WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:03.879
Oh My, from our studios this week in Los Angeles
2
00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:06.480
and Tampa. This is green Tag Theme Park in thirty.
3
00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.199
I'm Philip and I'm joined as always by my delightful
4
00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:13.560
co host, the mister Scott Swinson from Scott Twinson Creative Development.
5
00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:15.839
On green Tag, we look at the top news each
6
00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.719
week and we try and discuss why it matters or
7
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.480
doesn't matter to industry professionals in the theme park and
8
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.239
theme entertainment spaces. And this week, I think the through
9
00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.839
line is going to be change. When should you change?
10
00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.000
How should you change? And should you be listening to
11
00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:32.119
your guests and how do you get that feedback and
12
00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.719
make experiences better? And sometimes it doesn't make it better,
13
00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.039
it just makes it worse. And I think, I mean,
14
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.600
we'll start off this week with the story that a
15
00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.799
lot of our regular listeners have sent to me, which
16
00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.520
is the opening of the new Pirates ride in Disneyland.
17
00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:51.840
I'm sure all of you have already seen this video.
18
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.640
It's all over the internet, including all of the glorious
19
00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:59.960
memes that have come out with this, but basically, disney
20
00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.560
Land has open Pirates of the Caribbean. It was down
21
00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.599
for refurbishment. The primary reason it was down was to
22
00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:08.799
fix most of the a lot of the interior stuff
23
00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.719
and to realign effects. But they did add a new
24
00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:14.680
effect to one of the pirates on when you're in
25
00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.760
the first phase, when you're going through the caverns and
26
00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:19.480
there's there's one of the pirates and it used to
27
00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.760
be a static pirate and now they have added a
28
00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:28.359
kind of projection face to it where basically it picks
29
00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.239
up the gold It picks up a gold coin, and
30
00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:32.920
it it goes from a human to a skeleton by
31
00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:35.040
picking up the gold coin and just kind of repeats
32
00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:35.519
that cycle.
33
00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:36.159
Basically.
34
00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.120
I'm sure you've seen the video, but that's what's going on,
35
00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.840
and that's that's the biggest new addition to it, although
36
00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:44.159
they have fixed some of the other elements throughout the ride.
37
00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.959
So this has sparked a lot of controversy online from folks,
38
00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:56.480
and I think it's I don't know, yes, a lot
39
00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:58.159
of the folks are not happy with it, and I
40
00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.920
think I'll give my quick take on it first, but
41
00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:03.640
my take is really just this is a reading the
42
00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:11.680
room problem where you know it kind of breaks. Basically,
43
00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.000
what you're doing is you're taking a really classic kind
44
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.560
of dark ride element where it's a spooky skeleton and
45
00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.840
very atmospheric area, and you're adding this animation and projection area,
46
00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.120
so it does change the vibe of the place. But
47
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:25.960
I think the main reason people are upset about it
48
00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.280
is actually because it looks more on the screen projection
49
00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.560
screens kind of technologies front right now and reading the
50
00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.120
room like right now, especially in America, people are not
51
00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:38.120
happy with AI.
52
00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:39.719
They're not happy with screens.
53
00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.479
All we hear about is social media and suf how
54
00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.319
bad all that is, and which is why you're seeing
55
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:50.719
a big movement for schools to discontinue phones, but also
56
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.159
for restaurants and other places to reduce the amount of
57
00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:56.639
screens in the area. And I think it just came
58
00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.319
at the wrong time in a way, like you have
59
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.439
all this kind of negative sentiment build up about screens, AI,
60
00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:04.159
about technology and all this where people are trying to
61
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:08.680
return to in person, physical experiences, and in a way
62
00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.199
this is a metaphor of that, like Disney has taken
63
00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.840
away something that is classic but also very physical, like
64
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:19.039
a physical prop that is spooky and litwell and you know,
65
00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:22.759
hand carved and replaced it with a projection mapped screen
66
00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.960
and I think that that's more what is causing the backlash.
67
00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.159
I think it's less that it's bad quality. Like I
68
00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.759
don't think it's bad quality. I think it's just the
69
00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:36.280
situation that if I themselves in. I think the story
70
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.759
on this is a little like I'm not sure the
71
00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.879
story fully meshes with the ride, but like a shrug
72
00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.759
on that, I just you know, you know, there's plenty
73
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:48.319
of places that don't match that. But anyway, that's my
74
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.599
take on it. But Scott has a storyteller.
75
00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:52.759
What do you think? I think I think all of
76
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:55.240
this makes sense. I think you know, I think you're right.
77
00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:58.520
I think this is the wrong time to add technology
78
00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.680
or replace something that is beloved with technology just because
79
00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.000
you can replace it with technology. It kind of kind
80
00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.599
of goes back to that question just because you can
81
00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:11.240
do it doesn't mean you should. And then I think
82
00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.319
for me the most, and I say this sitting sort
83
00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:22.560
of outside the adult Disney realm, the adult Disney goer realm.
