Originally Posted By Doobie This topic is for discussion of the November 16 article: Stitch's Great Escape Opening at <a href="News-ID509050.asp" target="_blank">http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID509050.asp</a>.
Originally Posted By CuriosWolfSo Only Stitch would dare to do that to the Castle! Definitely the bad boy of the Disney characters family! Great pictures!
Originally Posted By Labuda FABULOUS photos! Thanks for covering this - have I mentioned lately how glad I am that Doobekah relocated to Florida?
Originally Posted By jasmine7 Oh, that looked like it was a lot of fun! And I love that Cobra Bubbles was there! Too bad they don't have him do meet and greets. Looks like a simple enough costume, but probably most people wouldn't know who he is. Thanks for the report!
Originally Posted By DramaMama07 That was waaaaay too cute! Whoever did the video taping did a very good job too. That was a very fun little opening thing.
Originally Posted By dennis-in-ct I saw the new STITCH Sat Nov 13th and thought it was cute. The "guns" and the Stitch figure are very impressive. The storyline is better but I thought the ending was weak. It just sort of ends without any real definitive "bang" Nice job though
Originally Posted By WDW1974 ^^^I found it VERY disappointing ... a very big waste of a great new character. As for the 'ceremony' yesterday, you've got to hand it to Disney ... toilet-papering the castle. I wonder who thought that up. So classy. And a great way to pander to the lower element the parks seem to attract more of nowadays.
Originally Posted By CTXRover ^^Give me a break. The TP on the castle was a cute and fun idea for a character that is all about doing mischievious things. I admit it would be VERY disappointing if it was your one and only time to the MK and I truly sympathize with those folks, but it was for ONE day and I thought it was neat idea. Please don't try and tell me this somehow "symbolizes" the downfall of the parks. The parks are in great shape. Sure you and I can pick out problems, but for every picture you show me of paint missing here or whatnot, I can provide plenty more of perfect things. I also thought SGE was a decent attraction. Not the best thing Disney has ever done (but I didn't expect it to be either), but a fun, harmless show with wonderful show effects and animatronics. I know everyone has their own opinions and I appreciate that, but I really don't understand the amount of negativity towards it. Its biggest downfall is that it is too similar to AE ...yet it was known from day one that it would be this way...why its such a surprise among those who claim to be "in the know" is beyond me. All comparisons aside, I found it to be a fun and worthy MK addition and a great use of Stitch...then again, I love the Stitch character and was thrilled to just see him as such an advanced animatronic.
Originally Posted By basas I also thought the toilet papering was really neat and funny! A nice way to welcome a new attraction to the MK! As for those one timers and the castle- they'll just have to deal with it. There's always special things going on at WDW and you should just try to enjoy it (not many people would have pics of the tp'd castle). Also- its no worse than a castle covered in tarps for months
Originally Posted By irishfan >>Also- its no worse than a castle covered in tarps for months << Exactly, and lets face it, it's no where near as bad as painting a castle a horrible shade of pink and throwing fake candles and candy on top of it and keeping it like that for over 12 months. Anyway, I enjoyed the little show, very cute, thanks for the report!
