Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>I didn't say that it was going to be a popular move. It is the right move creatively. Whether it is financially only time will tell.<< That's nice, but you still didn't answer the other questions, especially why you feel the MK is the only park in need of fluffy kiddy fare more than the others. So?
Originally Posted By leemac Because I strongly believe that MK is where the characters should live and there should be attractions and shows based on them in that park. D-MGM is the only other park that should feature them to a degree. I believe that parks like DAK work so well when they take different interpretative stances on the characters. And use them sparingly. There isn't a hint of a character in Africa and Asia and that is right. It should have been the same with TDS but OLC refused to accept that. So instead we have tenuous links to characters for each Port of Call. Shows like Aladdin and Mythica belong outside the MK. As you know I love DCA but that is because it had and to a lesser extent still does have a vibe that I like. It isn't littered with characters and allowed WDI to create something other than a raft of Fantasyland dark rides. I love the environments that they created there. The backstories and concepts work for me. I know they don't work for a lot of people. The reason I'm not a fan of TDS as a themed environment is that it is too real (all except Mermaid Lagoon of course). WDI wasn't given the brief to be interpretative or push any other agenda. OLC wanted everything to look authentic and that leaves the park looking cold and sterile to me.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Oh well... we'll always disagree on TDS' themes and architecture I guess. I personally would love to see that level of theming in our parks in the USA, and curiously, the use of character images attached to the different ports have never bothered me or discounted the validity of the park. In a "disney" park, you should be reminded to some degree that you are in "Disney" perse, and I do not believe TDS overdoes it. Plus, seeing the many happy faces of adults and kids alike when those characters roll around, speak volumes and to me, it affirms that OLC knows their crowd. You would remember, although you probably had not been born yet... that when EPCOT Center opened, the Disney characters were totally banned from this park on purpose, and only the recycled Bicenntennial Parade rubberheads were used in World Whowcase as "citizens of the World" characters. In their aim to offer something totally different and adult from what the MK was, they managed to keep Mickey away... until guests started to complain about the lack of that very basic Disney element in a Disney park. And see Epcot today...run by characters and basically now a heaven to Pixar as well. As for DCA...curiously enough, I never expected much from this park and thoroughly enjoyed it the first time I visited it back in 2001. No, it wasn't DL, but it has it's moments and some of the sights, and when I returned last year for the 50th, I was even more surprised how enjoyable our day was at DCA. So I don't have a problem with DCA, except for being a themed park full of cloned rides from the other resorts, or filled with rides we have all seen at Magic Mountain before. Reason why "Soarin' Over CA" was such a huge hit right off the gate.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: My sisters and I think, TDLFAN, duckling, that the reason you and leemac have so many disagreements about such things is because one of you is more of a Disney fan, while the other one of you is a fan of the sort of ideas that come from an Eisner or a Pressler type person. Just as oil and water never mix, neither will Disney philosphies be compatible with the Eisner/Pressler philosophies.