84
00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.680
For me, it's it's I think this is all blown
85
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.800
to a much larger proportion. I won't even call it
86
00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:31.040
out of proportion because for some people it's very important,
87
00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.439
but it's blown to a much larger proportion because it's
88
00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.920
changing something in a classic Disney ride, right. You know,
89
00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:44.560
I do belong to several adult Disney groups and sites
90
00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:49.240
or groups on various social media platforms, and I mean
91
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:53.279
the perfect example is someone was just livid about the
92
00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.720
fact that they their their breakfast no longer consisted of
93
00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:00.199
a Mickey waffle and was now a character waffle, and
94
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.759
they were like, is this the end? It's a flip
95
00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.759
and waffle kids, you know, I mean, lighten up. So
96
00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.600
I think I think this is I think I don't
97
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.800
disagree with anything you've said, Philip. I think you're absolutely
98
00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:13.480
right that this is the wrong time to be doing
99
00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:17.800
it from a from a tech standpoint, But I think
100
00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:22.560
it's just elevated to the point because it is a
101
00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:29.680
classic Disney attraction. I mean, you know, you can't you
102
00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.800
can't change anything, even though people will constantly say they
103
00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:37.519
want change. So it's this is a perfect, perfect example
104
00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.439
to me of when people say, you know, we want
105
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:43.079
it fresher, we want it newer. We want to find
106
00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:49.519
out what that means. Because this, you know, I look
107
00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:54.120
at it and I go, it's this much of the ride,
108
00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.279
you know, it's it's a teeny tiny part of the
109
00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:00.240
ride and people are up in arms about it. Well, well,
110
00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:02.199
I think we've got much bigger things to be up
111
00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:09.160
in arms about number one and number two. It's it
112
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:16.079
is difficult for park operators to know what the heck
113
00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.120
you mean when you say I want it to be fresher,
114
00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:19.800
I want it to be newer. I don't want to
115
00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:24.199
lose the story. So I think what's happened here is
116
00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:27.600
in the attempt to do something new and fresh and
117
00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.839
make it so that people will come back to Pirates
118
00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.480
of the Caribbean again, or it will be elevated in
119
00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:39.040
some way. They have somehow hit the sensitivity bone to
120
00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:46.040
nostalgia and made it so that it's you know, how
121
00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.000
dare you take this moment away? Well, to be honest,
122
00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.639
they didn't really take anything away, because one of the
123
00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:59.680
images is the skeleton that was originally there. It transforms
124
00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:06.199
now and to your point of storytelling, you know, I don't.
125
00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:08.439
I don't think it's I've never thought it was fair
126
00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.240
to say that Pirates of the Caribbean follows the same
127
00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.879
storyline as the movies, because they don't. There's a lot
128
00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:20.959
of differences. Does it make sense within the storyline to
129
00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.920
your to your point shrug, eh, eh, you know it doesn't.
130
00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.000
I don't think it makes any less sense than a
131
00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:32.959
static skeleton sitting there in front of the gold. I
132
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:39.199
also don't think it's necessary, right because going back being
133
00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.399
a bit of a traditionalist, I actually quite liked the
134
00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.120
staticness because what it did was it set up the
135
00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:51.240
anticipation of creating a moving scene or something in the future.
136
00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:55.160
But it's the exposition that's I think that's the problem exactly.
137
00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.439
It's rushing the exposition.
138
00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.920
Right, that's right, it's rushing the exposition that whole cave
139
00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:02.120
and the whole point to it is to be an
140
00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:06.079
extended exposition that gets progressively creepier, right, and then the
141
00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.199
whole point comes.
142
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.199
To life, right, that's exactly.
143
00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:12.920
So yeah, I think the whole point is to have
144
00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:19.279
those the skeletons that are that are skeletons. They're not moving,
145
00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:22.199
so everything is moving around them, you know, the stars,
146
00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:26.680
you the water, the night. They're static because they're they're dead.
147
00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.000
I mean, they're kind of frozen in time. And I
148
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.839
think that's the that's I think a little bit what
149
00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:34.240
it ruins. I think I go back to what you say,
150
00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.559
A lot, which is about when you're looking at adding
151
00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:40.480
technology into a situation, it has to serve the story
152
00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.879
and not the other way around, and not just adding
153
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.480
technology for technology's sake, And that would be my one,
154
00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.360
I guess main criticism is that it sort of feels
155
00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:52.639
like it wasn't necessary and they did it because they could,
156
00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:55.600
because this is their new technology that they debuted.
