This week, MousePlanet staff writer Mark Goldhaber answers letters related to several of his recent articles:
First, readers respond to Mark Goldhaber’s excellent breakdown of the Disney/Pixar merger, “Mickey Buys Luxo Jr” (link):
Gary McKenzie writes:
The waiting is over! Finally, the two best animation companies have come back together. Let me be the first to say, “Thank you Mr. Iger and Mr. Jobs!” I can’t wait to see the slate of movies that these titans will come out with in the future. Personally, I’m hoping for an animated feature based on ‘The Gingerbread Kingdom’.
With these two groups continuing to operate as individual departments, can we see the return of actual hand-drawn animation by Disney while Pixar will continue to handle the computer-animation? Only time will tell. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. There is a little more happiness today in the Happiest Place On Earth.
Brian Martin writes:
What an outstanding article. I have heard the rumors for a little while now and did not fully understand a lot of the reasons behind them.
I first heard the news on the local NPR station. I am thrilled that Mr. Iger has been able to mend the ties between these two incredibly talented companies.
Pixar has such a rich animation history that I am only just learning about. I hope to see future articles about Pixar (“who they are and what they have done” sort of articles). Disney Animation has been a little lackluster to say the least. It also did not help that Mr. Eisner wanted the release dates of Brother Bear and Home on the Range earlier than expected, which did not allow the films to be properly marketed. I may not know all the technical jargon and such, but I know there is a sea of talent that was wasted and thrown out when the Animation Department was downsized.
One thing of note from the NPR report: the reporter said that the two companies were looking to the future of animation and that hand-drawn films were most likely a thing of the past, citing the less-than-stellar response to Brother Bear and Home On The Range. I disagree. Disney has animation in its DNA, just as Mr. Jobs indicated. There will always be a place for the original artform. Did people stop painting on canvas with the advent of photography?
As for new ideas in the Resort genre—way to go. I love seeing old favorites at the Parks when I visit, but something new and unique gives the public a reason to make the trek to Southern California, or to Hong Kong. What I wouldn’t give to see a DisneySea-like park here in the USA; but that is one reason that makes me want to visit these areas of the world.
All-in-all, the marriage between Disney and Pixar is a natural. There should be no reservations about this. They are two companies that focus on such a creative art form; each can learn a lot from the other.
Keep up the wonderful work on the site, you all there at MousePlanet are incredible.
Jay B. responds to the January 17 Walt Disney World Park Update (link):
In the January 17 WDW Park Update you mention that the WDW Passholder “Best Rate Program” was a great idea. I could not disagree with you more! The public outcry over this, and the subsequent elimination of the program by Disney, proves that this was indeed a very bad idea from the start.
Perhaps this was a good idea to the WDW Accounting Dept., who might have seen the cancellation policy as a windfall profit. As for an average passholding guest, though, this was an insult and should have never been instituted.
Looking forward to your updates weekly, as always.
Perhaps my intent would have been clearer if I had written “What if you thought you had a great idea…”
I, too, disagree that the program was great for passholders. I also think that the idea would have been great for Disney, had they been accurately estimating the way that passholders scheduled their vacations. But they based the plan on faulty assumptions, and that is why it failed. I don’t think that it was intended to insult passholders, but rather give them peace of mind and not have to wait to try to get the best rates. It’s just that passholders weren’t waiting until the last minute to make the reservations because they were waiting for lower rates; rather, they were making late reservations because that’s how they were actually planning their trips. Once Disney figured out that their assumptions were wrong, they went and fixed the program. I think that the about-face is a laudable admission that they did not understand the motivation of their customers.
Jeff writes:
Thanks for the latest WDW update on January 23 (link. I have a few questions.
About the Theatre in the Wild. Your update has it in Dinoland USA, but I always thought it was in Asia. I know with Expedition Everest opening soon, did the powers that be change the location to Dinoland USA? What does Finding Nemo have to do with 1) dinosaurs or 2) the continent of Asia? They just added all the Finding Nemo characters to Epcot’s Living Seas pavilion, why would they want to add a show here? Unless the rumor is true that they want to add an Australia section to DAK in the near future. That means that Australia would have to be added in/around that area. Or is this another way of softening Steve Jobs. The Tarzan Rocks show was spectacular. Very innovative and great music. And at least it fit the themeing. Your thoughts?
As the updates for Epcot’s 25th anniversary are now starting to come in, do you have or could MousePlanet start a running list of updates/upgrades/changes/additions? There’s been so much talk of changes or additions that have become hot topics in the rumor mill, it would be nice to squash some of the rumors and also get people excited about 2007. With this being January 2006 already, I would assume that there will be no new attractions, just updates and modifications to existing ones. There should be a new attraction(s) for the anniversary. If the Happiest Celebration on Earth added one to every park, at least Epcot should get a new attraction. I suggest the Brother Bear water attraction in Canada. Seriously, how great this would be! Also, it would be nice if they reopened some of the Old Communicore restaurants and add a nice “History of Epcot” museum/interactive area like they did with the 25th anniversary of WDW on Main Street USA where the Walt Disney Story was shown.
Always look forward to Mondays for the WDW/DL Updates. Thanks again.