Originally Posted By WDW1974 <<^^Give me a break. The TP on the castle was a cute and fun idea for a character that is all about doing mischievious things. >> No, I won't. You found it cute. I found it tacky. Two differing opinions. Period. But I don't think the 'old' Disney would have introduced a new attraction this way. And Stitch is a 'reformed' character, so why he would be trashing the kingdom ... <<I admit it would be VERY disappointing if it was your one and only time to the MK and I truly sympathize with those folks, but it was for ONE day and I thought it was neat idea. Please don't try and tell me this somehow "symbolizes" the downfall of the parks.>> Glad you liked it. I didn't. Although I wasn't there to see it in person. And Disney pandering to the lowest common denoninator is something they are very good at now. See the commercials for the new Mickey and the gang Christmas movie? the voiceover talks about a new Disney attitude and then we cut to a scene of Donald's three newphews belching at the Christmas dinner table. Nothing like bodily function humor to say 'classy.' <<The parks are in great shape.>> No, they are not. Better than two years ago? Sure. In great shape? Nope. Without even looking today I noticed all sorts of things. From MAJOR wood rot in the entryway between F-Land and LS (basically where the second level of Columbia Harbor House is), to armrests with the wood all taken off in PhilharMagic (this after I was quoted in the O-Sentinel 'This Old Park' piece, and they immediately switched out about 80% of them, but left the rest), to bird droppings all over Frontierland (which is a health issue as well) etc ... and again, I wasn't even looking for things. I wonder what TDLFAN and I will notice Sunday. <<Sure you and I can pick out problems, but for every picture you show me of paint missing here or whatnot, I can provide plenty more of perfect things.>> See, I hate that attitude. It's the 'just good enough' is fine. It's that attitude that allows Disney to cut back on things without thining twice. Let's say 78% of what you can see in the parks is perfect, does that make it OK that 22% isn't (even if some of that are minor things)? I don't think so. <<I also thought SGE was a decent attraction. Not the best thing Disney has ever done (but I didn't expect it to be either), but a fun, harmless show with wonderful show effects and animatronics. I know everyone has their own opinions and I appreciate that, but I really don't understand the amount of negativity towards it.>> It is neither scary nor funny. It will still scare as many kids as AE did, but it lacks the coherent story AE possessed. Again, he shouldn't even be called Stitch IF this attraction predates the movie, which it does. The animation is a joke. The biggest effects involve Stitch spitting on guests and belching chilli-dogs on them. It's insulting. The pre-show is fun. The Stitch AA is amazing. The attraction is a wasted opportunity. Oh, and the ending is the lamest of any MK attraction. <<Its biggest downfall is that it is too similar to AE ...yet it was known from day one that it would be this way...why its such a surprise among those who claim to be "in the know" is beyond me.>> AE was a wonderfully conceived attraction. SGE isn't. I had hoped they would do more with the concept. They could have. <<All comparisons aside, I found it to be a fun and worthy MK addition and a great use of Stitch...then again, I love the Stitch character and was thrilled to just see him as such an advanced animatronic.>> I also love Stitch and the AA alone does make it worth seeing. I just felt that it was a very wasted opportunity.
Originally Posted By WDW1974 <<Exactly, and lets face it, it's no where near as bad as painting a castle a horrible shade of pink and throwing fake candles and candy on top of it and keeping it like that for over 12 months.>> No, I agree. That was very tacky. I also feel like the whole 25th Anniversary with it's Remember the Magic Because We Aren't Going to Pay For Any New Magic was the proverbial jumping of the shark for WDW.
Originally Posted By jasmine7 << And Stitch is a 'reformed' character, so why he would be trashing the kingdom ...<< In the film and TV series, yes, but the attraction is a prequel, so he is not reformed yet. Yes, TPing the castle is kind of crass, but it's very fitting with Stitch's character. I think the whole ceremony was a neat and creative way of opening up the new attraction. I look forward to seeing it myself in three weeks.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ Precisely. It was an odd show to watch. I must admit that I thought they could have executed it much better. The sad thing is that hardly anyone actually turned out for the show. The area was busy, but tourists had to be gathered up to watch! It is funny how the dynamic is so different to DL. The castle did look kinda funny, and it made the newspapers, which was the point of the exercise. It must have taken quite a while to get it all up there though.
Originally Posted By DizneyDad59 When I find myself having virtually nothing but negative comments to make about something, I remember the quotation, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." And then I stop doing whatever it was that made me so upset.
Originally Posted By DramaMama07 I don't think that having Stitch TP the castle was "pandoring to the least common denominator". I think that yes it is crass and perhaps people who enjoy bathroom humor would find it funny, however Stitch at the beginning of the movie is quite a crass character. He would probably TP the castle and it wasn't perminant, it was just something funny and different to introduce their new attraction. If you didn't enjoy it then it obviously wasn't meant to entertain you, perhaps it was to entertain a different group. That doesn't mean it was bad, just not of your tastes, that's all really.
