Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Just Small World, William. Just Small World. Keep repeating it until you get it.<< Until of course next year when Disney decides to add Stitch to Tiki Room, or add some new Pirates to POTC... Some people don't want anything to change and just want Disneyland to stay the same....
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Wow, I just realized.... Disneyland doesn't have 'Stitch /Alien Encounter' attraction in our Tomorrowland. Which means... If the Stitch in the Tiki Room is a hit in Tokyo, Stitch could invade the Tiki Room at Disneyland...
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Some people don't want anything to change and just want Disneyland to stay the same....<< HORSE PUCKY! Stitch in the Tiki Room is a bad idea, but then I thought that blowing a ton of money to refurb the Tiki Room wasn't the brightest move either. Unlike IASW, the Tiki Room is, dare I speak it, dated. They can put Bugs and Daffy in Pirates at this point. The damage there is done, and is not 1/10th what they're about to do to IASW. This is a unique and special case. No other attraction would get this kind of reaction from me, even if they added Santa and the Three Stooges. So lay off the "don't want anything to change" garbage. NO ONE has said that.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 So lay off the "don't want anything to change" garbage. NO ONE has said that.<< Contraire...On another thread someone specifically said and I am loosley quoting here" ARGGGG DISNEY NEEDS TO STOP CHANGING THINGS THEY ARE PI$$ING ME OFF" That tells me that person doesn't want anything to change... IASW has nearly no line 9 months out of the year, so Disney has to do soemthing to bring crowds back to it.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "That tells me that person doesn't want anything to change.." Actually William, what that tells ME is that some people seem to think that the changes Disney has been making over the last few years have NOT been for the better, and are probably just scared that this latest change will be bad too. Sure, it's a matter of opinion, but everyone is entitled to their own. "IASW has nearly no line 9 months out of the year, so Disney has to do soemthing to bring crowds back to it." Do you REALLY think that adding these characters is going to make Small World more popular? I somehow doubt it. I'm sure it will have a long line when it first re-opens and all the APs come out to see the change, but after that, it will be the same as before. But I can almost guarantee that it will help sell more trinkets in the gift shop!
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 But I can almost guarantee that it will help sell more trinkets in the gift shop!<< So it helps Disney's bottom line meaning they have more money to make new and exciting rides at the parks, isn't that what Disney is in the business of doing? Selling itself?
Originally Posted By plpeters70 I don't have a problem with them wanting to make money, but these changes just scream - "Hey, we've added cute Disney characters to Small World, now buy a plush version to take home!!" And really, do we love the Disney parks the way we do because we can't wait to help the Mouse make more money? No - of course not. In fact, most of us grew to love Disney during a time when the need to make money at the parks wasn't so "in your face". There actually was a time when you didn't feel ripped off just getting in the gates, and you didn't have to walk through dozens of gift shops to leave the attraction you had just ridden. But these days, Disneyland has become a place of the "hard sell", and it's getting a little too much. Now, we're even seeing this extend to old attractions - and when does it stop??
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 and when does it stop??<< When those who oppose this direction stop spending their money... At that point Disney will realize they might have overdone it and stop hardselling cartoons so much....
Originally Posted By danyoung After spending a day and 1/2 at WDW (stay with me - not really off topic), I have to say that change is working for Disney. I waited TWENTY MINUTES for Spaceship Earth yesterday, at 3pm. I've NEVER waited more than a minute or two for this attraction at this time of day. I was in queue sections that I've never been in since the place opened in '82. We'll see how things work in the long run, but people do indeed want to see new versions of attractions. From the simple standpoint of crowds, the new SSE is a huge success.
Originally Posted By Socrates So what new merchandise lines have they announced for IASW? Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By danyoung >It helps that it breaks down frequently..< I'd bet most of those breakdowns are stops to load or unload the disabled.
