Originally Posted By Fluppydogs >What happened to the idea of all inclusive attractions. There have not been many built in the last 10 years and there are not many on the drawing boards either.< Wasn't Animal Kingdom built about ten years ago....it has plenty of all inclusive attractions. > Yet we all love Haunted Mansion, Potc and Jungle Cruise.< Would you take a newborn on those attractions?...probably not...so does that make them not all inclusive? What's great about WDW for families is all that they offer.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Actually, my kids did ride Pirates and Hm from the age of about 10-12 weeks old, have been ever since, and love them. WDW is not great IMHO, far from it, and it is my least fav Disney resort I have been to.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Also, again, DAK is not as young family friendly as it looks on the face of it. Other than the animal exibits and shows, almost all the attractions have height restrictions or are aimed at little kids.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden I'm going to disagree and agree with Fluppydogs. <<8.EPCOT World Festival of Kites- Wow you must be really old. If Disney announced today that Epcot was going to have a Kite Festival this place would have a post of what a bad idea that would be. Kites I did not know that they were still being made. I can not get this image out of my head of me asking my kids to turn off their computers and IPods so I could take them out and fly a kite...the looks I would get would be hilarious.>> You should do exactly that. If it's going to be a nice weekend wherever you are tell your kids to go fly a kite. We're getting ready for the Jersey shore in a few weeks and one thing we do every year to get ready is for the kids to pick out the kite to take on the beach. Regarding the kite festival, I would love to see that comeback as an annual event. It's a perfect summer theme. <<What is not Family friendly about TOT, Test Track, Soarin, etc.? We enjoy these attractions as a family and have a blast doing so...>> A little something called height & age requirements. These attractions are fine for families with older children if of course they like that kind of thing.>> I think Disney has done an excellent job creating family friendly attractions. We'll be down in August with a 7yo, 3yo, and 4month old. The 7yo can and will go on every attraction. And for our 3yo who is 40" in height, there are only 5 attractions in all WDW he's not able to go on due to height: SM, MS, RNRC, PWhirl, and EE, almost one per park which I don’t think is bad. Everything else, TOT, Splash, BTMRR, etc he will want to go on. I’d say for our family those rides are very friendly. Well maybe except for the baby but I don’t think she’ll mind. And I don’t buy into the criticism of some other attractions that are geared only towards little kids. I was 3yo for my 1st WDW trip and I’m 38 now, I don’t think Disney every created a castle show that I was even remotely interested in. If every attraction had to appeal to every person and every personality that went through the turnstiles it be a pretty boring place. Would I go see Playhouse Disney if I didn’t have kids, probably not, but I can guarantee you I’d go there before I’d ever set foot in American Idol.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 While I agree with Dave's point, I think his date if off by a few decades. I didn't really notice the trend toward attractions that were so segmented audience-wise until the mid-90s. And I can't complain about a park like DAK as I see only two attractions (EE and CTX) that are more thrill-oriented. Still, EE is just the Matterhorn on 'roids and Walt had no problem opening that way before this Spirit roamed this plane of existence back in '59. I DO, though, find the trend troubling ... and even worse teh trend of cartooning/dumbing down anything and everything. And that's definitely something that didn't happen until the mid-late 90s.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I used 1977 with the intro of Space Mountain and soon after Big thunder replacing the Mine train. The Matterhorn did not have a height limit. To me this was the beginning of segregation, and then it excellerated with either toons or thrills (DAK being the slight exception).
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I agree about the dumbing down of the parks. I have no problem with attractions that thrill. I think it adds another dimension to the parks and is probably necessary to keep guests coming. But one thing Disney seems to have forgotten is that its the little touches that make them special. The Kite Festival, for instance, probably didnt make Disney a dime, but it was a great little festival that added to the day. My kids still remember seeing it. Its losing Center Street on Main Street to add more space to see merchandise. Did the MK really need additional retail space to sell the same stuff that is sold other places. Its also losing the Penny Arcade, Magic Shop or the conversion of the Fire House to a shop. As for some of the comments about the list. They are one persons things that they will miss. Maybe the wording of the title is inaccurate since you cant miss something that wasn't built but I think the general feeling is there are some things that will never return or were on the horizon and never built. I think we all have things that were special to us and are no longer there. What are yours?
