New Jim Hill article

[Bob O]

Jim Hiss has another excellant article that focus's on disney's inability to learn from past mistakes and for a 3rd time building a theme park of half days worth activites at best, and of course the attack of the clones goes on and on.
www.orlandoweekly.com/news/eyedrive/index.asp?navId=1023

 

[AKemel]

The other area is repeat business, so if a Parisian feels like Disney but does not want to go to Orlando, just take a train to the Studios. Also, this is where the trickle in of new rides comes in handy. Instead of riding all of them in one visit, spread them over years.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

The article also talks about the failure of the resort when in fact it is the number one tourist/vacation destination in all of Europe.

 

[Bob O]

I agree the articles has flaws but it does show that disney hasnt learned from Ak or DCA about opening a park that isnt complete and hasnt learned from the success of a park like TDS where it does great from day one. You would think they wpuld learn from their mistakes but apparently believe their are enough sucker who will buy it because of the disney brand!

 

[wdwguide]

What's up with Jim Hill lately? He used to write such fantastic articles, but during the past year he's degenerated into an uninspired Al Lutz-clone.

The facts are that the WDS aren't a phenomenal park, but unlike DCA or the AK they tried hard to make it the best they could given the available money. Disneyland Paris was an continues to be an enormous success, but it is true that there are still substantial debts - the banks, not the company set the limits in this case (and it's important to remember that the Walt Disney Company does not own Disneyland Paris, Euro Disney SCA, which is only 39% controlled by the WDC, does). Any argument to the contrary is akin to calling Walt Disney World a flop because virtually nobody visited it until two months after it opened.

The Rock n Roller Coaster is not an exact clone from the Disney-MGM Studios. The track layout may be the same, but gone are the carboard cutouts and the "have to get to the concert in time" storyline. There's a new preshow and a completely different ride experience which is much more appropriate.

The presence of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin shows that they HAVE learned from past mistaken, contrary to Jim's claims. Unlike DCA, there's at least *some* stuff to do for the kids.

When comparing the WDS with the Disney-MGM Studios when they first opened, the WDS look pretty nice. And they are committed to making it even nicer - the Hollywood Tower Hotel sign is already part of the park's theming, and while that by itself doesn't mean much (see the AK dragon), it's at least a very good sign of exciting things to come.

If you speak German or French, have a look at some of the forums on their fan sites. Impressions and first-hand reports have generally been quite positive, and that's what counts. There are lots of Americans that visit Disneyland Paris and greatly enjoy it (myself included, it's my favorite park), but the facts are that it is the European audience that comprises 90% of the visitors, and it's them that will decide whether or not the park will be a success.

Jim, I doubt you'll read this, but try to get back on your feet and get back to writing such masterpieces as your Western River Expedition articles. Whatever happened to the one about EPCOT, Epcot, and Celebration we had some brief e-mail communication about so long ago?