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>Some people don't want anything to change and just want Disneyland to stay the same....<< That's not true with me. But there have been far too many bad creative decisions that Disney has put forth in the last 10 or so years .. only to have to change or reverse. And no matter how well Disney characters are "carefully crafted and blended in" they may be .... It does change the focus of a very delicate theme this ride has carried for more than 4 decades. All the dolls/children throughout the attraction are the same. None stand out more than the other. Anyone who's a "Disney nut" I think recognize in the lyrics .. (and the only change from doll to doll is their native customs) .. is to show how UNIVERSALLY we are the SAME. Reading in between the lines in the lyrics of the Sherman Bros. song .. that is exemplified. This is where the attraction (in every ride I take) reaches a subtle deep meaning. Maybe not so captured by every rider .. but it's there. Immediately recognized or not. Now you add in the CARTOON characters of Disney now meant to be taken as something "real". On the surface ... the cartoony design of Mary Blair's set design makes them (in a superficial way) blend in. But just underneath that "surface level" the characters are going to come off in a jarring way. And if they do a counter melody ("A Whole New World", "Colors of the Wind", "So this is love", whatever) against the main melody it only adds to a jarring mixture that's like adding water to oil.
Originally Posted By oc_dean When I ride through the first scene .. the Scandinavian I feel a connection. As I'm part Swedish. I feel that I'm part of them .. and they are part of me. Hence .. the meaning of the attraction. But now some Disney character is "supposed to" exemplify something as real? Please! Now .. that just takes away some of the deeper meanings ... and just turns the attraction into a random "cutsy" attraction ONLY meant to be taken as something cutsy. That's not the meaning of 'its a small world'. There's a more profound meaning there .. about to get muddled.
Originally Posted By danyoung Y'know, oc_dean, you make some good points. The meaning of iasw has always been all the children of the world are all the same, and perhaps the addition of Disney characters might dilute this message. But I rode WDW's sw yesterday, and really tried to keep an open mind about it. Would I like the change? What would it mean to the ride's longstanding meaning? And what I came up with is that in today's faster moving culture, where kids play video games that would put us old folks into epiliptic seisures, where MTV has made a 3 second video cut way too long, well, I don't think the meaning of the attraction is anywhere near as present and obvious as it was in the past. And I also found myself thinking, as I was riding by all of these dolls that were inherently all the same, that it would indeed be nice to be able to focus on a familiar face here and there, as long as it was properly themed into the country where it was placed. And who knows - it might even enhance the theme, that these Disney characters are part of a worldwide culture, and that the Disney characters and me and my boatmates and all these little dolls from around the world are still the same, the same as they were in 1964 in New York. Just a thought . . .
Originally Posted By oc_dean Those Disney cartoon characters are fantasy based. Well rooted in their "2 dimensional" fantasy cartoon worlds. 'it's a small world's' overall message/theme has realistic qualities that reach a deeper meaning. (My feeling why the attraction has lasted this long!) While Mary Blair's fanciful art designs have a 'fantasy' blend to them ... if you will. That is as "fantasy" as the ride gets. And done brilliantly thanks to the extremely creative minds back in the early 60s. Buzz lightyear, Woody, Cinderella, etc - Since when did they take on "real" roles ... as "children of the world"? Like I said .. water to oil. If it's so important to contain many Disney characters into one attraction .. why not just build an attraction for it .. and just one classic alone?! Enchanted Tiki Room was refreshened back to it's original classic status. Why not 'it's a small world' ? And to those who love to throw that "You don't like change" line back at me ... I can think of millions of enhancements for 'it's a small world' that does not mess with it's delicate theme. So .. while there are people on the payroll at WDI who supposedly have more sense and creative abilities than me ... why is this so hard?
Originally Posted By oc_dean edit: why not just build an attraction for it .. and just LEAVE one classic alone?!
Originally Posted By jdub Re: post 95 What is "cutsy?" Sounds like the behavior of the dolls from "It's an EMO World (IAEW)."
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>What is "cutsy?" << Meaning .. just to tickle our fancy .. and little else than that. Another way of putting it .... That the ride to some is just a random collection of dolls with a semi annoying song. So .. since it's little more than just a cutsy 14 minute boring ride to 289 of the same dolls ........ Just "jazz it up" with the addition very recognizable Disney icons. Add a counter melody to various scenes .. depending on the featured Disney iconic cartoon character .. and POOF .......... You have a more "relevant" [cough] ride with suffering lines [double cough]. One such poster made a comment to shorter lines .......... Uhhhh .. sorry .. this ride does not suffer from chronic short lines. I don't know where that poster is getting his information!
