Post #690630 by finky099 on Mon, Aug 19, 2013 12:34 PM

First off, I've met up with kkocka a few times and he's a very cool and very generous guy, so anyone who sees something "greedy" in his post, is seeing something that isn't there...unless they're projecting their own issues into his words.

Second, I can understand his concern about the translation of somethign pretty damn amazing from DL to WDW. it's not a secret that park upkeep and innovation at WDW has not had a great track record over (at least)the last decade. Management there does things with a focus on large international crowds and spending less on "bells and whistles" than it's Anaheim sister property. So, when WDW plans on taking the Trader Sam's concept to their own soil, there are some legitimate concerns about the quality of it's execution. And, I would hate to see something that overall has worked amazingly here in Anaheim be pulled off like a cheaper version built for capacity, than charm. People visiting WDW deserve to have a Sam's every bit as good as the one in Anaheim. Whether it can be done, taking into consideration the things which will undoubtedly go into the planning for its FL location? I dunno.

And, just to be clear for the non-Disney aficionados, this is not a case of "Anaheim" is better than "Orlando" Park pride/rhetoric. Anyone who follows development on both American shores of the Disney Empire knows about the recent historic qualitative difference of Park managment between the two resorts. There are some things Orlando has that are better than Anaheim, but in general, it's not an exaggeration to say that there's legitimate concern for how FL management will handle a Trader Sam's. Perhaps George Kalogridis' presence there will help out sicne he was in Anaheim when Sam's was in development.