Fantasyland Expansion - Part 2

[Eric]

Disney has been around for a lot longer than that. Its about the "magic". We nerds know the issues. The tourists are just on vacation. My family has no idea that Disney is low-grade lately and hasnt added anything for 20 years, they just wanna go bc its a vacation. Therein lies my point. To US, its a standard...to them its a day away from work.

I think this is beginning to change though. I've been hearing a lot of guests begin to talk about how Disney had nothing "new" since their last visit.

Yea, guests may still go to Disney, but rather than spend their entire vacation at Disney, they're going to throw in a day or two at Universal.

 

[nmu]

Again they opened what they said they were opening when they said it would open. Don’t see why all the fuss and constant bashing. Do we want things to happen quicker with Disney? YES but its not like they have given a timeline and not stuck to it.

Personally I am glad they opened what they have built as it is a beautiful immersive addition that as long been over due as most people have commented on. My point was there is no comparison really to what Uni is doing as they are different projects for different reason with different budgets and timescales so why on a FLE thread keep bringing up Uni?

 

[natespf]

People will continue feeding Disney money until the end of the world. Doesn't matter how slow they go, doesn't matter how bad they treat people...Disney is a household name and people for generations have and always will keep coming back. And they know that.

People stop going to Disney? Enough of this nonsense, I need to swing through Circuit City to pick up a VCR before going to Blockbuster to pick up a movie.

Point being being well known only lasts so long if you can not keep fresh with customer demands. Disney does have a ton of land, but another one of their major advantages was how fast they could get stuff done.

 

[frenzy88]

People will constantly compare what Universal is doing to what Disney is doing. That's the name of the game. Everyone here was likely a big Disney fan at one point or another. We know what Disney is capable of, and we want them to break our expectations again. Mermaid just opened and I already have to go through the "Kiss the Girl" sequence and Ariel's right eye is turned all the way into her nose? Why was the ride still open? Splash Mountain opened back up and some of the AA are stationary? The Yeti... EPCOT gets an overlay to Test Track while the Wonders of Life Pavilion (Sorry HG Pavilion), and the top floor of Imagination go unused. No wonder Soarin' gets three hour waits... Did anyone else cringe when they heard APA: Toft7S labeled as an "attraction"?
So yeah, they didn't technically lie about the time frame. They are misleading their daily guests by pushing the **** out of New Fantasyland now that it's half open.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

No the news stations turned them down and didn't show up to the location.

Nope. News Outlets too. They still remember the "Benches" fiasco.

Yeah I guess so. From talking to a guy I know in TV media in Orlando, he says Disney is like an over eager person looking to date the media, while Universal is more coy. Universal is just accessible enough that it keep the media interested.

 

[rhino4evr]

remember when they had a media event for the employees costumes? I mean, really? Who cares...meanwhile Harry Potter is halfway finished, and they havent even announced it yet. ha ha.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah I guess so. From talking to a guy I know in TV media in Orlando, he says Disney is like an over eager person looking to date the media, while Universal is more coy. Universal is just accessible enough that it keep the media interested.

That's an excellent analogy. It sure says a lot about their respective PR thought processes.

 

[IzzyB]

Disney has been around for a lot longer than that. Its about the "magic". We nerds know the issues. The tourists are just on vacation. My family has no idea that Disney is low-grade lately and hasnt added anything for 20 years, they just wanna go bc its a vacation. Therein lies my point. To US, its a standard...to them its a day away from work.

Couldn't agree more. My friend with a 5 & 9 year old came and visited because her kids begged her too, why? Because all of their friends were going. And not just going within the last couple years, all of them were going THIS year. She had no clue anything is "wrong" with Disney or that Universal was improving "faster". All they knew is everyone is going to Disney. Their friends stayed for much longer and on Disney property, but at least her kids got to go for a day and say they went. The only time she mentioned Universal was that her daughter (5 year old) loved going on the coaster and that she was going to wait to take her alone trip (her other daughter came down with just her one time) when she was taller, so they could go to Universal and enjoy some of the roller coasters. Not HP, not Simpsons, not the "new" stuff, just that she knows it is the park to go to for coasters. The magic is there and not going anywhere. Not as long as they have the brand. Disney channel isn't there for nothing people. Now Disney Jr. gets the kids when they are even younger.

