Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I argued quite a bit against the addition of the Disney characters to It's a Small World. And while I still don't care for the "idea" of adding the characters, I have to admit now having seen it in person... It's still a small world, after all. The characters, for the most part, were not glaringly obvious nor particularly out of step with the attraction. In fact, I think most would have escaped my notice entirely, especially with the holiday overlay. My worries that the characters would become the focal point and a distraction were wrong. Basically, after debating it on the boards so strongly, the addition of the characters resulted in a big shrug from me. Pass the salt, please?
Originally Posted By Tiggirl I'd give you salt... but you'd probably just use it on your popcorn instead. Ewww! ~Beth
Originally Posted By gadzuux Do they still sell that "coarse-ground portuguese sea salt" for $20 a bag? Maybe that'll help. My concern (and I haven't seen the new changes yet) was that it would turn into a disney version of "where's waldo", where people would be trying to spot Mary Poppins and Peter Pan and Stitch. Honestly, IASW has always been like fingernails on a chalk board for me anyway, so since I never had any emotional investment in this ride, I didn't much care if they put Darth Vader and Abraham Lincoln in there.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Totally agree 2ooney! I held back judgment until seeing the additions myself. But I also found the characters unobtrusive as they blended nicely. I don't mind them at all, of course they could be removed and it wouldn't bother me either .
Originally Posted By alexbook Either I'm getting used to them, or they blend better with the holiday overlay. I still think they're a net minus, but not a big one.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>My concern (and I haven't seen the new changes yet) was that it would turn into a disney version of "where's waldo", where people would be trying to spot Mary Poppins and Peter Pan and Stitch. << It was like that for me because I was really looking for them. But if I hadn't known about it, I think perhaps only the addition of Stitch would have been very noticable. The "America" room was smallish and felt sparse in comparison with the other countries.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think they blend in better with the overlay, since there is so much else going on that you can get distracted by. There's a ton more stuff in most of the places where the characters are (who's looking at Alice when there's a giant tree behind her?). The music still clashes, but it seems that it doesn't play for the entire music loop, so it's a matter of luck for which songs you get as your boat passes by.
Originally Posted By Ursula Oh, I still hate it. The America room jsut makes me cringe and I want to take a bulldozer to it. I usually try to talk during that part or take lots of flash pictures to distract my fellow riders. But, since I only have to ride it now when friends have meets on it, I can grit my teeth and go with the flow.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt << Passing the salt to Kar2oonMan. I haven't seen it, but my feeling is that if there was one place at DL where characters fit it would have to be ISAW. I'm not crazy about the idea, but it makes far more sense to me than much of the other character stuff they are adding everywhere.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight Passes K2M a tall cool glass or warm mug of his favorite beverage, to wash it all down with.
Originally Posted By DlandDug I was reserving all my passion until the thing actually opened to the public, then found my reaction was about the same: It's No Big Deal.
Originally Posted By danyoung I have a newfound respect for you, 2oony! Very classy to admit an error. I've always said that there's no way to really tell if a change is going to be good or bad until we actually see it. Almost everyone was totally against the Tarzan-ifying of the treehouse, and now most people (not all!) think it turned out pretty well. Maybe not all of them danged Imagineers are idiots after all!
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle Although I've only seen the changes at HKDL, I tend to agree - they're not nearly as big a deal as everyone was worried about. And I do think they'd probably be even LESS of a big deal during the holiday overlay.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Since they are so blended in, it still makes me question why do it at all. It isn't something they've really promoted, and it likely escapes the notice of the casual guest. I guess I am missing the point of it all.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I assumed when the controversy was originally happening that it was about selling plush in the gift shops.
Originally Posted By tonyanton I think the characters in DL are even less obvious than the ones in Hong Kong from what I've seen, which is good. I'm partial to the Mary Blair-esque Alice and White Rabbit myself.
Originally Posted By danyoung >Since they are so blended in, it still makes me question why do it at all.< I can tell you EXACTLY why they made the changes. It's for US - you, me, everyone else on LP and Mouseplanet and Miceage and everywhere else in the online world who might feel strongly enough to have an opinion. Look at it - they made a change to a totally classic attraction, but it was so subtle that most of us are accepting and even relishing the change. That seems to me like a really good use of Imagineering resources!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "I'm partial to the Mary Blair-esque Alice and White Rabbit myself." I do have a bit of a soft spot for that White Rabbit. He really manages to fit in well with the style of the attraction, as well as the style of the character itself. And now that they have that cute little card tree next to them for the holidays, I must say that it's definately my favorite part of the redo. There are definately others that don't fit in nearly as well, but Alice works nicely and the White Rabbit is just too adorable to pass up. They should sell him somewhere in the park...
Originally Posted By ecdc Curious. I had kind of a ho-hum attitude towards the whole thing before they debuted, with a small lean towards the negative. Then I saw it and really hated it. It felt like "Oh, hey look everyone! It's Pinocchio! Let's all spend the rest of our ride looking out for the other characters we're already familiar with!" It doesn't feel like innovative progress, but self-referential and safe. "Everyone just loves these characters, why risk displeasing them with something new they might not like?"
