Originally Posted By MPierce I still really have my doubts about this being an Imagineer's comments. After seeing pictures of the queue of this attraction I would be a little ticked off about a bunch of negative comments made by people who hadn't even experienced this ride also. I think it was brillantly done, something I would have been proud to stick my name on. If that queue doesn't put a smile on your face your etheir an Old Fuddy Duddy or just a plain Imagineer hater. However I don't think this sounds like someone who works for Disney in this position when they know their comments will leak out.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^MPierce, you know you're like my No. 1 minion so I don't want to tell you you're wrong, but I will just ask you to trust me on this one. I KNOW what I'm talking about and I'm no fan/defender of Hill at all. I actually think he's just about the worst out there at what he does. But ... well, I just won't say any more. And people are critical about all sorts of things. That's life in the Internet age. Whether they experience the attraction or not. FWIW, this attraction has always been designed as a D-Ticket type experience and I believe it will fit that bill quite well. I toured DCA's version a while back and the quality of the queue area and seeing old man Tater impressed me enough to believe it will live up to that. If people think this is an E-Ticket major attraction ... well, then I can see grounds for disappointment. But it's disappointment based upon having incorrect expectations. You can't compare this to an Everest. That's just not fair.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 You can't compare this to an Everest. That's just not fair.<< Noone ever said the Internet was fair.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> ^^MPierce, you know you're like my No. 1 minion so I don't want to tell you you're wrong, but I will just ask you to trust me on this one. I KNOW what I'm talking about and I'm no fan/defender of Hill at all. I actually think he's just about the worst out there at what he does. But ... well, I just won't say any more. << You can always feel free to tell me when I'm wrong. I've been very wrong about a lot of things before, and I will probably be wrong many more times in the future. If you say you know this for a fact, I will take your word on it. You do understand how difficult it was for me to believe a grown man would sound so whiney about critisim of his work on the internet. TSMM is going to be a hit. The queue is fantastic. It put a smile on my face the minute I saw it. I would let the attraction speak for itself . If you worry about being critisized you really shouldn't go on Disney sites, and read what people say. You can design a perfect attraction, and some people will still find fault with it.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^About the only thing I feel I can add to this is simply conjecture as to why said Imagineer decided to vent and whine in such a ... well, childlike way. This again is conjecture based on knowing the person and what 'may' be going on behind the scenes. My take is this: said Imagineer has had some dog projects. The kind that have been ripped over and over by fans (and casual visitors) and rightfully so over the past decade. That makes the subject touchy to begin with. Now, you have this big attraction about to debut on both coasts and you get criticism from 'fans' who haven't even ridden or from CMs who rode during a soft opening period. My guess is this individual feels that if this attraction doesn't meet the projections set by Burbank and Glendale that he will be the designated fall guy ... I could be wrong about this theory, but I'm pretty sure I'm not. It just makes too much sense. And there was a lot of desperation coming thru in those comments to Jim. I doubt this guy has anything to worry about based on this atrraction because I do believe it is a quality addition. Hope that helps some.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 It sounds to me like either Tom Fitzgerald or Eric Jacobson wrote that. Fitzgerald is pretty immature and he only got his job at imagineering because of his uncle (Marty Sklar). Just look at how bad some of the attractions he has supervised are (HISTA, Mission Space, Stitch's Great Escape, etc.) It almost seems like he cant think of any other attraction type except one that relies on video screens.
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 HISTA? What exactly is that? And I seem to remember, Skellington88, a while back that you were going to propose to your girlfriend on a cruise? How did that go?
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 Oh yeah. I think thats kind of okay, but yet again, video screen with unimmersed audience. Its really hard to understand the story, doesnt make the est use of technology, and has a horrible queue area. What else have these 2 been in on?
Originally Posted By leobloom ^What's hard to understand about the story? You're in the audience. You're shrunk. You're blown up. You leave and go to the Land without riding Journey into Imag.
Originally Posted By mousermerf It made more sense years ago when HISTK was a popular movie franchise. Now? Not so much. It's the longest running movie in that theater. I beleive it's run longer then both of the movies before it combined. Captain EO got by on just being cool for the time period, but Magic Journeys actually fit the theme of the pavilion. Stupid HISTA had to go create the vile Imagination Institute, which went directly against the intent to create a "warm" and non-clinical pavilion in Future World. Let's do non-clinical by using a lab! That's not the same!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Hm... Now i wish that I knew a little more about Florida's WDI.>> About all I will say is the Florida group as a whole is a political mess. The big 'name' talent in Florida is Joe Rohde and that's why DAK remains so unified in its vision while a great park like Epcot tries to regain a vision and while the other two Florida parks remain largely messes with some great, some good and some awful attractions. They lack cohesion because there is no one vision for them now or five years from now. <<ANd Spirit, could you enlighten me a bit on what Fire/Villain mountain really were? I dont want to be spouting off false info in the future.>> Fire Mountain was a coaster proposed first for the sub lagoon area of MK and later Adventureland and would have culminated (at least in one version) with riders dangling over pits of lava facing downward. As far as I know it was only blueskied, although I've heard test baloons for height were sent up. Villian Mountain is a concept that no one I know at WDI in any position has ever heard of. It came out on fansites years ago. I put this is the forefather of the Villains 5th gate that fanboys get into a lather about that, again no on at WDI has ever mentioned to be existing in any way, shape or form. And if you think about it, you'd realize what an awful concept for a park that was. It's just one of those things that someone writes about and someone else takes it as fact and it gets a life of its own. <<^Thats not supposed to sound sarcastic either. Genuine interest.>> No worries. It didn't sound sarcastic to me at all. And, trust me, I know my sarcasm. If I can ever answer questions, I'm very happy to do so.
