POD 1/2/2012

[roto204]

Knobs and drying rack

You'd be surprised.  I still have the full control panel from the "faux" 1-18 that I had installed next to a real GM-Frigidaire 1-18 at the 2006 wash-in.  WCI went to painstaking lengths to duplicate the look, but nothing was identical--truly!  The timer knob screwed on in the opposite direction; the timer now had an 18-minute wash as the starting mark, and of course, the head fit on the cabinet differently.  All the controls were Westinghouse in Frigidaire clothing.

 

The giveaway--lid-opening aside--was that the fake 1-18 was about half a foot shallower than the real deal.  To make them look like twins, I had to either line-up the fronts or deal with the kitty-wompus cabinets if I aligned the control panels.

 

I still think they're handsome machines, and they're fun to play with in their own right.  Yes, they were a hurtful rip-off of GM's design, but remember, "We have always been at war with Eastasia"--it's all Geschichte

 

 

 

[neptunebob]

Even Disney made a mistake like this...

All this bad feeling over WCI reminds me of a blunder Disney made at their Epcot Center. One of the original rides there was Journey Into Imagination. It was a very colorful ride that had a theme and characters and inspired people that "imagination is how our minds create creation". For many people, it was their favorite ride but it had mechanical problems and was expensive for Disney and sponsor Kodak to run.

Rather than find some way to make it more reliable Disney chose to change the ride to "Journey Into YOUR Imagination". They took out half the track, removed the characters Figment and Dreamfinder, took away the music, made it dark and scary and the ride told people "you have no imagination". That's right, Disney made an amusement park dark ride that insulted guests, something no other park has ever done.

The backlash was so bad that Disney CEO Michael Eisner authorized 5 million to get the original ride back but all of it was destroyed and so now they have "Journey Into Imagination with Figment" which doesn't insult guests but the "smell lab" smells like a skunk. It's no better than a ride at Kennywood.

It would cost so much to bring JII back that I believe it will never happen. This was an attraction that people would actually trave to Florida for and now Disney has a reliable "attraction" that no on wants to ride.

Kind of like the blunder with GM and WCI. Just as WCI thought that we would forget about GM and up and down agitators Disney thought people would forget about JII and put up with the ride they have now. But Disney never counted on people recording on You Tube so that people know what they are missing.

More about this Disney disaster at the link.

[this post was last edited: 1/5/2012-16:34]

http://]www.figmentsimagination.com/

 

[tolivac]

The link doesn't work.Unbeleiveable Disney would have an attraction that insults patrons!They changed from good to WORSE-and mistake by not saving the original attraction parts to make the ride back if the new version didn't work out.Usually Disney was rather careful about their attractions at their amusement parks.

 

[neptunebob]

Try this one.

Tolivac, here is the original JII or part of it. Its impressive even on YouTube.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is only 1 of 3 of the ride and read the comments.

The mural (now gone) starts at 1.00 and the ride at 4.00. It seems that all the sets and props were destroyed.

 

[neptunebob]

5 million later...

Meanwhile, here is what the ride is now - and this is after Michael Eisner spent the 5 million. Figment is the only entertaining character.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tolivac, if you are interested go to videos on YouTube made by Martin Smith, who did a lot of them.

By the way, Kodak sponsored the ride. See the thread about Kodak.

 

[tolivac]

Sad---like the orig Imagination" attraction better.What a bunch of dopes for destroying the original!5 Mil WASTED!No wonder Kodak is going....

 

[philr]

I've seen the original JII twice when I was a kid and I didn't expect to remember it but now that I've seen it on video, it's exactly what I remembered! I guess these things age and need to be replaced sometimes. The problem is, the new stuff should be more interesting than the one it replaces, but that's not always happening!

I do remember seeing for the first time a 3D movie there and being scared by a witch! I don't remember the name of the movie an I didn't even understand English when I saw it! When I was a bit older, I returned and they had replaced the movie by one starring Michael Jackson.

But the thing that I remember the most from Walt Disney World (but I think it was at Magic Kingdom) was GE's Carousel of Progress. That was my favorite attraction.

I also remember that my father made a reservation in a restaurant in Epcot Center utilizing a touch screen and that impressed me too! I guess that kids of today wouldn't be impressed at all!

 

[neptunebob]

I think the point I am trying to make is that what Disney did is as bad as what happend to Frigidaire - and by making the consoles on the machine look the same it was like Disney was trying to do with that ride - pass off an inferior product as what it used to be and expect consumers to not notice. Hopefully both companies have learned - that doesn't work!

Phil, the first movie you saw there may have been "Magic Journeys". Later it was replaced by Captain EO with Michael Jackson. Guess what is playing there today - Captain EO.

Carosel of Progress (not GE) is still there because is was created by Walt himself.

 

[philr]

I didn't remember the name of the first movie but now that you say it, I remember Captain EO!

About the GE Carousel of progress, you mean that it still exists but it's not sponsored by GE anymore? I saw this almost 30 years ago... I was 6 then! If I remember well, there were a few GE appliances displayed there, including a 1950's dishwasher similar to the one Paul has in his GE kitchen center.

 

[neptunebob]

Phil, Carosel of Progress is still in the Magic Kingdom. I have not been there for 20 years but I do plan to go again soon and I will let you know. I believe GE dropped their sponsorship around 2000 and it is now Disney's Carosel of Progress, all GE references have been taken away.

Many attractions that had sponsors at Disney World no longer do because the companies simply could not afford "anything extra". GM no longer sponsors Test Track when they went bankrupt and Kodak pulled out of Imagination last year, now they are going bankrupt.

The Imagination pavilion went through several changes over the years, none of them seem to be for the better. The film was at first Magic Journeys, then Captain EO, then Honey I shrunk the Audience and now it is -- Captain EO again. Not to mention what they did to the Imagination ride.

Not even in my wildest imagination could I dream up something so pathetic!