Originally Posted By oc_dean 'it's a small world' should have been there opening day.. along with: Pirates Haunted Mansion Big Thunder and at least one other large scale attraction.
Originally Posted By oc_dean 'it's a small world' should have been there opening day.. along with: Pirates Haunted Mansion Big Thunder and at least one other large scale attraction.
Originally Posted By oc_dean ... and the way the global economy is going ... I wouldn't expect all those attractions before 2029!
Originally Posted By leemac <<What is he up to these days?>> Tom is working on CarsLand now - and specifically Radiator Springs Racers.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Well, I'd suggest Tom also work on convincing Jay that Pirates, Mansion, Peter Pan, any mountain attraction etc ... be added to HKDL.>> That is all down to Bruce now. Tom has his hands full with the Paris portfolio. Ultimately if there isn't the cash available then there is little that WDI can do to push concepts through to execution. Corporate determines what gets spent and when. WDI just need to convince them on the product.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>><<What is he up to these days?>> Tom is working on CarsLand now - and specifically Radiator Springs Racers. <<< Wow, it sounds even more interesting now!
Originally Posted By phoebus "As for IASW in Paris, I think it runs 11-12 min dependent on loading procedures. " Well, IASW in Paris is by far the shortest version: only 6 minutes (I do not count the trafic jam at the exit, when the boats are not anymore in the building))
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Ultimately if there isn't the cash available then there is little that WDI can do to push concepts through to execution. Corporate determines what gets spent and when. WDI just need to convince them on the product.>> Corporate needs to loosen the pursestrings and start paying for attractions and new experiences for guests be it in HK, Paris, Anaheim or my favorite resort/punching bag -- Orlando. Marketing has way too much power to determine the future of WDW where they just go from one marketing campaign to the next. It's really been almost non-stop since WDW's never-ending 25th Anniversary. Back to the regularly scheduled thread ...
Originally Posted By jmuboy More than any other location, WDW is the best example of Diseny corporate greed, marketing gimiks and failed leadership gone wild! I would love to see the tide turn at some point. But I don't see Iger's influence here yet like we do with DCA and te push to add more at HKDL and revamp the Paris Studios. With WDW Disney seems to be content to rest on its laurels.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Disney's 'tude regarding WDW is one of arm's length neglect. Just keep building timeshares and having marketing work its machinations instead of adding new reasons for people to come. Marketing is the is the single largest cause of WDW stagnation. I thought it might improve when Mendenhall left, but it's as bad as ever.
Originally Posted By barboy ///The guest behavior really affected my enjoyment in the park as a whole. The endless queue-cutting, loud talking during attractions, pushing during entrance to theatre shows, and what seemed like excessive (and rather heated) arguing between family members in public really put a slight damper on my trip./// Guests were doing that? In Hong Kong even? No way---- I'm shocked I say!
Originally Posted By SuperDry I recently had the opportunity to ride IASW at HKDL for the first time. I went in without a whole lot of expectations one way or the other. I knew that it was the cheap version of the ride system (that is, the trough version used at DL - er, the "traditional" ride system as a tribute to the original ), and I knew that without respect to that it was one of the cheaper options to add an E-ticket to the park that is very much lacking them. I've also been on iasw dozens upon dozens of times at DL since before I could walk straight on my own. I know it's a rather simplistic attraction with a soundtrack that's in a class all its own. So, my expectations were somewhat ho-hum going into it. Disney far exceeded my expectations. I think they hit it out of the park with this one. After riding it, I felt that I wanted to ride it again right away, which I've never felt about iasw (at least as an adult ) at any of the other parks. It was a delight to ride from start to finish. Actually, from even before the start: the facade, entrance, and queue were all exceptionally done. I know that some people more or less ignore the queue, but I think the queues are a big part of a Disney attraction, in that you often end up spending much more time there than you do on the actual attraction, and they set the stage and the tone for what you're about to see. I hadn't put any thought into it beforehand - after all, how much can they do with the queue to iasw? Well, at HKDL, it was actually an enjoyable experience to see what they did with it. Once on the boats, the attraction unfolded much as I expected. There was no one big surprise, but every single thing on it was crisp and clean, and I thought that especially the color and lighting were really well done, as was the sound. I've not been on the DL version since the refurb, so the HKDL version is my only experience with the Disney character integration. In my opinion, it didn't detract one bit from the attraction. It was marginally fun to see the characters as they were integrated into the traditional iasw scenes, but getting all worked up about whether they were present or absent would be a bit like worrying about the exact pH level of the water - that is, it's just not important one way or the other as to whether the ride is an enjoyable experience. Some people have commented about the ride being short, or at least shorter than other versions. I came off of it thinking the opposite - I thought at a couple of points that we must be near the end, only to have more scenes around the bend. Fortunately, I didn't see any undesirable guest behavior during my ride as some others have reported, so that didn't detract at all from my experience. To restate what I've already said: I went in with neutral expectations, and came out totally upbeat and very much impressed. I would never have believed that I could enjoy iasw that much. I don't think that this addition goes nearly far enough in the build-out of the park to fix the inherent lack of things to do, but like the rest of things that are actually at HKDL, it's exceptional in what it is.
Originally Posted By Malin Thanks for the review SuperDry, its good to see your expectations were exceeded here. From someone like you who's visited the other Small World attractions several times I would consider this to be high praise for the newest attraction. *** I don't think that this addition goes nearly far enough in the build-out of the park to fix the inherent lack of things to do, but like the rest of things that are actually at HKDL, it's exceptional in what it is. *** I agree, its a good start and a much needed addition but its not enough to change public opinion, but I feel it puts the park on the right track. My only dispointment is that the attraction is already a year old and nothing new has been annouced in this time.
Originally Posted By Mr X They *definitely* need something along the lines of Pirates/Mansion/Splash/Thunder (heck, all four would be just perfect!), and soon. Until that time (I'd say the MUST add at least 3), it will be subpar... Additional, "unique" attractions would be a plus, of course...but they need more along the lines of "classics" even if it isn't "exactly" the same ride (I would be much, MUCH happier if they were comparable but all-new...believe me! I'd be booking a flight the week of completion if so!).
Originally Posted By jmuboy A Pirates / Splash hybrid, the HM and a 2nd coaster (maybe a unique design for HKDL) would go a long way to fleshing out this park. A Pirates Fortress play area, with elements of DL's Tom Sawyer Island, DLP's Adventure Isle and TDS Fortress Explorations would be a great C-ticket to compliment the pirate hybrid ride. I also think Peter Pan's Flight and a version of DCA's LM ride would also go a long way to complete Fantasyland.
