Originally Posted By Skellington88 Al Lutz gets too much credit??? He was the guy that first broke the news months ago.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.disneyfrontier.com/2007/01/25/disney-director-of-pr-speaks-in-reno" target="_blank">http://www.disneyfrontier.com/ 2007/01/25/disney-director-of-pr-speaks-in-reno</a> >>Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Robert Deuel, director of Public Relations for Disney’s Worldwide Sales & Travel Operations, give a presentation to the local chapter of the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America). He outlined the organizational structure of Disney departments and discussed his role in the 50th and the Year of a Million Dreams. He started as a street sweeper at Disneyland working his way through college. After a while, he was promoted to working on the Disneyland Railroad which meant his check came from Retlaw rather than Disney. He left Disney after graduating College. He worked for a few airlines before making his return. He described the Disney structure as broken into the following divisions: Disney Parks, Disney Studios, Disney/ABC Entertainment, Consumer Products (I’m paraphrasing on the exact names). The Happiest Homecoming on Earth 50th Anniversary was the first time that all the parks contributed to one large PR campaign. It was so successful, they created the Disney Parks brand and are again working in tandem on the Year of a Million Dreams. The Disney Parks brand may undergo a slight name tweak. It doesn’t do a good job of including the Disney Cruise line which is under its umbrella. “Where dreams come true†was actually coined by guests during focus groups. It came up, without the encouragement of Disney, multiple times and seemed a perfect fit. While Deuel and others in Disney were not convinced that bringing the pardoned turkeys to Disneyland was a good idea, it turned out to be a huge success. It received tons of media coverage from all over the world. I did get the opportunity to ask him about blogs and bloggers. He said Disney is keenly aware of bloggers (and fan sites) but doesn’t have a strategy to interact with them. Disney thinks the fan enthusiasm is great and doesn’t want to interfere with that passion. He did express how this can create PR headaches. He specifically brought up the MiceAge article on Tom Sawyer Island. He was amazed at what that created from a press perspective considering it was just an idea. The way he made it sound, the idea never really received much traction in Disney and their were no plans to proceed. However, the blogging community made it sound like it was a full blow project (my words, not his).<<
Originally Posted By dresswhites well, if pirates lair at TSI doesn't sound as bad as a full blown Pirates Island. it sounds like they will be plussing the island. this is a good thing. I am glad the bridges will stay. who knows even though there will be an emphasis on Pirates, there will still be tom and huck references as well. perhaps it will be the best of both worlds. People will come over for the pirates and maybe who knows they will become interested in Tom Sawyer and friends.
Originally Posted By Pollyana I know I will go for a quick look. I am an old classic, much like the island. And like the island, maybe I could use some refurbishing?! Makes things a tad more exciting.
Originally Posted By nerdboyrockstar Am I the only one that thinks there's just not much to this island? I went in December and I didn't really get what we were supposed to do. My friend did take me into this cave and a CM standing in the dark gave me the biggest scare of my trip. lol
Originally Posted By bean "I suspect that Mr. Lutz is being given way too much credit here." oh you are so right... all he did was give out information that was incomplete
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The island is tons of fun if you're willing to let it be. There is really nothing around DL for hours that can compare to running around in the "wilderness" and caves of the island. I'm not sure wheather the change to just an overlay was for budget, time, or theming, but quite frankly, I don't really care. I'm glad that it will fit better with the surrounding areas, and will also be easy to put back once the pirate craze dies away in a few more years.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Al Lutz has some new info regarding the project in his update today... <a href="http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al013007a.htm" target="_blank">http://www.miceage.com/allutz/ al013007a.htm</a> >>The other announcement out of Florida last week was for the new Anaheim attraction that MiceAge readers had also known all about for quite a while, and that's what was presented with the long-winded moniker of "Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer Island." This um, "surprise!" project continues at its frenzied pace, and now some Imagineers are whispering that the end result may not be worth the multi-million dollar outlay due to the rushed nature of everything involved. While the official press release vaguely alluded to all of the additions we'd told you about more specifically in previous updates, it was finally at least public acknowledgement that the pirate island project really did exist. Back in October when we broke this story, TDA spokesmen literally had no knowledge of the project, Burbank flacs who only knew slightly more than their TDA counterparts offered brusque "no