Originally Posted By brotherdave Great list sjhym33! I agree with most of it! What I would add to it: - Lengthy, immersive dark ride attractions filled with AA's and special effects that once dominated Epcot. I really miss Horizons, World of Motion, and the original Journey Into Imagination - Discovery Island - A wonderful, quiet spot in WDW. Sure, you can see many of the same animals at DAK now, but the remoteness of the island made it so very appealing to me. It was beautiful and tranquil, but not too far away from all the other excitement of the theme parks. - Daily late operating hours - I remember years ago how late both MK & Epcot would stay open. All major attractions and eateries would stay open until at least midnight. These were golden times to me. Lines were shorter, and the parks just sparkled at night. You had time to savor that. Also, if you were hungry, it wasn't impossible to find something to eat. During one trip, we were at the MK when it closed at 7:00pm. I wanted to get something to eat at 6:00pm (you know, dinner time for most folks) and almost every food establishment was closed! Pecos Bills, Pinocchio's, Cosmic Rays, ALL CLOSED by 6:00PM! The only place opened it seemed was Casey's on Main Street, and the line was sooo long, I just gave up. I waited until after we left the park to eat, and it was well after 9:00pm before I did. I guess the Mouse didn't want me to eat after 5:00pm!
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden <<Its losing Center Street on Main Street to add more space to see merchandise. Did the MK really need additional retail space to sell the same stuff that is sold other places. Its also losing the Penny Arcade, Magic Shop or the conversion of the Fire House to a shop.>> I do miss the Magic Shop and Arcade. It's been along time since I spent any significant amount of time on Main St which is unfortunate for Disney since I have more money to spend now then when I was 14 or 15, but the merchandise is far less interesting too. Now it's all about hustling to get to the other lands.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Brother Dave and Fe Maiden - both of you have harped on to my pet peeves. And in Paris last week, it was the staggered opening and closing of attractions that really got to me (Labrynth only open between 11:30 and 3:30, Star Tours closes an hour before park close, Autopia opens at 11:30, and Indy at 12:30. WTH? Certainly not as magical as it used to be. In fact, for me the magic is gone. Now it is more of a family friendly vacation destination, before it was a nexus, a place to learn and play, and a place of wonder.
Originally Posted By Fluppydogs >The Kite Festival, for instance, probably didnt make Disney a dime, but it was a great little festival that added to the day.< A Kite Festival would be alright...it is just when I saw the word kite I could not remember the last time I saw anyone flying one. Talking with my husband we relized that we have never gone kite flying with our kids(Do not know if that is good or bad). A Kite Festival at Epcot would be very cool....something my family would only see at Disney...nice.
Originally Posted By Fluppydogs >I think we all have things that were special to us and are no longer there. What are yours?< The parks are basiccally the same from when I was a kid....there is one attraction that I do miss and that is the Skyway. Only went on it a couple of times and loved it.
Originally Posted By Fluppydogs >I really miss Horizons, World of Motion, and the original Journey Into Imagination< I don't want to offend you brotherdave but I just have to say....Boring..BORING...and Triple Boring. Give me Mission Space,Test Track and bulldoze down the Journey Into Imagination Pavillion and build something new.IMO
Originally Posted By MPierce >> 8.EPCOT World Festival of Kites- Wow you must be really old. If Disney announced today that Epcot was going to have a Kite Festival this place would have a post of what a bad idea that would be. Kites I did not know that they were still being made. I can not get this image out of my head of me asking my kids to turn off their computers and Ipods so I could take them out and fly a kite...the looks I would get would be hilarious. << Perhaps children would be better off if they did turn off their computers, and ipods, and the family went to a park together to fly a kite.
