Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub <a href="http://www.damouse.com/2012/02/21/rainforest-cafe-refurbishment-to-take-its-volcano-to-its-explosive-conclusion" target="_blank">http://www.damouse.com/2012/02...nclusion</a> i was just at WDW and the rumor was this should be re-opening within the week. Has anybody visited Downtown Disney lately? Just might have to wander around DD afterhours next trip.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm interested to see how it turns out. The old volcano hardly even looked like a mountain, let alone a volcano, so there's a lot of room for improvement. The video at the bottom of that link does seem reminiscent of the volcano outside the Mirage in Las Vegas, which is a huge improvement. Hopefully the WDW upgrade will be equally impressive!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I'm sorry but the RF Cafe is so tacky. Why would they slap a sign in the side of the volcano? Ugh.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "I'm sorry but the RF Cafe is so tacky" I actually think it really isnt less Tacky than a Disney theme park. I guess that's why it fits in so well.
Originally Posted By TP2000 I ate at these theme dinner places a handful of times... during the Clinton Administration. Amazing that they still get people to pay money to eat there. A big sign on the big fake "volcano"? Sure, why not. If you are going to be a bad 1990's theme restaurant in 2012 serving horrible food with mediocre "HI! I'm Jimmyu! I'll be your zoological guide and waiter!" service, then you might as well just go for it. Why stop at a new neon sign on the volcano? Why not go for LED skytrackers scanning the night sky overhead and a big blimp? Jimmy, bring us another round of high fructose corn syrup infused mocktails and a dozen deep fried lard balls! We're on vacation at Dizzyworld!
Originally Posted By leemac <<I ate at these theme dinner places a handful of times... during the Clinton Administration. Amazing that they still get people to pay money to eat there.>> And boy were there a lot of them too. I'll never fathom why themed restaurants became white-hot in the '90s. And everyone wanted in on the act - despite the pricetags. Most of these themed restaurants were costing c.$15-30m to develop the concept. Mars 2112 was one of my favorite disasters in this space. That one was founded by an eccentric Irish meat magnate called Pascal Phelan. He dumped nearly $20m into that concept which never got beyond an awful underground 600-seater restaurant in Paramount Plaza NYC and Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL - the latter lasted just a year. Somehow the Broadway location kept going until this January. I'm sure it was losing money hand over fist. It would have been directly opposite the first Copperfield Magic Underground too if Glenn Tullman had been able to get that project off the ground. They dumped nearly $40m on that disaster and never even opened a restaurant. Then there was that DIVE! concept from Spielberg and Katzenberg. Allegedly inspired by that awful seaQuest DSV TV show it sold overpriced sandwiches. I don't think they ever got beyond the Fashion Mall Las Vegas and Century City locations. Then there was the Marvel one in Universal that was discussed in another thread recently. Plus Disney's disastrous foray into food with Mickey's Kitchen at Glendale Galleria. Rockwell Group in NYC was leading a lot of the interior design on these projects and must have cleaned up.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I actually think it really isnt less Tacky than a Disney theme park." Imagine if Disney stuck a large marquee sign on the Matterhorn.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Then there was that DIVE! concept from Spielberg and Katzenberg.<< We took our kids to the DIVE location in Century City. It was kinda fun, though I don't remember if the food was any good or not. But the effects were neat. Water filled portholes would bubble now and then, and the interior lights would switch to red during a "dive" -- and the windows would bubble furiously. Silly, only-in-America kind of experience.
Originally Posted By tonyanton Ate a Dive! in Century City by accident on a '95 LA trip. Thought it was pretty interesting at the time. Went to Mars 2112 once (probably also late '90s)...awful all around!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I'm going to regret mentioning this but I once had dinner at the Fashion Cafe in Barcelona. At the time it was billed as "a couture version of Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Cafe" lol. I'm so ashamed.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Tisk tisk, Hans. I've never heard of that place, but the description alone is enough to make me want to run in the opposite direction. I mean...really!? For same.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt What's worse Ferret is the fact that Barcelona has some truly amazing restaurants and I decided to eat THERE. What was I thinking?
Originally Posted By TMI "Copperfield Magic Underground too if Glenn Tullman had been able to get that project off the ground. They dumped nearly $40m on that disaster and never even opened a restaurant" Remember they had gigantic ads for that place at the entrance of Disney/MGM Studios like, forever?
Originally Posted By leemac <<I'm going to regret mentioning this but I once had dinner at the Fashion Cafe in Barcelona. At the time it was billed as "a couture version of Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Cafe" lol. I'm so ashamed.>> I'd forgotten about that one! The two brothers that founded the chain ended up being charged with all manners of fraud, theft and money laundering. No idea if they were ever convicted. They were also behind the Benetton Sports Cafe concept too. I think the Fashion Cafe in the Rockefeller Center lasted 2-3 years. There was one in London too. I think the others in places like Barcelona were franchised. Nothing goes together like fashion and food! What were they thinking?!?!
Originally Posted By leemac <<"Copperfield Magic Underground too if Glenn Tullman had been able to get that project off the ground. They dumped nearly $40m on that disaster and never even opened a restaurant" Remember they had gigantic ads for that place at the entrance of Disney/MGM Studios like, forever?>> They were due to pay a fortune for the main gate lease. Eisner and Copperfield even announced the deal back in '96 or so. The restaurant was supposed to open a few months before F! back in late '98 but obviously they never even broke ground on the facility. CMU would have been one of the better themed restaurant concepts - and I gather from folks that saw some of the illusions that were going to be installed that they were pretty good. They dumped a lot of money on the interior for the NYC place and they would have replicated those at the D-MGM version.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Ate a Dive! in Century City by accident on a '95 LA trip. Thought it was pretty interesting at the time. Went to Mars 2112 once (probably also late '90s)...awful all around!>> Apart from the bubbling portholes and the general infrastructure I don't remember it doing much. It looked like a submarine but it didn't take the concept any further. At least RC has the show element too.
