Taking the Mickey: A Save Disney Quest

Turn 7 (APR-MAY-JUN, 1986)
@Slynnwen, can we know if the +25 modifier to the vacation action this turn is due to stress or not, or would you prefer to keep mum about it?
It's because you're taking 5 extra actions from Omakes, and will result in excess stress build up if you do not take a vacation this turn.

Also, U P D A T E


Major Board Goals
-{} Have 2 new hotels at Groundbreaking, with a combined total of at least 1250 rooms, by the end of 1986

-{*} Finish Tomorrow's Tomorrowland, by the end of 1986

-{} Reach 35 successes for the plans in Lille, by the end of 1986

-{} Finish Overview Planning on Hollywood Studios, by the end of 1986

-{} Fill in the last two major vacant areas in Future World in EPCOT, by the end of 1986

Minor Board Goals
-{X} Expand the imagineering department, by the end of 1986

-{} See how the Disney Store is doing, by the end of 1986

-{} Take a vacation, by the end of 1986

-{X} See about that Nintendo thing, by the end of 1986


Well, the economy is in a recession, which is bad. You may have accidentally started it, too, which is… something. And on the one hand, while you've got excellent news regarding the Tomorrowland project, Jeff and Don are having a tiff over something on the latest animation project. While it has meant that things have cooled off some between Jeff and Frank, it does mean that Joe is getting dragged kicking and screaming into office politics as he tries to keep the animation department together. Meanwhile, you've got a letter from NASA, a million things to do for the board, and a whole slew of other things you actually want to get done. You're going to buckle down and get some things down this quarter, dammit. Maybe even find time for a vacation, hopefully.

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7 base actions, 2 bonus actions, 9 section modifiers, 4 omake actions: 9+9+4 actions total.

Character Traits

Jeffery Katzenberg: +50 to all animated film quality rolls. -15 to all office relationship stats not at a positive value with him every turn.
Reroll the lowest die roll in the movie section each turn. (25 bonus)
+75 to all animated film quality rolls. (50 bonus)

Frank Wells: +10 to all office relationship stats every turn, to a maximum of 0.
+5 to effectiveness of Personal Focus, 1 free Personal Focus action per turn. (25 bonus)

Roy Disney: +10 to all rolls involving conservation efforts.
May ignore one major board goal or both minor board goals a year without penalty. (10 bonus)
+20 to planning rolls. (40 bonus)
Automagically gain one success on every in progress plan each turn, assessed when it would be most valuable for each plan. (90 bonus)

Board: No penalty for turns without any actions spent on Board Goals (5 Bonus)
+10 to all rolls associated with Board Goals. (30 bonus)
+5 to all rolls not associated with Board Goals, dice explode on 96-100 instead of just 100 for Board Goal rolls. (80 bonus)

John Cooke: +10 to all television related rolls, Disney Channel quality degrades twice as slowly.

Don Bluth: Movie Adviser (+2 actions, must be used on a movie actions). +10 to all animated film rolls, including quality. +10 to all video game rolls.
Roll two dice for every animated film quality roll and keep the highest. (25 bonus)
Adviser bonus changed to +2 actions. (50 bonus)

Joe Hale: Movie Adviser (+1 action, must be used on a movie action). -10 DC to all animated film checks.

Steve Burke: General Adviser (+1 action).

John Avise: General Adviser (+1 action). +10 to conservation rolls, +5 to research rolls.

Tony Baxter: Magic Kingdom (Disneyland) Adviser (+1 action, must be used on a Magic Kingdom (Disneyland) action). +10 to planning rolls in that category.

Tim Delaney: Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World) Adviser (+1 action, must be used on a Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World) action). +10 to construction rolls in that category.

Marty Sklar: Reedy Creek Improvement District Adviser (+1 action, must be used on a Reedy Creek Improvement District action). +10 to non-planning/construction rolls in that category.

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk: Temporary Adviser (+1 action, must be used on Disney's Animated Adventure project). Reroll any die roll below 10 on the project, up to 3 times.

Jerry Allison: Temporary Adviser (+1 action, must be used on The Grand Floridian project). +10 to developmental rolls for the hotel, +20 to opening day roll.


Other Bonuses

Reedy Creek Improvement District: +20 to all development and conservation rolls made in the district. +10 to rolls against inclement weather in the district.

Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World: +10 to planning rolls in the park.

EPCOT, Walt Disney World: +10 to planning rolls in the park.

Magic Kingdom, Disneyland: +10 to planning rolls in the park.

Bluth Studios: +10 to all animated film quality rolls, larger animated film capacity.

Bluth/Katzenberg: Roll two dice for every animated film reception roll and keep the highest. (25 bonus)

Wells/Disney: -10 DC to non-planning Disney Office checks. (25 bonus)

Disney/Bluth: Reroll any animated film quality rolls below 25. (25 bonus)

Disney Touch: +25 to all animated film quality rolls.

Bringing Back The Magic: +10 to Live-Action Film rolls, +10 to Eisner-related TV rolls.

Pixar: +5 to Animated Film rolls.

Singles and Doubles: Vastly reduced penalty for any failed movies, +10 bonus to live action movie quality rolls while this is your production style.

Megaman 2017: +10 to all Nintendo related film/tv show actions.

Halloween Questions: +5 to internet based actions.

Disney Labs: +5 to research based actions.

The Glory of Kingdom Hearts: +2d6 to Kingdom Hearts TV show, +10 to quality roll on Kingdom Hearts Game/Film quality rolls.

Learning Francis: +10 to learning languages.

It's too expensive!...Right??: +10 to Legend of Zelda and Black Cauldron attraction rolls.

TEMPORARY BONUSES:
+20 map planning bonuses:
2 remaining in Disneyland
3 remaining in Epcot
4 remaining in The Magic Kingdom, Florida
3 remaining in Reedy Creek

Extra actions:
+1 action that involves the Legend of Zelda.
+1 action for a Nintendo Film or TV show, this turn and next.
+1 action for a Fantasyland, this turn and next.
+1 action for a Tomorrowland, this turn and next.

CLIMATE RECESSION: MINOR RECESSION, +5 TO ALL DCS UNLESS RECESSION PLANNING IS TAKEN.

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You've had an amazing discovery in Tomorrowland, finding out that all the support structure needed for a second floor is already in place. You've got the time to turn your attention elsewhere while the project finishes up, and there's still the Autopia cars to look at. On top of that, LA has approached you about a monorail system trial like Orlando, and you've got a meeting scheduled to get them in touch with the manufacturer. You just hope you'll have time to get to everything you want this quarter. Now's also not a bad time to look towards some of the other lands, as well.

-[] A New Gate, California: The theme parks are currently some 70% of your revenue. Adding another park at one of your existing locations is only prudent, you already own the land and know the area. Still, it's harder here than Florida, for obvious reasons. You'd have to replace the parking lot wholesale, or buy up a good chunk of land at truly exorbitant prices. Will trigger park planning subvotes upon completing this stage. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 25 total successes to move out of the planning stage.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] A New Land: You've saved so much money on the Tomorrowland renovations that you can feel free to start thinking about a new land to go in by Big Thunder Mountain. Tony is amazingly hopeful that this will be his long awaited Discovery Bay… {PLANNING}

DC: 20 per success, requires 15 total success to move out of the planning stage.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking on a new land for Disneyland. If it's Discovery Bay, Tony joins Office Politics with +50 relationship.


-[] Refurbishments, California: It might be time for some of those classic rides to get a face lift. There's no need to replace any just yet, but a touch up could go a long way… Up to 3 rides per action.

DC: 15 per ride being refurbished.

Benefits: Increased reliability, chance of popularity bump.


-[] Replacements, California: On second thought, though, it might be better to get ahead of the curve and bring in something new in place of one of the older rides. It might mean a bit more work, but if you get this right it'll last much longer than a simple face lift could. Up to 1 ride per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION - 2/12}

DC: 10 per success, requires 10 successes for a remodel of the same track and ride vehicle to complete, or 20 for a complete knock down and replacement (old ride removal will not occur until 10th success with this option).

Benefits: New ride, likely to be popular and reliable on open. Chance of PR hit depending on the popularity of ride replaced.


-[] Build A New Ride, California: On third thought, you could just build something entirely new where there's space. No one loses a favorite ride, everyone gets something new! The only loser is your wallet… Up to one per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION - 7}

DC: 15 per success, requires 15 successes to complete.

Benefits: Increased park draw. Other bonuses dependent on ride type.


-[*] Tomorrow's Tomorrowland: The project is all set to finish without you. It's a huge load off your shoulders, and you can sit back and relax as all the updates and the new ride goes in.

DC: 15 per success, requires 30 successes. Currently: 32/30 successes, +5 to rolls.

Benefits: Automatic refurbishment of all rides in Tomorrowland, with updates to bring them in line with a more modern look at the future. May replace up to 3 rides in Tomorrowland with no chance of PR hit, does not count towards yearly ride replacement limit. May build 1 new ride in Tomorrowland, does not count towards yearly ride build limit. Massive PR boost. +5 to Eisner/Disney relationship. One ride replacement or the new ride must be Star Tours.


-[] Clean Cars: You had this marked down as part of the Tomorrowland update, so it's probably a good idea to get to work on this. With the literal death of the planet looming, you have companies lining up at your door to help on this, as well as several prominent green tech research groups offering to let you take a peek at the future of batteries. Might be worthwhile to see if you can't make the cars run on electric and stick solar panels on the station. {CONSERVATION}

DC: 20.

Benefits: Increased ride reliability and popularity, good PR from conservation efforts. +5 to Eisner/Disney relationship.


-[*] A Bona Fide, Electrified, Six-Car Monorail: LA has asked for your help getting in touch with Martin Marietta, the makers of the monorail system you use, in order to bring the electric transit method to the city. They'd also like to have the line include Disneyland, of course. It's a simple enough meeting, one you can't really justify ignoring.

DC: 10. +5 to roll.

Benefits: Increased park draw, LA gets a shiny new monorail system.


-[] A New Ride is Brewing: The Black Cauldron movie wasn't just a hit, it was a phenomena. It only makes sense to try and turn it into a ride. {PLANNING}

DC: 60.

Benefits: Skip planning stage for A New Ride and move directly to construction phase. Ride will be based on The Black Cauldron.


-[] A Nintendo Legend: Nintendo just released a new game in Japan that's been getting rave reviews, and having gotten a copy yourself from the company, you can see why. It might be worthwhile to try and start getting The Legend of Zelda into Fantasyland ahead of time.

DC: 40.

Benefits: The Legend of Zelda characters roam Fantasyland, boosting park draw and upping the time schedule for getting the game brought to American shores.


-[] Nintendo Meet-and-Greets: Which reminds you, it might be worthwhile to have Mario and Samus start making appearances as well. It couldn't hurt, certainly.

DC: 30.

Benefits: Increased park draw, closer relationship with Nintendo.


-[] I Have Altered the Deal: It's been more than a year since the pay freeze started, and quite honestly, the unions are wary of meeting with you. The fact that you're getting along with the board so well isn't helping their opinion of you, either. It might be better to just wait things out, now.

DC: 80.

Benefits: -10 board favor. +5% ride popularity/reliability to all rides.

The union leaders have sent a kindly worded, mostly polite letter that says "unless it's a guarantee to not downsize or lower wages during the recession, we don't want to hear it."


-[] Video Killed The Radio Star: You know what Disneyland really needs? A hit teen dance club! Wait, where are you all going? Guys? Guys, come back! {CONSTRUCTION}

DC: 35.

Benefits: Build Videopolis, an open-air teen dance club. Slightly increased park attendance.


