Originally Posted By sjhym333 I work in the theater and have done some long runs...though not as long as Beauty and the Beast and I can tell you that a show can become tedious after a while but everyone works hard to keep it fresh for each audience. I cant imagine how someone can do 15 years at Phantom and keep it fresh. I do think the audience makes the difference. Some night you come out and they are dead and you have to work hard to win them over and sometimes you dont and that makes for a tough second act. But some nights you go out and the audience is with you from the start and it makes the show so much more fun to do.
Originally Posted By Manfried Let's fall asleep in the Tiki Room. Zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz. Everyone's asleep in the Tiki Room. Let's come up with a new show.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I suppose 'Jungle Cruise' is an 'acting' job in the broad sense of the word. It's also akin to doing the exact same monologue over and over again. 'Hi my name is Jim, and I'll be doing the final scene from 'Moonchildren.' Or as a comic, doing the same set of jokes in your stand up routine. With very little variation. Sure, the audiences change, and you get some change in their reaction, but it's the same set -- every time -- 20 times a day. I've done long runs of musicals, (no, not 800 performances of 'Beauty and the Beast') but it certainly felt like I'd done 9000 spiels around those 'Rivers of Adventure' -- nothing I've ever experienced came close to the mind-numbing, tedium that was the 'Jungle Cruise.'
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<It's also akin to doing the exact same monologue over and over again. 'Hi my name is Jim, and I'll be doing the final scene from 'Moonchildren.' Or as a comic, doing the same set of jokes in your stand up routine. With very little variation. Sure, the audiences change, and you get some change in their reaction, but it's the same set -- every time -- 20 times a day.>> This is exactly why I rotated through 3 shows I had come up with after a few months on a job.
Originally Posted By Scutr >>>>...but all new updated music and patter.<< Rap music, and... ALIENS.<< ..and cowboys to fight the aliens! Ooh! And VAMPIRES and ZOMBIES!
Originally Posted By juicer I had a great time when I was a CM on the Keelboats at Disneyland. The spiel was really corny - but it was fun kinda of being on your own with the guests on the river - The main thing was getting back within 20 minutes.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <-- worked the Keel Boats at Walt Disney World too! They were fun to pilot! And not on a track!
Originally Posted By leobloom After three or four weeks of doing the spiel on the Land boat ride, I felt like Jim did on the Jungle Cruise. I was *sick* of it. Didn't help that the rotations would oftentimes keep you spieling for two hours straight. I always imagined Jungle Cruise would be a more fun ride to spiel, because you could be funny about it. There's not much comedy you can inject into the Land spiel (or at least not with the official script).
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Hello friend! I would imagine it's the same situation leobloom. Aren't The Land boats 'un-manned' now? With no live spiel at all?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I actually had a Yankee guests say he wish he's had his gun." Yankee? I'm surprised that nobody commented on this.
Originally Posted By danyoung And that's actually one of the few times where they've removed the live element of an attraction and it's been a good thing. That spiel was so dry that for me it took away from the enjoyment of the ride. I'll never forget one morning on the first ride of the day. Our guide was an older gentleman who asked us if it'd be OK if he just dropped the spiel and talked to us. Of course we all said fine, and his knowledge and warmth made for an exceptional ride. Too bad they couldn't all be that way . . .
Originally Posted By ChiMike Dan, I have had a few of those cruises and also thought it was the best way to do it. While it is nice to have a consistent automated spiel, I think they went too far. When the pavilion went under the knife in the early 90's they reduced the live spieling to only be occurring in the greenhouses, with an automated one leading up to it. I thought that was the best balance. Now, there is no personal touch, it's devoid of it. The greenhouses come across as more barren, imo. It also comes across as cheap to me. Cheap for Disney, and cheap in the sense that if you want a cast member's insight into the operation now, you have to plunker down $ for the behind the seeds tour. Something I would recommend, regardless.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Well, let's see.... ...maybe it's the post-NYC "glow", or maybe it's just my growing apathy in how WDW is run...but... ...I really can't complain about how the show is cut down. I'm just happy it's back. UNM was something odd, and rough, and this, well, this, is a classic, integral Magic Kingdom experience. Adventureland just got much, much, much more cohesive and thematic. Yes, I would have loved a new show, especially one that I could have said the latter about. New is ALWAYS better. It's more creative. It gives WDI a chance to show off. But here? In light of the fire, and the abysmal way the resort is run... this is a small victory for quality. We've gained something here. Can't wait to see it in December.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: My sisters and I think it was a mistake to remove a live cast member from the Land Boat Cruise. Now everything is so impersonal and makes a witch feel as though she's part of the Stepford Wives genre. ORGOCH: Ya tramp! The REAL reason ya misses a live cast member on that dang boat is 'cause ya cain't sit in the front an' flirt the pants off the poor saps that ya used ta embarrass ta tears with all yer lude 'n crude comments!!
Originally Posted By leobloom I'm glad they took the skippers off the Land boats, if only so that CMs could be spared the pain we experienced! But apparently in the old days the rotations at the ride were different, so CMs might only do a couple of boat rides in a row instead of the 7 or 8 we would sometimes do. So I guess you could say the poorly designed computer rotations led to poorer spieling which led to an automated spiel. Looks like another job well done for technology in a Disney park!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> Well, let's see.... ...maybe it's the post-NYC "glow", or maybe it's just my growing apathy in how WDW is run...but... ...I really can't complain about how the show is cut down. << Sounds like you had a good time in NYC, Explorer. How were the museums? You haven't missed much around these parts. Just some discussion of how many quail tiles it would take to equal the awesomeness of Harry Potter. (Answer: 2 quail tiles) And without Spirit's interesting threads, this place has been just this side of dead. In other words, his absence has been noticed.
Originally Posted By Bolna <<...maybe it's the post-NYC "glow">> Welcome back! And it sounds like you had a good time.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>Sounds like you had a good time in NYC, Explorer. How were the museums? You haven't missed much around these parts. Just some discussion of how many quail tiles it would take to equal the awesomeness of Harry Potter. (Answer: 2 quail tiles) And without Spirit's interesting threads, this place has been just this side of dead. In other words, his absence has been noticed<<<< Had a wonderful time. The city is a gem... culture, theater, history, it's got it all. Museums were great... They had enlarged the one at Ellis Island since I was last there, and the Queens Museum of Art (By the Unisphere and the World's Fair) was fantastic. Got to see Poppins on BWay, and see the sites, too. Great trip. I would have said that just the thought of the tiles would have equaled the awesomeness, but if you want to shortchange The Holy Tiles Of Quail, that's all on you!!!! And yeah, it's definitely quieter here... Thought, I am sure the Spirit is watching and waiting... >>Welcome back! And it sounds like you had a good time. << Thanks! -QMA, GFC, and NYC!-