| # | Author | Message |
21
| The Goddess Mara
Thu 5/29/2008 1:45p | You seem a little too eager to pat yourself on the back. |
22
| Roger55
Thu 5/29/2008 2:07p | GPS systems are satellite based. Global Positioning Satellite (GPS). Antennas do not mean they are using GPS. They may be using a Radio Frequency(RF)signal based positioning system, but I can't see how they are using the GPS system. I would appreciate a more detailed explanation as to how antennas in the show building relate to GPS satellites/systems and the positioning signals they beam down to earth.
Regarding the second point, I didn't formulate my opinion based on the number of guild books that are sold in Japan. Also I agree with Lee about the content of a lot of those guide books. I do read a little Japanese and I subscribe to Disney Fan magazine. It is a beautifully done magazine, but it is as Lee states, very light on actual details. It is mainly a magazine that highligts attractions and merchandise.
I also speak Japanese, and have spent countless days in the Tokyo parks talking to CMs of all levels and the Japanese Guests. I often find myself informing them of their own park. I also have had many conversations with my numerous Japanese friends about the parks and have found that even though they are all big Disney fans, they don't have the detailed knowledge of the parks like a lot of my American Disney fan friends do.
Let me site one "story". I was at TDS prior to the opening of ToT. I was by Raging Spirits and pointed out to the CM that some of the crates there were labled to be shipped to Harrison Hightowe in NY. An obvious tie in to the ToT and the whole Hightower backstory. Well, the CM not only had no clue about what I was say, but politely corrected me saying that I was incorrect. She said, "Raging Spirits is one ride, Tower of Terror is a separate ride. There is nothing they have in common". I just chuckled inside and let it go. When I pointed it out to my Japanese friends, they all thought it was very cool, but had not heard of it before from anywhere. |
23
| Roger55
Thu 5/29/2008 2:32p | OK, let me correct myself before someone else does. GPS stands for Global Positioning SYSTEM.
GPS based systems use signals coming from GPS satellites to determine their position.
Any GPS based positioning system requires a GPS receiver connected to a GPS antenna that has direct Line Of Site to the GPS satellites. By processing the signals coming from several satellites, the GPS receiver can determine its position on the earth.
And as I stated before civillian GPS receivers are only accurate to about 15 meters, so without any other augmentation system to aid it(i.e. Wide Area Augmentation System, Differential GPS, etc), there is no way a GPS based system can be used to control the ride vehicles such as Pooh or Aquatopia.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about GPS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps
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24
| leemac
Thu 5/29/2008 2:37p | <<Well, the CM not only had no clue about what I was say, but politely corrected me saying that I was incorrect. She said, "Raging Spirits is one ride, Tower of Terror is a separate ride. There is nothing they have in common". I just chuckled inside and let it go. When I pointed it out to my Japanese friends, they all thought it was very cool, but had not heard of it before from anywhere.>>
That doesn't surprise me in the least. The backstory guidelines for TDS are immense - the printed volume is massive and goes into tremendous detail. No CM could be expected to know it and there isn't the training to support it any more (there was at opening).
The great irony is that DCA also has very complex backstories that also are not properly communicated - however both parks were very different in their execution. Condor Flats has an entire history that unless someone told you you would never have any idea. |
25
| leemac
Thu 5/29/2008 2:40p | <<You seem a little too eager to pat yourself on the back.>>
Too eager? I'm pretty proud of the work we do in Tales. There isn't a single other publication out there like ours. Our readers seem pretty happy with what we do too. If people want to use it as a reference guide then I'm perfectly happy for them to do so. Your snide comment aside. |
26
| leemac
Thu 5/29/2008 2:49p | <<I often find myself informing them of their own park.>>
You really hit the nail on the head there Roger. However it does seem there isn't the level of curiosity in Japanese society at all like we have in the west. They take things at face value and as presented to them. They rarely ask questions or try to discover more.
I remember Legend of Mythica being in its planning phases and OLC wanted the entire backstory written expressly into the script. They informed us that they didn't guests to have to make any informed assumptions or interpretations. The entire story needed to be verbally communicated in full. So Mythica has some fairly detailed spiels. Same for BraviSEAMo!
I think that is also self-evident in the show modes for parades and shows - the CMs spend a full five minutes or longer prior to Meet 'n' Smile at TDS running through the hand gestures for guests. They need to be presented with that information as early as possible and as clearly explained as possible. It is fascinating to watch - and I can imagine terribly difficult to write show scripts for when you are trying to convey a story. |
27
| Bob Paris
Fri 5/30/2008 1:23p | "You seem a little too eager to pat yourself on the back."
My sentiments were along the same line.
I was going to say that it seems whatever anybody says, this person has to post the opposite. We used to call that kind of person "contrary". In these less civilized times other terms come to mind.
The most glaring example would be when every sane-minded person exclaims that TDS is one of the most incredible themed environments ever built and Leemac just HAS to come along and say he doesn't agree and that DCA is better.
That just defies credulity and causes the exponent to lose any kind of credibility. It also smacks VERY plainly of not wanting to bite the hand that feeds him. I wonder if Leemac knows Harry Knowles at all? |
28
| leemac
Fri 5/30/2008 2:25p | <<The most glaring example would be when every sane-minded person exclaims that TDS is one of the most incredible themed environments ever built and Leemac just HAS to come along and say he doesn't agree and that DCA is better.>>
Get your facts right before throwing that tired old circa '01 argument back at me. I never disputed that TDS is the most complex environmentally themed park ever conceived by Disney - my point has always been that I find the narratives closed, the atmosphere dour and oppressive and the place cold and disengaging - I'd rather visit the real thing (where it exists).
I find the attractions at DCA to be superior to TDS - I'd take Soarin;, California Screamin', Aladdin and Golden Dreams over just about anything at TDS. Considering the changes to many of the attractions at TDS like 20k and Sindbad it seems I'm not alone in that line of thinking.
I know plenty of people that find the attractions to be weak at TDS. Your own blinkers to its failings are your own problems. |
29
| TDR_Fan
Fri 5/30/2008 3:33p | I think we have pretty much exhausted that argument. I believe we pretty much settled on the fact that everybody has different opinions and that nobody is right or wrong on this discussion. How can they be? It's all a matter of perspective and taste. For everything that you love, there will always be someone who hates it. And vice versa. No need to throw out insults, or state opinions as facts here. Let's me mature and move on, shall we? And trust me, I understand where you're all coming from. It's rather hard to accept opinions which differ so much from our own, but that is what these boards are for right? To hear views from all ends of the spectrum, and I'm glad I've finally learned to accept that. |
30
| X-san
Fri 5/30/2008 6:16p | ***Considering the changes to many of the attractions at TDS like 20k***
Wow, it really HAS been a while for me.
They changed 20K?
Please tell me they didn't add a song. :p |