-[] Thank You For Not Smoking: It's been 20 years since Walt died, and nowadays, it seems obvious that smoking is what actually killed him. There's a tobacco shop on Main Street still. That can't stand. Start getting smoking out of the parks, and make a statement that you won't let it flourish at Disney any more.

DC: 75.

Benefits: Start getting smoking out of Disney. Pick a fight with Big Tobacco. ? to PR.

There's a whole lot more to focus on here, although it's probably time to start thinking about an update to Tomorrowland on this side of the country as well. Of course, you could also see about bringing over some of the Nintendo properties or starting the Black Cauldron ride here, too. If you're being honest, this park has kind of been falling behind compared to your others, even with the refurbishments.

-[] Refurbishments, Magic Kingdom: It might be time for some of those classic rides to get a face lift. There's no need to replace any just yet, but a touch up could go a long way… Up to 3 rides per action. {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 15 per ride being refurbished.

Benefits: Increased reliability, chance of popularity bump.


-[] Replacements, Magic Kingdom: On second thought, though, it might be better to get ahead of the curve and bring in something new in place of one of the older rides. It might mean a bit more work, but if you get this right it'll last much longer than a simple face lift could. Up to 1 ride per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION - 2/12} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 10 per success, requires 10 successes for a remodel of the same track and ride vehicle to complete, or 20 for a complete knock down and replacement (old ride removal will not occur until 10th success with this option).

Benefits: New ride, likely to be popular and reliable on open. Chance of PR hit depending on the popularity of ride replaced.


-[] Build A New Ride, Magic Kingdom: On third thought, you could just build something entirely new where there's space. No one loses a favorite ride, everyone gets something new! The only loser is your wallet… Up to one per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION - 7} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 15 per success, requires 15 successes to complete.

Benefits: Increased park draw. Other bonuses dependent on ride type.


-[] A New Ride is Brewing: The Black Cauldron movie wasn't just a hit, it was a phenomena. It only makes sense to try and turn it into a ride. {PLANNING}

DC: 60.

Benefits: Skip planning stage for A New Ride and move directly to construction phase. Ride will be based on The Black Cauldron.


-[] A Nintendo Legend: Nintendo just released a new game in Japan that's been getting rave reviews, and having gotten a copy yourself from the company, you can see why. It might be worthwhile to try and start getting The Legend of Zelda into Fantasyland ahead of time.

DC: 40.

Benefits: The Legend of Zelda characters roam Fantasyland, boosting park draw and upping the time schedule for getting the game brought to American shores.


-[] Nintendo Meet-and-Greets: Which reminds you, it might be worthwhile to have Mario and Samus start making appearances as well. It couldn't hurt, certainly.

DC: 30.

Benefits: Increased park draw, closer relationship with Nintendo.


-[] Flights of the Future, Flights of Fantasy: The skyway between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland is not in the greatest shape, and what's more, it's not particularly appealing as is. It might be worth looking into a way to improve the ride, whether that ends up being updated vehicles with more capacity or a better method of loading and unloading to make the process smoother. {RESEARCH} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: (55-20). 35.

Benefits: Increased popularity and reliability of Skyway attraction, increased park draw. Increased park capacity from being better able to handle moving guests from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland without clogging up footpaths.


-[] Today's Tomorrowland: Time to bring the 2055 update over here. You'd have to tweak things a bit, but you could make it work. {PLANNING}

DC: 20 per success, needs 6 successes.

Benefits: Update Tomorrowland with the 2055 style.


-[] Find a New Sponsor: With the recession, Eastern has gone under. It's a shame, but more importantly, it means you need a new sponsor for If You Had Wings, and fast.

DC: 50.

Benefits: Refurbish If You Had Wings, gain a new partner airline.


-[] Update the Carousel of Progress: You can't bear to get rid of this, but it really does need some updates. Whether that's part of the 2055 changes or not.

DC: 35.

Benefits: Refurbish the Carousel of Progress, updated with new scenes.


-[] Hydrophobia: The water rides have suffered yet another setback thanks to the hurricane season. It's time to put some serious effort into figuring out how you can make sure all your water rides stay operational and low maintenance. {RESEARCH}

DC: 60.

Benefits: +10% reliability on all water based rides. -10 DC on Cutting Edge Hurricane Proofing.


-[] Thank You For Not Smoking: It's been 20 years since Walt died, and nowadays, it seems obvious that smoking is what actually killed him. There's a tobacco shop on Main Street still. That can't stand. Start getting smoking out of the parks, and make a statement that you won't let it flourish at Disney any more.

DC: 75.

Benefits: Start getting smoking out of Disney. Pick a fight with Big Tobacco. ? to PR.

Time to get the Living Seas really underway. It'd also probably be a good idea to get the Wonders of Life Pavilion up and running too. There's not too much more to say about EPCOT, although the Fuji Coaster might be worthwhile. Well, that, and talking to Nintendo at some point in the future about the Japan Pavilion. Maybe they'd sponsor a ride there, if you developed closer ties with them.

-[] Refurbishments, EPCOT: EPCOT hasn't really had too many problems yet, but it's never too soon to try and touch things up a bit. Even if there's not really a whole lot to touch up. Up to 3 rides per action. {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 20 per ride being refurbished.

Benefits: Increased reliability, chance of popularity bump.


-[] Replacements, EPCOT: Maybe the future isn't quite what we thought it was. Hopefully no one will notice if we just… replace this. Up to 1 ride per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION 2/12} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 10 per success, requires 10 successes for a remodel of the same track and ride vehicle to complete, or 20 for a complete knock down and replacement (old ride removal will not occur until 10th success with this option).

Benefits: New ride, likely to be popular and reliable on open. Chance of PR hit depending on the popularity of ride replaced.


-[] Build A New Ride, EPCOT: EPCOT really could use another ride. And the ones already planned are… less than ideal, you think. Up to one per park per year. Ride will be determined in subvote upon reaching half the needed successes. {PLANNING - 8} {CONSTRUCTION - 7} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 15 per success, requires 15 successes to complete.

Benefits: Increased park draw. Other bonuses dependent on ride type.


-[] A New Pavilion: The World Showcase isn't done yet, and filling it out can get you more visitors and international attention! Just don't step on any PR landmines. Up to one per year. {PLANNING - 6} {CONSTRUCTION - 2} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 10 per success, requires 8 successes to complete.

Benefits: Increased park draw, PR boost with chosen country and increased attendance from that country.


-[] The Mt. Fuji Coaster: The Japanese pavilion had a Mt. Fuji themed coaster planned, but the sheer expense made it infeasible. Or so you've been told. You think it's worth it, even if you can't get Fujifilm as a sponsor. Maybe this ride won't have as many issues as the Rhine River Cruise. {CONSTRUCTION} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 20 per success, requires 11 successes to complete.

Benefits: Increased park draw, PR boost with Japan and increased attendance from Japan.


-[] The Living Seas: There are plans for a massive aquarium in Future World West, and while it might take a bit longer to actually get all the work needed done, you think it'd be just the thing to really set EPCOT apart from every other theme park out there. {CONSTRUCTION} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 20 per success, requires 13 successes to complete. Currently 5/13 successes. +10 to rolls on the project.

Benefits: Increased park draw, PR boost from conservation efforts, slightly increased relationship with Roy.


-[] Mind and Body: The plans for the Wonders of Life Pavilion in Future World were found, and after the work you've done on motion simulators out in California, you think you could do something similar here. Getting this pavilion open might not be the sort of big ticket attraction that really draws in crowds, but it should give an extra boost to attendance while you work on something else. {PLANNING - 7} {CONSTRUCTION - 5}

DC: 15 per success, 12 successes needed.

Benefits: Wonders of Life Pavilion opened, with Body Wars and Cranium Command as two main attractions, with a good variety of smaller attractions as well. Increased park draw and repeat visits.


-[] A Future Pavilion: You've got some open spaces ready for new pavilions in Future World, but none of the current plans feel right. Perhaps it's time to come up with something of your own? WRITE-IN. Pitch me your idea of what a future pavilion in EPCOT might look like, bearing in mind that your current two options are the Wonders of Life pavilion and the Living Seas pavilion. If you want big huge rides, that will take longer. If you just want displays, that'll take shorter.

DC: As determined by Write-In.

Benefits: New Pavilion in Future World, rest determined by Write-In.


-[] Journey to the Center of the Earth... Rocks!: You've had an idea for another Future World pavilion, one based around the interior of our planet, with tons of educational value. Send it over to the imagineers to polish off, and see if you can't get something set in stone. {PLANNING - 7} {CONSTRUCTION - 7}

DC: 15 per success, 14 successes needed.

Benefits: Earth Rocks! Pavilion opened, with a mini-coaster as the main attraction, with a large variety of smaller attractions as well. Increased park draw and repeat visits.

The live-action department has finally fully switched over to the singles and doubles production method you used over at Paramount, and it was a massive success. Warner Bros. has asked for your help on something, and you have a bunch of new Nintendo IPs to play with. This quarter should be fun for the film studios. If Jeff and Don can stop fighting, and if Joe doesn't get too tangled up in the mess, of course. It's always something.

-[] The Cutting Room Floor: Finally, finally, the Singles and Doubles production style you wanted is in effect. Hopefully you'll see some results this quarter, otherwise it might be time to think about cutting back to just an animation studio. May be taken once per film. Current films: "Off Beat" and "Ruthless People." {LIVE-ACTION}

DC: 20.

Bonus to quality roll for latest live action film, based on level of success.


-[] Lights! Camera! Camera Again!: It might be worthwhile to go to the live action studios and help out with some of their projects ahead of time. Your perspective on some reshoots would probably be appreciated. May be taken once per film. Upcoming film: "Flight of the Navigator" {LIVE-ACTION}

DC: 20.

Bonus to quality roll for next quarter's live action film, based on level of success.


-[] Man of Steel: Warner Bros. is concerned about the new Superman movie they're going to be distributing. They're right to be, after Superman III. They've asked you to see if you could help out the producers a bit, maybe throw some funding and directors that way. There's a coaster for the movie studios park in it for you. {LIVE-ACTION}

DC: 35.

Benefits: Coaster plans for a Superman coaster in the movie studios park. Possible monetary benefits for a high roll.


-[] Push for More Female Leads: Samus and Ripley have shown that a solid female lead can generate a ton of interest, if the hype about your new Tomorrowland is accurate. It might be worthwhile to push more female leads in your films.

DC: 60.

Benefits: Large PR boost, +10 to movie rolls as more quality actresses flock to Disney.


-[] Who Moved the Animation Department: Richard Williams is refusing to work in LA, and wants a separate studio based off his own in England to be formed. You should talk to him about that, probably. {ANIMATION}

DC: 50.

Benefits: Reroll quality rolls below 65 on the film, other potential benefits.


-[] A Nintendo Film: Hey, you've got the rights, time to use them. Of course, you need to decide if that means animation or live action, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

DC: 25.

Benefits: Add a Nintendo film to the upcoming release schedule, closer ties with Nintendo.


-[] A Fight!: Jeff and Don are having a spat over a rat. Well, something involving mice, but you wanted to rhyme, and hopefully diffuse some of the tension. Sadly, Joe's gotten involved, and really, why can't everyone just get along?

DC: 50.

Benefits: Prevent loss of relationship in the animation department.

You're not sure if you really need to focus on this yet, but it couldn't hurt, you suppose. Still, John probably has everything under control. Although you did have a ton of ideas for Nintendo TV shows… Maybe there is something to do here this quarter after all. You just need to see if there's time for it...

-[] A Message of Conservation: You've brought back The Wonderful World of Disney, and there's no better platform for informing the public about the benefits of living with the land instead of against it. {CONSERVATION}

DC: 15.

Benefits: +5 to Disney/Eisner relationship, +5 to all future conservation rolls.


