The Beast that is Disney

Yeah, I understand and I to enjoy a good kids movie that is original and fresh…

watching a marvel superhero flick is like watching the same movie slightly different 100x over.

Infinity war though?

Thanos is cool I guess but that is because Thanos as a character was always a pretty cool villain, and Josh Brolin is a superb actor. But the movie itself? bleh. A mess. I fell asleep a few times and had to go back and watch it.

I find these movies too childish for my enjoyment. I can’t get into them anymore.

In the last 10 years I think the only Marvel flicks I enjoyed were Logan, and Ragnarok. And Ragnarok only because it seemed like everyone was so in on how pointless these movies have become. They basically were winking (maybe even mocking) the audience like “hey we know this shit is stupid, and getting old, but lets just have a good time”

I read that endgame is supposed to breakeven today. Which means everything from here on out is pure profit. Admittedly I haven’t watched a lot of the marvel movies just because I have superhero fatigue and I’m pretty much just a big Batman nerd. That said I did see infinity wars and all the avengers ones except age of ultron so I’m avoiding spoilers even though I don’t care too much.

The interesting thing is going to be them going toe to toe with Netflix. They are going to have some massive advantages being able to put their whole catalog in one place. I don’t see how they would approach monopoly status yet though. I mean it’s not like a bunch of other streaming tv shows and movie companies don’t exist they are just going to be tons more profitable than them.

As someone said the best stuff is all on tv anyways. We have amazon prime (thanks older bro), Hulu (got a year for 99 cents) and Netflix and I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the great stuff those three offer let alone wrap my mind around adding anything like DC or Disney’s new streaming services.

The amount of good TV in the last few years is just insane though. Breaking bad, peaky blinders, bloodline, Friday night lights, ozarks, black mirror, narcos, walking dead (first few seasons before it got awful), could go on for forever of just excellent recent stuff.

Hell Marvels best work by far in my opinion was Daredevil on Netflix which I’m sure will end up coming to Disney plus. I knew next to nothing about DD and fell in love with the character and show.

Oh yeah and love it or hate it Disney is going to make a mint off these live action films. Lion King and Alladin are going to sell like crazy like beauty and the beast already did. I think they have tons of live action plans for their old cartoons.

I wouldn’t say these modern superhero movies are really marketed as kids movies though. Most of them are pg 13 and even leaving out Deadpool the themes are pretty mature. Like I said I love Batman but my daughter would freak out watching any of the Nolan trilogy. Marvels are admittedly a bit lighter in tone.

Basically you have a bunch of people about 40 down that grew up loving some of this stuff and that’s whose watching the stuff along with kids.

Man just look at like comic con those places are littered with adults. What people used to say was “geeky” is mainstream now and has been for a while.

And of course Hollywood will ride the wave of superhero cash until fatigue sets in which I thought might happen by now but clearly hasn’t. I think making good movies about popular video games is next. Seems like an untapped gold mine.

And while it’s been in the news, it should be bigger news - a US president interfering with the private operations of US companies on the basis that one of them reportedly unfavorably on him?

Trump uses the machinery of the government like a mob boss.

This has reached the point of absurdity.

One of the reasons why Avatar made so much money was due to the introduction of new 3D technology along with the higher ticket price. Another 3D movie released right after this, Alice Through The Looking Glass, which was horrible by any standards, still managed to break 1 billion because of the novelty of said 3D technology.

If you’ve watched Endgame,

Spoilers

you probably saw that a fucking rat(mouse; Disney, geddit?) was the thing that kickstarted the chain of events leading to it’s conclusion.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-29/disney-poised-for-record-high-as-endgame-dominates-box-office

I am not a fan of Disney and feel like I might have to punt the MCU based on new ownership.

My son turned me on to Marvel, it’s something he is into and it gives us a chance to spend time together (I’m separated). We’ve watched the last three Avengers movies, the two Antman movies, and Venom together. I have a lot of MCU movies to catch up on, but I’m not going to pay Disney to watch them. I fucking hate that rat.

I’ve hated the rat for a long time, but it all came to a head when I was a Teaching Pro at Celebration Golf Course in Florida. It’s a Disney master planned community and it was the most fucked up place on earth.

I hate Disney. Elaborate please.

Well, my Disney hatred runs deep. My first experience at Disney World was pretty good. My brother was an ER doctor at Sand Lake Hospital, now called Dr. Phillips Hospital, and they did all of the slip and falls for Disney, so he knew PR people there and we got in for free. We would go first thing, hang out for a while, go back to his house, swim in the pool, eat lunch, then go back late at night when it was empty, all for free.

But everything is so fake, including the tourists that spend so much money that they have to pretend like they are having a good time even though Disney treats them like shit.

Later, I went back as a paying customer and it felt more and more like an abusive relationship. Pay $125 entry fee for four of us (wife and kids) to stand in line for an hour to ride It’s a Small World, nine dollars for two tacos that were two ounces of meat on a shell and then wait in line to make your own taco, then stand around and wait for some fat bastards to leave so you can sit down. Then, to listen to everyone talk about what a great time they were having, it just seemed like a lot of “Wow, we spent a lot of money, so we better have fun.”

