Originally Posted By leemac <<It's like Imagineers got bored with rides and they don't want to make them anymore so they're going to torture us with constantly broken gizmos. Really, what does WDI have against good old fashion themed rides?>> Absolutely nothing. These initiatives are not at the detrimental to attraction and show capital expenditure. They are financed entirely separately and therefore WDI has nothing against "good old fashion themed rides". If you feel that there isn't sufficient attraction development then that is a matter for WDP&R management.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Really, what does WDI have against good old fashion themed rides?>> Unfortunately, in this era of iphones and video games, texting and Twitter, they have this belief that those great immersive rides are too passive and, therefore, somehow passe. I guess they don't look at the data for how many guests line up daily for Peter Pan or Mansion or Splash Mountain or ToT etc And it's not like they aren't building some of those rides now ... look at Mermaid or Carsland ... or the HKDL expansion E-tix. But clearly, they'd rather something interactive, something tied to characters and something where tech drives the experience more than story/enviornment/theme.
Originally Posted By mousermerf If these things are really about enhancing the guest experience and not merely fanciful toys for bored imagineers, then why aren't they leveraged for synergy across multiple platforms? Why isn't there an attraction that discusses them? A sort of backstage look at the technical aspects at Epcot maybe? What about books and other media? A website that chronicles the progress? A blog? Videos segments on Disney channel? Anything? Oh, because they're toys for bored imagineers.. only.. not guests.
Originally Posted By MPierce Thanks for the explanations LeeMac. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The LCI is a very important project. Would I have liked it to have been more successful at this point, sure. We can not condemn WDI for sitting on their haunches using rehashed ideas in one sentence, and then turn around in the next sentence, and condemn them for thinking outside the box, and stepping out trying to refine technology that I'm sure most people have no idea how complexed it is. I know Push, and the late Wes Palm always brings or brought a smile to my face. I am definetly looking forward to when other members of the LCI can do the same.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> Imagine a AA attraction where every single ride-thru is entirely different thanks to free-roaming personalized AAs. << It's an interesting concept, but I wonder how this would play out in reality. The "genius" of classic Disney attractions was that they were approximately identical experiences for every guest. That was the brilliance of the Doom Buggy---the guest could be turned to where he needed to look to appreciate the show elements. This free-roaming AA ride sounds interesting, but I also wonder if it could ever be dependable to the point where the different rides would be equivalent. The other problem I can see with this idea is related to bad management practices. Imagine what would happen if certain free-roaming AAs broke down. Management could easily remove them and pretend they were never there. It wouldn't surprise me if DAK management wishes they could just remove the Yeti at E:E. I could see Disney deciding certain complicated free-roaming AAs aren't worth maintaining, and then they'd simply disappear. The current management doesn't have a track record that encourages me. >> The point is that it isn't just about life-sized AAs. Kevin hidden on a trail at DAK would be thrilling if it was off-schedule and remote enough. It wouldn't work in the other parks. However you could have smaller experiences like Remy at Epcot that enhance your overall experience. << That's precisely my point---that these figures seem to exist in WDI utopia, but they wouldn't necessarily work in most places. My group enjoys interacting with characters if they're at restaurants---and I think the characters' pantomime actually makes them more fun to interact with.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Do you honestly believe that the vast majority of guests do not see character experiences as an integral part of their visit to a Disney theme park?>> Yes. Maybe not the vast majority, but definitely the majority. And I'm not talking about characters like the Fab 5. They're in a league of their own. But the majority of guests come to Disney for the rides.
Originally Posted By danyoung >Imagine what would happen if certain free-roaming AAs broke down.< I just had a mental image of Yul Brenner in cowboy duds storming the beaches of Pirates - shudder!!!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> I just had a mental image of Yul Brenner in cowboy duds storming the beaches of Pirates - shudder!!! << Good call! Westworld come to life.
Originally Posted By MPierce <<Do you honestly believe that the vast majority of guests do not see character experiences as an integral part of their visit to a Disney theme park?>> >> Yes. Maybe not the vast majority, but definitely the majority. And I'm not talking about characters like the Fab 5. They're in a league of their own. But the majority of guests come to Disney for the rides. << I think they come for, and expect both. I also think they are paying a high price to be there, and expect something out of the ordinary. Something you can not find anywhere else. The LCI would fit in nicely to enhancing the overall Disney experience. WDW needs to offer a wide variety of entertainment if it is to grow, and prosper. We should never just focus on the rides. I know a lot of us are down on the meet, and greets, but they are also part of the complete Disney package. There definetly needs to be a balance while not eliminating any one aspect of the Disney experience.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper I never said get rid of meet and greets. I know they are an important part in a Disney vacation, but it seems to me that WDW seems to think they are the MOST important part. The FLE is built around half baked meet and greets, rather than rides. M&G should be added bonuses rather than the focus of a multimillion dollar expansion.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Universal Studios Hollywood had an 'interactive' E.T. as part of the 'ET's Adventures' attraction. But it was clumsy. First, you had to spend time giving your name to the ride operator at the beginning of the ride -- then, your ride vehicle would stop at the very end of the attraction, and 'E.T.' would say each person's name who was on your ride vehicle. It worked 'okay' -- there were a couple of times I rode, and because the technology wasn't working, we just sat there looking at 'E.T.' as his mouth moved and he didn't speak. It felt like a break down. It was a decent enough attempt to personalize the attraction (I'm not a big fan of that type of thing anyway -- AA figure says 'hello Jim!') --but the reality of it was not really worth the hoops you (the guest) had to jump through.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA The 'ET' attraction opened in 1991. But so what? Has it caught on? Are we now going on attractions where characters say 'Hi Jim' as you roll through? Not that I'm aware of.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer The thing is they want to do this, and more with RFID. I'm interested in the "and more" part.
Originally Posted By mousermerf They seem to have completely forgotten the tons of money they spent installing a very similar system for 100 years of magic for the light up pins that don't get used anymore.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer From what I hear, it goes way beyond that....but I have my doubts, seeing it should have been launched about a month ago. Those pins were fun, though. And they still work. Nabbed one off of eBay and took it on my last trip, it worked by HM.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Which means the system is still sucking up power and costing money to this day - wow, they're not very bright.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Good point. I'm surprised they have not at least continued to use it with new pins.