-[] A Look At Disney: Walt used the show to talk about his plans for the theme parks. It might not be a bad idea for you to do the same.

DC: 20.

Benefits: Increased park draw. +5 to all future park planning rolls.


-[] Double Disney Premier Films: Bring up the total number of films produced specifically for the Disney Channel each year from two to four. They aren't the greatest movies, but they're a decent stopgap measure.

DC: 15.

Benefits: +5 to live-action film rolls from extra attention in the area, slight impact on improving Disney Channel (2d6).


-[] The Disney Vault: The immense success of selling old Disney movies on VHS clearly indicates that the public wants to see the films again and again. It might be worthwhile to see about doing some more reruns of the old movies on the Disney Channel, and see if they can spark some interest in it.

DC: 20.

Benefits: Chance for backlash from people who see this as double-dipping on the IPs, but decent impact on improving Disney Channel (3d6).


-[] A Focus on the Parks: It's maybe a bit more questionable than the other suggestions, but perhaps a series that goes through the various Disney park lands and tells some stories based off them could work. If it's done well enough, it would probably drive more park attendance, too!

DC: 15.

Benefits: Increased park draw, minimal impact on improving Disney Channel (1d6).


-[] A Nintendo Series: You've got the rights for Nintendo, you've got ideas, perhaps it's time to put pen to paper and get a new show based on a Nintendo character out there.

DC: 25

Benefits: Closer ties with Nintendo, decent impact on improving Disney channel (3d6).

The board wants a lot of things down here, and quite frankly, so do you. You've got to open Animated Adventures, finish up the plans for the Grand Floridian, and get cracking on a second hotel, not to mention keep planning the movie studios park. Luckily you've got help from the architectural firms, even if Jerry was a bit pricey.

-[] Go Greener: With the solar plant announced, it might be worthwhile to look into putting some solar panels in unobtrusive areas on hotels and maybe even the monorails. As long as you can do it without breaking sightlines or immersion, this could be a great way to keep lowering energy costs and make Disney a net exporter of energy instead of a net importer. Also, literally everyone and their mother wants this, given what Exxon was hiding. {CONSERVATION}

DC: 30.

Benefits: Continued public interest in solar power, chance for further solar energy breakthroughs. Lowered energy costs from all properties added to this way, +5 Disney/Eisner relationship. Big PR boost.


-[] Go Glowing Green: You've got a solar plant in the works, but even with the huge leaps forward in solar power that were made last quarter, the solar plant still won't provide the sorts of energy you're looking for in Florida. A nuclear plant will, though, and public support for nuclear power has never been higher. Unless there's a major disaster sometime soon, that's unlikely to change. {DEVELOPMENT} {HALF-CONSERVATION}

DC: 50.

Benefits: Surplus of energy in Florida, enough to power at least 8 full scale parks and still have half left over, minimum.


-[] The Real EPCOT: EPCOT wasn't supposed to be a park, it was supposed to be a city. The world may not have been ready for that when Walt proposed it, but now it just might be. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 75 successes.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking Stage. +100 to Eisner/Disney relationship.


-[] A New Hotel: The board has asked you to start working on a number of hotels this year. It's time to knuckle down and start working on some major expansions here, just so you can handle the increased guest flow. {PLANNING}

DC: 10 per success, requires 10/15/20 successes, for value/moderate/deluxe level resort.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking Stage.


-[] Opening Day (Disney's Animated Adventure): Elizabeth finished everything up last quarter, but you wanted to have a real opening day ceremony, starring her. The hotel wouldn't even be finished right now if it wasn't for her, after all, and you wanted to see if you could have her stick around for some future projects.

DC: 25.

Benefits: Keep Elizabeth on retainer for future value hotels, -5 board approval.


-[] Continue Planning (The Grand Floridian): Jerry Allison is here to help you finish off the plans for the project, and see it all the way through. {PLANNING} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 10 per success, 13/20 successes achieved.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] Public Transit: The Disney Transport system is solid, but could use some work. The buses could use an overhaul. {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 15.

Benefits: Increased income from longer resort stays, more guests remaining on property.



-[] A New Water Park: River Country is great, but it's started getting vastly overcrowded. Opening a second water park could help alleviate some of the crowds and act as a bigger draw. Will trigger park planning subvotes upon completing this stage. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires at least 10/20/30 successes, depending on the scale of park (River Country is an example of a 10 success park, Blizzard Beach would be an example of a 30 success park). Park Scale chosen in subvote on selecting option.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking Stage.


-[] A New Gate, Florida: You've got enough on your plate with the movie studios park. It's probably best to focus on that for now. Although, if you were to just jot down a couple of ideas here and there, that might be worth it. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 25 total successes.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] Continue Planning A New Gate (Hollywood Studios): Warner Bros. and Universal are both on board with the new park idea, and Universal's brought in a bunch of the plans they already had. The imagineers are eager to get back to work on this, even if you aren't building it within the relatively free confines of Reedy Creek. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, 19/25 successes achieved. +25 to rolls on the project.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] 15 Muppets of Fame: Hollywood isn't just about movies, it's about TV, too. Maybe you could get Jim Henson in on the project to really round out the park?

DC: -25. Yes, negative.

Benefits: Get the Muppets into Hollywood Studios. Gain 5(+1) successes towards Hollywood Studios planning. ???.


-[] Cutting Edge Hurricane Proofing: There hasn't been a park closure from a storm yet, and you don't intend to have it happen on your watch. This might also help you understand how to better protect some of your water rides from normal wear and tear. {RESEARCH} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: (60-10), 50.

Benefits: Increased protection from inclement weather. -10 DC on Hydrophobia.

On the one hand, you've continued to see good progress on the park in France, although you have some concerns over the Asterix park under construction by Paris. The office is much quieter this quarter. On the other hand, that's because there's some brouhaha happening in the animation department. What a headache. You've also got that letter from NASA, Time wants an interview, and a million other things. You're certainly not bored, at least.

-[] Recession Planning: This recession has the potential to gum up everything, and you suspect other recessions will bring their own problems. Still, you can do your best to plan around it.

DC: N/A.

Benefits: Reduce the effects of the recession by up to 2 levels.


-[] A New Resort: Given everything that's been heaped on you this year, you don't think this is a great idea. Still, you could always just jot some ideas down as you have them and come back to them later, you suppose. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 50 total successes.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] Continue Planning a New Resort (Lille, France): You've finally got a location down, now it's time to start getting to the nitty gritty details. Some people were a bit surprised about the exact placement, but given how cheap the land is here, and the fact that it's liable to become a European hub once the chunnel gets done, you think it's the best choice. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 50 total successes. 22/50 successes. +30 to rolls on this project. Reroll rolls below 10 this turn.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.


-[] Learn French (Basic): If you're going to be building a park in France, the least you could do is learn the language. It might take some time to learn, but you can at least get started now.

DC: (25-10) 15.

Benefits: Begin learning French, which will eventually make building a park over there easier. Will also eventually improve general Disney reception in France.


-[] Making Time: While they have said you're unlikely to beat Reagan for man of the year, they do want to run a piece on you. This could be a good way to get the word out about some things.

DC: (25-10), 15.

Benefits: PR boost, gain traits depending on roll and interview answers.


-[] Go See How the Disney Store is Doing: Steve has been moping about the office lately. From all accounts, that can't be because of how the Disney Store is doing, since you've been seeing more profit from it than expected. Maybe he was hoping you'd be at the opening? Hopefully you can go over and patch things up with him.

DC: (20-10) 10.

Benefits: Steve added to office politics, with a -5 to the Eisner/Burke relationship.


-[] Usenet? What Would I Use a Net For?: One of your new hires was talking about some sort of computer group for Disney. It might be worthwhile to figure out what the hell they're talking about.

DC: (25-10), 15.

Benefits: The Internet becomes known to you. Options for the Disney Newsgroup become available.


-[] Houston, We Have a Problem: There's a letter on your desk from NASA detailing a massive breakdown of management. You've been asked to help. It's up to you whether or not you do so.

DC: (50-10), 40.

Benefits: Hopefully, you fix the problems the NASA. Of course, you might get quite the boost from this, or you might never be known for it. It all depends on how this goes.


-[] A Gassy Problem: Right now, there's a lot of questions about what to do with gas, and even more answers. Maybe you should weigh in with what you think would be best?

DC: (45-10), 35.

Benefits: Sway public opinion on gas crisis solutions.


-[] Take a Vacation: You're taking on a ton this quarter. You need to make sure you take time for yourself, as well.

DC: (20-10+25), 35.

Benefits: Stress reduction.


-[] Office Politics: You haven't had as much time to devote to office politics lately, but you can't really keep ignoring it. The animation department is up in arms, and god help whoever ends up having to deal with Katzenberg this quarter. Wait, that's you.

DC: (10-10)0.

Benefits: Improve your relationship with one of your coworkers. Potential to improve relationship with multiple coworkers or find an adviser if you roll well enough.


-[] Personal Focus: Sometimes, that personal touch is what you really need. Can only be taken once per roll, but can be taken multiple times in a turn.

DC: N/A.

Benefits: +15 to a single other roll.


-[] Contact the CIA: So the spooks aren't thrilled with you going against the president, probably. Still, they might be amenable to offering some help. For a price.

DC: (30-10) 20.

Benefits: Gain an offer from the CIA.


-[] Set Up Focus Groups: You've got a pretty good idea of how well received you are by the public (very well), how high park attendance is (extremely high), and how you're viewed in the business world (please do not touch anymore dominos thank you), but it wouldn't hurt to get some hard data on this. You're pretty sure all of these areas are fine right now, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared just in case something comes up in the future.

DC: (25-10) 15.

Benefits: Reveal three stat bars currently only vaguely aware of: Corporate Interest, Park Draw (which affects Corporate Interest), and Public Relations (which affects Park Draw and Corporate Interest).


-[] Start a Research Division: With the expanded imagineering department, you can afford to set up a branch just for blue sky research. {RESEARCH}

DC: (40-10), 30. +5 to roll.

Benefits: Unlock more research options. +10 to research rolls.


-[] Start a Videogame Department: It looks like this is going to be big in the future. You might as well try to get in on the ground floor.

DC: (50-10): 40.

Benefits: Start up a new department for video games, will add plus one base action per turn.


-[] Change Ticket Prices: You could try and get a better balance here. Generally, going lower bumps park draw and loses board approval, and vice versa.

DC: N/A

Benefits: Exchange Park Draw for Board Approval or vice versa. Currently at 3 of 10.

-----------------------------------------
Current Quarter: APR-MAY-JUN, 1986
Upcoming Film Releases: "Off Beat" and "Ruthless People"

AN: I really hope this is right because the library only gives you 30 minutes of computer time a day! Anyway, moratorium until 8:20pm EST, or another 9 and a half hours or so. There's no tables here because I can't copy and paste tables on the library computer, but I have checked the tables over on page one and they should be good (all the red rides are set to open in the results phase of this quarter, I think).

Also:
The Warrior on Bald Mountain
Expect some more options relating to this opening up next turn.
Omake: What time is it!? Vacation Time!!!
Increased effectiveness of vacation if you take one this turn.
 
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Omake: Not a Crook... Honest! (Semi-canon)
Omake: Not a Crook... Honest!

The governor seethed as he got off the phone conference with Wilson and Cranston. Generally he liked to keep an ear to the ground of the happenings in DC from California's own Senators, but apparently he should have been more paranoid about what was going on in DC. Whenever Cranston was happy, it was never a good sign. The news was worse than he had feared, Reagan had folded. Increases to spending, small business stimulus, and apparently Meese had recused himself from the Exxon and related cases. This was a disaster for the Governor, for three years he had slashed budgets, cut environmental spending and other spending and cancelled planned tax increases across the board. There were only 6 months until election and Bradley was going to try and take him down again. George looked at his advisors sitting across his desk. "Well, let's hear it."