Originally Posted By danyoung >I don't want to offend you brotherdave but I just have to say....Boring..BORING...and Triple Boring.< Fluppy, I'm defending you on another thread. Play nice, huh? You can state your position without climbing up in someone else's face.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Fluppy, I value everyone's opinions. However, you may have found them boring, I found them whimsical and inspiring. Thrill rides are fun (Tower of Terror is my all time favorite WDW ride), but there's something about those lengthy Future World omnimover rides that just seemed filled with Disney wonder and magic. They were truly for all age groups. No height restrictions at all. Nothing scary, either. Just magical. Only Spaceship Earth remains from that wonderful era. And as much as I love SE, it has always been my 'fourth favorite' of those rides. Horizons was my first, followed by Journey Into Imagination, then World of Motion, then Spaceship Earth. I'm just thankful that it still remains (mostly) intact. The current ending not included. That's why Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion are so special to me, too. These were rides that the whole family could enjoy. But I also like the thrill rides - Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, Test Track, etc. I don't care for Mission Space, but if you do, that's fine. I just wish that they didn't have to remove Horizons for it. Splash Mountain is more like the lenghthy AA filled attractions I love, but also has the nifty thrill elements. In my opinion, a good mix of both types of rides make for a healthy and successful park experience. Attention has been placed recently on the thrills and shows. It's time for a new long dark ride masterpiece like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc, to be added again. Perhaps the oft-proposed-but-not-built-yet Little Mermaid ride will be it. Thrills are fine, but so are immersive show attractions.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I don't want to offend you brotherdave but I just have to say....Boring..BORING...and Triple Boring. Give me Mission Space,Test Track and bulldoze down the Journey Into Imagination Pavillion and build something new.IMO>> And you are free to have that opinion (at least I think you are since the election) ... but I personally would give up BOTH TT and MS to have those three back ... I realize I am well in the minority on TT, but I feel it is the most overrated attraction WDW has ever built ... hell, the most overrated Disney attraction ever, anywhere. And I understand the technical marvel (when it works right, which is about as often as a typical GM auto) of the ride system, which most riders don't. Still, it is a big yawn for me. MS I like a whole lot more, but was a major misstep for WDI (hey Eddie, you can pipe in over here too!)in that all you have is a thrill ride (which tends to be too intense for a large segment of the vistor population) in a very ordinary building (nice facade or not) ... WDW had many options to build complete space pavilions, but opted not to.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Perhaps children would be better off if they did turn off their computers, and ipods, and the family went to a park together to fly a kite.>> But how would they develop into 'healthy' morbidly obese couch 'taters with 'texting thumb' and 'twittering tibias'? (Doesn't own an ipod)
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>I don't want to offend you brotherdave but I just have to say....Boring..BORING...and Triple Boring. Give me Mission Space,Test Track and bulldoze down the Journey Into Imagination Pavillion and build something new.IMO<<< OMG, I could not disagree more. Mission Space is a dud, and TT is fun, but the waits do not justify it. Horizons and World of Motion were masterpieces.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> And you are free to have that opinion (at least I think you are since the election) ... but I personally would give up BOTH TT and MS to have those three back ... I realize I am well in the minority on TT, but I feel it is the most overrated attraction WDW has ever built ... hell, the most overrated Disney attraction ever, anywhere << You could say anything you wanted to before. You just might take a trip to Cuba over it. You're not alone in your opinion of TT. I really appreciated the advance technology when I walked off the ride a few years back. It was hard trying to thumb down a ride on that track. >> And I understand the technical marvel (when it works right, which is about as often as a typical GM auto) of the ride system, which most riders don't. << Not the GM rant again. That's just no way for a shareholder to talk. >> MS I like a whole lot more, but was a major misstep for WDI (hey Eddie, you can pipe in over here too!)in that all you have is a thrill ride (which tends to be too intense for a large segment of the vistor population) in a very ordinary building (nice facade or not) ... WDW had many options to build complete space pavilions, but opted not to. << When you are in L.A. you can drop into his restaurant, and convince him what neat guy's we are over here, and to join us on occasion.
