I've done a little reading and it seems the whole Avatar deal boils down to one thing that Yesterland doesn't have to offer: 'luminescence.' Disney needed a complementary land for Animal Kingdom that they could keep open after dark. Pandora affords Disney that option. I wonder what alcohol is available in Pandora? The Younger Generations may never stupidly be tethered to a stupid cable bill and ESPN but they will drink and a park serving booze is an annuity any investor should be pleased with in these days of minimal returns.
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Originally Posted by Le Saboteur
* - I recently had my hands on a copy of the contract between Marvel & Universal, and it looks like there are ways to add Marvel characters to the Florida parks. The primary tenant seems to be that they can't have been an Avenger. It rules out Black Panther from appearing (for now),
but I think Wakanda is fair game.
You've got to explain that one to me. Why would Avenger characters be tied-up by a deal with Universal?
Did you see the 60(?) mile restriction though? I think that trumps the possible out through heroes not in use at the time of the contract (which is how people believe Disney is getting away with some of the Guardians stuff).
A lawyer friend seems to think the 60-mile restriction ties in with the heroes currently in use, and is not an impediment to introducing other superheroes to the Florida parks. I forget his exact reasoning, but this is why The Mouse retains more lawyers than most law firms.
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Originally Posted by JasonMa
Which would be Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men , and Avengers. That's almost the whole of the (recognizable) Marvel stable. There's also some question on if it has to be in an attraction or if just the theming they have prevents Disney from using it.
I don't believe Disney is overly concerned with adding Spider-Man to any of the parks yet. They can sit back and rake in the licensing and merchandising money without any significant outlay.
Before Marvel's success at the box office, the number of recognizable superheroes could be counted on one hand -- Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk. That's it. The general public probably couldn't tell you whose stable they belonged to, but they knew the characters. The number of superheroes that are recognizable today are more, but, in Marvel's case, they made them worth recognizing. Or did everybody really care about a talking tree and an angry raccoon four years ago?
That's part of Disney's abilities -- creating a need you didn't know existed, and then supplying you with the thing that fills that need. Black Panther is going to open all kinds of new avenues, and Disney's going to fill that need. And then those second-tier names are suddenly recognizable.
But before I go on a tangent: The Avengers restriction is particularly curious, because of how fluid the lineup has been over the years. Which incarnation of the team is off limits? All incarnations? Nearly every single character in the Marvel Universe has been an Avenger at one point or another.
I want to see a Moon Knight Netflix series. Who doesn't want to see an mentally unstable Batman on screen?
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Originally Posted by Joe Brody
You've got to explain that one to me. Why would Avenger characters be tied-up by a deal with Universal?
Back in the 90's when the entire comic book industry was on the verge of collapse, Universal scooped up the rights to Marvel's characters during their fire sale. Those rights were limited to theme parks on the East Coast only, and nothing is supposed to appear within 60-miles of Universal Orlando bearing the Marvel brand and aforementioned characters. The sticking point seems to be over which characters are formally iced out.
Before Marvel's success at the box office, the number of recognizable superheroes could be counted on one hand -- Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk. That's it.
Captain America too I'd say. Otherwise, yeah. You might be able to make a case for Thor but its a stretch.
Back in the 90's when the entire comic book industry was on the verge of collapse, Universal scooped up the rights to Marvel's characters during their fire sale. Those rights were limited to theme parks on the East Coast only, and nothing is supposed to appear within 60-miles of Universal Orlando bearing the Marvel brand and aforementioned characters. The sticking point seems to be over which characters are formally iced out.
Got it. I'm an idiot. Believe it or not but when I read your prior post I was thinking 'Universal' as in the movie studio -- and not the parks. I recall the old Marvel rides at Universal and this is all coming back to me.
. . .as a family man, the boozing in EPCOT is a bit of a drag. The kids saw some boorish behavior. Which is alright . . . and interesting, because there was a lot of twenty something drinking in Universal's Wizarding Worlds and it wasn't as sloppy (at least what I saw of it) as what I saw at EPCOT. The drinking around the world stuff is institutionalized.
Here's one of the cuter clips (with some production value & I'm a sucker for anything with Fast & Furious music)
That said, as far as Disney and alcohol goes in general, I like the balance in Disney's 4 parks. It just so happens that I like EPCOT and there's some irony in that the area around The American Experience is Beer Garden II.
