Originally Posted By Roger55 No one has to be a CM or talked to thousands of Guests in order to be "qualified" to discuss things here, especially this topic. Trying to gain credibility by throwing out you were a CM and have talked to thousands of people about where they are from has no bearing on this discussion and by no means backs up your "claim". As hard as it may be for you to face, the small number (yes, SMALL) of people you have interacted with in your life does not make you an expert on population and demographics. And it certainly does not make you an authority on the life experiences of "MOST PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE ON THE WEST COAST OR FLORIDA".
Originally Posted By everyyearofmylife Not to add fuel to the mickey4239 and roger55 fire, but I live in Northern California and I've been to DL many, many times. And this year so have a good majority of people in the town where I grew up and the other town where I go to school. That wasn't really the case before the 50th though. I'd say this year is the first time a lot of people have gone to DL. And, without taking sides (I hope), that was my two cents.
Originally Posted By Roger55 everyyearofmylife, you did an EXCELLENT job of staying right in the middle! You should take up tightrope walking! LoL Thanks for your two cents.
Originally Posted By everyyearofmylife Well thanks Roger! I acheived my objective then! And how'd you know I did tightrope walking?
Originally Posted By teddibubbles I am not trying tobe bad! but 100% truthfull/ I saw that POTC movie.. and I only remeber small bits of it! my hubby said I need to see it again to get more out of it! the only reason I am telling you this.. is for the arguement of that (" its a classic movie") BIG NOT!!! in my mind.. yes the movie star fans LOVE the actors in it.. and it was a good film! but classic? no not to me.. I never forgot the scenes in my first REAL classic disney films! to me I LOVE the movie King Kong.. but I rember more of that film! or tom hanks in the terminal.. or CAST AWAY! the films I just said are JUST as good to me.. but NOT classics!.. so I see no big need to CHANGE our classic ride to its PC or anything other thing then it was! just MHO
Originally Posted By englishboy It was a good summer movie. It wasn't great. Jonny Depp was particularly good in it. It had some really good special effects. But it was nowhere as good or as memorable as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back, Shrek I or II, Spiderman II, ET, Jurassic Park, Titanic, or even The Lion King. I mostly agree that re-doing the ride based the performance of a good--but not great--summer film and the hopeful expectations of its sequels may prove problematic if the sequels under preform. Didn't Universal have a similar plan for it Back to the Future ride? But I do remain mostly hopeful about the new overlay as this attraction could really use some updating. I'm just hoping that DL does not cheap out the attraction with low-costs updates. The updates I've seen in the HM recently have been very nice, especially the new Leota. I would hope most of the new Sparrow/Barbarosa figures would be on par with the sophistication of the pirate auctioner.
Originally Posted By mickey42397 Look Roger55, I am the friendliest person usually, and as I said before, I don't want to argue with you, but YOU are the one who started calling me wrong. I respect everyone's opinion here, but not when they go around trashing other people's opinions. I do not need to 'throw around' the fact that I have been a CM or talked to thousands of guests, but I mentioned it because it does relate to the question here and it does give me reason to say that I am a little more familiar than some other people with where those guests come from. Also, I have lived in four different counties in California and one in Florida over the past thirty -something years and spent hundreds of days in Disney parks, even when I wasn't working in them. One of my best friends is a vacation planner for the company, and I just talked to her and she agrees with what I said. If she hadn't I would just respect her opinion, acknowledge that she may know more about it than I do, and chalk it up to a difference of opinion. That is the kind of person I am. I regret that I have allowed you to make me lower my standards and argue with you when it really is little more than a difference of opinion we will probably never know the truth about. I hope we can agree to disagree and let everyone else who reads this form their own opinion. Hopefully you won't try to tell them they are not qualified enough to make up their own minds. By the way, I didn't mean to say that people didn't love the movie because it had a great plot and was well done. I completely agree with that. I can see that it is the type of movie that you either love or are not too impressed with, hopefully the next two will be just as good or better. What I meant originally is that in addition to those facts, people like the fact that they can associate it to experiences they (may have)had on the ride. It is a great ride, most people seem to agree with that at least. If I didn't think so I wouldn't have been at the park last night riding it over and over again and sticking around to be on the last boat.
