Originally Posted By FerretAfros Other than Joe, I also know of Bruce Vaughn and Tom Fitzgerald, who are some sort of higher-ups at WDI (though I'm not sure exactly what they do). Also Lisa Girolami (sp?) was heavily involved in the DCA redo, and was featured in several of the Blue Sky Cellar videos, but that's about all I know at the moment. It seems like they're trying to bring different folks out for the cameras for the Blog updates, which helps give the credit where it's due, but also makes it harder to remember who is who, since you only see any given Imagineer for moments at a time. Is Kim Irvine still with WDI? I haven't heard anything about her in at least 5 years
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Bruce Vaughn and Tom Fitzgerald<<< Isn't Bruce Vaugh the head of WDI. I know that Tom Fitzgerald was responsible for Star Tours II and he is responsible to oversee Disneyland Paris at wDI in Glendale.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That sounds about right. ALl I really know about them is that they're in broad oversight type positions, rather than ones where they're picking out the paint colors
Originally Posted By dagobert I'm sorry for all the typos. Stupid ipad. If it wasn't for the Travel Channel documentaries, the two Imagineering books and the From Sketch to Reality, it wouldn't know any of the Imagineers. I guess most of them already left WDI. What happened to the Imagineer that built a working model of Soarin' out of a toy to see if works? I don't know his name right now.
Originally Posted By SuperDry When Baxter's retirement was announced, I thought that not much good was going to come of it. But now I realize I was wrong.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <What happened to the Imagineer that built a working model of Soarin' out of a toy to see if works? I don't know his name right now.> Mark Sumner is the Imagineer who developed the Erector set model of Soarin'
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Mark Sumner is the Imagineer who developed the Erector set model of Soarin'<<< Thank you. That's the Imagineer I was talking about. Is he still with Disney?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Not that I spend much time thinking about it, but the whole "Al disappearance" is weird. This morning MiceAge posted a new gossip column/update entitled "Tron-morrowland and Monsters Backlot with no credit given to the writer. The tone is similar to Al, but obviously it isn't him, or is it?
Originally Posted By DBitz2 Al thanked MiceAge staff for their help with the updates at the end of the new column, so it may be that he is not able to do them entirely on his own anymore or he is getting ready to pass them off to others due to health challenges.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Yep... I took another look and sure enough his name is at the end of the column. I certainly hope that he's well and that his health improves.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Just read Al's column. A member of his staff, down in the comments, has expanded on the ending note from Al. Al had a health scare recently and his staff is helping with putting out his updates right now, is what it boils down to. He's got a couple of real doozies for juicy rumors in this update, so Al apparently still has solid WDI and/or TDA sources.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "He's got a couple of real doozies for juicy rumors in this update..." You mean like that ridiculous Monsters Inc expansion plan for DCA? That made me LOL.
Originally Posted By TP2000 It is an odd one, and it took me by surprise. But it would certainly be much better than what is there now; a tired 3D movie and an empty soundstage that has all the charm of a closed Costco. Bring on Monstropolis!
Originally Posted By Manfried Al's solid source is none other than Tony Baxter or Tony's pals. None of the stuff mentioned has been greenlit, but look for the Monsters one, because of the new movie. The speeders on the Peoplemover track is just talk trying to build a groundswell of support by that group.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Today's article definitely matched Al's writing style perfectly. The April Fools column was written to copycat it, and just didn't quite match up; if today's column wasn't written (or at least significantly edited) by Al, I would be very surprised. As for Monsters Inc, I agree that the rumor doesn't even make sense, other than the movie coming out soon (and don't they come up with blue sky concepts for every movie that's about to come out, just in case?). In addition to be a lot of land to devote to a film franchise (and the third Pixar land in DCA), there's the problem of that pesky old Monorail which runs right through the center of the proposed site. Due to its height, it's too short to get much to pass under it, yet too tall for anything significant to pass over it; if they're planning a coaster for that location, it will be very tricky to make it work. Of course, the DLRR runs straight through the middle of Splash Mountain and it works just fine, but I think a coaster on a very small site would be much tougher to configure than the front half of a flume. Additionally, I'm a little disheartened that they're looking for another super-specific theme for a mini-land. HKDL is in the process of expanding with 3 mini-lands, and it just seems like an odd size. Both thematically and geographically, there is very little that can be added to the lands in the future, so it seems like they're painting themselves into a corner. Let's hope that the Monsters plan really is only a rumor at this point
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "But it would certainly be much better than what is there now..." Would it? I'm not so sure. Why not keep with the retro Hollywood theme and build a ride tribute to the Fab Five or something? Instead of more Monsters Inc they should spend the money and give the Hyperion the revamped facade and lobby originally planned for phase I of the expansion.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I don't understand the breakfast thing in his columns. When did that start? They're strangely specific items each time. Weird.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I'm not sure about either of these rumors either. Monsters Inc. is more believable, but even then, there are questions. One thing, is that if the coaster is themed to the doors sequence, then what about that scene in the ride next door? Would they edit that into another scene so that there wouldn't be duplicates? It would be like putting the Snow White dark ride right next to the new Dwarves' Mine coaster...which obviously WDW management decided not to do. Also, as Ferret said, it would become the 3rd Pixar themed land within DCA, and then there's Toy Story Mania...so why not just move Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters over there too and be done with it? The Tron lightCycle thing is just weird. I would be all for it, but he mentions Shanghai Disneyland...but from what I've seen, it's not the same kind of attraction at all, so other than TRON, and maybe some set pieces, what's in common? Also...this would require a real budget, especially to stabilize the old Peoplemover track and make sure the Rocket Rods disaster doesn't happen again.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I forget when the breakfast thing started, but I do remember in the beginning it was just simple stuff like get your coffee and donut, or juice and bagel ready. I think as time went on, he had to keep thinking of different things so as not to repeat himself, and now he's gotten extremely specific.
Originally Posted By TP2000 I agree Ferret, this latest update certainly reads like Al throughout. And when I got to the end of the first paragraph and was instructed to get my specific breakfast items ready, I thought "Ah, Al Lutz is back!". Aside from these new E Tickets, the willingness to shuttle TDA workers backstage so they don't have to walk through the parks even just once per year is troubling. I would think it could be turned into a fun event "Walk The Park!" on the way to the meeting, almost as a prerequisite from attending. And on these gorgeous April days that SoCal always has, you would be the envy of every other cubicle dweller in Orange County to be able to do that as part of your career at Disneyland. A shame they don't see it like that, and instead allow these people to avoid the parks entirely for months at a time. Very odd leadership behavior from TDA executives on that one. Baffling, really.