Oscar cleared his throat, "It may prove to be a difficult campaign..."

Governor George Deukmejian of California looked at him dead in the eye, "I may be grossly overpaying you... Rob, what are our donors looking like?"

Rob shook his head "If you want good news... I don't have much. Petroleum Executives are jumping ship, and well your record as governor isn't exactly compatible with national politics anymore. The GOP Is currently trying to find someone to take on White in Texas, but after Clements shit the bed with Petroleum, and that SMU thing... Honestly we aren't high on the GOP's rescue list this year."

The governor frowned, "I've cut taxes and slashed spending, and was a popular governor before this shit with Exxon started. This is the president's home state and we can't get help? Schedule a call with the President please. Maybe he can lend me Atwater."

Rob sighed, "I tried that. I tried the Vice President too and everyone else I knew. Money's tight, they think Martinez has a shot at taking Florida, that and a few other races are taking priority"

The governor rapped his knuckles on the desk, "Anne, how's polling?"

Anne frowned, "Not good, your opponent in November is a black liberal mayor of Los Angeles who was vocally against your environmental record and handling of AIDS, has already secured an endrosement from Brown, and is due to have a very public meeting with Michael Eisner along with the rest of the Los Angeles City Council regarding installation of a monorail mass transit system.

The governor put his face in his hand, he was so fucking dead. "How can this get any worse?"

Oscar coughed, "Umm... well Nixon's in Sacramento rounding up GOP legislators. He's trying to mop up his legacy but..."

The governor sighed, looked at Oscar, not seeing Oscar's colleagues gesturing for Oscar to shut up.

"...well... he's trying to create a High speed Rail Initiative Proposition for the ballot. The goal is to get up and down the state easily, and offset airline and other intrastate traffic/smog. He's using the whole "I founded the EPA, I had a feeling this was coming thing in the ads. He's gotten 200,000 signatures, and is taking some state senators under his wing."

Governor George Deukmejian looked at Oscar for a moment, before saying "Oscar, you're fired."
 
Park building stuff
Since it's extremely likely to come up this turn, a bit of an overview on revised park building mechanics:

Stage one: Park Overview planning. This is where you pick a location, name, size, and layout. Layout means picking whether the park is a solid whole, a hub with lands, a sort of mishmash like irl Hollywood Studios, or two halves, or something else.

Stage two: The park section is added to the turn sheet, which comes with +1 base action. You get a DC 10 per action for planning in each area. Every 5 successes, you choose either a new ride to add to the area, or to declare the area done. For example, if you got 12 successes one turn, you'd pick up to 2 rides to put in the area, or one ride and to declare the area done, or to just declare the area done.

Stage three: Once an area is done, you move to groundbreaking and construction, DC 10 per actions that require successes based on park size and number of areas for groundbreaking, and number of attractions for construction. Once every area is done with construction, you move to opening day, where reception is finalized and guests start arriving.

New resorts follow much the same formula, except you throw a hotel or two onto the mix. Ideally, this system means that you're only ever voting on one or two rides at a time, so that park building is less overwhelming than the Tomorrow's Tomorrowland overhaul was.

Park Sizes and Success requirements:
Small: 30 Total Groundbreaking successes needed, divided among areas. May have up to 4 areas, and 12 rides.

Medium: 60 Total Groundbreaking successes needed, divided among areas. May have up to 6 areas, and 24 rides.

Large: 120 Total Groundbreaking successes needed, divided among areas. May have up to 8 areas, and 40 rides.

Huge: 240 Total Groundbreaking successes needed, divided among areas. Unlimited number of areas and rides.

All rides add 5 total construction successes to the area's needed total, with a base 5 for shops, restaurants, and other venues.
 
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Turn 7, Time Enough At Last, Results (APR-MAY-JUN,1986)
Vote Closed!

The Winning Vote said:
[*] Plan: Muppets, Metroids, and Monorails Oh my! v1
-[*] Clean Cars
-[*] Tomorrow's Tomorrowland
-[*] A Bona Fide, Electrified, Six-Car Monorail
-[*] A Nintendo Legend (Disneyland)
-[*] Nintendo Meet-and-Greets (Disneyland)

-[*] A New Ride is Brewing (Magic Kingdom)
-[*] Find a New Sponsor

-[*] The Living Seas
-[*] Journey to the Center of the Earth... Rocks

-[*] Who Moved the Animation Department
-[*] A Fight!
-[*] Man of Steel
-[*] Personal Focus (A Fight!)

-[*] A Nintendo Series

-[*] A New Hotel
-[*] Opening Day (Disney's Animated Adventure)
-[*] Continue Planning (The Grand Floridian)
-[*] 15 Muppets of Fame
-[*] Recession Planning
-[*] Continue Planning a New Resort (Lille, France)
-[*] Making Time
-[*] Go See How the Disney Store is Doing
-[*] Houston, We Have a Problem
-[*] Take a Vacation

Major Board Goals
-{} Have 2 new hotels at Groundbreaking, with a combined total of at least 1250 rooms, by the end of 1986

-{X} Finish Tomorrow's Tomorrowland, by the end of 1986

-{X} Reach 35 successes for the plans in Lille, by the end of 1986

-{X} Finish Overview Planning on Hollywood Studios, by the end of 1986

-{} Fill in the last two major vacant areas in Future World in EPCOT, by the end of 1986

Minor Board Goals
-{X} Expand the imagineering department, by the end of 1986

-{X} See how the Disney Store is doing, by the end of 1986

-{X} Take a vacation, by the end of 1986

-{X} See about that Nintendo thing, by the end of 1986

Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl
The USSR has today officially announced that a complete reactor failure occurred at their Chernobyl plant, and that they have been unable to contain the nuclear material. With radioactive material spewing into the atmosphere, they have reluctantly asked for aid in sealing off the plant, as issues continue to mount. They advise that any initial containment measures will need to be airdropped in, as the area is too "hot" to allow for a ground based approach. Europe has offered aid, in part due to the fallout being blown towards them, and the US is in discussions about how best to address the problem. This disaster comes as the USSR was gearing up nuclear production to tackle the climate problem, and has had a massive chilling effect on the pursuit of the power of the atom. Clean renewables have more interest than ever, as a scared populace rejects new nuclear plants, and calls for current ones to be reviewed, or, in some cases, shut down.

AN: Rolled a 23 when seeing if it happened, an 08 to see how bad it was (IRL I had pegged at around 15-20, for reference). Nuclear power is very, very dead right now. For those saying "the USSR wouldn't ask for help," that's how bad the disaster is.

You relax in the air-conditioned theater for the Hall of Presidents, family around you. Sure, not everything quite made it off the ground this quarter, sure, you had some setbacks. But your imagineers pulled off another miracle in California, you had a great time with Time, and you think you managed to really nail that problem with NASA. Jim Henson gave you a pleasant surprise, heck, you even got to poke around the movie production side of things yourself again helping out Warner Bros. The cherry on top of all this is the exchange program Nintendo is asking to set up.

-------------------------------------------​

-[*] Clean Cars: You had this marked down as part of the Tomorrowland update, so it's probably a good idea to get to work on this. With the literal death of the planet looming, you have companies lining up at your door to help on this, as well as several prominent green tech research groups offering to let you take a peek at the future of batteries. Might be worthwhile to see if you can't make the cars run on electric and stick solar panels on the station. {CONSERVATION}

DC: 20.

Benefits: Increased ride reliability and popularity, good PR from conservation efforts. +5 to Eisner/Disney relationship.

Results: 100+25, Dice explode. 61+25, total 211. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious success.

The problem, your imagineers tell you, is getting batteries that can be recharged, but that also have enough oomph to get the cars around the track more than once (the collective facepalm when you asked about a monorail-style powered track as they talked about batteries were amusing, even if that idea did have a few more problems than would let it be truly feasible). So once more, the imagineers ventured out into the scientific world for help. What they ended up getting was a nickel metal hydride battery, one that lasted longer the more times you charged it. They even managed to get in contact with a group that was claiming 84% efficiency after four thousand charges, something that seemed extremely valuable for the Autopia cars. More importantly, they've learned to ask forgiveness instead of permission, and have already left the tech with the other scientists, meaning the board can't gripe at you for having the tech slip into the world. There's already talks of fully electric cars springing up, with so-called hybrids that use electricity to offset gas usage now under testing. You get another wave of PR, and Roy is nearly in tears from seeing how beloved Disney is once again. Huge PR boost, +10 to Eisner/Disney relationship. Battery technology applied to ride and a few others, battery technology spread and adopted en masse as car manufacturers find a way to offset the use of gas. Economic crisis partially resolved as car companies rebound.

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-[*] Tomorrow's Tomorrowland: The project is all set to finish without you. It's a huge load off your shoulders, and you can sit back and relax as all the updates and the new ride goes in.

DC: 15 per success, requires 30 successes. Currently: 32/30 successes, +5 to rolls.

Benefits: Automatic refurbishment of all rides in Tomorrowland, with updates to bring them in line with a more modern look at the future. May replace up to 3 rides in Tomorrowland with no chance of PR hit, does not count towards yearly ride replacement limit. May build 1 new ride in Tomorrowland, does not count towards yearly ride build limit. Massive PR boost. +5 to Eisner/Disney relationship. One ride replacement or the new ride must be Star Tours.

Result: N/A.

The work on this finishes smoothly, even if the opening of Galactic Enforcers isn't going to happen until August. You manage to get the section open in time for the first day of summer break, and it's a huge opening. There are people in Star Wars costumes swarming Star Tours, you think you spot some Ripleys heading into Alien Encounter, and the second floor is almost always at capacity. Reviews are stellar, even without the new attraction. All the refurbishments are greatly appreciated, Plectu's is surprisingly popular, more so when you realize that you could open up the second floor for a dinner and a show restaurant. The newly christened Asteroid Autopia, now with electric cars, has everyone happy (except the gas companies), the monorail is seeing more use as LA looks to get their own monorail system, and everyone loves the newly electric 20,000 Leagues subs, given that they better match the book. Even the People Mover is praised, for aiding traffic flow through the land, or just being a nice way to sit and rest for a bit. But the biggest shock to you is when Nintendo proposes a semi-permanent exchange program. Every year you'll swap an engineer to get some more valuable insights from each other. They've sent over Yokoi Gunpei, a near legend from their company, who's apparently been wanting to explore more for a while. Now you just need to figure out who you're sending over to them. Tomorrow's Tomorrowland meets with massive success, driving park attendance through the roof. All rides in the land at maximum reliability and popularity for the summer. Huge PR boost, +10 to Eisner/Disney relationship. Sub vote for exchange program. Gain Yokoi Gunpei in exchange, a general advisor with +5 to research rolls and +10 to videogame rolls. Gunpei will never join office politics.

-[] One of your newer imagineers. Will automate recruiting new imagineers for advisor roles, gaining one per year.

-[] One of your advising imagineers. Will develop closer ties to Nintendo, and give additional traits to the imagineer sent, but lose the imagineer sent for a year.
—[] Tony.
—[] Tim.
—[] Marty.

-[] Don Bluth. He's been making puppy dog eyes around you. Will greatly develop closer ties to Nintendo, and max out your relationship with Don. There's practically guaranteed to be Nintendo games using Disney characters if Don goes over, and he'll likely pick up some interesting insights and traits while there. However, you'll lose Don for a year, even if that does mean he won't get into any arguments.


-------------------------------------------​

-[*] A Bona Fide, Electrified, Six-Car Monorail: LA has asked for your help getting in touch with Martin Marietta, the makers of the monorail system you use, in order to bring the electric transit method to the city. They'd also like to have the line include Disneyland, of course. It's a simple enough meeting, one you can't really justify ignoring.

