In preparation for an impending post, I’d first like to have a brief discussion of the policy concerning rumor-mongering here at Progress City. This is something I’ve never addressed before but feel that it’s important as I’m always irritated when rumor dissemination is accompanied by coy allusions and obtuse hedging on where, exactly, the information originates. When we started this site I thought it was always important to document, when available, the origin of rumor-related information. I attempt to not repeat “received wisdom” that circulates in fan communities without attribution, as this would lead to an endless cycle of monorail expansion rumors and “Shadowlands” speculation.
I’ll make this clear – I know no one at WDI or WDC and, as such, have no “inside scoop” on what’s being planned for Disney parks. If anyone wants to sign up as an informant I’d be more than happy to oblige, but for now I depend on things passed on to me by others who do know people “in the know.” I trust these people implicitly to be passing along good information, but occasionally I cannot pass such information along as it’s told to me in confidence. What I can do, however, is observe public message boards and whenever someone posts something I know to be true I can repeat it in confidence while still not betraying sources.
This brings me to message boards. I’ve laughed at myself before for typing the phrase “reliable messageboard sources.” It’s almost an oxymoron, but after a decade of following Disney online one gets a feeling as to who has credibility and who is speculating blindly. Once you see something a number of times in fairly respectable places, the rumor takes on an air of respectability. “You can’t stop the signal.”
The constant and most difficult to avoid foil of good rumors, though, is the fact that nothing is certain until an attraction opens. Disney fans currently know of several projects that I’m 100% sure are being planned at WDI right now, but no matter how certain those plans are they can always change. Even official announcements don’t change that fact – just ask your EPCOT guide where you can find the Equatorial Africa pavilion.
All this being said, there’s a great deal of exciting buzz right now concerning the future of Disney parks. We know some of what’s being planned, and if management sees fit to fund it all there will be guaranteed good times ahead. As someone said on one of those aforementioned message boards, the current question at Imagineering about a certain project is not “how small” but rather “how big.” If the money men are thinking big too, the future is wide open.
I know what it’s like not to have an “inside source.” But I’ll make you a deal, if you ever have a surplus of inside sources, send a few of them my way, and I’ll do the same for you! ha ha
As for only printing documented information, that is a idea that is both challenging and right on. Thanks for keeping information on the up-and-up!
Haha thanks – I’ll let you know if the phone rings!
[…] keeping in mind the caveats in my recent post, let’s look at what’s coming to the Disney parks over the next five years or so. Much […]