Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I associate downtown with any central business district<<< I guess that's more accurate. When we had been to NY, Downtown was the the finicial/business district. I think that's true for nearly all major city, at least in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus OH, Indianapolis and Toronto, Canada it was that way. I lived for half a year in a small American city, but I don't remember that someone called it downtown, but it had a Main Street, like at DL, where all shops, restaurants, bars and banks were located.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think WDW visitors will be able to figure it out. After all, they've been able to figure out what Epcot is years after the word actually meant anything. Whether you particularly like the name or not, I think it is foolish to think people won't know what is there.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think with Disney Springs they were going after a more Floridian vibe, which is refected in the new them. Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island at WDW definitely had a kind of frenetic festival marketplace feel akin to Fanuiel Hall, Universal CityWalk, Navy Pier or Pier 39. I'm not a fan of the new name, but the concept seems to be radically different, so a name change is appropriate.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I think with Disney Springs they were going after a more Floridian vibe>> It sure sounds like one of the urban sprawl mini-towns that have sprung up in Orlando or elsewhere in the State. The weird thing is that it doesn't scream RDE - it sounds residential to me. The original name Village Marketplace did what it said on the tin. This just doesn't tell you what it is. It was going to be Disney's Buena Vista Springs for a while - harking back to the original concept. I gather it wasn't buzzy enough for marketing. I still don't know why it is Disney rather than Disney's [something] Spring. I also thought that the Wharf name would have worked better. Anyhow a name is just a name. It isn't Flamingo Crossing which definitely isn't an improvement!
Originally Posted By monorailblue This is what I think of: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://whenonearth.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/japan-hot-spring-snow-monkeys-woe2-690x456.jpg">http://whenonearth.net/wp-cont...x456.jpg</a> And the Disney / Disney's I think works just fine in Disney Springs (think "Hearst Castle" or "Washington Monument"), but less so in "Disney California Adventure". Although I'm infinitely grateful we didn't get a "DisneyAdventure" type elision.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I still don't know why it is Disney rather than Disney's [something] Spring.<< Is it part of that corporate push to drop the apostrophe-S from the name of things? Like how the films are now being released as "Disney Dumbo" and DCA was rechristened "Disney California Adventure"? The whole thing seems really dumb to me, but it's been a trend for several years now. For the most part, the parks and hotels have dodged the change (likely due to the cost of infrastructure/signage updates) but it seems like that's how things are headed. I'll be curious to see what happens when the Studios gets its new name That said, I think it makes sense for the name "Disney Springs" since it sounds like a 'real' place name that you would find out in the world. It's just not a name that instantly describes what the place actually is
Originally Posted By trekkeruss "I think WDW visitors will be able to figure it out. After all, they've been able to figure out what Epcot is years after the word actually meant anything. Whether you particularly like the name or not, I think it is foolish to think people won't know what is there." It reminds of the kind of things you hear from neophytes: "I went to Epcot yesterday. Today I will go to Disney World." Yes, people will figure it out ... even when they still don't know that Epcot was originally EPCOT and was an acronym. Still, Disney Springs is (in my opinion) a dumb name.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I once overheard someone say they were going to "Jungleland" at DL. lol
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA My hometown of Thiusand Oaks CA was home to a small wild animal refuge called 'Jungleland' In the late 80s Walt Disney World had three theme parks. - Disney - EPCOT and - MGM
Originally Posted By leemac There has been a lot of hand wringing in the past over the lack of name recognition for Magic KIngdom - to the point of even considering name changes. However it misses the point entirely - who cares if guests don't know the main park other than as Disneyland or Disney World.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Jungleland and Fantastic lol those sound like something my husband would say. Keep in mind, he's not cool like we are.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA leemac, like you say, you really can't force people to use the proper names of anything. Even today I hear people refer to 'The Main Street Electrical Parade' as 'The Electric Light Parade' Even cast members called it that. And if you decide to call a theme park "Disney's California Adventure" -- well, you get what you get. : -)
Originally Posted By monorailblue But it is definitely true that there is a wonderful amount of elegance to older names: Space Mountain Star Tours Jungle Cruise Haunted Mansion Main Street Cinema Autopia The wordier names can be horrrific by comparison: Disneyland Presents . . . Animzaement! The Musical The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure Monster's Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue The s-less Disney is, I suppose, sleeker in a slightly old fashioned way.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Here are my all time favorite Disney attraction names in no particular order: Space Mountain, From Earth to The Moon Carousel of Progress Adventure Thru Inner Space The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Circle-Vision 360, America The Beautiful Mystic Manor Those names are sexy and clever. A couple of theme almost sound like epic movie titles.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I really like the attraction names at the Animal Kingdom except for Dinosaur. I wish they would have left it Countdown to Extension instead of changing it to match the name of a movie that no one really liked anyway.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The wordier names can be horrrific by comparison:<< Let's not forget the biggest offender of all, The Walt Disney Story Featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (which post-50th-exhibit has been retitled The Disneyland Story Featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln). It's just a shame that it doesn't have a sponsor to add "presented by XXXXX" to the end of it; I think that would wrap it up quite neatly! If they honestly expected anybody to use those full titles, then they clearly haven't spent any time in the park surrounded by average Joes, who are always trying to find the haunted house or runaway train.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I really like the attraction names at the Animal Kingdom except for Dinosaur.<< For the most part I agree that the DAK names are pretty good (even for the trails and such), and that CTX was a much better name than Dinosaur. That said, given that the full name is Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain (the Disney website text uses a dash, but the logo uses a colon), I think they could have edited that somewhat. Most guests just call it Everest, or at best Expedition Everest, so the rest of the name is kind of a waste I'll be curious to see how they name the Avatar attractions, since the movie-based attractions tend to have longer names