157
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.200
Some encounter is sitting behind a desk somewhere, going, we've
158
00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.600
had this ride clothes forever. We've got to come back
159
00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:03.159
with something new that we can talk about from a
160
00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.960
marketing standpoint, right, So there's there's that angle from a
161
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.000
creative side. If you're going to do it to one
162
00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:13.519
of these characters, you got to do it to all
163
00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:18.879
of these characters, so or more than one, because now
164
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:20.559
you've got to stick out. You've got to stand out
165
00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.039
like a sore thumb that goes back and forth, as
166
00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:28.039
opposed to just the static I loved as a kid, especially,
167
00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.919
I loved the static nature because it built a sense
168
00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.879
of anticipation of the great animatronics that we were about
169
00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:43.600
to see. Right So I I personally don't feel it
170
00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.000
was necessary, But I'm also not going to sit there
171
00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:47.840
and be all up in arms about it and say,
172
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.559
how dare you touch this classic? You know, it's it's
173
00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.480
a theme park ride. Lighten up, you know it's it's
174
00:09:55.559 --> 00:10:01.159
not global politics or brain surgery. So but I think
175
00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:03.200
I think that these are But these are definitely things
176
00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.639
that people need to consider when you're trying to decide
177
00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.279
should I change this? Should I add technology to this?
178
00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:12.519
And the biggest piece of information or the biggest recommendation
179
00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:16.720
I would give is it's don't don't shy away from technology.
180
00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.360
But technology is not the end, it is the means.
181
00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.039
So what are you What is it that you are
182
00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.799
trying to accomplish? Is it simply that you need something
183
00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:29.519
new to talk about from a marketing standpoint? Okay, I
184
00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.159
can accept that if you really think that Pirates of
185
00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:39.080
the Caribbean, for example, needs a marketing boost, really I
186
00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:43.559
don't think so. But but maybe maybe is it a
187
00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.000
justification for you know, being closed for so long for
188
00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:55.000
to do renovations? Maybe? But I don't Having not ridden
189
00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:56.799
the ride, based on what I've seen in video and
190
00:10:56.840 --> 00:10:58.919
based on what we've talked about, I don't see that
191
00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:04.960
it necessarily enhances anything. And you know, it's one of
192
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.360
those things that the things that we really never know.
193
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.879
Maybe it's just that that skeleton had finally rotted through,
194
00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:13.799
so they thought instead of replacing it with another skeleton,
195
00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:15.960
they said, oh wait, we've got this cool technology. Let's
196
00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:18.759
throw this in there. That'd be fun, right, right, So
197
00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.399
it's it's hard to say, it's hard to say, but
198
00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:24.120
I think you know, based on this kind of of
199
00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:31.000
I'm gonna call it Disney hysteria, you know, we'll we'll
200
00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.039
we'll call it the we'll call it the Mister Toad's
201
00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.200
Wild Ride syndrome, this sort of Disney hysteria of how
202
00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.360
dare you touch this classic? If they'll get over it,
203
00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.200
they'll find something else to be worried about in the
204
00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.799
not too distant future. Maybe it's Mickey Waffles. Right, Well,
205
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:50.600
Mick be going.
206
00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.919
Away to close this out.
207
00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:55.559
I will I will say that the point you're circling
208
00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:59.120
there is, of course, what makes Disney Disney is exactly
209
00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.320
what Well used to say, which is that they kind
210
00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.320
of always change. That's what makes Disney Disney, right, and
211
00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.799
so this type of thing is exactly what makes Disney
212
00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:09.519
Disney is that they do go in and they take bets,
213
00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:14.320
both small and large and they do change everything constantly,
214
00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.600
and that's why you have you know, I go to
215
00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:21.440
Disneyland frequently. This is my home park, and there's so
216
00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.120
much innovation. Remember when the main street windows and the
217
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.919
projection mapping, like all these things, a lot of things
218
00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:30.000
didn't work out, and the ones that do they refine.
219
00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:32.240
Can I point out that Jack Sparrow was never in
220
00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.039
the original parts of the Caribbean, right, right? Can I
221
00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:36.519
just point that out?
222
00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.000
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
223
00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:42.559
So anyway, we'll move on finally to six Flags.
224
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:43.200
For those of us.
225
00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.600
Oh good, that means we'll get listeners. Good, we're talking
226
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.759
about six Flags.
227
00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.840
So this is I'm going to link here to an
228
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.759
interview that my colleague Danny did at Attraction's magazine, And
229
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:56.840
this is a few weeks old, but we didn't have
230
00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.679
talked about last week, so I thought we'd bring up
231
00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:00.799
this week because there were some interesting moments here speaking
232
00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:01.279
of change.
233
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.000
But basically this.
234
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:08.759
Interview is with the new Enchanted Parks CEO James Harheye,
235
00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.519
and he it was about physically about how one of
236
00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:16.519
the recent decisions that he made was the elimination of
237
00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:17.559
the legacy dying plans.
238
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.919
The six Flags has so that's catch everybody up.
239
00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:24.120
Remember that Enchanted Parks was sold several of the six
240
00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:25.480
Flags properties.
241
00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:29.919
And they will be so they were going to keep.
242
00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.360
A lot of the stuff the same throughout this year
243
00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.480
to honor the existing season pass holders and all that stuff,