DC: 10. +5 to roll.

Benefits: Increased park draw, LA gets a shiny new monorail system.

Results: 56+5+5, 66. Greater success.

You handle the introductions, and make to leave as they begin discussing. However, you get called back before you can make the door, and suddenly you're being dragged into the negotiations. You aren't sure how it happens, but suddenly the topic comes up and the fact that you don't actually own the Disneyland Hotel comes up, and before you know it, you've got LA and Martin Marietta promising to back you in a bid to get the hotel. Increased Park Draw, LA getting a monorail system, option unlocked for next turn to get the Disneyland hotel.

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-[*] A Nintendo Legend: Nintendo just released a new game in Japan that's been getting rave reviews, and having gotten a copy yourself from the company, you can see why. It might be worthwhile to try and start getting The Legend of Zelda into Fantasyland ahead of time.

DC: 40.

Benefits: The Legend of Zelda characters roam Fantasyland, boosting park draw and upping the time schedule for getting the game brought to American shores.

Results: 80+5, 85. Greater Success.

It starts with an overnight replacement of the Sword in the Stone with a specially made copy of the Master Sword. Some guests point out the oddity, others take pictures. The guests visiting from Japan sometimes jump excitedly and try to pull out the sword. Then, at the time when Merlin would normally appear, instead the Old Man comes out and takes the sword. He examines it for a moment, before Link walks out and he hands the sword to him, saying only "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." The Old Man disappears, and various enemies from the game pop out as Link fights them. Finally, after collecting tri-force shards from the fallen foes, Link turns to find Gannon behind him. A fierce battle ensues, before Link emerges victorious, and Gannon disappears, leaving behind Princess Zelda. Link returns the Master Sword to the stone, and walks off with Zelda, both of them stopping to sign autographs and chat with guests (Zelda interprets for Link). There's a flyer made available detailing the game, and an announcement that there will be a bundle of Metroid and Zelda available in August for American audiences. The characters are a huge hit, and Nintendo loves the extra exposure and execution. Large Park Draw increase, The Legend of Zelda will release in America with Metroid, closer ties to Nintendo developed.

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-[*] Nintendo Meet-and-Greets: Which reminds you, it might be worthwhile to have Mario and Samus start making appearances as well. It couldn't hurt, certainly.

DC: 30.

Benefits: Increased park draw, closer relationship with Nintendo.

Results: 45+5, success.

By contrast, the debut of Mario and Samus isn't nearly so flashy. Mario is usually found around Main Street or New Orleans Square, sometimes examining some piping, other times signing autographs. Samus, whose gender is carefully concealed (anyone who guesses that there's a woman in the suit tends to assume that it's for size reasons, given the voice changer), can be found near the unopened Galactic Enforcers, or sometimes taking in a show at Plectu's. It's a good laugh whenever she offers the arm cannon for a handshake, though. Closer ties with Nintendo, increased Park Draw.

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-[*] A New Ride is Brewing: The Black Cauldron movie wasn't just a hit, it was a phenomena. It only makes sense to try and turn it into a ride. {PLANNING}

DC: 60.

Benefits: Skip planning stage for A New Ride and move directly to construction phase. Ride will be based on The Black Cauldron.

Results: 01+20+20+20+5+10, 76. Critical Failcess.

You look at the sketches and plans the imagineers have put on your desk. "So what you're saying is, you came up with a great ride system." Nods. "Kept adding to it." More nods. "And not until you had finished drawing out all the plans did you realize that the computing power we have available isn't enough, and won't be for three whole years." Sheepish looks, but also hesitant nods. You heave a sigh and gently rest your head on your desk. Ride plans finished, but construction can't begin for 3 years.

-[] Back to the drawing board. Scrap the plans and work on some new ones.

-[] Wait on the tech. It worked for Space Mountain, it'll work here.


-------------------------------------------​

-[*] Find a New Sponsor: With the recession, Eastern has gone under. It's a shame, but more importantly, it means you need a new sponsor for If You Had Wings, and fast.

DC: 50.

Benefits: Refurbish If You Had Wings, gain a new partner airline.

Results: 15+5+??, ??. Bare Failure.

With the gas crisis, no airline has the resources to pick up where Eastern fell off. It's understandable, but immensely annoying as the lack of sponsor forces the ride to close, and the board isn't too happy about no longer having a partner airline. Hopefully next quarter you'll have more luck. -5 Board Approval, Ride closed pending new sponsor.

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-[*] The Living Seas: There are plans for a massive aquarium in Future World West, and while it might take a bit longer to actually get all the work needed done, you think it'd be just the thing to really set EPCOT apart from every other theme park out there. {CONSTRUCTION} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 20 per success, requires 13 successes to complete. Currently 5/13 successes. +10 to rolls on the project.

Benefits: Increased park draw, PR boost from conservation efforts, slightly increased relationship with Roy.

Results: 47+20+20+10+10, 107. 5 successes, 10/13 successes total.

There's not much news on this, mostly because everything is proceeding smoothly. It's not flashy, just a solid work ethic and good planning bringing the project together. All that's left now is to fill in the aquariums and get the sea life, according to the project leads. Although Tim was asking about maybe making the project themed closer to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, if you were going to have a Journey to the Center of the Earth coaster in the other new pavilion… 10/13 successes, sub vote on pavilion theme.

-[] All aboard the nautilus. People (or your imagineers, at least) seem to love Verne, and you don't want to deny them.

-[] A chance to bail. A good chunk of 20,000 theming, but not so much that you can't replace it should the public's love of Verne wear off.

-[] Above the waves. The love for Verne is just a fad, and avoiding it entirely will stand you in good stead.


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-[*] Journey to the Center of the Earth... Rocks!: You've had an idea for another Future World pavilion, one based around the interior of our planet, with tons of educational value. Send it over to the imagineers to polish off, and see if you can't get something set in stone. {PLANNING - 7} {CONSTRUCTION - 7}

DC: 15 per success, 14 successes needed.

Benefits: Earth Rocks! Pavilion opened, with a mini-coaster as the main attraction, with a large variety of smaller attractions as well. Increased park draw and repeat visits.

Results: 51+20+20+20+10+10, 131. 8+1 successes, 9/14 total successes.

You ship this off to Tony for planning, and he gets a beautiful plan to you within a month, complete with a semi-lackluster coaster. "Tony? What's with the coaster?" You ask.

"Well, I had planned on a coaster inspired by Journey to the Center of the Earth, but I don't want to get too…" Tony begins.

You cut him off. "Send me those plans, I'll make it work." He's beaming as he leaves the office, and you're happy to get work underway on the pavilion. Earth Rocks! Pavilion at 9/14 successes, Journey to the Center of the Earth vertical drop coaster part of the pavilion.

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-[*] Who Moved the Animation Department: Richard Williams is refusing to work in LA, and wants a separate studio based off his own in England to be formed. You should talk to him about that, probably. {ANIMATION}

DC: 50.

Benefits: Reroll quality rolls below 65 on the film, other potential benefits.

Results: 67+10+5+5, 87. Greater success.

You spend hours talking to Richard Williams without much progress, before eventually just taking him on a tour of the animation department. He steadily grows more convinced that you don't actually have a bureaucracy breathing down the animator's necks, until he walks in on Pixar and sees them having some sort of pajama party while you stare on in shock. On the one hand, you wanted to chastise them just a little. On the other hand, Richard agreed to work here in LA without hesitation after that. Reroll quality rolls below 65 on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Richard Williams may be amenable to joining you after the film releases.

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-[*] A Fight!: Jeff and Don are having a spat over a rat. Well, something involving mice, but you wanted to rhyme, and hopefully diffuse some of the tension. Sadly, Joe's gotten involved, and really, why can't everyone just get along?

DC: 50.

Benefits: Prevent loss of relationship in the animation department.

Results: 09 54+5+15, 74. Success.

You clear your schedule when Jeff starts ranting in the animation department. He barges into your office, goes on about stolen drawings for thirty minutes, and storms back out. You wait for another five minutes, and Jeff sheepishly walks back in.

"All yelled out, Jeff?" You ask.

"Sorry, Mike." He says. "It's just that Don has to have been cribbing from my work on The Great Mouse Detective to make his An American Tail!"

"Direct copying?" You respond.

"Well, not exactly…" Jeff mutters. "But he's been looking at our project for movement studies! And for drawing styles!"

"Have you talked to him about this?" You say.

"No! How would that help?" Jeff asks.

You sigh, and drag Jeff with you into the animation department. I turned out, Don had asked a minor animator on Jeff's project for help getting the mouse movements down right, and the bleed over had made it look like he was copying the other team. You manage to patch things over, and set up a crediting system to make sure it doesn't happen again. You're just glad that the two films aren't releasing at the same time. Loss of relationship among animators prevented, system put in place to prevent similar misunderstandings.

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-[*] Man of Steel: Warner Bros. is concerned about the new Superman movie they're going to be distributing. They're right to be, after Superman III. They've asked you to see if you could help out the producers a bit, maybe throw some funding and directors that way. There's a coaster for the movie studios park in it for you. {LIVE-ACTION}

DC: 35.

Benefits: Coaster plans for a Superman coaster in the movie studios park. Possible monetary benefits for a high roll.

Results: 83+10+5, 98. Magical Success.

You go to Cannon films to figure out what's going on with the Superman movie, and are shocked at the mess you find. They've had to bring in a new director because the first one couldn't get along with Chris Reeve, and then they've been pinching pennies at every step. They were talking about filming a UN scene in England, for Christ's sake. It takes some wheeling and dealing, but you manage to get things back on track by putting a stake into the movie, and specifically this movie and not any of the dozen others that Cannon is trying to make at the same time. Everyone on set is immensely thankful, with Reeve promising to try and show up to the new park in costume some time. Superman IV set to be a success more in line with Superman I than Superman III. Authentic Superman appearances garnered for Hollywood Studios, Superman Coaster in planning for Hollywood Studios. +5 Board Approval for profit percentage of new movie.

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-[*] A Nintendo Series: You've got the rights for Nintendo, you've got ideas, perhaps it's time to put pen to paper and get a new show based on a Nintendo character out there.

DC: 25

Benefits: Closer ties with Nintendo, decent impact on improving Disney channel (3d6).

Results: 04+5+10+10, 29. Bare success.

Sadly, you can't get your ideas onto paper properly. When you try to explain them, you fail for all but one. You can't help but think there's something missing. Maybe you should try and learn Japanese to talk to the creators? If nothing else, it'll help you manage your connections to Nintendo. +9 (6,2,1) to Disney Channel quality. Further attempts at Nintendo Series and Films are locked until you have at least an intermediate level of Japanese learned. Sub vote on which game a series is made from.

-[] Metroid. Something about the sci-fi game made it easier to explain, perhaps the work on the new ride.

-[] Mario. The simplicity and slight surrealism spoke to you, and let the ideas flow easier.

-[] The Legend of Zelda. If there's one thing Disney knows, it's fantasy.


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-[*] A New Hotel: The board has asked you to start working on a number of hotels this year. It's time to knuckle down and start working on some major expansions here, just so you can handle the increased guest flow. {PLANNING}

DC: 10 per success, requires 10/15/20 successes, for value/moderate/deluxe level resort.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking Stage.

Results: 26+20+20+20+10, 96. 9+1 total successes.

Well, the board is scared about the recession, so this might be the last new hotel you start work on this year. Still, you put your nose to the grindstone and begin the plans for a new hotel. After the comments on the Grand Floridian, you're considering a cheaper option, but you could always go for a higher goal again. Though, with Elizabeth staying on… 10 total successes on planning a new hotel, sub vote on type, further planning continued in "Everyone Can Stay, Part 1."

