More information out of Disney today over their Walt Disney World expansion plans to counter Universal Studios unleashing Epic Universe.

As had long-been surmised, they are indeed plowing under Muppet's Courtyard in Disney's Hollywood Studios to make room for the new Monstropolis "land" based on Monsters, Inc. There was always hope that Disney would find another place for their plans and preserve the last project Jim Henson personally worked on (MuppetVision 3d) but, alas, it was not to be. Apparently Disney is looking into options to preserve the film, but the film doesn't work without the theater so I have no idea how they're going to do that.

As a consolation prize, Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster is going to transition into Muppet's Rockin' Roller Coaster which leads to an entirely new group of questions...

© Disney

Primary of which is this... you're putting The Muppets on a rather intense roller coaster? Aren't kids going to want to ride that? Won't they be shocked to discover that Kermit and Miss Piggy aren't promoting a kid-friendly attraction? Will parents even be warned that this isn't a kiddie coaster? No idea. I also question The Muppets being next to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but they had Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy next door for years, so who knows? Apparently theming has gone out the window at the Disney parks. Except to say that the new Disney Villains that replaced the Cars show isn't quite so bad a fit.

But back to Monstropolis which, admittedly, looks very cool...

© Disney

Back when speculation was running hot that Muppet's Courtyard wasn't long for this world, I was perplexed as to why they didn't come up with a new Star Wars Original Trilogy ride to sit between Star Wars: Star Tours and Galaxy's Edge (AKA "Star Wars Land")...

Map and Satellite Image © Google

I understand wanting to keep Galaxy's Edge an immersive experience, but come on... you could have a new Star Wars ride to link them together at least. Then put Monstropolis in the parking lot back there...

Map and Satellite Image © Google

It's getting increasingly disappointing how Disney doesn't seem to give a shit about their parks telling a story and being consistent in their theming. They could have bit the bullet and put Monstropolis above Toy Story Land so that the Pixar stuff was together, but no. They could have put a new Muppets attraction in the Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy building and built a new Muppets area around the re-theme of Rockin' Roller Coaster , but no. They could have saved the Disney Villains stage show for the new Disney Villains Land, but no. They could have made even a tiny effort to bridge the two Star Wars areas, but no. There's absolutely zero shits given about maintaining any illusions of immersion. It's just shoe-horn shit in anywhere you want so long as it's got Disney Intellectual Property slapped on it and who gives a fuck?

There are so many things that I think would disappoint Walt Disney about the way his vision for Disney World have been laid to waste. He wanted the parks to keep growing and changing so they were always relevant and reflecting emerging technologies. But there's a way to do that and preserve the idea that you're escaping into other worlds and not just visiting attractions in a theme park.

Disney Parks has so badly lost their way, and these new projects will be a point of no return for the idealogy that's made them so good for so long. Sure they're going to have some killer rides... but that isn't always everything.

I love a good television ad.

Putting Cookie Monster in an iPhone ad is about as good as it gets.

Putting Muppets in anything is about as good as it gets.

The only good thing about this day is that it will eventually end.

You wouldn't think that Monday's suck this bad when you work seven days a week, but they absolutely do.

Day. Ruined.

Cute.

But, unfortunately, probably not the definition of "resist" that kids are going to be needing...

re·sist verb \ri-ˈzist\

: to prevent yourself from doing something that you want to do.

: to try to stop or prevent (something)

: to remain strong against the force or effect of (something)

: to not be affected or harmed by (something)

: to fight against (something)

From Meriam Webster Online.

Good thing I passed the 21-day ebola incubation period this week... because Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• EEEEBOOOLAAAAA!!! And speaking of everybody's favorite virus... the amount of sheer ignorance I see on a daily basis regarding Ebola is just mind-boggling. That's to be expected, I suppose, because people react poorly when they're frightened. But having news sources contributing to that ignorance... assumably to keep everybody scared enough to keep watching their show or reading their paper or listening to their program... is disgusting. It's so bad that I can't even look at the shit anymore (seriously, it's even worse than election coverage). Somebody wake me when this is over so I can tune into the world again. Well, until the next wave of bullshit hits, anyway.

   
• WTF?!? And speaking of dumbfuck idiots contributing to ignorance...

Pat Robertson should be institutionalized. The amount of crazy he unleashes in any given week is more of a public health risk than Ebola.

   
• Lincoln. One of those rare moments that SNL actually made me LOL...

Jim Carrey's still got it.

   
• Jane! I really, really wasn't wanting to add a new show to my television schedule, however...

Jane the Virgin (modeled after a Latin America telenovela) is so crazy over-the-top that I had no hope for it working, but it somehow does... and it's funny. Well worth your valuable time to take a look.

   
• Ridiculous! I don't care who you are, you know you've made it when you get to appear on Sesame Street. Aziz Ansari, one of my most favorite entertainers, just joined the club...

Nothing makes you feel like a kid again more than talking to a Muppet, I'm sure.

   
• Maintenance! There's no easy way to seque from Sesame Street to... whatever this is... but did you know they made a sequel to D*CK MAINTENANCE? "Why pay two guys in a van to come suck your d*ck when you can do it yourself?"

And, if you haven't seen the original...

Classic.

   
And, on that note, I'm stopping with the bullets so I can go buff my d*ck.

This morning on the way to work I stopped at the mini-mart to get a bag of cheesey popcorn. As I walked in the door, a child was standing there, screaming at me while he wagged his tongue. He had some kind of plastic tube stuck to his tongue, which made this hugely amusing to him. The hellion's mother(?) was sitting at a table talking to a friend(?)... blissfully ignoring the fact that her son(?) was screaming at people. I just ignored him as I walked by, and said "how charming!" as I headed back to the chips & cracker aisle.

While I was looking for popcorn, I heard the mother(?) screaming "BRIAN! PUT THAT DOWN! and "BRIAN! STOP THAT!" Apparently, she suddenly decided to give a crap when her kid(?) started tearing up the place.

After finding the snacks I wanted, I made my way to the cash register checkout and paid for my stuff. As I turned to leave, I noticed that Brian's mother(?) and her friend(?) were both glaring at me. As I walked to the door, I heard one of them say "how charming" in a high-pitched voice... kind of like Beaker from the Muppets...

Riiiiight...

I will never understand how people failing to discipline their kids is somehow my fault. Somehow I'm the bad guy.

I suppose I could have tried asking these assholes how this works, but it seemed a lost cause.

Instead I turned to the kid and said "how embarrassing for you!"

I'm guessing he'll get that a lot in the future.