Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >>>Mike, I am sooooo glad you're back here. It's nice to not be the only one who can cut through the Disney Magic crap.<<< <<Hey, that hurts! ;-)>> Oops, how could I forget my favorite transplanted UKer? (especially since you were a major topic of discussion as I drove through your home town two weeks ago!) BTW ... I am still contemplating a January timeframe for a visit to London, Paris and, naturally, DLP! <<But yep ChiMike, it is great to have you back on here, I have missed you.>> We really need to kiss up to him, so he'll stay. Maybe Trippy can come out of witness protection and they can argue the merits of DVC! What fun that would be!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<<But that's just part of the business model: find something that's good ... that sells ... market it to death ... and lower the quality while increasing the prices every year.>>> <<You could teach a class for future execs with that attitude.>> Sadly, that IS the Disney business model of present in most units. It started around 1994 and shows no signs of slowing down. <<Yes, I'm liking ChiMike. On target without being harpy.>> Hey ... who you calling harpy?!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo No worries Spirit - as you know, I have broad shoulders (from the suit I bought today, to darned broad).
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Don't be so touchy Spirit. There have been some people here who are almost nasty about their negativity. That may include the previous Spirit before his hiatus last spring. But you have also been very enjoyable and informative.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Yes, I'm liking ChiMike. On target without being harpy< could be a little testy if the Sox don't make the playoffs however ...... Go Cubs !
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Yeah. You gotta love the now microscopic sized portions that aren't $1 or $2, but now average $3.50-$4 a piece.< Got to come to Taste of Chicago one day -- Disney not alone in this business model....maybe the Taste being run by an ex Disney exec -- same price gouging for less food @significantly more money. I went for the first time in years this year and was stunned.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>could be a little testy if the Sox don't make the playoffs however ...... Go Cubs !<< Nope.. To excited about my real team The Chicago Blackhawks. Besides I got to be at every game in 2005's post season. It will never get better than that for me. I'll be watching today and tomorrow with baited breath, but it won't ruin my year. Just as the Cubs blowing it -yet again- on this 100th year anniversary of being losers, won't make or break my year.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>Got to come to Taste of Chicago one day -- Disney not alone in this business model....maybe the Taste being run by an ex Disney exec -- same price gouging for less food @significantly more money. I went for the first time in years this year and was stunned.<< It's been like that for awhile, at least for the last 10 years. Us locals go during the week during the lunch hour. Never-ever see us there on the weekend. The dynamics of the two events are so dissimilar there really is no relation. Different weather dynamic, setting, population, admission policy, food options, duration, entertainment, etc. etc. etc. The issue with F&WF is that these changes have really occured since the event's growth in popularity over the last 5 years. It's Disney economics.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Nope.. To excited about my real team The Chicago Blackhawks. < I'm with ya there -- new record for season ticket sales...excited for the season and TV
Originally Posted By ChiMike Good to here. Bears and Bulls have some healthy competition for Chicago Sports fans $. Like the White Sox I have been going to games in the worst of times so this year is VERY exciting.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I've been at some of those same Hawk games - heck we probably ran past each other, some days there just weren't that many of us there...
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp ^^^Had lunch there on Sunday. The redo looks nice, and loved the new placemats (which teach Chinese over the past 3000 years), and the food appeared to be better than in the past. A more limited menu, but some interesting dishes. A step up, but not enough to put it into the regular rotation. One item that jumped out was the lack of an Exhibition Dining area. We thought the redo was supposed to include an area where you could watch the chefs do the cooking, maybe similar to California Grill, but we didn't see any part of the facility that would allow this.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^ I had heard that as well. Of course, I've also heard Tutto Italia was closing in the spring to be redone as a different concept. I wonder if those plans have been shelved either temporarily or permanently.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 no wonder no pix of these stations in the other thread - I was wondering how to compare to the stations at Stir Crazy or Mongolian BBQ in my area. Guess there won't be any comparison