-[] Value.

-[] Moderate.

-[] Deluxe.


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-[*] Opening Day (Disney's Animated Adventure): Elizabeth finished everything up last quarter, but you wanted to have a real opening day ceremony, starring her. The hotel wouldn't even be finished right now if it wasn't for her, after all, and you wanted to see if you could have her stick around for some future projects.

DC: 25.

Benefits: Keep Elizabeth on retainer for future value hotels, -5 board approval.

Results: 08 69+5, 74. Great success.

With the recession on, you almost cancelled the event. You had assumed that no one would come. But then you got a call from Elizabeth confirming everything, and mentioning that she'd invited some of the work crew, and you'd gone ahead with the everything. And it turned out great. There were loads of people, kids enjoying the fun buildings, a spontaneous pool party, and Elizabeth even got asked for autographs. At the end of the day, when you asked if she'd be amenable to staying on retainer, she didn't hesitate to say yes, claiming she'd learned more working on this hotel than she'd had in the prior five years combined. Elizabeth remains as a retained advisor for value hotels, and her bonus is changed from 10 to 15 for the reroll threshold. -5 Board Approval.

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-[*] Continue Planning (The Grand Floridian): Jerry Allison is here to help you finish off the plans for the project, and see it all the way through. {PLANNING} {DEVELOPMENT}

DC: 10 per success, 13/20 successes achieved.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.

Results: 71+20+20+20+10+10, 151. 15+1 successes, overflow into Groundbreaking. 9/20 total successes.

Jerry handles the rest of the planning with gusto, knocking out the details with ease thanks to your well developed maps and moving straight into the groundbreaking. Perhaps your work with Elizabeth has made you too used to this sort of thing, as Jerry seems slightly put out when you aren't surprised at his progress. 9/20 Groundbreaking successes achieved for The Grand Floridian.

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-[*] 15 Muppets of Fame: Hollywood isn't just about movies, it's about TV, too. Maybe you could get Jim Henson in on the project to really round out the park?

DC: -25.

Benefits: Get the Muppets into Hollywood Studios. Gain 5(+1) successes towards Hollywood Studios planning. ???.

Results: 70+10+10, 90. Magical Success.

You approach Jim about gaining the rights to use the Muppets, and are shocked when he offers to sell you the studio instead.

"I'm an artist, Mike. Not a businessman. I've had to spend more and more time running the company, and less and less doing what I want to do. You've been hailed as the guy in Hollywood to go to if you want creative freedom, and I think you could help me." Says Jim. "I've been running myself ragged trying to keep everything in order, and George mentioned that you were looking for me, so I came hoping that you and I could work something out."

Momentarily struck, you take a minute to think. You hadn't been planning on buying up another studio, but this is the Muppets. The board will understand. "I think we can work something out, Jim." You notice as a tension leaves him, and make a split second decision. "I've been meaning to get out of the office for a bit, let's talk in the park, what do you say?"

Jim perks up, a trip to Disneyland still able to excite anyone, no matter the age. "Sure, Mike." Jim Henson Studio folded into Disney, Jim Henson freed up to take more personal time and lose some stress. Park overview planning for Hollywood Studios complete, will continue in "A Day In the Movies, Part 1."

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-[*] Continue Planning a New Resort (Lille, France): You've finally got a location down, now it's time to start getting to the nitty gritty details. Some people were a bit surprised about the exact placement, but given how cheap the land is here, and the fact that it's liable to become a European hub once the chunnel gets done, you think it's the best choice. {PLANNING}

DC: 15 per success, requires 50 total successes. 22/50 successes. +30 to rolls on this project. Reroll rolls below 10 this turn.

Benefits: Move to Groundbreaking.

Results: 99+20+10+30, dice explode. 60+20+10+30, 279. 18+1 successes, 41 total successes.

Hoo-boy, this quarter advanced the plans in Lille quite a bit. Working on a Verne ride appears to have spurred Tony and Tim on to new heights, and they dropped an entire binder of plans on your desk. Following that, the business with Chernobyl meant that you could get the land for dirt cheap. You'd be surprised if you weren't going into the nitty gritty details by the end of the year, or even next quarter. Or you could take a break from the project to focus on some other things, if you wanted. The board's going to be pleased either way. 41/50 total successes on the resort at Lille. Naming sub vote. +2 reception from excellent planning.

-[] EuroDisney.

-[] Disney France.

-[] Lille Disney.

-[] Write-In.


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-[*] Making Time: While they have said you're unlikely to beat Reagan for man of the year, they do want to run a piece on you. This could be a good way to get the word out about some things.

DC: (25-10), 15.

Benefits: PR boost, gain traits depending on roll and interview answers.

Results: 93+5+??, ???. Fantasmic success.

Time is thrilled when you mention that you're able to come in, and you make a note on your calendar. They asked if you'd share Man of the Year with Reagan, which to be honest, you'd be more than okay with. You're not sure how the President would feel about it, but given the Autopia update and knock on effects from that, hopefully he's not still too mad at you. Although Carl did mention that this was a decent opportunity to get the NASA letter to a magazine that'd publish it… Continued in "Why is this mouse smiling?"

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-[*] Go See How the Disney Store is Doing: Steve has been moping about the office lately. From all accounts, that can't be because of how the Disney Store is doing, since you've been seeing more profit from it than expected. Maybe he was hoping you'd be at the opening? Hopefully you can go over and patch things up with him.

DC: (20-10) 10.

Benefits: Steve added to office politics, with a -5 to the Eisner/Burke relationship.

Results: 13+10, 23. Success.

You talk with Steve about the Disney store for a while, and it turns out not only was the grand opening a huge success, the store's barely been able to keep up with demand. There's a massive call for more stores like it. Steve has been hoping you'd show up to the grand opening, but understands that you've had a lot to do. Now that you've seen the store and how packed it is, you wish you'd been there day one. Still, it's trivially easy to authorize an expansion, as a chain of stores like this could be the sort of thing that supplants the theme parks in terms of revenue. Steve added to office politics, starting Eisner relationship 15-5, 10. Disney store is a massive success, revenue source discovered that makes funding projects much easier. +10 Board Approval.

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-[*] Houston, We Have a Problem: There's a letter on your desk from NASA detailing a massive breakdown of management. You've been asked to help. It's up to you whether or not you do so.

DC: (50-10), 40.

Benefits: Hopefully, you fix the problems at NASA. Of course, you might get quite the boost from this, or you might never be known for it. It all depends on how this goes.

Results: 100+5, dice explode. 37+5, 147. Fantasmic success.

You spend many nights poring over the letter, trying to figure out how to address it. You're about to call a meeting with all your advisors when Carl Sagan comes into your office, asking about something involving Cosmic Odyssey. You look up, and a plan clicks into place.

"Carl, take a look at this, will you?" You say as you hand him the letter.

"Sure, Mike, but what… is… it…" He trails off. Continued in "Mission Control."

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-[*] Take a Vacation: You're taking on a ton this quarter. You need to make sure you take time for yourself, as well.

DC: (20-10+25), 35.

Benefits: Stress reduction.

Results: 39+10, 49. Success.

You had initially planned for a dramatic escape to France, or another similar getaway. Instead you just went to parks over the weekends. You thought it'd be a bit stressful seeing them, but instead it was relaxing seeing them thrive. The fact that apparently a bunch of kids knew who you were thanks to your appearances on TV, and they subsequently wanted your autograph, really made your days. It was hard to stay stressed when you were being treated like a rock star. You even managed to get Jim Henson with you once, and you both had a great time handing out signatures. Stress reset, 0 stress points currently. Slight PR boost from park appearances, PR track maxed out.

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Movies Released This Quarter: "Off Beat" and "Ruthless People"

"Off Beat"


Joe Gower is a likable librarian who glides around his job on roller skates. He has a strict boss, Mr. Pepper, and a good friend who's a cop, Abe Washington.

A mistake he makes inadvertently messes up Washington's undercover work. Joe now owes him a favor, but is unprepared for what Washington wants. A police charity event needs officers to dress in drag, but because Washington wants no part of that, he asks Joe to take his place.


Off Beat
Release Date: April 11th, 1986
Quality: 33+10, 43. Mediocre.
Reception: 20. Poor.

Well, this was overshadowed by the disaster at Chernobyl, and quite frankly wasn't as good as you'd hoped. Still, it was cheap as hell to make, so you don't really lose money on it. No change in Board Approval.


"Ruthless People"


Millionaire Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) hates his wife Barbara (Bette Midler). He plans on murdering her to gain control of her $15 million family fortune and run off with his mistress Carol (Anita Morris). He goes home to murder his wife, but he can't find her. The phone rings and an anonymous man tells him that Barbara has been kidnapped and if Sam informs the media or the police, or if any of their detailed demands are not met, they will kill his wife.

Overjoyed, Sam informs the media and the police and deliberately disobeys all of the kidnapper's demands, believing this will ensure his wife's death. The kidnappers are Ken (Judge Reinhold) and Sandy Kessler (Helen Slater), who want revenge on Sam for stealing Sandy's fashion designs, along with the Kesslers' life savings. Barbara is imprisoned in the Kesslers' basement, where she proves difficult to the amateur kidnappers. Sam doesn't show up with the ransom on several occasions, even when the price is dropped, and it becomes obvious that Sam really wants his wife dead.


Ruthless People
Release Date: June 27th, 1986
Quality: 77+10, 87. A solid hit.
Reception: 87+20, 107. Summer blockbuster.

For a film that cost less than ten million to make, this still manages to make over seventy million. It's a huge success, and yet another sign of your style's merits. This is what you came here planning to do. +10 Board Approval.

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AN: Dear god I think that's everything. I may have half the dice set, but it seemed determined to put in four times the work, given the rolls this turn. You are, as always, encouraged to let me know if I missed something. Voting does not need to be in a plan, and will be open for 48 hours from this post. No moratorium. You are voting on the exchange program volunteer, the Black Cauldron ride, the Livings Seas theme, which Nintendo series to make, what value the new hotel will be, and what to name the Lille park. Feel free to vote for only one or two if that's all you feel comfortable with, although remember if you want to add more votes later to either edit your initial vote or restate it in the new one.

Also, due to me not being at a computer, relationship board is not yet updated, and may not be until Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. As far as I can tell, the only changes are more padding on the Disney bonuses, a bump to the board, Katzenberg's continual feud with Wells (now at -20), and adding Steve. Steve is at 10 with Eisner, 0 with Wells, -15 with Katzenberg, -5 with Disney, -15 with Bluth, and -5 with Hale. Relationship board is getting big... have fun herding!
 
Omake: The Grass is glowing Greener on the other side (semi-canon)
Omake: The Grass is glowing Greener on the other side

Pripyat, a city that was abandoned over a few hours in the morning of April 26, 1986. The alarms didn't go off all at once, apparently some political officer wanted to suppress a panic... That officer was now in a prison in Moscow, having fled the city in his state car. The city died a quick death, banners touting a new atomic future, were flying in the wind... now in tatters after a month of no one attending to them. Rubles lay in shops unused, food in pantries being an odd mixture of irradiated and decaying. The city was silent. Perhaps in a few decades some form of nature would come back, but the city was right now frozen in time. Here in Pripyat it was still April 25, 1986. There weren't riots and protests in Kiev or Warsaw, there wasn't the Politburo shifting blame, there wasn't Mikhail Gorbachev having to go to world leaders to ask for aid... for there were no people in Pripyat anymore. The only sound that came from the city was a remote controlled operated ZIL truck with cameras driving through the abandoned town, with a transmitter beaming the transmission back to Moscow.