Originally Posted By Nubs I posted this in another thread, but just saw it was more appropriate here, especially since the movie is being discussed: I still have my doubts about this upgrade. I mean, the ride is about ATMOSPHERE, SUBTLETY, and TONE. The movie is about STORY, ACTION and THRILLS. The two relate only in subject matter, and one is going to have to surrender to the other for the upgrade. Since an extremely slow-moving boat is not condusive to action, the elements plucked from the movie will have to be softened. This begs the question, then: What's the bloody point!?!?!?!?! Fans of the movie (for whom these changes target) will expect some type of action-packed, rowdy romp with Depp. They're not going to get what they want either way (unless a new ride is built from scratch)! So what's the point? I say upgrade with new special effects, but keep the movie characters out of it, because it won't make sense seeing them in an entirely new context.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I still have my doubts about this upgrade. I mean, the ride is about ATMOSPHERE, SUBTLETY, and TONE. The movie is about STORY, ACTION and THRILLS.>> I disagree with your thesis. There is a story, and action and thrills to the ride, but you are ignoring them to support your argument. Regardless, even if the movie is forgotten in the years to come, it won't likely effect the overall enjoyment of the ride, because it will still be a signature Disney AA attraction.
Originally Posted By Nubs <I disagree with your thesis. There is a story, and action and thrills to the ride, but you are ignoring them to support your argument.> A story may be there, but it isn't really apparent. Heck, I've ridden it dozens of times, and I don't totally get it. The important thing is it's not the dominant aspect of the experience, unlike the movie. And as far as action and thrills go, this conversation is framed in the context of "modern" audiences, since those are whom the changes are for. You can't argue younger, modern audiences find Pirates the ride thrilling, and my point is they won't after these changes, either.
Originally Posted By DismayingObservation Going back to what I said on an earlier post, there was supposed to be narration that somehow tied the whole thing together (think disembodied voices of Paul Frees and X. Atencio with a lot more to say). We begin in a Louisiana bayou, wind up in a haunted treasure cave filled with the skeletons of deceased pirates kicking it in a bar and studying charts in bed. From there, we're in the Spanish Main...and back to Louisiana we go. IMO, this attraction achieved cult status with no coherence whatsoever. I love Pirates. There simply wasn't a story that made sense. Call me literal-minded, but tying this in with the movie will make for an eye-opening experience. Hopefully, the powers-that-be will take the oppportunity to finally tie the storyline together.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<A story may be there, but it isn't really apparent. Heck, I've ridden it dozens of times, and I don't totally get it. The important thing is it's not the dominant aspect of the experience, unlike the movie.>> My contention is riders will still be able to enjoy the ride even if they know nothing about the movie. <<And as far as action and thrills go, this conversation is framed in the context of "modern" audiences, since those are whom the changes are for. You can't argue younger, modern audiences find Pirates the ride thrilling, and my point is they won't after these changes, either.>> I disagree the changes are aimed at a particular segment, but rather to cross-promote AND to keep the park fresh. Thrill of course is a relative term, and the old and new Pirates will continue it's tradition of fun and excitement, movie tie-in or not.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss ^^To back up my argument, I have never seen the movie Song Of The South, yet I enjoy Splash Mountain.
Originally Posted By DismayingObservation Ironic how the most popular attraction in both parks is themed around a motion picture that !@%$#@ political correctness dictates will never be rereleased in this market.
Originally Posted By Zwitek Quote: "Ironic how the most popular attraction in both parks is themed around a motion picture that !@%$#@ political correctness dictates will never be rereleased in this market." Don't be so sure about that. They did after all release the "War Years" DVD which features Donald in a certain upsetting uniform. At some point the film will show up here, heck, you can already get it at genre conventions albeit of the bootleg variety. Someday, perhaps with a sitdown with Leonard Maltin explaining the context of the film. That reminds me, I have it on my computer, guess I should watch it again soon.
Originally Posted By mickey42397 I love that movie, and I have seen it and have it on video which came from copying it from my sister's laser dic of the movie that she bought in Japan. I know lots of other people that have seen it to, but you are right it doesn't even matter because everone loves the ride and you don't even have to have a strong storyline to make a ride great, just a good theme.
Originally Posted By dsnykid In regards to how many people do or do not visit Disneyland... I think it all depends on where you live, where you are from, and what you like to do... I live in an upper middle class city in Alberta Canada and in the past year, over half of my students have been to disneyland... mostly because I have drilled it into their head that it is the coolest place in the world, but also because the seat sales for the airlines have been great for the 50th. I also have friends in California who in 35 years have been to disneyland maybe twice... it just isn't their thing. I don't think you can figure out your own statistics regarding it, especially when out of the 450 million people through the gates, I account for 100 of those times... repeat attendance does skew the numbers.
