Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Personally I would like to see a Tomorrowland that is a true effort to focus on science, progress, and the future. I believe it can be done. But we will no doubt instead see more and more character based attractions, which will make my kids happy. > I was 7 when the great TL '67 opened. I loved, loved, LOVED Adventure Thru Inner Space, the Carousel of Progress, the Flight to the Moon, the PeopleMover, the AT&T phone exhibits... DL COULD keep the kids happy by building attractions that fit the TL theme and excite their imaginations, like they used to. Relying on characters is the lazy path, and NOT the only thing that kids will respond to.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Amen Dabob2, but then again we have often been on the same page. It just seems like Disney no longer is.
Originally Posted By u k fan <<<Relying on characters is the lazy path, and NOT the only thing that kids will respond to.>>> I think you'll find the official answer is that they keep things relevant!!!
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The official answer is that Disney is maximizing the value of its animated franchises. Disney's CEO has basically admitted this. The character brands are not being added to enhance the parks. The park's are being used to enhance Disney's character brands.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I don't realistically hope for any change in this in the near term, either. My only hope is that trends come and trends go... In the late 70's to mid 80's, thrill rides and rock'n'roll were the order of the day, as DL was concerned about losing the teen market to the big iron parks (Space, BTMRR, Videopolis, Capt. Eo, Star Tours). Now it's toons everywhere. So my hope is that this trend subsides and something else takes its place. bean has talked about non-toon additions being planned for DCA, though not yet announced. I sure would like to hear what they are.
Originally Posted By Walter Elias I don't really even venture into TL too much anymore. It is certainly not my favorite area of the park. I am a little frustrated with the adding of characters from movies into EVERYTHING. Jack Sparrow in POTC is a good example. I would think having Jack Sparrow appear at one point during the ride would be acceptable. But, when you see him in one place and then another--it's a rather jarring. Anyway, what Disney needs is a strong leader. Creatively, things have been decaying since Walt's death. Sure, there are spikes in creativity such as when they picked-up Pixar, for example. But that is a prime example of Disney's laziness. They don't even create their own films anymore. They have become a distributor rather than creator.
Originally Posted By pecos bill The character branding also dovetails quite nicely with the explosion of retail mechandise at the parks. Face it, the principles of Walt Disney are fading away. It is no longer one man's dream, but a multi national conglomerate's bottom line. What makes it such a bummer for us fans is seeing the park stagnate under the accountant approved path of highest profit and least effort. It really is a testament to Walt that his ideals have persisted as long as they have, but they are indeed fading away.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "I'm merely saying that, while subs and atomic power existed in Walt's day, they were still new and exotic, and not commonplace. They were, for all intents and purposes, technologies of tomorrow." They had subs during WWII. Nothing new or exotic about them. The source of their power is mostly irrelevant. hardly futuristic. "It would be fine as Tomorrowland. PixarSpace? Ugh. Besides, they only have two Pixar-inspired attractions, and they certainly need to go. I didn't ride the unspoiled Submarine Voyage very often, but I do remember a lot about it, and I liked it very much." If you love something a lot, you ride it a lot. The old Sub Voyage was very dated and very corny. It didn't age well. "It is no longer one man's dream," It hasn't been for the last 4 decades. "but a multi national conglomerate's bottom line. What makes it such a bummer for us fans is seeing the park stagnate under the accountant approved path of highest profit and least effort." The park is hardly stagnating. The park in the '70s was stagnating.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<They had subs during WWII. Nothing new or exotic about them. The source of their power is mostly irrelevant. hardly futuristic>> Yeah, there were subs in WWII, and even in WWI, But they were not atomic powered, were they? And I wouldn't say the source of their power was irrelevant. Nuclear power certainly wasn't irrelevent to Walt; he thought it would be one of the primary sources of energy in the future. Never mind that it didn't turn out that way, at least not for America.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The fact that nuclear power was a marketing point for the Subs back in the 60's illustrates how dumbed down DL has become.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo " Yeah, there were subs in WWII, and even in WWI, But they were not atomic powered, were they? And I wouldn't say the source of their power was irrelevant. Nuclear power certainly wasn't irrelevent to Walt; he thought it would be one of the primary sources of energy in the future. Never mind that it didn't turn out that way, at least not for America." I rode the Subs many times. It never registered that they were nuclear powered. What about the subs makes them nuclear powered? The themimg sure failed. Regardless, nuclear powered subs existed at the time. This wasn't futurism.
Originally Posted By westsideCM99 I think that the whole 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea premise was about this crazy future technology that allowed sailors to explore the great depths of the sea that were never before seen. And because that premise was so strong it made the sub experience 'futuristic' however there were some fatal mistakes that were made to kill the theming's consistency with that of Tomorrowland's. 1. They didn't implement the Nautilus clones like the ones at WDW. 3. They totally killed it by putting in Nemo. Solution, restructure the borders so that the subs becomes part of Fantasyland. Problem solved.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt How do you deal with the Monorail loading platform above? Would that be in Tomorrowland or Fantasyland?
Originally Posted By westsideCM99 .. and my .02 cents on what needs to be done theming-wise to keep the spirit of Tomorrowland: - Get rid of Buzz, turn it into Tron 2.0! PLEASE!! - Get rid of the Starcade, replace it with a new version of the communicore. or.. replace it with an omnimover/virtual realty hybrid type ride that utilizes both floors of the Starcade.. perhaps journey through inner space themed? - Like I said in my last post, zone the subs into Fantasyland. - Bring back the peoplemovers.. even today we don't have anything that cool in real life. - Replace HISTA with a Wall-E themed show. - Jedi Academy should stay (puts on flame suit) and lastly.. - Goodbye Pizza Port, Hello Mission SPACE!!
Originally Posted By westsideCM99 "How do you deal with the Monorail loading platform above? Would that be in Tomorrowland or Fantasyland?" Good point.. Well, since the line for NEMO always starts at the Matterhorn.. jk I guess the quick fix would be to re-design the monorail station since the Nemo line always gets in the way of the escalators and have the station entrance and escalators on the southeast side of the track instead of North. That way when people get off the Monorail they are plopped into tomorrowland. Right now guests are treated to a lovely view of the butt of the Matterhorn everytime they exit.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt But the platform is essentially the roof of the Sub station. So, how can one be in Fantasyland and the other be in Tomorrowland? Wow, how geeky is this discussion?
