MickeyBlog News for October 21, 2019
We’ve got Disney Skyliner updates, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil box office updates, tropical storm tracking, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge changes in the latest edition of MickeyBlog News. It’s a full week, so let’s get started.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Does…Okay
Five years ago, Maleficent became one of the surprise box office blockbusters of the year. The film starring Angelina Jolie grossed a spectacular $758 billion worldwide, thereby earning a spot in the top four for the entire year.
In the years that followed, many speculated about the possibility of a sequel. Alas, Disney either waited too long or not long enough. It’s hard to say for sure. All that’s certain is that Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hasn’t satisfied critics or done well at the domestic box office.
Maleficent 2 opened to $36 million, which is only 53% of the first film’s $69 million debut. Critics were nonplussed by Mistress of Evil. At the time of publication, its Rotten Tomatoes score is only 41 percent, an unusually low rating for a major Disney release. However, the sequel does have some positives.
Moviegoers gave Maleficent: Mistress of Evil an A Cinemascore, which means that Disney diehards were extremely satisfied with the film. For comparison, Mary Poppins Returns, a recent Disney sequel with a female lead, received an A-. As my wife says, Maleficent fans really like Maleficent. These movies are giving people what they want, regardless of what critics say.
The other important news about Maleficent 2 is its overall weekend box office. As everyone knows, domestic revenue has become a smaller piece of the pie in recent years. Worldwide, the movie was much better received. It earned $117 overseas, giving it a solid opening weekend total of $153 million.
Given the reported budget of $185 million, Mistress of Evil is certain to earn a lot of money for Disney. It’s just probably not going to be remembered fondly by non-Disney fans…but who cares about those freaks???
Disney Skyliner Returns
Even after all of these years, Disney is still capable of surprising us. For example, with no fanfare whatsoever, the company unexpectedly re-opened the Disney Skyliner this past week.
As you may recall, guests got trapped on the gondola system when it lost power on October 5th. For a week, Disney went into radio silence about the issue, causing guests to wonder when the Skyliner would return. On October 14th, it came back online.
MickeyBlog was on the scene to capture the action. A staff member fearlessly rode on the Skyliner for about an hour, only stopping once. At the 41-minute mark, you can listen to him state his complete confidence in the system, only to have his faith shaken a bit 30 seconds later. It’s pretty funny, although I’m carrying around a bit of guilt since I suggested this livestream.
Coming to you LIVE from the re-opening of Disney’s Skyliner!
Posted by MickeyBlog.com on Monday, 14 October 2019
What you’ll notice is that Disney has addressed many issues from the prior situation. Communication has improved during stoppages, which take only a few moments each. The Skyliner system has slowed down a bit to provide a safer ride experience, which is frankly what should have happened in the first place.
There’s rarely a long line at the gondola stations. People would rather go a bit slower than run the risk of getting stuck in the sky. These adjustments should make everyone feel safer and more confident in using the Disney Skyliner. And that’s important given the next story…
Skyliner 911 Calls
The Orlando Sentinel performed its journalistic duty the other day. The reporting team filed a Freedom of Information Act request for 911 calls made during the Skyliner incident. The newspaper’s website has posted the full story here.
The most important transcript comments involve a mother and daughter. The mother suffers from epilepsy but doesn’t have her medicine with her. The daughter feels understandably upset about her mother’s perilous situation.
The emergency operator provides excellent advice, indicating that any consumption of food or beverage could trigger a seizure. The 11-year-old girl proudly describes her mother as “the bravest woman I know” during this exchange. She later threatens to sue Disney, which – let’s be honest – a lot of these people will do unless the matter gets settled out of court.
To Disney’s credit, the emergency response team apparently retrieved guests in order of danger. The cherry pickers saved this mother/daughter duo before most of the other stranded guests.
You can listen to part of the audio of the 911 calls at the Orlando Sentinel. It’s a truncated four-minute segment from a 56-minute call. More than anything, you’ll feel tremendous admiration for the professional on the other end of the call. It’s an impossible job that this person does incredibly well.
Tropical Storm Nestor
Did you know that the coast of Florida faced another potential hurricane this week? Thankfully, nothing came of it, but Tropical Storm Nestor made landfall this week. You didn’t hear about it, because this is the way that weather events usually work.
The National Weather Service alerted authorities to the possibility of a weather event. Then, the organization monitored the various forecast prediction models, recognizing that Nestor was unlikely to cause significant damage.
Sure enough, that’s what happened as parts of Florida received heavy rainfall. One location was unlucky enough to suffer through a tornado, but that was the extent of the damage. Realistically, this type of weather event is the norm, while major hurricanes are, at least historically, the extremely rare exception.
Updating You on Some Changes at Galaxy’s Edge
Last week, I wrote about what we’ve learned from four months of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Something that I mentioned that I’ve heard a lot is that some people intensely dislike the menus. The theming is so immersive that the entrees feature alien monster ingredients.
I’ve had to explain what Fried Endorian Tip-Yip is more times than I count. I cannot imagine how much time that cast members have spent defining the menu options. Well, Disney’s apparently accepted that there is such a thing as too much immersion for casual guests.
Galaxy’s Edge now features updated menus that use, you know, people words instead of made-up Star Wars terms. For some, this change is an outrage that lessens the Black Spire Outpost theming, a totally valid opinion for Star Wars fanatics. For everyone else, it reduces the aggravation of trying to order a chicken dinner at a theme park. So, Disney’s ceded to the masses on this one.
Speaking of which, Disneyland Resort has followed the model at Walt Disney World. Beginning today, guests may book reservations for Oga’s Cantina 60 days in advance, giving passionate fans a better chance at securing a reservation.
Similarly, Savi’s Workshop and Droid Depot will accept reservations 60 days out. It’s a welcome change that alleviates the stress of wondering whether you can visit three of the most popular destinations at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.