 

[frenzy88]

Massive 7DMT update later tonight. Active work being done too.

 

[frenzy88]

Here's that update!

Notice anything yet?

Could it be?

Yes! People are actively working on this project!

New perspective

Follow my other Disney Updates here: http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php?7753-State-of-the-Disney-Union/page2

 

[LHZY]

How long have they been working on this project?

 

[Felipe]

Thanks for the update, Frenzy! :thumbs: Love the new angles. Very creative!

Someone made a boo-boo? :look:

 

[Andy]

Wow that's without a doubt the most people I've seen working on this at one time ever...

 

[frenzy88]

Wow that's without a doubt the most people I've seen working on this at one time ever...

I was quite amazed my self. I think that 2014 date is sneaking up on them.

 

[J03Y]

it's like seeing a unicorn omg

 

[Nick]

They gotta get that backside open so they can sell DVC

 

[Cruiseshipfan]

Couldn't agree more. My friend with a 5 & 9 year old came and visited because her kids begged her too, why? Because all of their friends were going. And not just going within the last couple years, all of them were going THIS year. She had no clue anything is "wrong" with Disney or that Universal was improving "faster". All they knew is everyone is going to Disney. Their friends stayed for much longer and on Disney property, but at least her kids got to go for a day and say they went. The only time she mentioned Universal was that her daughter (5 year old) loved going on the coaster and that she was going to wait to take her alone trip (her other daughter came down with just her one time) when she was taller, so they could go to Universal and enjoy some of the roller coasters. Not HP, not Simpsons, not the "new" stuff, just that she knows it is the park to go to for coasters. The magic is there and not going anywhere. Not as long as they have the brand. Disney channel isn't there for nothing people. Now Disney Jr. gets the kids when they are even younger.

The Disney Channel has nothing to do with it. It may add some in the US but I will guarantee it the majority of visitors are cause by parents. Parents know of the reputation of Disney parks, and therefore that excitement rubs of onto the kids. I will bet you that a large amount of people don't even know Disney makes TV shows. We don't have anything on our TV that relates to Disney (not including movies), we used to have a program on Saturday mornings when I was a kid but it has been taken off air as it wasn't pulling the numbers. The only way to get it is to get pay tv which is the minority of people, and only a small fraction of people with pay TV even have the Disney channel. This is a major issue as if people return they see the condition that parks have been left to. They need to add things otherwise people will not continue to return, as well as fixing up existing rides as rides in bad condition leave a poor taste in peoples mouths, and word of mouth is the main reason Disney gained its reputation.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Wow, its only taken them 4 years to get the coaster this far. Lets cut them some slack, cant overwork these guys

I think Rome came into power and fell quicker than this ride has taken to build.

 

[Mad Dog]

Wow, its only taken them 4 years to get the coaster this far. Lets cut them some slack, cant overwork these guys

I think Rome came into power and fell quicker than this ride has taken to build.

As in, "The Rise & Fall of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster", or "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the (Orlando United) Forum".

 

[Nick]

Ok, I know it's taken them a bit of time to get this thing going, but it HAS NOT taken 4 years. As a matter of fact, they didn't even wall off the old Grotto and Pooh play area until late April 2010 via WDWNT. They didn't even announce officially SDMT until January 2011. The first time we saw any movement on the ride was 12/9/11 via WDWMAGIC which was a "concrete foundation and tunnel".

Obviously that still means they've been working on it for about a year and a half already, but it isn't four years. I think a bigger part of the problem for why we are picking on it with the timeline isn't because of how long it's taking, but because it's the only new offering in sight. Add onto that the rampant speed at which Universal is building and it only makes things worse.