You feel like you have to spend twelve hours there to get your money’s worth, it’s hot as fuck, the kids are exhausted, but we’re staying until the bitter end so we can get our $700 worth of experience and to see the parade.

Then, the Fast Pass shit started, followed by the wheel chair scams, and it just felt like every one is drinking the Kool-Aid.

Then we got stuck on the Kali River for two hours, waiting for them to get us off the ride. My son was seven I think and we had to walk down the back side and we saw all the hokey shit - speakers hidden behind trees. My son is wicked smart and said, sarcastically, “It’s not magic for me anymore.”

They offered us a free fast pass for the inconvenience - an hour wait to get on the ride followed by two hours waiting to get off the ride - three hours wasted and they thought a fast pass would make it right.

I didn’t even bother to complain at the ride, just stopped at the office on the way out. They bullshitted us for a while, then took me inside and ran our tickets.

Disney Guy: These are four day unlimited Park Hoppers.
Me: Yes, they are.
Disney Guy: Well, I can give you four free tickets to any Disney Park valid for the next twelve months.

I appreciated the fact they took care of me, but it seemed like elitism - if you’re a day customer, fuck you, but if you spent over a grand for Park Hoppers, well, that’s a different cat altogether.

Then, Celebration. No mayor, a Town Executive appointed by Disney. No garages on the street, and strict CCR’s.

A member at Celebration Golf Club had a problem with the CCR’s so he planted a Pink Flamingo in his front yard. They told him to get rid of it. He refused.

They fined him. He didn’t pay. They liened his house. He didn’t pay. They foreclosed to pay the fines and the guy lost his house.

It was Stepford Wives.

Unbelievable lol. Exactly the same things I was thinking the last time I went there.

Magic Kingdom is so old it’s no longer ‘land of tomorrow’ or whatever, it’s more like ‘flashback to the 80s’

The park is completely unchanged from when I first visited in the 80s as a child. I guess that is part of the magic? And I really do feel bad for tourists. Especially the ones from outside the country. Their dream is to go to this place and by time they get there and realize most of this shit is a rundown mess there is no choice but to fake it. It really is a fucking rundown shit hole that is in desperate need of an update.

I don’t really understand how any kid under the age of maybe 8 can enjoy it when they have iPads, and video games, VR, at home. How do they like it? Even the parades are bad compared to other parades anywhere else but because it is mickey? Mickey is barely on tv.

The only place I’d ever pay to go too again would be Universal Studios. They at least have some new stuff there that is still interesting.

It’s just so fucking cheesy. My son got it when he was seven. But everybody feels like, “Hey, I spent five hundo to bring my fam here, so we better have a great time so I don’t feel like I got ripped off.”

I loved Universal.

TBH, I spent my summers in Santa Cruz, California going to the Boardwalk. No entry fee, buy a bracelet for $33 and you get unlimited rides. If you don’t want to do that, you can still walk the Boardwalk, drink beers you brought yourself, and pay five dollars or less to ride the rides. It’s not Disney, and it’s a little ghetto with San Jose leaches using Santa Cruz Beaches, but a much better value, IMO.

I spend ten days every year in Santa Cruz and I buy a season pass for less than $80. I show my pass, get a bracelet, ride the Giant Dipper (1924 wooden roller coaster), get a Sausage on a stick and a deep fried Twinkie, swim in the ocean, and ride my bike back to my cabin.

Fuck the rat, lol.

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I went there once about 25 yrs. ago and loved it. Easy going, fun, and I was just totally psyched to see the real place that “Lost Boys” was filmed at.

Yeah, it’s the bomb. On a warm summer weekend night, it’s jammed. But during the week, you can set up on the beach, get your bracelet, and spend twelve hours there. It’s one of my favorite places on earth.

We have a family cabin less than a fifteen minute bike ride away, and that helps.

That would be excellent. If I had the time, money, etc. I’d bike ride the PCH, at least the part I saw around Monterey Bay and the surrounding region. Bucket list kind of thing.

Our cabin is up Highway 9, a little dicey to ride, but many people do it. Fortunately, the back road out of our community is Ocean Street extension and takes you right into town on Ocean street. I’ve spent weeks there with just a bike for transportation.

PCH is awesome for sure, as is PCT if you’re into hiking.

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My daughter loves some Disney movies but she isn’t finding out about those places until she is old enough to afford to go on her own.

We are taking her to Worlds of Fun in KC this year. Of course I’ve already taken her to the Chiefs and Royals before we spent money on that shit.

Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio is on my list. When I repo my RV, will be doing a tour of Roller Coasters for sure.

But then she’ll probably think it’s a rip off lol might as well take her young when she can enjoy herself and not feel stupid about it

Yes, you can keep it to yourself, lol.