Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<"No problem Bean, just happy people understand my insane rants ;D. Now, I hope you pass it along to the boys at Disney, even if its just to call me names and throw things ;D. Oh we already do that LOL>> LMAO!!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hmmmm, I am a little late to the party, I have been away on business with very little free time. Bean, let me answer your question. To me, it is not about whether there are characters or not that make or break an attraction. It as about the attraction themselves and whether they develop the story further or not. I would not mind a Zorro Dark ride in DCA as that is wholly apropriate, or if Mickey and the gang were dressed as forest rangers in the Redwood Creek Challenge trail. But for Golden Dreams to be replaced with Little Mermaid, or the orange stinger (which was somewhat clever for such a horrid ride system, to be replaced with a Silly Symphony layover (which frankly travelling Carnivals in Europe slap cartoon characters all over their carny rides) get my hackles up. I fell in love with Disneyland (and the other parks) because they transport me to a different place or time, and are immersive in their ability to draw you in to the theme (Goofy's Flying school is not likely to do this). My issue with this is that Carsland is about the only area that seems to live up to the Disney quality (maybe Little Mermaid) and they all use toons. This is disheartening, because when people think Disneyland at a subconcious level, I am sure they think about the lushness of the Jungle Cruise, the immersion of NOS, PotC and the HM. Toons are cheap and lazy IMHO. Do spinners have their place? Yes of course, a Disney park should have a balanced selection of offerings. However it seems like all we are getting (other than the entrance) are toons. You say there are non toon items on the cards, but the 2nd tranche of the Programme worries me. If the toons are successful, will the leadership team insist on more? If they are not, will they pull the plug? There are no publically announced plans that excite me in any Disney park any longer, and that is really sad. Quite often, it is the non character attractions that have the biggest following and are the most popular in the long term. With the exception of Honey Hunt at TDL (maybe Peter Pan, though the low capacity may make it artificially look popular), what cartoon character attraction has the same level of popularity as PotC, Indy, HM or Soarin'? If there were one or two character based additions of no more than say 40% of the additions I would be fine, but the tooning is not compelling and has never been compelling to me. In fact, as I have defended my passion for disney over the decades, it has been because people that have never been thought it was a bunch of fun fair rides with cartoon characters on them, and now this is exactly what WDI is producing???!!!! This to me is the key issue.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Let's look at the list of additions to the Disney theme park Canon over the last 10 years (post park opening) and let's see what has been the most popular (CAPS) - I may hae missed a few, so be sure to update if so: 56 attractions total 22 Non film licence attraction count Of those, how many are popular - 12 or 55% 34 licence based attractions - 15 or 44% So by this rationale, it would make sense to go with a greater amount of non Disney licence attractions. DLR 50th Anniversary Exhibit Pirate's Lair on TSI Winnie the Pooh FINDING NEMO SUBS (though I suspect it is the subs more than Nemo that makes this popular) Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters TOWER OF TERROR Monsters Inc Playhouse Disney (I don't have an issue with this one as it seems appropriate as it is in a studio) TOY STORY MANIA (new) Bugsland attractions WDW Stitch Encounter Monster's Inc Laugh Floor Aladdin's Magic Carpets PHILHARMAGIQUE (again, although I think it totally overrated and I prefer MV3D and ITTBAB, this one is in Fantasyland, so I don't have a huge problem, but I would have preferred for it to be in Toontown) Pooh Playground SOARIN' MISSION SPACE Imagination v3 THE LIVING SEAS WITH NEMO AND FRIENDS (at least Nemo is a fish!!!, so while it annoys me a little, I am ok with this one) El Rio makeover O Canada Wonders of China LIGHTS MOTORS ACTION TOY STORY MANIA (new) One Man's Dream KALI RIVER RAPIDS FLIGHTS OF WONDER MAHARAJA JUNGLE TREK EXPEDITION EVEREST FINDING NEMO MUSICAL (I suspect it is the quality of this show that adds to the attraction - I am not a huge Nemo fan, but again it is an animal show in an animal park, so ok in my books) Primeval Whirl Triceratops Spin DLRP TARZAN (awesome quality) Woody's Round Up Pirate Beach BUZZLIGHTYEAR LASER BLAST MULAN and now the LION KING (awesome quality) HISTA SM Mission2 CRUSH COASTER (though the fact it is a coaster is what probably makes it popular) CARS QUATRE RUE RALLY (they were in need of family capacity attractions) TOWER OF TERROR STITCH LIVE (in a Studio, so ok) HKDL Autopia ITSASMALLWORLD (oh, wait, there are characters in this now, bet it would still be popular without) Rocket Water Play Area STITCH LIVE Animation Academy TDR BUZZ Monsters Inc Hide and Seek (is likely to be v popular, but it's the immersion that seems interesting) TOWER OF TERROR Turtle Talk (likely to be popular) Sinbad v2 RAGING SPIRITS
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Now this is subjective, but of those, only 35 (63%) have the Disney qualty we know and love, and most of them are the non Disney attractions. Now this is just my view, but I would like to think a pretty informed one. If people were getting more PotC style attractions, and I think Cars has the potential here, I think people would be more likely to travel to DCA and not complain about price hikes. But with the PP makeover, I bet people will be complaining about price as the county fair offer cartoonless versions of the same rides, and the toons appeal to little ones who cannot ride (My biggest beef about Crush Coaster at WDSP - a child themed coaster that is too intesnse for the demo that the theme appeals to).
