Episode 33 - We Crank Because We Care

[TinkerbellT421]

I saw this fascinating documentary back right after Reflections of Earth debuted that showed how they created the show. I would assume it was on the Travel Channel or something, but it was really neat.

Basically they had these two fireworks guys sitting in a room with a computer listening to the soundtrack. They could pick out what type of firework(s) they wanted and then, as the soundtrack played, they just hit a button on the PC and it marked that as the exact moment they wanted the shell to display. I would assume the system them worked backwards and accounted for the launch time to ensure the shell detonated at the correct time in synch with the music.

Haven't seen that show since and I really wish I could find it.

Awesome! Thanks for the info! That kind of show is right up dbf and I's alley. Going to have to see if I can find it on the youtubes!

[Quadstriker]

Like has been said a billion times. We just don't know what the deal is with NextGen and that's the frustrating part.

Ian pretty much hit it. A billion dollars. You don't spend a billion dollars without expecting to make more than a billion dollars. And it has to be quite a significant amount more based on the risk and opportunity cost.

For comparison, Minnesota just laid the plans for a new state of the art stadium for the Vikings at the cost of 900 million dollars. This is more than a new stadium. For what? RFID chips? Advance dining orders? Scheduling rides? Say what now? How does that make sense? There's much more here than we know and Disney has their lips sealed about it - to the point where people are getting angry because none of this makes any sense.

Where's the money going to come from? What exactly is a billion freaking dollars being spent on? There's more here than "Hmm we think can draw more people into the parks with interactive queues, advance food orders, paying a dining bill by swiping your bracelet, and reserving times for watching parades and riding rides." We just don't know what it is.

And if all this turns out to be a complex pay for play system such as "Hey pay 10 bucks and you can schedule your ride time for Soarin'!" people are going to be beyond ticked off. I'm concerned that's what it's going to be now due to the silence coming from Disney Corp. on the issue.