comment" responses to the press, and even some well-connected Imagineers and TDA suits had never heard of the project (and they made it clear online rather vividly too). So now that the new pirate project has been officially announced, the bulldozers can be barged over to the island next week. Aside from all of the eye candy and new toys WDI will be installing this winter, the weenie that will pull people over from the mainland in June will be the pirate stunt show and activity the Disneyland Entertainment Department will be staging on the south end of the island. The current plan calls for four pirate stunt shows per day with stuntmen racing down zip lines and jumping off rooftops. The stunt shows will be in addition to live musicians, talk-like-a-pirate lessons, and general pirate mayhem all taking place on that big boring Fantasmic! stage where nothing currently happens during the day. Placed along the perimeter of the stage will be real cannons where junior pirates can practice firing cannonballs at passing canoes and the good guys on the Sailing Ship Columbia with big splash effects going off just as they do in the Battle Scene of the famous ride nearby. But the real prize for anyone firing a cannon on the island is going to be the newly installed collapsible chimneys on the rooftops of New Orleans Square (below) that will periodically be "hit" by cannon fire and knock down in a puff of smoke (only to reset themselves a few minutes later when no one is looking). The artistic "vision" John Lasseter has for this project is that the island is a beehive of visible pirate activity that will be a beacon for anyone who has ever wanted to be a pirate to sail over on a raft to check it all out. John used to work as a ride operator in this area of Disneyland, and he really wants this to turn out well for his old stomping grounds at his favorite Disney theme park. This whole concept could only really work with Disneyland's island, with the surrounding New Orleans Square to strengthen the show. In addition, Anaheim still has an active and vibrant Rivers of America with a decent armada of different river traffic that will interact with the new island offerings, unlike in the stale Orlando version that has been reduced to a flood control channel with just one riverboat and a raft. The other good news here is that if anyone can pull off the pirate entertainment well, the Disneyland Entertainment Department certainly has a very strong track record of top-notch entertainment offerings. Yes, the Disneyland purists may have a hard time stomaching many of the changes coming to Tom Sawyer Island, but my hunch is that the long lines queued up for the rafts this summer will prove the concept is popular with the broader audience of casual visitors.<<
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt ^^sound permanent to me. "But the real prize for anyone firing a cannon on the island is going to be the newly installed collapsible chimneys on the rooftops of New Orleans Square (below) that will periodically be "hit" by cannon fire and knock down in a puff of smoke (only to reset themselves a few minutes later when no one is looking)." This sounds neat and very detailed. Why can't they just put this stuff in without tying it to a movie? Anyway, it does sounds like fun.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'd be surprised if the people who shoot the cannons even realize that a chimney goes down. They are really far away, and chances are that you aren't aiming at them, unless you know they're there. Also, I don't know how they are planning on doing this, unless they are using a wireless signal, because it would take a ton of work to run a wire from the island across the river, under the sidewalk and up a building. I hope it works because it sounds really cool, but I wonder how long (if at all) it will last. Maybe they could also install the same thing to the cannons at the Fortress Explorations in TDS...
Originally Posted By mrichmondj ^^ I was thinking the same thing -- not sure anyone will get the cause and effect of a cannon in the distance and a collapsing chimney. This just sounds bizarre.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I was guessing they'd use lasers, and that there'd be a pirate CM manning the cannons, and telling the guests that they need to aim for the chimneys. And they're awfully far away to my thinking too.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Just playing on Google Earth, I figured out that the cannons and chimneys would be about the same distance apart as the two fountains in Toontown (Roger Rabbit and Mickey) or from the Monorail track in front of DL to the California letters in the Eplanande. Although this may not seem like that far in theory, I doubt that the chimneys are going to be very large. It is possible that the cannons will be pointed at the buildings with a very limited range of motion (they are supposed to be iron cannons after all), so it could work. I hope they use the "pull the fuse" style triggers from TDS, since those work really well, IMO.
Originally Posted By Dznygrl <<Placed along the perimeter of the stage will be real cannons where junior pirates can practice firing cannonballs at passing canoes>> Didn't the PC Police already crack down on this type of behavior? Anyway, everything sounds cool, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The peaceful calm of that area will certainly be lost...yet at the same time it will breathe new life into TSI.