Originally Posted By CTXRover This is way off topic from the Grand opening of SGE, so please bare with me and I apologize...although it does go with the idea of decreasing quality somehow being symbolized by the TPing of the castle. WDW1974, please understand that I try not to take an "apologetic attitude" to the "less kept" areas of WDW, rather a more understanding/rational approach. I wholeheartedly recognize that things aren't the same when WDW was just the MK (and even after Epcot was added). But I can walk through the parks and find absolutely nothing wrong because I'm ENJOYING my time, not on a quest to find problems. Sometimes I do notice things without looking and other times I go looking for things that are not kept to the way they should just to see how they are doing, and it saddens me to see areas not perfect from time to time, but won't you know that at least 90% of the time at some later trip that area has been fixed/repainted, etc...even if it does take a few months sometimes...which is what I find to be utterly inexcusable. Take for instance the armrests in Philharmagic you mentioned above. The attraction had barely been open for a few months before I too noticed that the stain on the armrests started to wear off. The problem was apparently the choice or application of the original stain (of which after 50-some years of making attractions you would think they would know what works), not "poor maintenance". I don't remember the exacty timing of events, but I do remember seeing the armrests wearing off like that and thought, geez, how could that happen so fast? My next trip into Phil they had all armrests but those attached to the very ends of each row (as they are part of a themed side panel) replaced. Now, there is no way they just had 100's of armrests sitting in the back awaiting such a problem. As they started to wear, new armrests were probably ordered and they were replaced in what I consider to be a respectable timeframe (even though I thought the darker stained armrests were nicer)....probably having very little to do with that OS article. I also remember that having only been open not even a month (during the slow season mind you), the one column in Philharmagic's queue looked like a wheelchair or cart ran right into it and the "Now Showing" signs already had a letter missing. This is evidence of the RATE and type of damage the parks experience on a daily basis...some of which I agree should be repaired within that night or within a week if supplies are needed, but all attractions, buildings, etc. experience similar damage all the time and require such repair. My last trip through Philharmagic, the column had been fixed and re-painted and the "Now Showing" signs had been replaced with plaques so that letters cannot be picked off anymore by pesky fingers. My point is people of today are greater slobs and care very little about their surroundings as they might have been during the days of "old Disney". The trash people leave behind after a parade when an empty trashcan is within walking distance is also evidence of that. Rotting wood and other such damage that is not at the hands of guest damage though is inexcusable and if I remember I will look at that overpass between F-land and LS the next time through the MK to see the extent of the "rotting wood". You definitely have developed a keen eye to find anything that is wrong in the parks, I don't think anyone can dispute that. I hope though you can find a way to let go sometimes and just enjoy yourself. From the very fact that you visit enough to always report back on these things, as small as they may be sometimes, is evidence that you do go to have a fun time, otherwise why spend so much to visit. Wouldn't a report once and a while on all the great things WDW does be a breath of fresh air though? ....but of course in today's society its the negativity that always gets our attention (and ruffles some feathers). As for SGE, I too liked AE better, but I still think SGE is a decent, harmless attraction that offers great effects and superb animatronics, even though the ending is crap and the storyline is more simple-minded (which is another feature though that makes it more kid-friendly then its AE counterpart). I agree something even better for Stitch could have been done, but again, I honestly don't think its as bad as so many reviews say...but obviously I'm in the minority.
Originally Posted By xXxNIGHTMARExXx Wellllll...this is turning out to be quite an interesting thread. lol I was enjoying it til I got to the massively long post of WDW1974. That post was like everything you were saying about Disney World. I came here for a good time and to comment on how cool those pics were, and I got slammed with problems. Dude, lighten up! Anyway, I just wanted to say that the tp'ing the castle was a very creative idea and it made me laugh. It's so Stitch! I wish I could have been there to get pics. It's kinda cool to see Disney incorporating an opening of a new ride into the whole park. I know they usually like to keep their theming constant from land to land, but with Stitch you can break those rules. That was awesome!
Originally Posted By WDW1974 <<He would probably TP the castle and it wasn't perminant, it was just something funny and different to introduce their new attraction. If you didn't enjoy it then it obviously wasn't meant to entertain you, perhaps it was to entertain a different group. That doesn't mean it was bad, just not of your tastes, that's all really.>> Absolutely. There's good taste and there's bad taste. Simple.