Mikhail sat at the end of the long table, it had been weeks since that fateful April day and he one of the most powerful men in the world, couldn't get a straight answer out of these cabinet officials. The political officers blamed the military, the military blamed the plant managers, the plant managers blamed the engineers, and the engineers blamed the political officers. Even the basic facts of the incident eluded him, as all the parties were more eager to blame others... Some of the Political Officers even denied anything was happening at all, it was all fake news from fascists in America... yet he hadn't heard from those officers lately... not since some military officials visited a few ministries. He idly looked over at a bust of Lenin sitting to the side of the room, wondering if this would bring it all down. The politburo watched as the specially made truck drove through Pripyat, meanwhile in Brussels and DC, leaders of the world watched as the truck drove through to Chernobyl Reactor 4..

The political officers were fuming. The crashed cars, and some dead bodies littering the street, this should not be seen. An hastily landed helicopter abandoned, and in the distance... the looming structure of the Reactor Complex... There were still people working the site, the soldiers knew they were dead men walking... same with the technicians... the containers airdropped were emptied of supplies, but no care had been taken to follow military procedure. As the truck approached the checkpoint for the reactor's perimeter the shabbily dressed guard held up his hand. The operator applied the brakes. Mikhail gestured for the microphone, as the guard merely leaned against the booth. "Comrade, this is Secretary Gorbachev. This vehicle is automated to allow us to inspect the reactor site. Our credentials are on the Driver's seat.

The guard laughed, and Mikhail noticed that even some of the generals cringed when they saw the guard's face in more detail. "Too chickenshit to come here yourself?" said the man who's hair was patchy and falling out and lost several teeth, demonstrating signs of acute radiation poisoning, it was a minor miracle the man was even standing. A political officer yanked the microphone out of Mikhail's hand, "You will speak to us following protocol!"

The man spit out a tooth, "Fuck you." before stumbling towards the van. "You want to see the site? Fine drive on ahead, no one will stop you. No one here gives a shit about the Soviet Union anymore, we all know what your officers tried to lie to us about. We're going to die, and the political officer on site? Well when he threatened our families if we didn't stay on duty and condemn Pripyat to die, we threw him right into the core of reactor 4 or what's left of it. Pity he didn't turn into a monster, we'd have loved to kill him again."

Mikhail gestured for a guard to restrain the political officer and took the microphone back, "Apologies Comrade, I will do all I can to make sure your families are..." he was flummoxed on what to say, he truly had no idea what did become of their families, "...are safe." He paused, "Why do you and your men stay?"

The guard leaned back against the booth too weak to do much else "Cause if we leave... things will get worse. I can barely walk anymore so I am on checkpoint duty. Ate my last ration bar this morning. Those who can work... work with what little they have. Perhaps now you won't have political officers butting their way into the control rooms?" the man laughed, "Heh, the political officers finally fucked up so bad they can't cover it up for once. Drive on." he said not even bothering to pretend to lower or raise the gate, and went back to leaning against the booth.

Mikhail and the rest of the politburo members watched as the truck drove on, in mute horror at the devastation of the Chernobyl site. The political officers in the room tried to get up to leave until Mikhail pounded his fist on the desk, he didn't care if Brussels or DC heard this. "Sit down you idiots. You made this problem, you damn well better watch the consequences of your actions. Now watch you fools."
 
Lille Land Plot, France, Mid-1986
Well, I have a feeling we might be needing this soon. Presenting Lille Disney, after talking with Slynnwen about where precisely the park would be. Obviously when we figure out planning and what not I can add those in. Just to give you an idea Disneyland could comfortably fit in the build zone north of the Purple Line (which is a French Freeway, the blackline that makes the North boundary is a rail line.) You might be able to squeeze in an EPCOT but it would be pretty tight with no room for much maintenance or expansion area.


 
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Omake: Ring, ring! The future is calling. (semi-canon)
@Slynnwen Omake: Ring, ring! The future is calling.

These are all Generic Imagineers that shouldn't correspond to any real person.

Emily Cophafter and Johan Ramirez are a shocking contrast to each other in a lot of ways, for all that they work more or less the same job (design, architecture, and planning) and pour a lot of passion into it in their own ways. Johan is in his fifties or sixties, round face and short graying hair making his half-hispanic race not obvious at first glance. He carries a ratty, tattered leather briefcase and a plain metal flask, wears a sharp plaid dress shirt and tan slacks with round-rimmed glasses, and fiddles nervously with a cigarette, resisting the urge to light it.

Emily sits calmly, hands unmoving and clasped over her knee. She's dressed in a women's suit, clean and pressed, with her brown hair kept to shoulder length and contained in a simple, tight braid. No earrings, no wedding band, no accessories at all. Fashion is a mysterious beast to her, and best avoided by wearing something impeccably professional whenever possible. The one concession to that is an LCD-display electronic watch, its grey plastic casing and black display reminding her of the future.

"Electronics are the future, Johan. The NES is one thing, but they're not just toys. Calculators. Personal computers are so much easier to handle than paperwork. I got this software called Boeing Calc that lets me make a bill of materials in an hour or two. And if we find a new supplier or the price of lumber changes, I can just put in the new numbers and the IBM machine does all the math for me. It takes something like thirty seconds. It's amazingly fast. And I can draw floor plans and adjust them, change a whole drawing, with a few keystrokes."

"Kids these days and their toys. Give me a drafting table and a slide rule any day of the week and I'll get it done just as quick. I don't understand computers, and they break so often. It's all greek to me. I'm like - WIle E.! I'd press a button and it'd blow up on me or something. And - Well, I can type up a report on one and then print it, but I can do that on a typewriter too, you know?"

"You can fix mistakes before printing it on a computer. You just have to learn how to use them. I don't know how to program them, but I know how to use programs... Just like I'd have no idea how to make a TV remote or a microwave's buttons, but I can use it, you know? It's not any harder than a slide rule. Or an electronic calculator. Which you really should get."

Her colleague shrugs. "I'll stick with my slide rule. It's what I know. I can find answers faster than it'd take to find the buttons on an electronic calculator. Besides, I'm going to retire sooner or later, no sense learning a whole new tool set now."

"Hmm. You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

Johan shakes his head, but chuckles. "Prickly as ever. Leave me be, alright? You can use your computers and calculators, but I'm happy with a typewriter and a slide rule."

"Mobile telephones. Have you heard of them?"

"They're supposed to be very expensive. Do you have one of those too? I'd still know how to use a phone even if it doesn't have any wires, at least..."

"Yep! And yes, it's expensive. Two thousand five hundred dollars. And the connection service is a hundred twenty five hundred dollars a month plus sixty cents a minute if I use more than 200 minutes."

Johan whistles. "Damn, that is expensive. I could pay three months' mortgage with that! That monthly fee's as much as I spend on food! That's a lot of money to spend on a telephone, Andrea. How are you paying for it?"

"The company's paying for it. It was an uphill struggle convincing Clint... The sound quality is pretty bad, and the service network is pretty patchy. It's about the size and weight of a brick, which is inconvenient, and the battery doesn't last very long, which is more inconvenient. Maybe our lovely coworkers will fix that, though. I bet someone will make the new hydride batteries in a cell phone's size sooner or later."

"What's it even good for?" Johan sounds annoyed now. "Clint's wasting the company's money on things like that. In a recession, no less. You have an office phone. There's payphones all over the place if it comes to that."

Emily shrugs. "Tools magnify skills. Under the right circumstances, it can save you a lot of grief. I was at a meeting in Florida last week, a media and branding coordination meeting for the new EPCOT attractions, the Living Seas and Earth Rocks pavilions. They're both going to be decorated in a Jules Verne style, and we were working out ideas for ad layouts... But anyway, we all kind of meandered over to the new Animated Adventure hotel for food and inspiration after that, and on the way I overhead the head of the project and one of the construction managers talking about issues with the treatment equipment for the aquarium."

"Yes, I'd heard about that. These things always seem to come up at the last minute. It's shocking how fast the place is going up - they were just starting to pour concrete for the foundation in March and it's nearly done already! I take it you helped in some some small way?"

"Apparently the recession means the company that was going to provide aquarium-grade water filters for us went bankrupt, and they were having a little trouble getting replacements. The second company they found sent over a sample that wasn't good enough. I looked over some napkin scribbles with them and then right there in the hotel cafeteria I called a friend from college who I knew went into pumps and valves and the like to ask about other sources and it turns out we don't actually need to use a specialty aquarium supplier for the part that they couldn't provide. We could buy machines meant for water treatment from an abandoned municipal infrastructure project, get them fast and cheap. So then I'm put in charge of getting those in place, and we have two being shipped down that Friday and installed the next Tuesday and tested on Thursday."

Johan is silent for a little while, stunned. Then, "Good job! You're an energetic young go-getter, aren't you? Fixing something like that. These old bones can't keep up."

"That's only one example. I can go see some place, and if I get inspired or remember some problem a friend was having or spot a good opportunity, call over to ask a question or get their opinion right then. It was only that easy because I have a mobile telephone. Electronics are the future. You've got long experience and earned lessons on your side, though. You catch things this energetic young go-getter can't, things that would have been major problems, and I appreciate it. It takes lots of people working together on these ideas to bring them to life, after all."

Emily stands up as the monorail they were riding pulls into its station. "Now, let's go knuckle down on the Grand Floridan, old timer."

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, firebrand." Chuckling, the mismatched pair exit with the crowd and go to work.
 
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“Mission Control”
Vote Closed!
The Winning Vote said:
-[*] Don Bluth. He's been making puppy dog eyes around you. Will greatly develop closer ties to Nintendo, and max out your relationship with Don. There's practically guaranteed to be Nintendo games using Disney characters if Don goes over, and he'll likely pick up some interesting insights and traits while there. However, you'll lose Don for a year, even if that does mean he won't get into any arguments.

-[*] Wait on the tech. It worked for Space Mountain, it'll work here.

-[*] All aboard the nautilus. People (or your imagineers, at least) seem to love Verne, and you don't want to deny them.

-[*] The Legend of Zelda. If there's one thing Disney knows, it's fantasy.

-[*] Value.

-[*] Lille Disney.

Carl glances up from the letter. "Mike, you have to do something." He looks serious in a way that you hadn't realized he was capable of.

"I know, Carl. I know." You breathe out. "I've been trying to think of a speech I could make for weeks, and I've got nothing."

Carl takes a seat on one of the office chairs. "Have you talked to anyone else yet? Roy, Frank, any of the imagineers?"

"No, I didn't want to go to them without a plan of action. I'm the CEO, the buck stops with me." You say. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I know what most of them would say."

"Call a meeting. I think they may surprise you."

Fifteen minutes later, and you, Carl, and all your advisors are in a conference room with the door tightly shut, a shredder on hand, and enough copies of the letter for everyone. You wordlessly hand them out.

"Mike, what's this all about?" Asks Roy, before glancing down at the paper. "It's a bit early for a quarterly… meeting…" He swears.

There's a commotion from the imagineers, Tony and Tim with looks of abject horror as they let their copies fall to the floor. Marty curses before ripping his copy in half, seemingly on accident.

"So, I'm calling everyone on hand to address this." You say. "I've been working on this for weeks, but I haven't been able to come up with something satisfactory. Hopefully all of us working together can put together a plan."

Steve us the first one to offer something. "Maybe you could offer to mediate between the engineers and the management at NASA? Have them strike if demands aren't met?"

"With Reagan as President, after that mess with the air traffic controllers? I don't know how well that'd go over." You say.

"Aren't you meeting with Reagan for that Time photo shoot later? You could try and pass your concerns to him directly then, instead." Says Joe. "He'd probably listen, and it couldn't hurt to try."

"Or you could just give a copy of the letter to Time, maybe some other news outlets." Frank says, looking over the letter. "The fourth estate could probably blow this thing wide open."

As you nod, John Avise and the imagineers speak up. "Why not just give a speech?" Says John.