The Theater in the Wild has always been in Dinoland. In fact, until they opened the new bridge last year, there wasn’t even any way to get to the theater from Asia. I have no idea what connection Finding Nemo has to Dinoland, but then what connection is there for Tarzan, or for the original Jungle Book show performed in the theater when it opened? Finding Nemo is what my source told me, and that’s what I believe will be going in until and unless I hear something confirmed from a source at least as reliable.
I don’t know that I’ll do a running compilation of all of the rumors. When construction is under way or scheduled, I’ll note it in the Update. If I were to list all rumors, the Update would be twice as long!
With all of the attractions just completed, there really isn’t any available budget for a new pavilion at Epcot right now. And with the changes going on in Imagineering and Parks and Resorts right now, taking on a huge project is not anything anybody wants to do at this time.
We’ll just have to sit back, and wait and see.
MousePlanet readers Cory and Gail ask about Walt Disney World’s Extra Magic Hours program:
Cory Moorehead writes:
I am a little confused about the extra hours, say Magic Kingdom closes at 11 p.m. tonight and there are evening hours does that mean that it is open until 2 a.m.? Last year the shuttle bus driver told me on a similar night that the buses ran until 1 a.m. and I never got a clear explanation as to when our extra hours went into effect and when they didn’t. Any info about this subject would be helpful as we are going back in March.
You’ve actually got it correct. If the Magic Kingdom closes at 11 p.m. on a night where it has Extra Magic Hours, resort guests will be able to stay until 2 a.m. if they so desire. Buses should run until at least a half to a full hour after the park closes, even at that hour. The schedule for which park has Extra Magic Hours on which night (or morning) and which attractions will be open is located at this link (link).
Gail Tobin writes:
I’m going to WDW March 7–13 and I’ve read different opinions about which parks to avoid on which days. We are early risers and were planning on going to those parks that offer morning Extra Magical Hours since we are staying at the Beach Club. I’ve also read to avoid the parks that offer EMH on those days for they get the most crowded. Do you have any advice on this?
For early EMH, is there a place around the Beach Club that serves breakfast early like 6:30 or 7:00 a.m.?
I’m looking so forward to this trip and MousePlanet is a great resource to have available. Thanks!
Morning Extra Magic Hours have lower crowds, and you can get quite a bit done if you are there when they begin. However, once the parks open, they begin to fill up quickly, and you’re probably going to want to hop out of the EMH park after about an hour or so from park open. Evening Extra Magic Hours can be quite crowded, as well, and can be very busy for most of the afternoon as the EMH crowds pour into the park on top of the usual day guests. The least crowded parks are often the parks that have had an EMH the day before.
As to breakfast in the Beach Club area, I don’t think that Cape May Cafe is open before 7:00, though you may want to check with Disney Dining at 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) to confirm. I believe that they now have continental breakfast items for sale at the store at the Atlantic Wear and Wardrobe Emporium at the Beach Club. The items were added due to the needs of the folks staying at the Beach Club Villas for stuff to eat and/or prepare in their kitchens.
Hope this helps, and enjoy your trip!
Rumors are always swirling about Disney expanding into different areas of the world:
Amber Hershberger writes:
I was wondering if you could answer me this question: does Disney own land in Missouri or the Midwest somewhere and are they planning on building a theme park there any times soon? I heard about this rumor the other day and it’s been eating me up inside because I cannot seem to get a concrete answer on this topic. The most I found was the [Theme Parks Online] Web site (link), which is just a message board with people saying either yes it’s true or no it’s not. I figured of all people, you at MousePlanet would know the real answer! hope you can help and thanks in advance!
I would say that it is highly unlikely that Disney would open a park in Missouri. They are really concentrating on creating multi-day resorts and doing all that they can to keep people on their property while there. I think that it’s much more likely that they would create a new park overseas either in a new location or adding on to an existing resort than that they would build a new park only a few hours’ drive from a multi-day resort.
Of course, Disney also buys land in many areas. Often it is for warehouse facilities, call centers, R&D facilities, or offices for one of their many subsidiaries. Other times, it is a speculative real estate investment. So while it’s certainly possible that Disney has purchased land in Missouri or elsewhere in the Midwest, it’s highly unlikely that they’re planning to build a theme park there.
Disney does have some history in Missouri, aside from Walt’s childhood in Marceline and Kansas City. As I noted in part 2 of my History of the World series on the development of Walt Disney World (link):
“There were actually negotiations in progress with St. Louis, until the reigning head of the Busch family told him that he was crazy to build a theme park in St. Louis and not sell beer.
“There would be no more consideration of St. Louis.”
I hope that this helps somewhat.
Cody Reynolds writes:
I was wondering if you knew if there might be any chance that Disney might build a park down in Mexico? We vacation in Mexico pretty often and was hoping to see one down there sometime.
Sorry, but I wouldn’t count on Disney opening a park in Mexico. Right now, Asia is garnering the most attention, with Australia and South America drawing some interest. A park in Mexico would draw too many away from the existing parks in the U.S.
Finally, Gary Maher writes:
Do you have any info on the record for most rides in a day at the Magic Kingdom? This was discussed at a MouseFest two years ago but I can’t seem to find any information on it.
Gary, Sorry, I really don’t have any information on this. Any record would be unofficial at best. As far as I know, there is no official record anywhere on this. Perhaps a canvassing of various Internet discussion forums would produce an answer. I wish I could help you. Good luck in your search.