(and for the record, EPCOT doesn't know how to pull a pint based on the one in the video above)
Since Disney is such a big buyer, old media doesn't give much ink to all the drinking in Epcot, but it is kinda hard to ignore when its Alex Morgan
EPCOT's latest menace, drunken soccer players (Sunday, October 2, 2017):
'Belligerent' Alex Morgan and other soccer pros kicked out of Disney's Epcot
Morgan, a star for the World Cup-winning U.S. national team who also plays for the Orlando Pride, was among three soccer players kicked out of an Epcot park restaurant on Sunday. Authorities say the players were verbally aggressive with park security and other guests.
MLS players Donald Toia and Giles Barnes of Orlando City SC were also ejected. A sheriff's report says the group began arguing with other guests and workers after Barnes cut in line at the United Kingdom Pavilion pub.
It takes a lot to get bounced from Disney, especially EPCOT and Food & Wine time, which is essentially an invitation to buy a ticket and stumble your way around the lagoon buying drinks.
Sucks to suck. First Legionnaires Disease and now this. . . .
Nice Journal rag there Joe Brody. Nevertheless 5 hours is a long time without power. I'm blocked out this week, but that certainly put a strain on the other areas of the park. I'm sure there's a fox acquisition joke in here somewhere. I just can't come up with it tonight.
Here's a potential reason: "Be Prepared" will not appear in The Lion King remake. Comicbook.com is repeating news reported in The Sun: only four of the original's songs will appear in the flick -- 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight"', "Hakuna Matata', 'Circle of Life', and 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King'.
I've gone from tepid interest to flat out non-interest. This will be another remake that remains unseen.
Confession: I'm not exactly a Bernie Bro but I am a supporter. . . .which means I'm on his e-mail list. Today, I got an e-mail from the good Senator from Vermont entitled Disney represents much of what is wrong with contemporary capitalism . . . and as you can see from his message, we can add Bernie to the list of folks who kinda dislike Disney now. . . .
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Joe,
The Walt Disney Company is an enormously profitable corporation worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 billion. Last year, it made $9 billion in profits and rewarded its CEO, Bob Iger, with a compensation package worth up to $423 million over a four year period. And as a result of the Trump tax cuts, they were given an additional $1.6 billion.
At the same time — and this is a national disgrace — employees at the company’s theme park in Anaheim, California are paid so poorly that many of them are literally living in a tent city not far from the park.
According to one recent study, nearly 1 in 10 workers employed at the park reported being homeless in the past two years, more than 2 in 3 say they are food insecure, and 3 out of 4 employees say they do not make enough money for their basic needs.
This is not what Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are supposed to be about. This does not sound like the “happiest place on Earth” to me.
Now, I could be wrong, but I don’t expect you will see the plight of these low-wage workers at Disney discussed tonight on ABC, which is owned by Disney. Nor do I think you will be hearing too much about income and wealth inequality in the mainstream media.
That is why I am heading to California this weekend to rally with these workers and union organizers fighting to demand that Disney pay all of its workers a living wage.
Notably, in the Solo thread I've been assessing Kennedy's chances of surviving as the head of Lucasfilm and oddly enough, I think this helps her chances of not getting axed in the coming days . . . but what do I know.
Living in Southern California, and in the shadow of the mouse ears, I can tell you that the minimum wage at the park has been moved up to $15 an hour, two years ahead of California's agenda. It's a curious email. I think it's designed to drum support for Bernie, but it doesn't represent the most accurate Financial picture, nor all the dynamics they go into Disney's profitability. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it is a coveted job, for high school and college kids trying to make it in that tough economic Market. The pay is solid, the work is steady, and the conditions are pretty good, compared to other opportunities.
I believe I've mentioned here before that my mother-in-law worked at WDW until she passed away 3 years ago from lymphoma. I (being on the more liberal side of the scale) have never been fond of Disney as a corporation due to some of the stances they've taken but I have to say, they way they supported my mother-in-law through her illness and my father-in-law after she passed was better than I would expect from most companies. Now my mother-in-law was with Disney for 16 years, making her eligible (after 15) for retirement benefits, which might have changed how they handled things. That also allowed my father-in-law to keep many of the benefits after my mother-in-law died. He stayed on Disney's health insurance until he was eligible for Medicare, he kept access to the Disney banks and such, he still has the Silver Pass allowing him and his family (us) free admission to Disney parks, and they handled it all with a minimum of bureaucracy while he was dealing with his loss.
Again, this was a WDW employee after 15 years, it may be different at Disneyland, and Disney has issues with employees (their H-1B stunt a few years ago was ridiculous) but they don't seem to be the best target for this, unless the goal is more press than it is real change.
