagineers and their dutiful parrots will bang on about adding 'kinetics' and energy to the area, the attraction itself promises to be something of a snooze. I've been thinking for awhile now that entirely too much of a fuss is being made over one of the less interesting new additions to the park. It makes me wonder what else they could have done with all that budget - something I might have enjoyed more than a 1920s trolley car. BTW - San Francisco has a rolling fleet of old-timey streetcars that run the length of Market Street and the Embarcadero all day every day. Without all the fuss. >> RSR's top speed will be little more than Space Mountain at 35mph compared to TT's top speed of 65mph << Why do you suppose that is? I know nothing, but I have two guesses - noise and vibration. TT is a noisy thing, all day long - and the worst of it is pushed waaay out back into offstage areas, away from epcot's guests. DCA doesn't have that luxury, being surrounded on all sides. And all you Alpine Inn lovers out there might not be so enthusiastic if you had an Indy 500 track right outside your room's window. Makes that gigantic water tank seem not so bad by comparison. And vibration. TT is just a suspended and braced trackway, with no real attempt at theming on either side, just some landscaping. RSR cozies right on up to highly themed sets snuggled in on both sides of the track. It seems like good engineering could still isolate the track from the solid structures around it - I think that's how it's on on Expedition Everest. But cutting the speed in half will also likely cut the rate of vibration, making it easier to maintain in the long haul. Still, it's disappointing news if true. The whole original point of the design and creation the TT ride system was to go FAST. I can hit 35mph on a bicycle. Lee - feel free to expand on "impending disaster". What else is going wrong?
Originally Posted By gadzuux I just thought of another possible reason for the slower speed - an increase in ride time. Doubling the speed halves the ride time, and they might want to stretch that out. We don't know how long the ride spends inside the showbuilding, but definitely the highlight is the outdoor race portion.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 You'd be surprised how much fun 35 mph can be, actually. Space is that fast, and the Matterhorn only hits about 20 or something. There's a racing coaster at Hersheypark that only hits about 40, and I thought could be dull. But it's surprisingly just as much fun as those that hit 70 or 80, because it's so well designed. Plus, the racing aspect makes it even more fun, and RSR will have that as well. TT just sort of moves on a dull, non-scenic track. RSR will have great scenery, higher banking IIRC, and bunny hills. I wouldn't be surprised if the racing portion was quite a bit more fun than TT's, even if it isn't as fast.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <And the impending disaster that is Radiator Springs Racers is now a $400m attraction on its own> I didn't skip over that sentence, leemac. All I have to say here is -- can you tell us more? 'Impending disaster' sounds very interesting...
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub i am not sure if Southern Californians can take another impending disaster in the DCA fun park!
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>And I wonder if most people will even get the reference to the original red cars of LA's days of yore. I would imagine that even most locals know little or nothing about them. << Don't be so quick to assume. The Red Cars are remembered with great fondness in the Southland. There has been a lot of interest in what is, essentially, a bit of kinetic window dressing. As far as the cost goes, bear in mind it isn't just Buena Vista Street. Track has been laid all the way through Hollywood Pictures Backlot and backstage next to the Tower. This was all done within the framework of a working theme park. The overhead wires and cars themselves are also part of the cost. The whole argument that BVS will be better because it has a bigger budget is kind of obvious. Regardless of the budget, the original entrance was, simply, a mess. The less money one has with which to work, the more careful and creative one should be. The series of disjointed elements that made up the original DCA were clearly neither.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Funny thing - after I wrote that about the red cars this morning, I watched some of 'Who Killed Roger Rabbit' on tv tonight - en espanol! I was reminded that much of the 1940s-centric plot involved a dastardly scheme by the bad guys to replace LAs red cars with freeways. I didn't get much of it because it was in spanish - and I'm not - and I don't remember the finer points of the plotline, but the red cars had a part to play in Roger Rabbit's story. I stand corrected.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I didn't skip over that sentence, leemac. All I have to say here is -- can you tell us more? 'Impending disaster' sounds very interesting... >> The attraction is over budget (nearly twice what it was originally budgeted) and now behind schedule. Virtually every aspect of the attraction has seen major problems from the ride system to the track to the show scenes to the environmental infrastructure. It has been a nightmare. Now it is all descending into a blame game as to who is accountable - but naturally the EVP who led the project can pass the buck as he is happily ensconced as the lead on Shanghai. Sadly I know exactly who will end up taking the blame for this project. I get so angry about all of these DCA additions - Mermaid was $125m, RSR is $400m+, BVS is nearly $200m. It is just a huge amount of capital to throw in one project when there are so many other deserving projects in the US parks.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "Sadly I know exactly who will end up taking the blame for this project." You?
Originally Posted By crapshoot <<I get so angry about all of these DCA additions - Mermaid was $125m, RSR is $400m+, BVS is nearly $200m. It is just a huge amount of capital to throw in one project . . . >> Not to sound condescending, but do you mean that DCA 2.0 should have been done on the cheap? And why should it make you or anyone "so angry" when a project goes over budget? Talk to Boeing Aircraft if you want to understand "over budget" issues? In other words, it is simply the nature of the beast. Creating themed amusements happens to be very fluid, they are subject to design changes at every stage, inter-political dynamics among stakeholders, and contractor issues including change orders that are always expensive and mess up any planned schedule.
