Disney Parks Blog teases Seven Dwarf Mine Train with paint and POV

This better open by Tuesday.

Sucks...

I appreciate attention to detail as much (or more) than the next person, and this project is over-thought as only Disney can do it. One car might be 20 years old and one might be 40? Are these the things the average park goer even notices? Where do you have to stand to take in the difference between the "wood" and "iron" on the various trains? Oh well, it looks cute as can be.

The last time I visited MK the Fantasyland project had just started, so there were walls everywhere. I was hoping when we visit in February that this last piece would be available along with the rest of the stuff I haven't seen yet. Sadly, looks like no. Dammit.

RCMAC said:

I appreciate attention to detail as much (or more) than the next person, and this project is over-thought as only Disney can do it. One car might be 20 years old and one might be 40? Are these the things the average park goer even notices? Where do you have to stand to take in the difference between the "wood" and "iron" on the various trains? Oh well, it looks cute as can be.

Heh. Right?

Two things:

1. It's job security. "Oh yeah, it's going to take a L-O-N-G time to get these cars just right."

2. This is why it's $92 to visit WDW.

(there's a greater winky encompassing this entire post)

Right.
Then there's the notion that these imagineers are collecting paychecks to carefully dab paint here and there, while there are mistreated animals everywhere.
Where's the sense in it, I ask you?

(Insert even greater winky here.)

Looks awesome.

Detail is expensive, but when those details are missing, it can be potentially jarring and knock you out of the "moment" or "experience."

For example, if you go to IOA, you are in Hogwarts Castle when you go through that queue. Nothing breaks that illusion. Now go next door and ride Men in Black. Feels like the movie, until you have to go down that one hall that has white ceiling panels and generic crap on the walls.

The Harry Potter stuff, in my opinion forces Disney to get New Fantasyland right. They can't get away with something like Small World. Spending a lot of time there in the last six months (I do have a 3-year-old, after all), I think they're getting it right. Even the Storybook Circus area is richly detailed and has a high quality feel to it.

There's no doubt that Disney's attention to detail makes them the best.

But RCMAC has a point - even if it's meant facetiously. At some point the ROI (Investment being the time and effort to put the umpteenth dab of paint on the third car of the second train so that it looks slightly more aged and separately built than the others) just isn't there.

I've long suspected that there are aspects of details that the Imagineers do that are never even noticed by a single guest. I almost believe that's why we see so many video from them about projects like this - they have to point out the work they do lest it go unnoticed.

Job security. ;)

Are they union workers?

You obviously don't troll the Disney fan sites. :)

Not only do Imagineers do things that aren't noticed by guests, they do things that guests will never even see.

There's a thorough history of the 'man' who 'owns' the Emporium on Main Street, detailing when the store was founded, the owner's increasing wealth and travels (reflected in the decor of the different rooms as you proceed towards the Hub), and so on. Pleasure Island had a detailed written history of Merriweather Pleasure, founder of Pleasure's Canvas and Sailmaking, before serious work was begun on the various nightclubs.

An Imagineer would explain that the depth of detail, seen and unseen by guests, contribute to creating the truly believable environments Disney parks are known for.

The obsessive in me loves the obsessive attention to detail. (Look at the pavement the next time you walk around Animal Kingdom! And all those mud ruts on Kilimanjaro Safaris? Painted concrete!) The pragmatist in me thinks it's all a bit much.

I see both sides, really. As a fan of theming and detail I can dig it when I see they're taking the extra step. But like Gonch says, the has to be a point where...
I was tickled on my first trip to SDC, one of the best themed parks anywhere, when I noticed the trains on Thunderation were different. Identical in structural design, but painted so one looked shiny and new and the other old and decrepit. Those kind of things mean something, to me at least.
Then back to Disney as an example, you have your Splash Mountain which without a doubt is also beautifully themed from queue to exit. But when you get to the ride vehicles, while they all have a charming rough-hewn look, you see that in all actuality, they're identical. That's ok, even to me, and I accept it as convention.
Then, while I'm thinking about it, at the other extreme are the Doom Buggies in Haunted Mansion. Sure, it's an age old attraction for Disney, but why they pass on the opportunity to make something visually fabulous out of the ride vehicles is beyond me. C'mon, they're called Doom Buggies for cryin out loud. The opportunities there are endless. And perhaps it's another convention, I suppose they're supposed to "disappear" in the dark setting, but they don't. They will always and forever look like black plastic egg shells.

By the way, Gonch, Disney employees are unionized. (Or did you know that already?) I found where 30,000 service employees in Orlando are covered under contract through 6 or so different unions. I also see where Disney recently offered a raise to employees, while at the same time intending to increase the employee's cost of health care benefits, all in an effort to keep labor difficulties at bay during these changing times.
I don't know if Imagineers are included in the group of bargained-for employees. My guess is the designers, most of which are based in California, are at a higher, management type level. The Project Manager we see in the video most likely is too, but I bet the painters and decorators aren't. Just a guess.

Then there's the matter of Hidden Mickeys and stuff like that to keep the hard core fans entertained. I bet that's a real job too...

I've long suspected that there are aspects of details that the Imagineers do that are never even noticed by a single guest.

They don't notice that it's there, but they *might* notice if it was missing---and not even notice, really, but just be struck by something that isn't quite right. I think that's the point---it's done so well, it just looks "real" to the average guest, rather than plastic-painted-to-more-or-less-look-like-wood.

Oh, I'm not against it by any stretch. But it's funny when you think about it.

I'd love to know how much it matters...or rather how far you have to go before it doesn't. That'd be a fun experiment.

^^^ Exactly what they're aiming for.

^^^Which refers to Brian Noble, not Gonch. I was slow.

Re: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

"I'm going to Disney World!!"

Speaking of details...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-disney-parks

+1 for this one:

14. The brownish winding path in Liberty Square is meant to represent raw sewage that flowed down the streets of Colonial America, since indoor plumbing wasn’t yet invented.

The "average guest" that wouldn't notice the details is NOT a Disney-phile. The folks who think in terms of "Disney or nothing" are extremely numerous, and are more-than-willing to sink enormous sums into their Disney experiences. They wouldn't bother to stop at a CF/SF park, or probably even a Herschend park, without being paid for their ("wasted") time...

The attention to detail stuff is HUGE...and the IP is priceless.

I think it depends on where the emphasis on detail is placed.

I love 99% of the well-done Disney stuff. I don't know if they can ever get too detailed for my tastes. I guess from an ROI perspective it's a different matter. The most recently Universal stuff falls in this category, too.

I think the park where it really comes off the rails, though, is BGW. Don't get me wrong, I love BGW as much as the next guy and I visit it more often than any other park (by far).

Verbolten and especially DarKastle are the two biggest offenders. If I need cliff notes to understand wtf is going on, odds are you've overthunk it. Luckily Verbolten is still loads of fun even if you don't know the novel-length back story, but DarKastle is just one "what were they thinking?" moment over and over for me. The whole thing is weirdly overwrought and under-cooked at the same time.