Jeff & Bean Counter's Own Topic

[Mike Frezon]

Bean:

While the demise of the Disney Club is certainly worth discussion.....

there has just been a confluence of baseball and Disney, two very important things in the lives of all Americans (or at least, arguably they should be). We must pause and reflect. ;D

 

[JeffNOrangeCounty]

The ever watchful Bean Counter

I must say though Mike, that the successful confluence of Baseball and Disney is something new.
The ultimate goal of the WDCo is to seperate us from our money, that is not new, and Bean, being a bean counter at heart is ever watchful of the threat.

I for one hate to see the MKC go. It was a pwerful tool once. But once everyone could access it it became less and less of a necessary discount for me ( i could get the same with my premium A. pass. It seems that all of Van France's efforts with this and the Disney University (for CM's) are regulated to Yesterdayland

Dont you get similat discounts being a DVC member?
Jeff

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

Actually, I believe that the DVC offers...

10% discounts on length of stay passports only. Seeing as how most of the folks who I visit Florida with also want to experience IOA and US, the length of stay is not a bargain.

I did notice that we do have some discounts this year at some of the WDW restaurants that we frequent, so that is appreciated.

Seriously though, I remember saving mega bucks with the MKC in the 80's. Even as late as 95. In the short time that the soon-to-be-discontinued Disney Club has been in operation I have never felt compelled to take advantage of any of their vacation offers. Before we joined the DVC, we would normally do the deluxe plan, which is never offered on a Disney Club Coupon.

Did you know that DVC members are only offered the 10% on Length of stay? We can't even buy the vacation part of the deluxe plan, sans the room charge.
I always spent more money buying the deluxe plan. Now they don't want my money I guess. Don't you think that it would be relatively easy to back out the cost/value of the Boardwalk room, and come up with a price for the rest of the vacation package?

 

[SharonKurland]

But JUST THINK...now you'll have the opportunity to get a Disney Visa card. Puh-leez.

Besides the loss of the MKC/DC 10% discount, with Amex no longer being the official CC of WDW, guests who already suffered a decrease of 15% to 10% off their purchases, now lose their discounts entirely.

DVC members still get 10% off merchandise at World of Disney at WDW, at least. And Disney DIning members get 20% off meals.

-Sharon-

 

[Jeff N Orange Coun]

DL Premium Passholders get 10% on most things
15% at Blue Bayou and 10 - 20% on various shops and reataurants at DTown Disney.

I havent been a MKC member since I moved nearby.
J

 

[Shane]

AMEX is still the official cc of the Disneyland Resort so they still have the white glove treatment discounts...

 

[SharonKurland]

Shane-

Right now it's still the official card at WDW too. But after the New Year, well....I wonder what they're gonna do with all those White Glove lanyards and pins...???
I wonder if they can block out the "Amex" part and insert "Disney VISA" instead....

-Sharon-

 

[Jeff N Orange Coun]

Hey Bean, Mike or Sharon!

Did you go see Treasure Planet yet?

Jeff

 

[SharonKurland]

Jeff-

Nope, not yet.

1. We just bought a house and are still very immersed in "house stuff."
2. My in-laws are visiting for 3 weeks (well, HAVE been. They leave on Saturday wooHOO!)
3. Very ambivalent about seeing it so haven't made special attempts to see it.

A friend of mine, a big Disney fan, went and said it "wasn't bad."

-Sharon-

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

Jeff,

No...I just haven't felt like seeing it. It's all Disney past for me now. ;-)

All I will need is a special edition 20K dvd and a annual past to Yesterland....

 

[Mike Frezon]

Sorry, Jeff! Just checked in! :-[

Nope! And I don't plan to. :'(

This thread has taken a depressing turn, eh?!

Here's why I'm not going:

--Dinosaur

--Emperor's New Groove

--Atlantis (I really HATED this movie!)

I haven't even seen Lilo and Stitch. Although, I am about to buckle under and rent it and see if I have done myself an injustice--like so many people have told me. I am doubtful, however.

Jeff, have you seen it?

Mike
P.S. I really want to go on my rant here--about what happened to the Disney musical which re-emerged to introduce the second Golden Age of Disney Animated Features under the watchful eyes of Menken and Ashman? Was something broke that needed fixing? I don't think so! Aaaaaargh!