Originally Posted By X-san ***The big 'name' talent in Florida is Joe Rohde and that's why DAK remains so unified in its vision*** With one notable and god-awful exception. Was he responsible for THAT mess?
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 "^What's hard to understand about the story? You're in the audience. You're shrunk. You're blown up. You leave and go to the Land without riding Journey into Imag." If you havent seen the movies, then you have no idea whats going on. I know alot of people around me last time I was on were kind of staring like, what? HISTK is slightly old school at this point, and a decreasing number of people actually know what it is.
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 "It made more sense years ago when HISTK was a popular movie franchise. Now? Not so much. It's the longest running movie in that theater. I beleive it's run longer then both of the movies before it combined. Captain EO got by on just being cool for the time period, but Magic Journeys actually fit the theme of the pavilion. Stupid HISTA had to go create the vile Imagination Institute, which went directly against the intent to create a "warm" and non-clinical pavilion in Future World. Let's do non-clinical by using a lab! That's not the same!" Shoot, pretty much the quintessence of my post. "Fire Mountain was a coaster proposed first for the sub lagoon area of MK and later Adventureland and would have culminated (at least in one version) with riders dangling over pits of lava facing downward. As far as I know it was only blueskied, although I've heard test baloons for height were sent up. Villian Mountain is a concept that no one I know at WDI in any position has ever heard of. It came out on fansites years ago. I put this is the forefather of the Villains 5th gate that fanboys get into a lather about that, again no on at WDI has ever mentioned to be existing in any way, shape or form. And if you think about it, you'd realize what an awful concept for a park that was. It's just one of those things that someone writes about and someone else takes it as fact and it gets a life of its own." Ok, thats good to know for the future. Come to think of it, I think i read it on a 20 K site that had a history of the ride before, during and after its existence. Thanks for that info though!
Originally Posted By leobloom >If you havent seen the movies, then you have no idea whats going on. I know alot of people around me last time I was on were kind of staring like, what? HISTK is slightly old school at this point, and a decreasing number of people actually know what it is.> Old school? So is the Twilight Zone, but I don't see people confused about that. ("Why is this elevator moving forward through this strange room?") I'm sorry, but if you're confused about HISTA, you're almost practically just about beyond hope. It's all in the title of the show. SHRUNK. THE. AUDIENCE. Even if you haven't seen the movie, I think it should be pretty clear. Or maybe they should just make it Wall-E 3D and problem solved. Note: I'm no great fan of HISTA, but I'm just saying. The story's not rocket science.
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 Theres also a stark difference in the rides of HISTA and TOT. Tower of terror is enjoyable for little kids and can be seen as a ride while HISTA is pretty much boring. I mean, yeah, you can tell whats going to happen, but as far as background info about the story, none. If you havent seen the movies, you lose, juxtaposed to TOT where it doesnt matter about past reliances on other films. The ride creates itself. Maybe thats the kind of difference people are talking about with video-screens versus fully immersive rides.
Originally Posted By X-san ***Tower of terror is enjoyable for little kids and can be seen as a ride while HISTA is pretty much boring.*** Well, boring is subjective but Tower ENJOYABLE FOR LITTLE KIDS? Um...first of all, lots of little kids can't ride it. And second of all, many who can are terrified of it.
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 Little Kids as in kids who are of age to be able to ride on both, have a good time on TOT, and not really understand HISTA. There are plenty of little kids who like TOT! All it does is push you up and down, which has got to be a weird sensation for little kids. ahaha, subjective... Such a darned 10 letter word. Dont you think if it were truly a good video/sit down and enjoy kind of attraction, that all could actually enjoy it? Something that grandma, grandson, and the teenyboppers could enjoy? Kind of like all of the dark rides in Fantasyland? Enjoyable by all.
Originally Posted By danyoung I'm gonna have to side with leobloom here and say that HISTA, while dated, is very easily understood. You don't have to have the history on the Wayne Salinski family to understand that he invented a shrinking machine. Lines like "Here we go again, Quark", or "Don't worry, folks - I've been through this before" give it away that there is a history there. But it's not necessary to understand the attraction. And quite opposite from mickeyboy's experience, I still find crowds oohing and ahhing and shrinking back when the lion roars and the snake hisses. HISTA was a terrific attraction in its day. It's ripe for replacement with some new, innovative technology, but for now is still doing pretty good business, both in Florida and in California.
