Walt Disney World General
Topic: Latest: Through Jim Hill Imagineer responds to fan criticisms

#	Author	Message
11	Mr X Mon 5/5/2008 7:50a	***X, are you trying to argue that the posters at LP, Mice Age or wherever are a fair and reasonable sampling of the typical grouping of parks guests?*** No, of course not. But neither are those polls. Granted there is a comments section, but I'm not convinced that a lot of people bother to make use of it. I could be wrong on that one, but I don't think so. What the online community does provide is an extremely harsh forum for constructive criticism. Something I'd say the company is in sore need of these days.
12	Kar2oonMan Mon 5/5/2008 8:21a	>>They never seem to like anything that WDI does anymore.<< Perhaps because so much of it is "Let's stick a character in this "tired old ride" rather than create something new and innovative. Disney built it's theme park reputation not on character-based attractions so much as things that were fresh, innovative, unique. Just because some people see the "dumbing down" for what it is, don't get your feelings hurt about it. Rather than crying to Jim Hill about it, why don't you guys look to the giants that set a higher standard and try to aim for that. You have done some amazing things, WDI. And recently, too. But if your idea of freshening up a tired old ride is going to be add a bunch of characters, well, it won't be only cranky old APers and geeky internet fans who start to notice. Do better.
13	wahooskipper Mon 5/5/2008 8:22a	I agree that there is constructive (and unconstructive) criticsm online. But in the case of these sites it is coming from an extremely narrow sampling of your guests. Should they be monitoring it? Yes, and it is very evident that they do. Should their decisions be dictated by it? No, I don't think so. But, another aspect of this is the blurry line that has become the press. The press, both conventional and the "online version" now uses online feedback as a tool when writing stories. So, when they point to MiceAge or LP as a source when writing a story about the negative feedback in regards to X attraction then it is very, very misleading. To me it is similar to the way the movie and tv critic industry works. You have shows that are "critical darlings" so the networks keep them around longer than they would otherwise. It is a bad economic decision because the real ratings don't justify keeping the show...advertisers don't want to pay for the commercials...etc. And, of course, you have shows or movies that critics hate but have mass general appeal and make the network or studio a ton of money. I guess there needs to be a balance and I think...on the whole...Disney tries to maintain that balance. Dinoland USA may not thrill hard core Disney fans but I see a lot of happy faces running around there. Similarly, a typical roller coaster rider probably could care less that the YETI makes X number of movements but Disney purists seem to like the detail (and expense) that went into building Everest.
14	plpeters70 Mon 5/5/2008 8:33a	"Dinoland USA may not thrill hard core Disney fans but I see a lot of happy faces running around there." You also see a lot of happy faces at Six Flags - should Disney just design their parks that way? No - Disney has set a standard for themselves, and they should live up to it. That's why they can get away with charging the prices they do, and that's why people pay thousands of dollars to fly to WDW and spend an entire vacation there. If Disney offered nothing but the level of quality found in Dinoland, no one would be flying in to see it. Disney has set standards for themselves and have advertised those standards ever since Walt's time. So, when they don't live up to those standards, they have to expect their fans to complain - that's the nature of the game. They should be intelligent enough to weed through all the complaints and focus on the legitimate concerns - not ranting at their fans for complaining too much!
15	Kar2oonMan Mon 5/5/2008 8:34a	I guess what this Imagineer would like to see is the online community gushing over no matter what they do. Just cheering no matter what. So, blow off the criticism you read online. No one here could possibly understand the Disney theme park legacy, so it's nothing but a "b-fest." I'm turning over a new leaf. DL's Pooh is the end-all-be-all of theme park innovation. The placement is perfect, and it's so much better than that tired old Country Bears. It's very modern to have stiff, non-moving department store window figures instead of all those pesky audio animatronics. Besides, little toddlers like it. It's colorful. That's good enough.
16	Mr X Mon 5/5/2008 8:37a	***Should their decisions be dictated by it? No, I don't think so.*** Since most of the bitching has basically been along the lines of what K2M just said (boiled down it's just "do better"), sure they should base their decisions on it. Look at it this way, if they listened to the criticism online and really knocked stuff out of the park on a consistent basis, how could that NOT also please the rest of the guests who are now okay with "good enough"? And I also agree with K2M that even recently they've done some incredible stuff. And I think they know that. And the funny thing is, there is little to no online bitching about that stuff (Everest and DisneySea, for example).
17	Mr X Mon 5/5/2008 8:38a	***So, when they point to MiceAge or LP as a source when writing a story about the negative feedback in regards to X attraction then it is very, very misleading.*** What's misleading about it, if they cite the source?
18	Mr X Mon 5/5/2008 8:40a	***Similarly, a typical roller coaster rider probably could care less that the YETI makes X number of movements but Disney purists seem to like the detail (and expense) that went into building Everest.*** You're starting to confuse me. Based on what else you've written, I can only gather that you think they SHOULDN'T bother with such details, since such a small and insignificant group actually notice?
19	Kar2oonMan Mon 5/5/2008 8:41a	As to gearing stuff for kids, Disney ought to dust off this quote and hang it on a wall somewhere... "We have respect for our audience. ... We operate on the conviction that it is composed of young children of potentially good taste, and that this taste should be developed." -- Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo
20	Mr X Mon 5/5/2008 8:52a	What, no more fart jokes!?

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