"You already did great with solar, I think you could really help here." Tony adds.

"Just emphasize the management aspects and it'd go fine." Tim finishes with.

You take a moment to think. "Carl, do you think you could help me with a speech?"

Carl takes a moment to think. "Patricia died about three years back, but Betty and Martha are still kicking, and this would be right up their alley." At your confused look, Carl clarifies. "Widows of the Apollo I fire. They'd almost certainly add the sort of punch you're looking for to a speech. I could help out too, try and soften the blow and keep things looking up."

"That would help out quite a bit, Carl." You respond. "Anyone else have ideas?"

Jeff and Don look at each other. "We could try and do a Disney short on NASA like with the old folklore animations, try and keep the torch going as well." Don says.

Jeff looks up towards the ceiling. "I'm just glad we have the studio capacity to do things like this. Could also see about doing a full TV series, maybe. Carl, you up for a longer term collab?"

Carl takes a moment to think. "Like a revised, animated Cosmos?" He pauses. "With a heavier focus on actually exploring, I think. I could probably handle that."

"Alright, that's a lot of great ideas. Let's put together a plan." You say, spirits buoyed by how well the meeting had gone. A nearly impossible problem that had you struggling alone for almost a month, and calling a meeting had the whole thing well on the way to being cleared up.

Pick 5 options to take. Some options will help solve the problem but reduce interest in space travel, others will have the opposite effect. Carl giving a speech is the advantageous option, his speech will have a minor boost to both sides of the problem. Note: you are addressing the managerial issues, but also trying to keep public interest and faith in the agency. All options are valid options, and there are no only bad "gotcha" options.

-[] Eisner gives a speech. Will focus on management and shame them into acting better, but will probably cause some issues with public support of the program.


-[] The Apollo I widows will give a speech. Will immediately result in action being taken to correct things at NASA, but cause public distrust in the agency to rise.

-[] You will give a copy of the letter to Time and other news outlets. The fourth estate will work to change the system and fix the issues, but will still lower trust in NASA.


-[] You will alert Reagan to the issue. The President has the power to address these concerns in a satisfactory matter, but he may also reduce funding further as the program is failing to show good results.

-[] You will mediate in negotiations between the engineers and management at NASA. You should be able to work things out, even if it causes the program to run slower as more safety checks get out in place.

-[] Carl Sagan will give a speech. He's got both the experience in the field to call for change credibly, but also the ability to still keep the interest in space travel alive.

-[] You will have the animation department make a new animated short focusing on the history of NASA. This will boost public pride in the program, but that may cause more problems for the engineers.


-[] You will commission an animated version of Cosmos that focuses on NASA. With Carl Sagan, this will bring renewed interest in exploring our universe, at the cost of putting more pressure on NASA to deliver.

-[] Nothing. You don't want to risk doing anything else. This won't help solve the problems at the agency, but it will let the public keep their untarnished view of NASA. Until something goes wrong. (May be taken multiple times)


An hour later, as everyone filed out of the room with you sticking behind to make some few final notes (and shred the copies of the letter you'd made), Carl sat down across from you. "You've got a great team here, Mike."

"I know, I'm lucky to work with them." You say.

"Just remember to put a bit more faith in them. You aren't doing it alone, and I don't think anyone could run a company this size alone anyway." With that, Carl gets up and walks out, leaving you to mull over his words. You really should trust your team more.

AN: Voting moratorium for 12 hours, then the vote is open for 36 hours. Take some time to consider what you want the response to be. The only real fail state here is taking a ton of options that only focus on one half of the problem, for example killing interest in NASA to fix the management issues or ignoring them entirely to pump more interest in the agency. It's probably best to plan vote this, as well.
 
Omake: Homemade Feud Episode Recap
I noticed some other video game show omake, so I figured that I might as well try my own?

@Slynnwen omake: Homemade Feud Episode Recap

"Homemade Feud" is the 12th episode of Mega Man: Full Charge and oh boy, is it a doozy.

I don't know about you, but I thought it was kind of weird that Aki's best friend was Bert Wily- after all, Albert Wily is basically Mega Man's nemesis in the classic series! But with this episode, it's starting to make sense-

For those who haven't watched this episode- and please, watch it before watching this video- or need a recap-

In this episode, Aki and Kianga invite Bert and his father over for a family dinner- and that's when we get our first revelation- Bert's named after his father Albert Wily. I theorized something along those lines in a previous video, but it is nice to get it confirmed this early on.

I imagine most people familiar with the Classic series- myself included- saw a basic episode plot coming- Light and Wily would fight, and then Mega Man would fight some Robot Master, Emerald Spears member, or Stardroid, and the two would set aside their differences- a generic plot. We should have known better than to underestimate this show, though, as while there was some inter family conflict, there wasn't any big fights or enemy plotting going on- instead, we got a flashback, which revealed a lot of new information- including about fan favorite Blues

Well he's not called Blues in this series any more than Aki's Rock, or Kianga's Roll, but based off of what we know, it's clear that Luke's his Full Charge equivalent.

Before the Hard Times, Light and Wily were roommates and close friends- or maybe more? I ship it.

The two built the robot Luke together- with confirmation that the Lightbots were intentionally given light-themed names- honestly the two scientists agreeing on a name that incorporates bits from both their last names -four letters, like "Wily", and Luke being a name derived from Lucius, or "the bright one"- being honestly pretty cute.

After a short domestic montage of Luke and his dads, we finally get more information on something everyone's been theorizing about since the first episode- the Hard Times

We already knew that the Hard Times were important for getting robots all their modern rights, but it wasn't until this episode that we saw how brutal humans used to be towards robots before then- which puts the Emerald Spears' goals in a horrifying new context

When the Hard Times start, both doctors are put to work making robots that have to fight for the humans- which honestly seems like a terrible idea, but who am I to judge? Luke is also forced to fight, and is presumed dead. Both Light and Wily finally became fully disillusioned with the war at that point, but they each handles it differently- while Light decided to quit and try to convince humanity to accept some of the robots' demands, Wily became fully disillusioned and deserted to the robots' side.

As one can guess from what was established earlier in the series, peace was ultimately reached due to Light's work, and robots got their rights without destroying any governmental infrastructure.

The doctors have been avoiding eachother since the end of the Hard Times- Wily resents Light over how things ended up and thinks that Light would gloat about being right, and Light just wants to forget everything and act like nothing happened.

At the end of the episode, the doctors still don't get along- Thomas is offended that Albert would think so little of him, and Albert in turn is disgusted by Thomas wanting to forget everything that happened

Now onto my thoughts-

I think that it's interesting what they did with Wily- here, he's not just some megalomaniac- he's not even one at all! Maybe they were going for a Magneto-Professor X dynamic here? Either way, I like what they're doing!

It's obvious that Luke's going to turn up alive at some point, but it's not clear how that will play out- perhaps forced under the control of the Emerald Spears?

Also, Bert's line at the end, "Maybe, if things had gone differently, we could have been a family." Ouch, straight to the heart there!

I also thought that the reference to Mega Board was cute, with the game they try to play being called "That's Paradise", which was the subtitle to the original name of the game- "Wily and Right no RockBoard"

All in all, I can say that I absolutely loved this episode- it revealed tons of new information about the world and its characters, and I just love how everyone played off of each other in this episode.

Remember to hit that like button and subscribe if you haven't already! This has been Animation Multiverse, thanks for watching.
 
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Omake: My Dinner with Mike
My Dinner with Mike

I hadn't really talked with Michael since he'd sat me down with Don (Bluth) and sorted out that situation where he had some of his guys stealing the animation sets and styles of moving mice. I later learned that it wasn't intentional, at least it wasn't provably intentional. For office harmony, Don and I made up. So, it was a surprise to me when Mike came to me one day while I was working with my team on The Rescuers and told me "Jeff. Why don't you come to my house this Sunday for dinner? Jane and the boys are out and I thought it'd be nice to have a small get together."

While Mike and I had been co-workers and then pals when we both left Paramount over a year ago, we hadn't able to have dinners . No, it was the fact that Mike actually had the time. Since he came to Disney, it was like every moment that Mike had was spent on some project or another: always busy, always moving, always thinking. The results spoke for themselves, but it was a sight to behold.

So, I found myself in front of Mike's house, a bottle of wine in hand, when another person came behind me.

"Jeff."

"Don."

Don and I could barely get a word out, our wary glances at one another could fill a void. We'd worked closely before, well, before the incident. I didn't know what to say to this man who'd I formerly worked closely with when the door opened.

And a widely smiling Mike in business casual and a chef's apron opened the door.

"Guys! Thanks for coming. Oh! Wine! Thank you," he said as he ushered us in through his spacious home to his kitchen. Where there was bubbling red sauces and things in the oven.

"I didn't know you cooked, Mike," Don said as he looked into the oven, trying to see what was in there. My eyesight was better- it was a roast.

"Oh, just something I picked up along the way- I find it destresses. I hope you like French food- I've been trying out French recipes since we chose Lillie as our new park location," the CEO of Disney said as he once again started stirring the red sauce.

"Really? French food?" I asked with what must have been some skepticism since Mike looked at me with a glance that turned into a small smile.

"You know what they say- to know the people, you've got to know the food," he said," This is Ratatouille. It sounded like a fun dish to try out."

"I...don't think that's a saying," I replied.

Mike just gestured at a pile of vegetables.

"Hey, Jeff. Could you be a pal and help wash those vegetables? Don, could you cut them- rough cut is fine. This is a rustic dish."

We did this for a few minutes in silence. When the boss asks you for something, you do it.

"You know, guys. I know things were tense with the entire mouse incident. But, you guys have always had a great working relationship."

"I know, Mike. But this idea of me stealing animation! It's ludicrous and-" Don defended.

"We know it, Don. You know Jeff, and I think he'll agree: he's passionate about the work. And, sometimes, his passion comes off strong." Mike placated.

"Plus, you know, there was enough information for me to suspect," I supplied.

"Now, that's not helping, Jeff," Mike said," We all know that it was just one department helping another. And, we have a system in place for there to be correct attribution in the future."

I knew what Mike was doing- he was trying to make peace at work. He'd done this for me a few times before, calming the egos of those I bested. It was both appreciated and annoying- this constant coddling.

"Okay, point." I agreed.

We cooked in silence a few more minutes before Mike sighed loudly.

"Guys, let's get past it. You guys changed the world of animation- the Oscars now have a new category for animation! Because of what you guys did! Isn't that amazing?"

"Well...yeah. It was," Don agreed. I murmerred my agreement.

"And when you two work together- wow. The work is amazing. So, let's just let bygones be bygones- it was a huge misunderstanding. Why let something like that ruin a beautiful working relationship?

I knew when I'd overstepped: a survival instinct. Mike wanted peace, and he wanted it now (smiling face or not).

"Yeah- you're right. Sorry, Don," I started.

"No, you're right. Its all right, Jeff. Water under the bridge," he said as he offered his hand. I shook it.

Mike smiled.

"Good- especially since I hope that you, Jeff, will help out Don with any issues that may arise while he's gone."

My interest was piqued- why would he be gone. Don, for his part, also looked interested.

"Well, Don. You're going to Japan for the Nintendo thing-"

Mike was interrupted by Don putting his knife down and giving Mike a large pat on the back as he offered up his hand. Which, Mike shook. Of course.

Don got his yearned for trip for a year. And what did I get? More work.

That is what I thought until I saw the glint in Mike's eye. And then I realized as he nodded.

I would be getting experience running two animation departments/corporations. Something that would be helpful if I wanted to make my way to a bigger chair.

And thus started my dinner with Mike.

I learned, later, that he started doing this dinners with other employees, too. They all had their own Dinner with Mike.
 
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