Walt Disney Imagineering head Bruce Vaughn and team demo new free-roaming robotic droid characters to Bob Iger and Josh D'Amaro

Rich Brownn4 hours ago

When I worked at Universal we went out of our way to not break theme as much as possible, usually by just renaming things (It's not en ECV, it's an "enchanted chariot". Not an elevator or lift but an "Apperator" for those who haven't passed yet, etc). But if someone asked an outside world question ("Where's Transformers") it got a bit tricky. "Hmmm, well I've heard rumors its located ..."

SSG6 hours ago

I think I've told this story before, but a Disney vlogger a few years ago said back when DCA first opened, the execs made the Paradise Pier CM’s talk to guests in an exaggerated, old-timey, carnival barker style. This didn’t last long as the CMs hated it and managers didn’t like enforcing it. She said she heard the story from a few CMs and couldn’t independently confirm it was really a thing, but it sounds dumb enough to be true.

SuddenStorm15 hours ago

From what he said, the interview was weird and the recruiter was strange. I'll have to share the rest of what he told me when I have time.

TP200017 hours ago

Well, that makes sense. I didn't go until later in June. I remember it rather vividly; the reports were the land was empty by lunchtime, Disneyland was slow, no one showed up. So I got in an Uber and went to see it for myself a few weeks after it opened in late June, 2019. No one spoke any Star Wars gibberish to me. All the CM's seemed bored and disinterested, particularly in the stores and restaurants, and they were all talking to themselves about how much they hated the scheduling department and whose party was better, etc., etc. Especially if you aren't going to pay the cashier AGVA rates, and instead just give them an 8 hour training and tell them to come up with their own backstory. Seriously? I don't blame them one bit for thinking "I don't get paid enough for that kinda crap..." 🤣 Hot Tip for TDA: You want actors? Recruit real actors and pay actor wages. You want cashiers and fry cooks? Recruit 18 year old kids wandering in off Ball Road and pay cashier and fry cook wages, but don't expect them to become actors for you just because you asked.

CaptinEO18 hours ago

Holy cow, this story. There's no way this interviewer has ever worked a customer facing job. Their training manual may mention all these magical "flourishes" to add in, but if they tried this one time they'd never do it again. Not only is that talk embarrassing for the CM but it's also disrespectful to the customer who is asking a straightforward ordinary question and getting a riddle as an answer. Has the interviewer even been in Disneyland? I've never had a weird interaction like that before.

Parteecia18 hours ago

Yeah, NO. Good thing we weren't doing total immersion in my day because I can't speak Spanish. The right amount of cosplay is mentioning Voldemort to Wizarding World TMs for their reactions. In Batuu, I did get one of their catch phrases from a very nice CM who helped me find one of the scavenger hunt canisters. Caught me off guard, then I laughed.

CaptinEO18 hours ago

Week one 2019 the CMs I saw all made an effort with this, when I went a few weeks later it was 90% gone. It's still dumb they made people in non acting roles have to also act, what a bad idea. I don't need the cash register person to have to perform two roles. Wizarding World in Hollywood even got their own bags. It amazes me how they went so out of their way to make a point on this realism but then left a giant empty themepark land. Like Star Tours was a smash success since the 80s and it didnt have to pretend you were actually in outer space. You can take "immersion" too far, and for me a themepark should always be self aware it's a theme park. The second it's poorly thought out role play I stop caring. I remember a guest asking what time the fireworks were in 2019 and an employee saying "i have heard legends that a great battle may take place in the sky at 930". It's just too much. I'm even a big fan of Star Wars and the weird phrases and tones people talked in felt nothing like anything in the Star Wars universe. What is "bright suns?", how about "may the force be with you"? What's going to happen if someone has a medical emergency? "Call an ambulance!" "what is this ambulance you speak of? Legends have spoken of Sbarro the healer".

CaptinEO18 hours ago

The very long but very good Jenny Nichols video touches on this at the end too, the tests for Star Wars Land and how they moved all the interactive parts into Starcruiser. I'm sure people on this board were already aware of this but good to see this information get an audience of 6 million and counting. Love when she roasts the embarrassing executives doing cringy PR. It's very obvious they had amazing plans for Galaxy's Edge and took most the elements to the starcruiser as an expensive paid experience. Sad how we were promised an interactive land full of characters and droids and got none of it.

TP200018 hours ago

How's that going, by the way?

𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗9721 hours ago

Dumping on Dumbo.

MagicHappens197122 hours ago

Legends of Frontierland became the R&D framework for the Galactic Starcruiser.

TP200023 hours ago

Oh my Gawd. That's ridiculous. And yet hilariously funny because it's so insanely inaccurate on how the parks work. 🤣 If I got that type of instructions on how to get to the bathrooms, especially on a hot crowded day with children who need to pee, I think I'd be headed to Guest Relations to complain after I had made that pit stop at the bathrooms. I've been to every Disney theme park in the world at least once except the ones in Communist China (and won't be heading there ever) for decades and decades, and I have NEVER received that type of weirdo, awkward, borderline insane type of CM interaction on bathroom directions in my life. Aside from the themed scripted spiels at E Tickets like Haunted Mansion, or the occasional themed word or phrase in hyper themed areas like Cars Land or Frontierland, American CM's are generally silent until spoken to. And then they give you basic directions in the fewest words it takes them. And if you are lucky nowadays, they might smile at you and/or respond at the end of the interaction with a "You're welcome". "Move quickly so Jack doesn't steal your plunder!".... Thank God I read that after 6:30pm, because I need a drink now. :rolleyes:🍸 .

TP200023 hours ago

Well, there's an analogy I haven't heard before, but it seems quite apt for Star Wars Land. In addition to the Adventureland game, remember they did that much larger Legends of Frontierland interactive game. I just Googled when that was, and it was a decade ago now! Summer of '14. They were clearly researching things for Star Wars Land, and that went nowhere for them ultimately. It's yet another example of how out of touch both the WDI creatives, and the Parks executives are on how their own parks operate daily for paying customers with 19 year old minimum wage CM's who get treated rather poorly.

Professortango123 hours ago

Instructions unclear. Pooping in Pan.