Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Although, I do tend to think that when we look back on something we tend to look at it through rose colored glasses. I think that Walt did plenty of exploiting of Disney brands and characters in his day too. And if Walt were alive today, he wouldn't necessarily disapprove of everything they are doing to the parks.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Oh, absolutely, but that doesn't mean that many of the changes have not ruined the thematic elements that make Disneyland unique. Nor does it mean that because it's changed fans don't have the right to make observations and comment. To be honest most of the directives that have changed Disney's parks have led to improvements, but many of those good changes have been offset by the negative impact of the over-saturation of character brands. Everything at Disneyland doesn't have to be about Disney.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Disney doesn't mean "characters." The whole discussion about going to WDW and doing bass fishing and people not understanding why you'd goto WDW to do something like that and how it's "not Disney" is the inherent problem in the mindset. Quality of service and attention to detail is where the "Disney" is in an experience. Not the mouse ears or pixie dust.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Can you say it a little louder for Constance please? She seems to be sitting in the balcony and can't hear you.
Originally Posted By cheesybaby <<And just for the record, what are some specific examples of dumbing down the experience?>> 2 words: Living Seas.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance It's true, I don't hear all that well. Voices sound like mumbles to me sometimes.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance By the way Mousermerf, I found the picture I wanted to show you, it's a picture from the Monster's Inc ride, and you can plainly see that the door is pink, but in the movie it's white <a href="http://www.americanbusinesssolutions.com/gadgets/disneypics/images/d314.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.americanbusinesssol...d314.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance "Quality of service and attention to detail is where the "Disney" is in an experience. Not the mouse ears or pixie dust. " I don't necessarily disagree with you on this, but it is just an opinion. And who's really to say what Disney is or isn't other than Disney? Take this for example, you know why Tinkerbell is kind of the "mascot" of Disney theme parks? She's on all the commercials flying around sprinkling the pixie dust everywhere. The only reason it's Tinkerbell is because at the beginning when the park was beginning, the Disney investors(?) wouldn't allow Walt to use Mickey like he wanted to, they were afraid of Mickey's image becoming tainted if the park was a huge flop, so they chose another character less well known and marketable. But Walt wanted Mickey to be the theme of the park, he wanted the park and the movies to feed off of each other. I always say this so I might as well say it again, but when he was building the castle in the park, he was going to name it Snow White's castle after his first feature length movie, but at the last minute decided to change it to Sleeping Beauty because it was a moving in production and he knew it would be good publicity for the movie when it came out. There has always been the exploitation and selling of crap, there are just now millions of more ways to do it in.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Which is exactly why I use the word "exploit", because that's exactly what it is. What's different today it the length and breadth of the way the characters are used. They've completely shifted the use of these properties into a new dimension that pretty much trumps all the care and attention to detail that made the park famous. "Quality of service and attention to detail is where the "Disney" is in an experience. Not the mouse ears or pixie dust. " >>I don't necessarily disagree with you on this, but it is just an opinion. And who's really to say what Disney is or isn't other than Disney?<< Maybe. I think the disconnect I'm having with this whole character situation is that Disney once sold me on the idea that the place the park's seven thematic lands actually represented something. Over the past few years management has slowly allowed these things to become less important and put more emphasis on selling stuff - whether it's unthemed merchandise or the latest Pixar or Princess project as the basis of a new ride. These changes in principles are not anyone's opinion, they are in fact changes that are documented.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Well, I'm not sure where to go from here. lol I'm not even sure what I'm debating anymore Although Hans, I must say, debating with you is very different than a lot of people. You seem to keep a level head and don't get personal at all which is a nice change of pace.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance It's hard for me to debate much on the themes and merchandise sold in the lands, etc. Because I don't know enough about what's sold where to make much of an argument. I remember in Adventureland the Mickey Mouse's had safari hats on though
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "You seem to keep a level head and don't get personal at all which is a nice change of pace." Thanks. Let's not forget why we are here. This is supposed to be fun stuff we're discussing. "I remember in Adventureland the Mickey Mouse's had safari hats on though " I think they've always had stuff like that, but up until maybe 10 years ago the various shops in the park featured merchandise that (mostly) corresponded with the theme of the land that they were in. For example, you could buy Native American crafts and Pendleton shirts in Frontierland, and custom perfumes and real antiques in New Orleans Square. Experiencing the shops at DL used to be something that enhanced the experience of visiting the different themed lands. The Crystal Arts and New Century Timepieces shops are a couple of the remaining retail establishments that are reminiscent of what shopping at the park used to be like. "Dr hans, when is your birthday?" I am a Sagittarius if that's what you're asking.
Originally Posted By Manfried The Tron art on the monorail makes me feel like I'm looking at a bus in a city. Yuck. They could have done something more stylish at least.
Originally Posted By cheesybaby <<and New Century Timepieces shops are a couple of the remaining retail>> You probably know this, but the New Century Timepieces store no longer exists. It has been replaced with a store similar to DtD's Disney Vault 28 or whatever it's called.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "You probably know this, but the New Century Timepieces store no longer exists. It has been replaced with a store similar to DtD's Disney Vault 28 or whatever it's called." I didn't know that! Not surprising that it was replaced by yet another Disney merchandise shop. That's very disappointing to hear.