 

[JeffNOrangeCounty]

Lord of the Rings and ramblings

Yea Mike and Bean,I know how you feel, "sequel-land" and "retread adventure" gets kind of old,

In my opinion Disney blew it when they let Peter Jackson walk over to New Line with Lord of the Rings. The decision to make 3 films out of the chute was more courageous than any of the penny pinchers at WDCo were willing to submit to. The Dealbreaker with Miramax was that they wanted to go from 2 pictures to One! (The typical, seduce them into the theatre with a weanie and ignore a quality production or story) PJ said there was no way to TELL THE STORY and do it Justice. (Anyone with Walt's legacy in mind should have set up at the mention of quality storytelling) The New Line Decision took guts and foresight both of which Micheal has thouroughly refined out of the company. sigh

That sound from Burbank you here is the Wienstiens kicking themselves.
Two Towers 101 mil in four days
Fellowship 313 mill (Box office only) #9 on All time list
with one more film to go and 2-4 versions of the DVD

All for a 300 mill investment...do the math
The most read book besides the Bible of the 20th century based in Fantasy and Disney lets it go.

Maybe Mike will get the Bible in production! (They will undoubtedly mess it up in copycat fashion (think Titanic vs Pearl Harbor) of course he will have to play God because no one else quaifies in his mind.

Im done

Jeff

 

[Michael Zielski]

Mike--With regards to "the lost Disney musical," you might want to check out what I ranted on about yesterday in the Treasure Planet thread--shades of the thread I started several months ago regarding the characters singing. Mike.

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

Yeah...I can see it now....

Eisner: For the part where Moses flees into the desert with his people...we can have the Pharaoh enlist the help of the Scorpion King to track Moses down.

While the Hebrew Nation is wandering around in the desert, we can have them form various alliances with some cute little dwarves and fairies... Do you think that Michael Jackson is available? He is so popular with the young folks.

And when Moses goes up onto the mountain to receive the 10 commandments.... we can have him do battle with a scary demon of fire. After he slays the demon we can have god reward Moses for his bravery with a gold ring, on which the words of the commandments are stamped.

Call up the accountants boys....I can smell a hit!

 

[Mike Frezon]

When they do Luke Chapter 2 and tell the story of the birth of Christ, do you suppose they'll have Stitch showing up and interrupting the moment? :

Yup! I just finished watching my rental copy of Lilo & Stitch. Snore! I figured it would be bad--based on my rationale from a couple of posts ago. But, my family and I dutifully watched it together and there wasn't a laugh, snicker or giggle to be heard from the lot of us--just a lot of sighs and "this is stupid" from my 12-year old son. Now, mind you, while I know 12-year old boys are prone to saying "this is stupid" about most things, after we watched the bogus, er, I mean "bonus" feature which was a minor "mockumentary" about Stitch's prior attempts to break into Disney films, my son remarked after a Mulan reference--"there's a film we need to watch again--not this one (Lilo & Stitch), Mulan".

And that, Jeff, is why I won't be going to see Treasure Planet. I was quite surprised to see previews on the L&S DVD for Atlantis 2 and 101 Dalmatians 2. Jungle Book 2 hitting the theaters soon?! When will the madness stop!?!? The company is in a tailspin creatively speaking. I don't keep track of the financial end of the company, but I would suppose that if the creative end tanks the other end will be sure to follow.

Did anyone among us go see it? Jeff, Bean, Sharon? I'm guessing not. And what does that say about things when folks like us stay away from the box office when there's a new Disney animated feature film to go see?

Jeff, regards your LOTR story: Also makes ya wonder what Kingdom of the Sun might have been.

This sucks.

P.S. Back to Lilo & Stitch: How lame is it that all of these adult earth people are suddenly face-to-face with aliens and don't bat an eye?!?! And THAT is just opne of a number of problems I have with the film--and don't get me started on the Elvis soundtrack.

 

[SharonKurland]

Mike-

FWIW, I liked Lilo &Stitch. A lot . But nope, I didn't see Treasure Planet. At first I didn't want to because the animation style reminded me too much of Atlantis, which I did not like at all. But Disney friends of mine have almost all said it's good, so now I'd LIKE to go...just general LIFE preventing it from happening. Well, that plus is comes and goes from the AMC Theater at Pleasure Island, which is where it's easiest for us to go see it.

BTW, I haven't forgotten about your CD at MGM. I just have not been to the Studios in months and months. Never even saw the Osborne Lights this year.

