Originally Posted By Doobie This topic is for discussion of the July 3rd Greg Maletic Column at <a href="News-ID160030.asp" target="_blank">http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID1600300.asp</a>.
Originally Posted By dlport What an interesting article! Great job Greg. You looked at the question of park comparison from an even-handed perspective, and brought up many points that have traditionally been left out of the "DisneySea v. Any Other Theme Park" debate. Very entertaining.
Originally Posted By blake Quite possibly the most honest and informative review of a Disney park I've ever read. I don't usually comment on editorials, but this one was so well-written and conceived that it merits congratulations. A wonderful assessment that paints an accurate picture of park most of us can only dream of visiting! I also appreciate your inclusion of DCA as a juxtopostion- very effective and, for once, not a unsupported bashing. Great points, and a wonderful review (although it was so much more than a review!).
Originally Posted By Fathom8 Greg, good article. You do have to go back for Journey to the Center, it is a cross breed from the ride system of Test Track(perfected) and the animatronic's of Dinosaur. You forgot to mention the the skull that blows huge fast smoke rings on Indy. One thing I do think you did not take into account are the two best stage shows in Disney's history. Little Mermaid and Encore are both DS shows on the same level as Fantasmic. I know your not into shows but still to look at the whole picture you need to consider 2 E-ticket shows if there is such a phrase. I agree about Genie 3-D, couldn't believe how bad it was. I did like 20,000 Leagues a little bit better than you seemed too. Hey did you catch the Mystery Castle Tour over in DL. I'm praying that dragon finds its way to the AK soon. Oh well thakns for writing about one of my favorite subjects. Fathom8
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi Great report Greg. Looking forward to more of your comments. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By trekkeruss It's late here on the east coast, so I really need to get some sleep, but I want to comment on the story, even though I haven't finished it yet. I think it was a MAJOR mistake to leave out discussion and review of the shows...they are _absolutely_ an intregal part of the DisneySea experience. Because of these omissions, I feel the article doesn't paint a complete enough picture of what the park is about.
Originally Posted By Faith I'd add Mystic Rhythms as an E-ticket worthy show. (I actually preferred it to both TLM and Encore) Personally, the live entertainment options and parades are among the highlights of my trip to TDR. Also, I felt that the dining options- including cafeterias- were another strength of TDS. That said, I found the report to be a fascinating read, and very well done.
Originally Posted By OrlandoBoi "Spelling the name is a challenge: you have to capitalize the "s" in DisneySea to be able to read the word. (The uncapitalized "Disneysea" is just a little too confusing to try to pronounce.)" Spelling DisneySea is a challenge? How does this guy go filling out his income tax forms then? "The name only really makes sense if you understand the land/sea analogy it’s playing off of, and that’s a tad obscure. I know it took me over a year before I figured out that the name "DisneySea" was playing off of "Disneyland." (Land/Sea…get it?)" Uuuuuummmmmmm........I got it IMMEDIATELY and the concept had me CAPTIVATED! "That made me think I was stupid until I realized that this correlation was news to everyone I mentioned this to, even while we were standing in the park." Not to sound like jonvn here but did this guy poll all 50,000 people in the aprk that day and founf them all INCREDULOUS that "DisneySea" referred to the "SEA"(go figure?!?!)theme of the park? I mean, there is this MASSIVE lagoon in the entrance and waterways wind throughout the ENTIRE park! I aint no Einstein but it AINT that hard! "Furthermore, it’s kind of a false analogy: the "land" in Disneyland’s name doesn’t exactly refer to "land masses" or "continents," it’s just a generic term for a "place." Using the term "sea" in the new park is taking original park’s name too literally." Stop thinking too much mate and just enjoy the flamin' park!!!! end rant.
Originally Posted By OrlandoBoi And yes russ-if you did not see The Little Mermaid show, Encore and Mystic Rhythms, you missed three of TDS's best attractions. I could take or leave DisneySea Symphony but the Porto Paradiso Water Carnival was quite fun. Just goes to show there is more to this park and like most experiences, it only gets better once you scratch the surface and REALLY allow yourself to be immersed in it.
Originally Posted By Brandis I have never been to Tokyo, but bought the two videos about DisneySea, one about the park in general and one about the shows available in the park. The shows really seem to be one of the highlights of the park. I'm a big fan of cruise ships and cruise vacations, so I enjoyed the Bon Voyage-show (don't remember its real name) at the Columbia also very much, although many might find it a bit corny...
Originally Posted By euroiswe Thanks for the article Greg, I am pleased you highlighted the theme comparisons with a Magic Kingdom style park, which I felt were a drawback from making the park feeling like a step on (it was more a step sideways). I would have placed Mysterious Island with the Tomorrowland theme and not Fantasyland, as Port Discovery is so similar in style to Discoveryland in Paris, and that the Space Mountain there was originally conceived in a volcano - along with a lake, the Nautilus and restaurants also inside. Really pleased you like Sinbad and Aquatopia; along with Journey (which is a definite “e”) they were my favourites too. LM and Encore were great shows.
Originally Posted By spoonfullofsugar oh well.....someday maybe i can win that contest on Disney Chanell........
Originally Posted By Faith OrlandoBoi, I also got the Land/Sea thing right away. I was also wondering about the space devoted in the article to criticism of the park's name; if it was meant to be a marketing tool to English speakers, it might be more of an interesting topic to analyze. But I've assumed "DisneySea" was meant more to be catchy to Japanese ears. And if we've going around analyzing names, I've always wondered about the name "Downtown Disney"; having lived in a couple major cities, the WDW DtD reminds me *nothing* of a Downtown area. But it's a catchy name After reading this thread, it got me to wondering what types of live entertainment are offered by DCA.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 True, Faith, DCA doesn't have much in the way of live entertainment. Although Blast! is wonderful, it's their only big-budget show. And to add another one to the list, I understood the name right away too. Now all we need next is Tokyo DisneyAir. And, Faith, I'll bet you're right about the name being more for the Japanese audience than for English speakers. It's probably similar to the "Ikspiari" situation.
Originally Posted By WeirdOne gurgitoy2, I can just see it now... "...The Oriental Land Company has announced that they are going to contruct a new theme park called DisneyAir in the sky (literally) by making it hover 2000 feet in the air. Local Tokyo residents are excited (not to mention, not complaining) because now they can see everything from their houses..." LOL! I can just see it now. LOL! But, I think this article like was mentioned misses out because it doesn't include the E-ticket shows. I saw the E-ticket shows (on video, at least some of them) and I just wanted to go not caring about anything else in the park. So, I think he did miss out somewhat. - The WeirdOne ~_^
Originally Posted By WeirdOne >> I could take or leave DisneySea Symphony but the Porto Paradiso Water Carnival was quite fun. << Nu Uh Brad, you did not just put down DisneySea Symphony. That show was quite simply the cutest most intriguing and interesting fireworks show I've seen at a themepark. I couldn't help but laugh and clap the whole show. No Chanel for Brad because of that comment. Well, no Chanel from me. - The WeirdOne ~_^
