The Mouse Can Be A Rat At Times

Last week in my Disney Studies class, in honor of the end of our semester, we had the privilege of meeting Dr. Richard D. Waters. It was an experience to say the least to hear about all the strange things that happen behind the scenes at 'the happiest place on earth.' Dr. Waters covered everything from Disney's hyper fan culture to the Princess at the park having cat fights in Disney's underground tunnel systems. And, as I am listening to Dr. Waters, I found an answer to the question i've been struggling with the past: "what should I write my final Disney analysis on for the end of the semester? " I should do it on Mickey Mouse's obsession to control the publics with an iron fist!

Many people are surprised, baffled, or even insulted when confronted about Disney's relentless control over the media. How can a company that owns 'the best place on earth' ever deceive its publics? The clues are obvious, but people's burning passion for Walt and his company makes them completely oblivious. The trash cans at Disney World are painted every single day to give the appearance of a perfect place. The park is always packed and filled with mind-numbing sensationalism that is almost subliminal. It is as if George Orwell based "1984" solely off of Disney's operations. 

He spoke of their newest addition to the parks, the MagicBands, which are marketed as being convenient and hi-tech. But what customers don't know is that these MagicBands track the user's activity 24/7 in order to observe activity and cater to the individual, a procedure that Dr. Waters describes as "archiving big data." This aspect eliminates the spontaneity of a trip to Disney and is viewed as manipulation.  

In conclusion, I want to study this topic because of its ambiguity. People view Disney's complete control of its own image as 'manipulation' and 'unethical,' rather than awe at Disney's incredible capability to maintain one of the biggest businesses on the planet. It is disturbing to know that you are being archived in their parks, but why should it? It is Disney's park, not yours. The effectiveness of their control is the reason for people's negative connotations towards Disney, for they have never seen that before. Even the Pope gets called out for his misbehaviors, and Disney has only been caught with a few hiccups. 

Disney blog

-Disney has had many fantastic feats throughout its timeline. It is difficult to limit their milestones to only three, but these are the three that stuck out the most for me. The creation of Toy Story revolutionized Disney, since it was the very first full-feature computer animated film. It was a ground-breaking release and became the first of many films like it. It also put Pixar on the map as one of the most successful film companies. Another milestone would be the creation of Disneyland! The park's attendance has been growing every year since it was opened in 1955. And the third would be Disney's release of the movie "The Princess and The Frog." I say this because it was the first time Disney ever had a black lady play the princess. This is groundbreaking and targets a demographic that Disney never really targeted.

-I am surprised at how Disney came to be, and how it had to struggle through so many hardships despite its dominant presence in the film industry now. They seemed to be a struggling company, suffering through the adversity from transitioning animation into a form of media that was not just for children. But the environment at the Disney animation studio was so much different than I thought. It seemed very abstract, kind of like the Google offices. It's not like I didn't expect it to be a fun environment, but I did anticipate it being more work orientated rather than being so relaxed.
-Disney's success stems from their core fundamentals, and branches out with all the adaptations they have made. They have been so versatile as a business. There have been so many movies produced about such different stories and circumstances, and they are all very different, yet you can always tell that they are a Disney production. They have also used different mediums and created multiple tourist attractions around the world. Other businesses could learn a lot from Disney, including their ability to merge with other industry.

-I can't see Disney progressing more than they already have. I mean 10 years from now things will be much different, we may be watching all movies in 3D by then, and I would definitely expect Disney to stay in the loop. But I don't know much more that Disney itself can do, considering they're already sitting on top of the world right now. I do say that I am sure Pixar will continue putting out masterpieces, but I don't think Disney's movies will necessarily have the spark they used to have. This opinion of mine is completely based off my impression of the movie 'Frozen.' I mean it was entertaining and all, but I just don't think it lived up to the hype everybody made it out to be. To be honest, I didn't care much for the movie at all. And I know it is kind of lame to assess Disney's future off of one film, but I feel like they are going to approach many of their next films in the same manner as they did creating Frozen.

-Well it would be exhausting to look through all of the properties that Disney owns, but their most valuable property I can think of off the top of my head is ESPN. They are targeting so many different demographics with the medium, easily advertise on major sporting events. And considering that the SuperBowl is ultimately the most desired advertising platform, this is a huge advantage for Disney's advertising opportunities. It also generates massive revenue towards Disney since sports is a growing source of entertainment.




-I think the only challenge that Disney could possibly be facing right now would be coming up with new material. It must be hard to keep churning out new movies after pretty much covering everything you could possibly make a movie from. They have covered a middle-eastern Chinese kid icing in the slums (Aladdin), a Mermaid trying to become a girl, a Mouse that is a detective, and many more. It is hard to keep your movies fresh without recycling the same idea too many times, and I think that is ultimately the only adversity that Disney could go through.

LakePoint Hosts Inaugural Collegiate Sand Clash & Bash

DREW HOVEY 

Emerson, Ga. 

One of the world’s largest sport complexes holds inaugural collegiate sand clash and bash this weekend. 

The first annual Collegiate Sand Clash and Bash was held this Saturday at the LakePoint Sporting Community, one of the world’s largest sporting destinations.

Tournament

LakePoint, along with its partner Rally Volleyball, hosted the exhibition in efforts to support sand volleyball as the fastest growing sport in NCAA history. The tournament consists of of 30 teams from schools such as Georgia State University and Florida State University (both of whom are ranked among the Top 10 U.S. sand programs), as well as Louisiana State University, the University of South Carolina, and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Admission is free, and the tournament provides an array of things to do. Games are constantly being played on one of the 10 sand courts provided. Not all courts are used, and one is designated as a kids play area, as well as others that are open for teams to warm up on. The pavilion contains multiple TVs airing the football games, and has an upstairs lounge with corn hole and a good view of the tournament.

Many of the players’ parents came out to support their children in the exhibition. “It’s just great to see my daughter play, especially in a tournament of this caliber,” said Chad Kessler, the father of one of the players from Louisiana State University.

Each player receives a free fruit basket from Edible Arrangements, one of the tournament’s many sponsors, and the winners of the tournament receive a trophy. Other sponsors for the tournament include Coca-Cola, LakePoint KIA, Life University, Rox Volleyball, PT Solutions, and Mikasa.

Sand volleyball season starts in spring, so the tournament provides a good opportunity for teams to track the progress of their training. “It gives them a chance to see how their training is going in the fall, and how their pairing is going, so that they can tailor things as they get into the full swing of the season,” said Colleen Craig, CEO of Ralley Vollyball.

About LakePoint

LakePoint Sporting Community is currently under construction, aiming to expand 5 million square feet along its 1,400+ acres. It is located on Old Allatoona Road, right off of I-75, not far from Red Top Mountain and Lake Allatoona.

It was created to be the paradigm of a travel sports tournament experience. When construction is complete, the community will be equipped with venues for over 40 different sports and 29 on site hotels, restaurants, a movie theater, and much more.

The sand volleyball venue has 10 courts with LED lighting and has hosted numerous pro-tour volleyball events. It also has a two-story open-air pavilion with TVs and Wi-Fi included. “This facility is absolutely incredible,” said Ben Fitzgerald, a local volleyball player. “You cannot find a sand court like this anywhere else except for major beaches.”

Sand Volleyball as an Emerging Sport

 

Sand volleyball has been officially deemed the fastest growing sport. Over 40 NCAA colleges and universities have sand volleyball programs. The NCAA is now recognizing its popularity, and is actively engaging in transitioning it to a championship sport status as of January 2014.

It is expected to be a NCAA sport as of 2016.