Search

[Joy]

Yeah, I really miss the Opera House shows! "Listen to the River" was my fave. Kinda surprised they haven't resurrected the Independence Day themed show (I can't remember the name of it right now, but I own the VHS) considering the new Star Spangled theme for summer.

[coasterdad]

 honestly I was there yesterday if I would not have known there in the park I would never noticed. Other than a small blurb in the pathfinder. There was no major signage or announcements about them. All in all I didn't think it was a big deal

[DollarCityBoy]

Kinda surprised they haven't resurrected the Independence Day themed show (I can't remember the name of it right now, but I own the VHS) considering the new Star Spangled theme for summer.

"For the Glory" ...I believe it was.

[Baelfael]

I've been wondering about that Pirates & Princesses cruise... I saw video of a family meeting the princesses, and those princesses were in blatantly Disney-inspired costumes. Like, they were definitely copied from the Disney face characters. It's made me wonder how on earth they can get by with doing that. I mean, I realize it wasn't within the park, but the Branson Belle is an attraction within its own right. How has Disney not sent them a cease & desist?

Bit of a necro-post but this sort of "very close to violating copyright" happens a lot with Disney characters.  Check your local yellow pages and I guarantee you have a party princess company that will be more than happy to send over an "ice princess" that just happens to wear a blue dress and a comically improbable hairstyle.

There are a few things happening that are all semi-related.  All of Disney's popular princesses are based on public domain stories, which gives companies a bit of leeway with the characters to start.  Second, there's a bit of uncertainty as to whether Disney can actually pull off some of these defenses.  Due to pure cultural saturation (helped along by Disney, to be sure), "brunette in yellow ball gown" reads as Belle, but that is a comically broad description.  It's not out of the question the court would rule that unenforceable, which would put the Princess line in a very, very bad place. 

Meanwhile (and this is more on the speculative end), Disney probably doesn't mind their characters getting this free publicity as long as they can maintain their IP rights for use on the most egregious offenders.  In exchange for not putting the IP at risk in border/smaller cases, they further solidify these characters in the minds of children.  SDC has a meet with the "ice princess" but now the little anklebiters love the character just that much more.  They want Elsa and Anna merch, all licensed by Disney, and want to eat in Cinderella's Castle in Orlando (for a mere $75 a head...not including admission, of course). 

[History Buff]

Disney minds everything, but I'm also confident the HFE legal department is aware of the limits.

[sirwillow]

How about breakfast with Alfie and Ralphie Bolin? If done right, that could be a hoot!

Breakfast with a murderer and his imaginary brother?  Probably not.

To be fair, while SDC's Alphie Bolin might share a name with a certain person who liked Murder Rock, there are enough Bolins around that it's possible that SDC's Alphie is actually a cousin.  In any case, the kids (and most of the adults) don't know the history that Alphie is based on, only that he and his brother are real goofballs.

When I was there we tried to get some opportunities for Alphie and Ralphie to walk around the park and play with the guests during weather delays, but it was generally frowned on and pretty much quashed.  I had one time where I did it while waiting for my wife to get off of work during moonlight madness, and had a manager that wasn't real pleased.  Thought they really missed an opportunity there.

[Gilligan]

sirwillow, I agree with you.  I think that's a great missed opportunity.  I hope you keep posting!  You're a wealth of interesting info, and I really enjoy reading your postings.

[sdcfan88]

Yeah I could see them being integrated into the saloon show, or as an extra street performance on the square. Make it kinda serious but still lighthearted. For example, maybe they just wanna rob the saloon of their root beer floats. lol