Originally Posted By danyoung And I'd take it a step further and say that even after you've seen it in place, it will still be an opinion as to whether the new characters fit in or not. Some things just aren't objective - they're subjective.
Originally Posted By jonvn "It's still an opinion, jon, no matter how many people hold it." It's already been discussed. But this is not opinion. By shifting the ride to one about finding what disney characters you can in the ride, it changes the focus from one about children to one about the characters, and how many you can sell in the gift shop. To say otherwise is to really put on a pair of blinders and ignore a massive pile of reality. We don't NEED to see it. The very inclusion of such things is, on its face, inappropriate. It doesn't matter how nicely they make these characters (and I saw the pic of stitch, and it looks like a piece of molded plastic). The extent of them does not matter. That they are doing this at all does matter, and it does change the ride.
Originally Posted By danyoung >By shifting the ride to one about finding what disney characters you can in the ride, it changes the focus from one about children to one about the characters...< The concept of this shift of focus is totally an opinion, not a fact. It's a fact that Disney is considering putting classic characters in the attraction. Whether or not the attraction will be negatively or positively affected is a matter of opinion. It doesn't get much clearer than that, jon.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "The concept of this shift of focus is totally an opinion, not a fact." That fact that the existing dolls are mostly anonymous and the new figures will be universally recognized characters from various Disney franchises does change the focus.
Originally Posted By danyoung In your opinion. I have no opinion until I see the attraction. The artwork I've seen so far looks pretty good to me. I think I'll still be able to acknowledge the children of the world somewhere in there behind all those Disney icons.
Originally Posted By markymouse It is my opinion that Stitch looks completely out of place in this scene. He also looks completely out of place on the HK Disneyland IASW webpage. So does Donald and the Genie for that matter. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but to say that we have to withhold judgment until we've seen it doesn't fly. If I learned the Grand Canyon was going to be flooded to make a new lake for water skiing, I wouldn't have the slightest need to wait till I saw how pretty the lake was before being 100% sure it was a bad idea I am absolutely against. Adding Stitch or any other Disney characters to Disneyland's (and probably Hong Kong's) IASW is a bad idea which I am absolutely against. And I say this not as someone who never rides it, or who makes fun of it, but as a member of a family that considers it one of their favorite rides at Disneyland. Don't do it. Please.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>In your opinion. I have no opinion until I see the attraction.<< In other words, you can't even articulate in what way adding characters could POSSIBLY be an improvement to the attraction, other than the classic "but I LIKE the characters. They're cute. My kids like 'em. Maybe they won't be as bad as you think." We've given you several very good reasons why they shouldn't do it. Can you give us just one as to why they should?
Originally Posted By jonvn "The concept of this shift of focus is totally an opinion," No, and it's already been explained, and I'm not going to repeat myself ad nauseum simply because you don't get it.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "I think I'll still be able to acknowledge the children of the world somewhere in there behind all those Disney icons." Well of course. Who said that you won't?
Originally Posted By Mr F That Stich is so Cute! I Hope we'll get to see all the other Disney Characters that they WILL add to Small World soon!
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 All I know is my kids will love these additions, and treasure the ride more than they already do, and to me, their enjoyment is what Disneyland is all about, to look at their faces as they enjoy the rides and attractions is all that matters to me, and I highly doubt my 4 year old or 1 year old for that matter "understands" the message of IASW, they must not be "true" Disney fans then...
Originally Posted By danyoung >Everyone is entitled to their opinion but to say that we have to withhold judgment until we've seen it doesn't fly.< Y'know, in a way I agree with you. I don't really have any problem with people being concerned about this change. In all honesty I'm concerned about it too. But I don't feel strongly enough about it to get up in arms. Obviously some people do. I think the level of hysteria gets unreasonably high with some people, but that's just the way some people are, I guess. >We've given you several very good reasons why they shouldn't do it. Can you give us just one as to why they should?< I've said it several times already - I'm not wild about this move. I'm just not as freaked out about it as some people are. small world is not one of my favorite attractions - it's one I'll hit maybe every third time I'm in the parks. I appreciate it for what it is, and I understand and appreciate its unique history. What I have been saying is that I've seen the Alice art and the shot of Stitch, and neither one of them bothers me. I think this change can be done tastefully, and improve the attraction while keeping its long standing theme intact. >No, and it's already been explained, and I'm not going to repeat myself ad nauseum simply because you don't get it.< And we come down to the same point as most of our disagreements, jon. I completely get it - I simply don't agree with it.