-Sharon-

 

[Mike Frezon]

FWIW, I liked Lilo &Stitch. A lot .

Sharon, Sharon, Sharon. :- This is not the first time we disagree. Although it doesn't happen often. I don't know too many other people who like The Happiest Millionaire almost as much as I do! ;D Lilo & Stitch just didn't seem to be a "story, well told" to me. I had several problems with the presentation. What did you like about it?

BTW, I haven't forgotten about your CD at MGM. I just have not been to the Studios in months and months. Never even saw the Osborne Lights this year.

Thanks for still thinking of me. It'll just be one of those things that happens when/if it happens. Hope that "life" stuff getting in your way hasn't been too bad.

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

When they do Luke chapter 2...

Stitch will star as Christ...

Jeez...I hate to admit it around here but I love Elvis. Don't know if I would have any use for Elvis in LILO AND STITCH as I refuse to see it. It's like the BMG marketing campaign said BEFORE ANYONE DID ANYTHING, ELVIS DID IT ALL.

I also must confess...I enjoyed Atlantis. Hey...if you can't come up with any good music, you might as well have no music at all. I think that I enjoyed it because it reminded me of Johnny Quest.

Yeah...I saw the poster for THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 in the movie theatres. This is a great example of a Disney Classic that wasn't exactly crying out for a sequel. What wasn't perfect about the original ending?

This company is truly eating itself now....

Sharon...are the Osborne family lights gone already? I was assuming that they would be up through the 4th. We will be at the Boradwalk Villas from 1/3-1/11, and I was really hoping to see them this years.

 

[SharonKurland]

Bean-

I did some searching around and according to http://www.themeparks.com/wdw/default.htm#Updates the Osborne Family Lights will be up through (at least) January 4th. So you're safe .


Mike-

I'm not saying that I LOVED Lilo & Stitch...I just liked it. As opposed to Atlantis, Emperor's new Groove, Tarzan, Mulan and Pocahontas, which I DIDN'T like at all.

What did I like about it? Hmmm...well, number one, I was biased because my husband and I honeymooned in Hawaii this past February so ANYTHING Hawaiian gives me warm fuzzies . I think the humor was fun...I actually laughed out loud on several occasions, which hasn't happened to me at a Disney movie in a LONG time. I saw a lot of typical "problemed child from dysfunctional family" characteristics in Lilo, as well as pretty normal avoidance maneuvers from her "friends" that, although I couldn't relate VERY well to, it was enough to interest me. The whole "taking pictures of tourists" aspect was GREAT. I thought Stitch was adorable...very mean but drawn cute so you like him anyway (OK, *I* did. YOU didn't ).

And if it makes you feel any better...the "martians from outer space" thing WAS dumb IMHO. So I guess I didn't like the overall plot as much as I did the interaction betwen the main characters.

Plus I love Hawaiian music...that and a cappella make up 75% of my Live 365 presets .

So sue me .

As for "life"...besides painting anf fixing and furniture shopping and lawn maintenance and stuff, we just don't go to the parks a whole lot. We go to Pleasure Island 1 or 2 or 3 times a week but heck, I can't even TELL you the last time we went to the MK except for special events. Last time we went to DAK was sometime in the spring, I think. MGM?...probably a few nights over the summer, for dinner. We go to Epcot most of all, again because of so many places to go out for dinner, but also because of Food & Wine, the Christmas stuff, etc. I kept your e-mail and I won't forget to look, I promise!

-Sharon-

 

[Mike Frezon]

Sharon: Is it true Hawaii is a lot like Staten Island in the summer? : ;D

Bean: I'm not sure any of the Disney classics are calling out for a sequel. John Goodman replacing Phil Harris? What's the point?! Yeah, yeah, I know what the point is. BTW, I've got nothing against Elvis. He is, after all, the undisputed "King". Its just that the use of Elvis in the soundtrack adds nothing to the plot. Surprise! And, to me, it just seems like a cop out and cheap way to pad the music end of things, even though, Alan Silvestri did add the score.

I have to be careful about blanket statements about sequels because of the great success of Toy Story 2. A well-written, well-thought-out, well-produced sequel with the original cast intact.

But, I also have to believe it's obvious the difference between a TS2 and a JB2 or a Cinderella 2 or a HoND2. And, I think the difference lies in the concept of "well-written, well-thought-out, and well-produced."

Oh, and don't forget "Stitch" will be with us this summer. : Sorry, Sharon. :-