Originally Posted By MPierce >> My personal pet peeve is when people see the statue of Mickey shaking Leopold Stokowski's hand (which used to be in the lobby on the Contemporary and is now at the Magic of Disney Animation) and they say "oh look it's Walt and Mickey!" No! That is NOT Walt! Go home and watch the classic Disney films...educate yourself! << You mean that's not Walt dressed up in a tux with tails, bending over shaking Sorcerers Mikey's hand?
Originally Posted By Coconut Telegraph I once saw Michael Eisner in a group of half a dozen guys at DCA. They were eating in that Soap Oprea themed restuarant, I can't remember the name of it but I don't think it's there anymore. He is really really TALL.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<What even a casual visitor like me notices is that I used to be so impressed about how clean Disney restrooms were. Now I have to try to remember where the ones are that are usually pretty clean. That is the type of thing, in my opinion, that people should really do something about. Of course complaining about dirty restrooms is nowhere near as much fun as complaining about toons in Small World, so something that would benefit us all gets ignored in favor of something that maybe 5% of the park visitors care about.>> I basically agree with this. The thing is BOTH examples you cite are coming from the same mindset and the same business model. In other words, if the bathrooms were kept as clean as they were 15 years ago, you likely wouldn't be talking about adding cartoon characters to Small World either. Just a total out of touch mindset. The next time you see a filthy MK restroom go to City Hall and leave a note for Phil ... ask him if he'd want Bob, Willow and the kids to use the restroom you and your family just did.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Quick question: Did we all catch the comment from Jay Rasaulo that 3/4 of park guests are repeat visitors and 1/3 are adults? Should help us firmly realize who the "intended audience" actually is versus the fanboy-writeoff we usually hear.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I doubt the majority of repeat visitors at WDW are 'fanboys'. They are frequently people like me... empty nesters or people with older children. Many of us are DVC owners. If you go to WDW during the off-season the average age of visitor increases dramatically. We are people that love the Disney parks. But we do not generally make it a point to learn everything we can about all things Disney. We pretty much appreciate the parks for what they are without spending a bunch of time worrying about what they are not. I think many of the repeat visitors at DL are the fanboy crowd... not so much at WDW.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 That's true enough ... the nature of DL means more fanboys and gals ... and it even did back in the good old days when APs weren't available. But I don't think it matters. I would never consider myself a 'fanboy' (that connotes Tony Baxter, Marty Sklar and Dave Smith worship along with the infamous SNL sketch where Shatner savaged Trekkies). I'm a Disney fan. I'm a theme park fan. I'm a vacation fan. But fanboy or just returning guest or casual guest or newbie, most people can tell when things are dirty or stale.
Originally Posted By nats 31 My pet peeve is how Disney big wigs llet the parks look so terible. I first started going ti WDW in 1974 and the place was spotless. Before you could drop a piece of paper a cast member was there to pick it up. In the Birnbaum book they used to tell how clean the place was and how periodically things were painted and light bulbs were changed. When we were there in 2000 the Sentinel on the front page showed pictures of Main Street where the lights around the buildings were burnt out. I went there that night and noticed how right they were. Aside from haphazardly raising their prices, they have not done much to improve the parks.
Originally Posted By jaycub <<<<No! That is NOT Walt! Go home and watch the classic Disney films...educate yourself!>> It is that kind of holier than thou attitude by the uberfans possessing arcane bits of Disney knowledge that makes us real people dismiss about 90% of what you have to say. That attitude is MY pet peeve.>> AMEN Road Trip. Amen!
Originally Posted By nats 31 I forgot to mention in my previous post that when there were lines outside they had air conditioned pipes over the walkway so that visitors could keep cool.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<What I do find shocking is that Disney does a really bad job of acknowledging their high profile artists. If they don't know who Mary Blair is, then the vioce on the monorail is even more obscure. They don't know who Marc Davis is. Thurl Ravenscroft. Most don't even know who Ub Iwerks is. So I blame Disny for doing a piss poor job of acknowleding its history.>> I think the Disney company does a better job of ackowledging its artists than Walt Disney himself did when he ran the company. Remember that from the start it was Walt Disney's this or Walt Disney's that, not Walt and Roy, or anyone else. And with Eisner gone now, I would guess that there are more people who know (or at least know of) artists such as Lasseter, Baxter, and Rohde than Iger.
Originally Posted By bayrr326 It doesn't surprise me that a large percentage of visitors to WDW are repeat visitors. I think the thing Disney should be worried about is pissing off the DVCers. They have alot of money invested in their time share and if they become unhappy that might be a pretty good thing for WDW.
Originally Posted By sharon2 Maybe ten years ago the Disney Channel would show old repeats of the show "Disney Legends" Great Show!! It would highlight people like Mary Blair. Very informative. My kids couldn't have cared less they wanted Bear in the Big Blue House.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> This time I know you're joking. Right? << I always try to maintain a certain sense of decorum whenever I post here on LP. I would never consider joking around when discussing such serious issues like this thread.
Originally Posted By MPierce Before everybody gets all worked up about the percentage of repeat visitors consider this. I have a good friend who took his daughter to WDW. That was his first visit. His second visit came when he took his grand children to WDW. That's 2 visits about 25 years apart. He is a repeat visitor.
Originally Posted By dshyates Then you shoud chek out Colorado Springs, CO. It is the home of a 25 high profile christian groups including "Focus on Your Own Dang Family"
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<It doesn't surprise me that a large percentage of visitors to WDW are repeat visitors. I think the thing Disney should be worried about is pissing off the DVCers. They have alot of money invested in their time share and if they become unhappy that might be a pretty good thing for WDW.>> A very good point that I've been making for a few years now. Unfortunately, I think Disney is taking the LCD route with keeping DVCers happy instead of say ... reinvesting hundreds of millions into its parks ... by offering things like the DDE Card and now DDP as well as lowest price APs (although if the DVC price dips below the Charter price, Disney may get sued by some unhappy spirit) and assorted discounts and an annual DCL cruise. I'd love to hear a DVCer at one of the resorts ranting at the front desk about upkeep at the resorts or the like ... but thus far, I haven't.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Then you shoud chek out Colorado Springs, CO. It is the home of a 25 high profile christian groups including "Focus on Your Own Dang Family" << Also the Air Force Academy. I did enjoy my brief stay in Colorado Springs. a really nice city.
