Originally Posted By SpokkerJones I would consider this post spoiler-light, but then again I don't know what your definition of a spoiler is. It isn't in 3D. It isn't interactive. You can't shoot at anything. You can't view your high score at the end. It makes minimal use of projections. There aren't multiple experiences or random scenes designed to placate $15/month annual passholders so they can ride over and over and over again. What it is is a truly modern dark ride in the tradition of Fantasyland. It is what Winnie the Pooh should have been. In the realm of Disney dark rides based on their classic animated films, this is one of the best. In some ways it reminds me of a smaller scale version of the Sindbad ride at Tokyo Disney Sea. The Little Mermaid ride would also feel right at home in that park's Mermaid's Lagoon, and I think DisneySea fans would welcome it with open arms. They packed a lot into a small space. Unlike Pooh, The Little Mermaid ride features several audio animatronics that do more than simple two-step movements (though there are a lot of those too). The environment is not composed mostly of cardboard-like cutouts as on Pooh. Projections aren't the star of the show as on Nemo, but only serve to support the action (I only found one of them a bit awkward). I lament that this ride wasn't built in Fantasyland proper, because it deserves to stand alongside Peter Pan, Mr. Toad and Alice.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Sounds great, although I'll never understand what people's issue with the Pooh ride is.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Didn't think this was posted here. I posted in the wrong forum because I forgot it was in DCA for a second. Then I didn't think the post actually went through because the site was stalling. Disregard I guess.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "The environment is not composed mostly of cardboard-like cutouts as on Pooh." That's not true. The LSD room is mostly flats, but the rest of the ride is 3D figures. Toad, on the other hand... "Sounds great, although I'll never understand what people's issue with the Pooh ride is." I understand the issues with placement, but the ride itself is a pretty typical Disney dark ride. The anger over this ride is weird.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones " but the rest of the ride is 3D figures. Toad, on the other hand..." -Toad was built in 1959. -Toad Hall was eventually remodeled I believe, and looks better than anything on Pooh. -Toad is a lot faster than Pooh. -Despite painted flats, Toad includes neat effects like the train collision. -Hell is not painted flats. Pooh is just a completely boring, lame and plain dark ride with absolutely zero creativity and effort put into it.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Oh, and on Toad, the bumpiness you feel when you swerve onto the train tracks or the pier is brilliant. Details like this set Toad apart.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 "Toad was built in 1959. " The original. 1955. Version two, 1983. But it doesn't matter. MTWR just works, and I love it.
Originally Posted By dlport Thank you for the post Dabob, and the gentle way in which you corrected the dates on Toad.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Toad was built in 1959" The original opened in '55. It was completely redone in '82. "Pooh is just a completely boring, lame and plain dark ride..." To be honest I think most of storybook type character based DL dark rides are all kind of lame. The exception might be Roger Rabbit, Monster's Inc and maybe Peter Pan, but the latter is too short to be truly stellar. "... with absolutely zero creativity and effort put into it." This is an overstatement.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Agreed Hans. They were always just ok when I was a kid. Thankfully Monsters Inc and Roger Rabbit are a step up.
Originally Posted By SafariRob >>I lament that this ride wasn't built in Fantasyland proper, because it deserves to stand alongside Peter Pan, Mr. Toad and Alice.<< Really? That good, eh? I can't wait to ride it next month. At least Florida has the room to put it in Fantasyland. Of coarse, they don't have Mr. Toad and Alice. I'll take Mermaid in DCA over a Toad-less and Alice-less Fantasyland any day!
Originally Posted By gadzuux Personal opinion - but I'd take either Alice and/or Toad over Monsters Inc. any day. To my tastes MI doesn't tell it's story well, lacks a "fantastical environment" and seems too spacious and empty. And I've long thought that Peter Pan deserves to be relocated, enlarged, and made more ambitious. It's a proven hit, but could benefit from a serious boost of effects and capacity - maybe something like an indoor ski lift.
Originally Posted By SafariRob I like MI...but I don't LOVE it. It was shoehorned in and they did a great job of filling the space. Having said that, they could have done much better if it was created from scratch. As for a new PP ride...great idea and I agree...but it will not happen as long as there are 45-50 minute waits for the classic ride. They COULD add a small enclosed/interactive queue. At least give people something to look at while they suffer in line.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I wrestled with the idea that I should just pass on this post, but some important things seem to be left out here. The first is that Pooh was designed and built for kids. It was also designed so that adults could ride with the kids and enjoy their enjoyment. I know, Walt said this and Walt said that, about "a place where both parents and children could enjoy it together". I believe that this is what he meant. There would be no way possible for a child and adult to equally benefit from any attraction. What a child might think is great, an adult would find boring and vice-versa. If Walt had really intended that all would equally enjoy something I doubt that there would be a carousel there, or Dumbo, or the Teacups and a host of others. It is designed so all can experience it together, not necessarily have it affect them in the same ways. I think in one of the interviews with Walt he said that he used to sit on the bench, eating peanuts while his daughters rode the merry go round. Where do you suppose he'd be today if his Daughters were riding the carousel. They don't sell peanuts so it would be a giant turkey leg or something, but I doubt he would be riding the "merry-go-round". I never did like Toad. It always reminded me of any carnival dark ride I ever went on. Like they could pack it up on a truck at a moments notice and haul it off to the next empty field. I, from the beginning, never thought that it measured up to Disney's ability to be different and a step above the old mid-ways. But, as I know, many of you guys loved it. Again, maybe it's a held on to childhood memory and that's OK, but personally, I do not miss it at all and I am not particularly fond of the Pooh attraction either. To me it's just a minor step up from Toad.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "They COULD add a small enclosed/interactive queue." Were you around before the 1989 remodel Rob? The exterior was like walking up to a ride at a carnival: <a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l910ck9TM01qzi27yo1_500.jpg" target="_blank">http://24.media.tumblr.com/tum..._500.jpg</a> "Again, maybe it's a held on to childhood memory and that's OK, but personally, I do not miss it at all and I am not particularly fond of the Pooh attraction either. To me it's just a minor step up from Toad." I agree. All of the fantasy dark rides are charming attractions, but I sometimes think that they get far more recognition from the fan base than they really deserve. To me Pooh follows in the tradition of the original classics, which is why it's so confusing when people say it's lame and uncreative.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>I agree. All of the fantasy dark rides are charming attractions, but I sometimes think that they get far more recognition from the fan base than they really deserve. To me Pooh follows in the tradition of the original classics, which is why it's so confusing when people say it's lame and uncreative. <<< Agreed, it is equal to or better than Alice, Mr Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio and even Peter Pan IMHO.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>To me Pooh follows in the tradition of the original classics, which is why it's so confusing when people say it's lame and uncreative.<< I think because it came 40-something years after the others. I know that I wasn't expecting an E-ticket, but I had hoped for something more creative than what it ended up being. I hoped to see some cool, shiny Lucite honey dripping around, trees and shrubbery that were fully rendered, not painted flats representing all of that. A few characters that had more movement and life, rather than fairly static displays. Perhaps a little more of the fun mix of the world existing inside a book, as in the original Pooh films. Ride vehicles that aren't so darn odd and ugly. I don't hate it. But it could have been much better (and much more popular, too).
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan The water effects in Pooh are really good, however. So good, that they underscore what creativity can do when it's applied, and that only makes some of the Disney Store style figures seem weaker.
