Posts filed under 'humor'
Santa in Stormtrooper Custody?
From Gizmodo:
An Imperial Stormtrooper commando broke into Santa’s Factory on the North Pole yesterday evening, killing an undetermined number of elves, arresting the owner and confiscating his sled. Joe Kwazansky, local spokesman for the Evil Galactic Empire in Los Angeles, appeared in a press conference this morning confirming the rumors of an Imperial takeover of Christmas’ celebrations. “The Emperor wants to assure His subjects that Xmas will continue as planned. The pug-nosed fatso, however, will pay for his crimes,” Mr. Kwazansky said amid the palpable shock in the press corps. Apparently, the arrest has occurred in connection with earlier reports on the manufacturing and stealth placement of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Hat tip: Dark Roasted Blend.
1 comment December 25, 2007
Unhappy Disney Workers in Hong Kong and China
Two news stories caught my eye today, technically unrelated but both datelined “Hong Kong”.
DIS News reports that Disney has been found to violate Chinese labor laws:
Workers at a Chinese factory making Disney toys are overworked, underpaid, exposed to dangerous toxins and forced to live in filthy conditions, a labour rights group said in a report Wednesday.
The EarthTimes reports that things aren’t all that much happier at Hong Kong Disneyland:
On top of its disappointingly low crowds, a survey conducted by the Disney Cast Members Union among 470 of the 5,000-odd staff found that 63 per cent were unhappy with management, complaining largely of unequal treatment and what they see as unfair work distribution.
More than 80 per cent of respondents said they wanted Hong Kong Disneyland to bring its labour practices in line with those at the Disney park in Florida, where staff can be accompanied by union officials at disciplinary hearings and have access to independent arbitration.
Add comment September 12, 2007
When Will Walt Disney World Add Another Park?
Blue Sky Disney has an interesting article today, speculating about roadmaps for new parks at Disney resort areas worldwide. The bottom line? We won’t see additional “gates” at any of the existing resorts for another decade.
Through the latter part of this decade we’ll look forward to shoring up the state-side parks(DCA in particular), Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland will focus on expanding their current offerings before any plans get approved for more fun factories. Think of it as repairing a fleet of cars that have been abused for a decade before you go out and buy a new series of cars. Lots of refurbishment and expansion ahead of us friends…
The most interesting sentence to me:
When [WDW resort hotels] start approaching Disneyland levels (above 90 percent) then you’ll see the executives in Team Disney Burbank start putting those blue sky plans on the front burner.
Um, about that . . . doesn’t seem to me that’s likely anytime soon, especially if you include DVC (there seems to have been a recent glut of Saratoga Springs rooms on the market lately). And hey, Pop Century Legendary Years, anyone? Apparently occupancy rates at WDW haven’t even been high enough to convince Disney to finish building it.
The article has good analysis and interesting speculations. And don’t miss the comment, there’s some good conversation going on there too.
8 comments August 2, 2007
Tempest in a Teacup
From DIS News:
A 52-year-old Alabama woman was arrested on suspicion she beat and choked a woman who was allowed ahead of her while waiting to board a tea cup ride at Walt Disney World, according to authorities.
Sounds like somebody needs to switch to decaf.
3 comments July 18, 2007
Cutest . . . Stormtrooper . . . Ever!
I mean really, couldn’t you just lay down and die?
(Photo found on Flickr, taken at ConnectiCon, courtesy of DS Daijoubu.)
5 comments July 17, 2007
HK Disneyland Attendance Shows Double-Digit Growth in May
Hong Kong Disneyland said Tuesday it recorded double- digit growth in mainland Chinese visitors last month, but it was unclear if it can boost business enough to keep banks happy with current lending arrangements.
“The next few months are key for us…This is the biggest quarter where roughly 50% of our business is done,” Managing Director
Bill Ernest told reporters. “We are expecting solid performance all summer.” Hong Kong Disneyland, owned 43% by Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and 57% by Hong Kong’s government, declined to say how many visitors it has attracted, though executives said mainland Chinese account for 30% to 50% of the total.
The park has twice missed performance targets set by its lenders and it acknowledged in May the banks could withhold future funding if it fails to meet those targets, which are linked to a US$294 million commercial loan and a line of credit that hasn’t been used.
This comes shortly after LaughingPlace.com reported a rumor (which I saw via The Disney Blog) about possible commitments to improve Hong Kong Disneyland:
We’ve heard that the Disney board are due to meet in the next week to determine whether to approve the remodelling plan for DCA. However a separate plan for Hong Kong Disneyland is to be presented in the same session and is competing for the same available resources. There is a possibility that the board could approve both but split the available capital accordingly. It seems that Jay Rasulo has a perference [sic] for concentrating on DCA initially but Bob Iger has an eye on improving the fortunes of the Company in China.
Might not be a coincidence that these two stories came up around the same time. Certainly the argument for improvements and expansions to Hong Kong Disneyland becomes even stronger if the park is seeing a badly-needed surge of attendance; the park doesn’t yet have a sufficient number of attractions to keep Guests occupied. And given Disney’s apparent eye on long-term strategies in China, they should want to strengthen that park, even at the expense of the much-maligned Disney’s California Adventure.
Add comment June 27, 2007
