Post #728745 by kkocka on Tue, Sep 30, 2014 4:08 PM

(Finky - I'll see if there are any more but you might as well ask him next ITMP.)

Okay here comes the bomb drop... There's a thread at Micechat that shares the feeling too.

I had the first show at 3pm, so by the time we lined up at 245 they were scrambling and still setting up and I knew we were in for it. We actually went inside Sam's around 215 which was what alarmed me first - after all, the Parks Blog post said we'd be going inside for a presentation, so what were all these people doing in here? Kelly told us that everything was going to take place outside and Sam's would remain open as usual (basically taking over the entire West side/Tangaroa Terrace side). Okay, that makes sense I guess - I found it odd that Sam's would be closed for a private event from 3-9, given that it is a hotel bar before anything else and is there to serve hotel guests. But being the first, I guess you're bound to be the lab rat experiment and following shows would adjust accordingly. Fortunately we were first in line, because we were well into our first drink + food while people were still trying to get in maybe 20 min later. There was tiki-favorite King Kukulele performing some songs as well as the usual musicians that play outside Sam's, and the staff was definitely busting their tail for the event. I'm fairly certain to say things were hectic to say the least.

Without much warning, it was presentation time. Brandon Kleyla was up at the PA and talking about who knows what - because we were only 15 feet away or so and were unable to hear a single word. I looked around and saw people disinterested/giving up. There were mostly concept art of things I'd seen already, and some newer inspiration for the Poly/Grog Grotto. After about 80% of the guests missed out on the presentation, there was some free time for chat and opportunity to take pics of the mood boards (which proved to be close to impossible given the crowd around it and the blaring sunlight at 345pm - at one point a group of us formed a wall of shade so people could take pics, but generally the mob was unable to work together). Nothing anybody could do for that, I'm not blaming the weather on the event.

So let's dissect the event gifts. When I looked down the stairs toward the pool, I saw reusable grocery bags and was instantly disappointed. Let's compare this to what all guests were informed with, as its partly why we all signed up and were excited all month long for this event:

"Jungle River Cruise Expedition Bag"
As mentioned above, maybe $5 reusable grocery type bags. On them is a poorly screen Sam's logo - okay, so add 2 more for the screen printing and make it $7. What was inside was worse

"Trader Sam Panama Hat"
A cheap ass Oriental Trading Company straw hat with zero branding whatsoever. I think the shared opinion is that this is the most insulting. Just check the price - $25 for a dozen, so that's a $2 value! Not one tie-in to the event nor location.

"A Trader Sam print on canvas"
I thought this was going to be a somewhat mounted piece like any other true art-on-canvas or like the Shag freebies from the Enchanted Tiki Room 50th annivesaryevent. I feared was going to be Jerrod Maruyama's "Hanging at Sam's" print or this dreaded thing. I like Jerrod and he's a good guy, but I feared it was going to be something pre-made and not exclusive to the event (I also don't think its a good representation of tiki nor the bar, but nevermind that). However I think the actuality was something worse: its either a photograph (I can't tell, because I've never unrolled it once I saw it on display at the merch pick up slot) or a painting of Trader Sam from DL's version of the Jungle Cruise attraction. Either that he's complete with a lazy eye and a horribly photoshopped new zombie mug in his hands - or so I assume because the angle and perspective is just off. It looks identical to the shot Tiki Farm provided the Parks Blog! Maybe I'm overly harsh on that, but I'm also a designer and can recognize good and bad art and value well-designed stuff. EDIT: I was informed that the print misspelled "Mahaloween" as "Mahalloween" sigh.

Also included are a few meh buttons that look on par with the creativity and talent of the scavenger hunt stuff - maybe a 1st year design student made them, or just MS Word clipart.

Clearly the event people and Parks Blogs people didn't really communicate well, and/or really pushed word play to sell these tickets. Minus the mugs, everything is going on eBay for dirt cheap because its absolute garbage. The saddest thing is that I'd probably do it again if there's one next year, and there very well may be given that this was labeled Mahaloween 2014. Anyway if 100 of us were gonna be crammed in Tangaroa Terrace, they should have just hosted the event in a convention room in the Fantasy Tower - its what they did for the 50th Enchanted Tiki Room event and could have looked very nice with minimal cost. But I guess not moving us inside for a presentation answered the question so many had asked - how do you bring 100 people inside Sam's when the capacity is 55?

I've thought this over since yesterday and I don't think I'm being too overly harsh - for an hour and $125, this is what I/we got in return. I consider myself to be arguably the largest Sam's supporter around (ie Big Nerd). From what I understand, Park events aren't usually run well anyway, and this certainly added to the bunch. Next time I might just skip the event and go to eBay for whatever valuable/mug I miss out on. I think I even saw an upset HB Tiki there. :D

[ Edited by: kkocka 2014-10-01 09:51 ]