Originally Posted By Mr X William, I felt the same way back in December when my daughter enjoyed the heck out of the Nemo attraction at Epcot (it was her favorite, actually)...and while I don't have a problem with such a thing "per se", it did seem awfully out of place and inappropriate considering the overall scheme of what Future World used to be about showing us. On the other hand, Future World used to be quite boring for three year old kids, so who's to say? And on the other hand (pretend I'm an octopus), my little one could've enjoyed Horizons and World of Motion "back in the day", yet was completely barred from experiencing Test Track and Mission:Space. And on that fourth hand you've got the fact that The Seas with Nemo and friends might be very nice for a three year old, but has lost some of that grandeur and appeal that grown-ups might have experienced with the attraction back in the day. So, it's a catch-22 for sure but one thing we can see is that the whole "here's something the whole family can enjoy together" vibe of Disney parks is going the way of the dinosaur. And THAT is one if the original concepts that made the place great, so I hope they don't stray TOO far from it during this cartoon phase. I'll save the other four hands for later.
Originally Posted By Mr X And to tie that little mini-rant into Small World, I'll just say that while small kids might enjoy it somewhat more (maybe) because they get to see Stitch and Mickey and whatever other cartoons are popular (as if they don't get enough of that throughout the day at Disneyland), the appeal of Small World for the REST of the family, the heartwarming and cohesive concept of the children of the world holding hands in peace, might be more diluted and end up feeling like "another kiddie ride". Another "great for the whole family" idea lost to the ages.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 But Mr. X, how is the addition of 20 to 30 characters going to take away from the 400 or so other dolls there. The ratio is still in the doll's favor by a considerable margin.
Originally Posted By Mr X I think the issue isn't how many cartoons are in there, but rather the fact that they detract from the overall story. Anyway, I don't really want to get into a huge issue with this. A lot of people love Small World, I myself tolerate it at best. So, seeing some Lilo and Stitch stuff in there, for me, would probably make the whole ordeal mildly MORE amusing anyway. That's how I felt when they threw them into the Tokyo ride (along with a few other characters). BUT...I can understand the argument against making the thing yet another cartoon-fest. I said all that above though anyway. I really don't see how the ratio would matter much. Just ONE character is enough to change the vibe from "here's all the children of the world holding hands" to "here's a fun character ride".
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "how is the addition of 20 to 30 characters going to take away from the 400 or so other dolls there?" Well, for one somebody posted the exact number, and I think it was around 285, so the ratio will be much higher. Also, just becasue they have small numbers doesn't mean that people won't notice them. There's a ton of buildings in Disneyland, but only one castle. How often do you see families taking pictures in front of the Briar Patch shop? Some locations of characters will clearly be designed to showcase them, while the original dolls will just be there to fill in all the empty space. There are far more animal AA's in Pirates of the Caribbean than humans, but how often do you hear people say anything about any of the animals? They're just reduced to an unimportant role, which I feel like is a risk they run with the iasw changes.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Well, to put my 'spin' on the issue, yeah, it sort of bothers me, but it really doesn't at the same time. I understand people's feeling on it (and as always, VERY strongly lol--if Disney geeks ruled the world, it would at least be a consistent one). Anyway, it bother me that much because I just don't really like the ride all that much NOW!! I really don't care about its message when all I want to do is shoot myself before I reach the Asia section listening to that song over and over and OVER again. But, my mother LOVES it, its her damn favorite ride in the entire place, so that means I have to like it a little I guess . But, I'm waiting to see what they will do with it overall and will just reserve judgement then. Maybe when the one opens up in HKDL, the one I suspect started all this, and see how it looks then to make a real opinion. All I can say for now is that maybe it will make me more tolerant of actually being on the ride and you better believe my mother will LOVE it lol. She's not that much of a Disney geek, so I doubt she knows anything about this, but believe me, she will be excited to know they will add characters. I'm thinking of calling her and telling her about it to get her reaction to this. For me, can care less either way. But for her, an actual IASW fan, it will be interesting. But I have a good feeling it would be exciting to her and just be more 'festive', the more characters the merrier. My mother is the reason why Disney is making these additions in the first place kids, sorry lol. And no, no one is getting the address to her house and it's in Compton, so good luck making it there to burn it down ;D. Anyway, if you want to spin it a certain way to keep the original message (and maybe Disney might do this themselves) obviously the Disney characters are also kids of the world who wants peace as well (except for that trouble maker Stitch) and they are simply part of that message. If they do their jobs well and sync those characters in as inclusive like everyone else and less, 'look it's PETER PAN!!', then maybe that's how others will feel about it. The message will still be just as strong to some people, believe it or not it could happen . Of course, its just an OPINION and everyone will look at it differently, but if that's how people view these characters, then maybe it won't be so bad.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "I think the issue isn't how many cartoons are in there, but rather the fact that they detract from the overall story." Exactly. At long last Mr. X and I agree on something!
