I just got back from 4 days/3 nights at Disneyworld in Orlando. It’s been several years since I had been there but now with my kids (11 and 7) I was able to gain a different perspective about the experience. It seems to me that Disneyworld is hanging onto the classic “themes” of the past (1960’s and back) that do not seem relevant to kids today. For example, you have “Frontier Land”…when was the last time Disney exploited a “Frontier” adventure? I mean they were selling Davey Crocket hats and “Old Betsy” toy flintlocks for Pete’s sake. My kids know who Davey Crocket is because they read but they didn’t get the Disney connection. I understand the Boomer attraction to the classic themes but it seems like to me that Disney would be much better off to modify it’s current line of products.
Want more? Splash Mountain is a water log ride that is based upon the Uncle Remus Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit stories. Now I know these stories from “Song of the South” but since it’s been discontinued and pulled, my kids had NO idea who these characters were. It just seemed odd to me that Disney would keep on using this theme when it’s so far removed from the last few generations.
How about the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse? My kids knew about it because I made a point to rent that DVD. The point is, this movie was originally aired back in what? 1961? It just made me wonder what all those thousands of confused kids must be thinking going through that treehouse…I mean, how is this connected to Disney?
You’d think with all the newer marketable Disney characters that Disney would make greater efforts to implment them somehow. Characters like Mulan, Monster’s Inc., Emperor’s New Groove, Lilo and Stitch, Beauty and the Beast, etc, etc.
My WAG. Money. Changing the park costs a boatload of money and they’ve made it no secret that they’ve had lower than expected profits for the last few years.
Perhaps the Disney execs believe that the park’s themes have withstood the test of time. The newer characters may end up being a flash in the pan compared to Davy Crockett, et al.
So we’re to pander to unsophisticated Philistines whose knowledge of pop culture dates back less than five years? What do you want, N*Sync- or Britney-themed rides?
Of course Disneyworld is out of touch. Disney’s business is being out of touch. We’re talking about a company that devoted an entire section of their park to New Orleans – but without booze, sex, or good music, i.e. all the things that made it great in the first place.
Spash Mountain’s “Brer Rabbit” theme is a relatively recent addition – as I recall, the ride used to exist without the characters for some time. Same vacation I first saw the Brer Rabbit additions, I took the animation studio tour and saw them drawing cells with those characters. It’s possible they’re planning a revision of Song of The South that they’d be more comfortable releasing.
And I think Davey Crocket was recently released as part of the Disney Treasures collection. Considering that Disney also has an adult-themed section of their park (Pleasure Island), it doesn’t seem unreasonable to keep the things grownups remember.
You do realize that some of those unsophisticated Philistines that Disney caters to only know of the last five years of pop culture beacause they aren’t much more than five years old themselves?
Disney has always tried to keep their stuff in circulation, to keep it current. As Pepper Mill has pointed out, their series House of Mouse allows them to make a lot of in-jokes, which is cool for those who have been around a while or who are animation freaks, but it alsp gives them an opportunity to use older characters and introduce them to a new generation (and maybe keep them within copyright). The only reason our 5-year-old knows some of these characters is through HOM.
As for not being “with it”, I think that’s totally off-base. I noticed on my recent visit to Disney World that there are making a serious effort to tie their different park sections directly to Disney films – At EPCOT, “Morocco” sells “Aladdin” stuf, “France” sells “Hunchback” and “Beauty and the Beast” stuff (and offers photo ops with those characters). “England” sells and photo-ops “Winnie the Pooh” (and probably “Mary Poppins”), etc…
And that was before this summer’s pushing both “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Haunted Mansion”!
If there’s one place that is out of touch, it’s Tomorrowland – a lot of stuff here seemsd very out-of-date and unconnected to today’s kids’ views of science fiction.
Many years ago, I was at Disneyland, and noted that one of the restaurants had a wall painted with characters from “The Black Cauldron”. It seemed very out of place, since it’s one of the least-known and most ignored (by Disnery) of their films. I;'ll bet that most kids didn’t even know who it was supposed to be. But I’ll bet it’s not there anymore, either.
They’ll be happy with a giant treehouse. Plus, there are plenty of opportunities to see things they understand more. Fact is, it takes millions to make a ride, and they aren’t going to drop that kind of dime every time a new movie comes out. Only if characters show lasting popular appeal will they make it. They already have “Under the Sea”, “Hunchback” and “Beauty and the Beast” attractions.
I’ll second a vote for the treehouse. Kids may not know about Swiss Family Robinson, but most kids would be fascinated by a giant, elaborate treehouse on its own merits. Similarly with the canoes and Tom Sawyer’s Island. I think the point is not to be culturally relavant, but just to offer a temporary escape into a different world.
At the same time, I agree with the comments above on New Orleans Square.
I myself went to Disneyworld 2 weeks ago and thought it was totally, totally lame. It takes nearly 45 minutes to get from your car to the gate - and vice versa - because of their inefficient people-moving system. The ONLY halfway cool ride there is Space Mountain; virtually every other ride amounts to a slow train for watching robots. (Think about it - creak-creak over the three-minute track, looking upon rickety old Disney robots morosely going through their repetitive motions. Yippie-ki-yi-yay.)
As far as whether they keep up with the modern characters, I suppose they do to some extent, replacing the classic 20000 Leagues Under the Sea with some piece of crap called Ariel’s Grotto, the Aladdin ride etc. etc. All that Buzz Lightyear stuff delighted our party’s 4 year old.
The entire place is stuck in a rut though. Even Pirates of the Caribbean - you’d think they’d make a little effort, what with the movie and all - looked like it hadn’t changed a bit or even cleaned since I last rode it in 1974. Same with Haunted Mansion. Frontierland made me feel like I had timeslipped back to 1958.
(And NO BEER ANYWHERE!! By the end of the day that statue of Walt in front of the castle made me long for an Iraqi horde with ropes and chains. I ran across a drunk man late in the day; he had smuggled in a bottle of rum, yo-ho-ho. I reflected long on his wisdom and foresight.)
Compare that moralistic rathole with Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure. Now, that place is freaking killer! Can’t wait to go back! If I ran Disneyworld, I’d take one look at Islands, see how we were getting our doors totally blown off, and shut down the park until we could install something actually worth a $52 ticket.
Coke had proved conclusively that people liked New Coke better than Old Coke.
So they changed it, to keep up with the times.
And ohmighod, did they get screwed. Turns out that Coke was an American institution… and you do NOT screw around with an AMERICAN INSTITUTION, bucko!
Disney KNOWS they’re an American Institution.
Would YOU wanna be the guy who changed Tomorrowland into something more realistic, or Frontierland into something more interesting… and brought the wrath of America down upon the House Of Mouse?
They closed Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride a few year’s back, because it was creaky and based on an old property, and they caught a lot of crap for it from the rabid fans.
You didn’t go to EPCOT, did you? You can drink your way around the planet in the World Showcase. They even have a beer garden in the Germany pavillion, along with vendors on the walking path where you can get wine. There are also some bars in MGM. There are plenty of places to get sloshed in Disney, but the Magic Kingdom is known as the kiddy land, so it’s not there.
To a certain extent, though, that’s because there are thrill-rides up the ass at Universal. While there are thrill rides at Disney, that’s not really what they are about. I’d prefer to have both parks in their own niche so I can enjoy both of them in different ways. I like the kitschy still-the-same-ride-since-the-dawn-of-time feel to a lot of the Disney stuff. Yeah, it’s a bit pricey, but I’ve never felt ripped off after going.
This may be UL, but I’ve heard that Disneyland/Disneyworld have a very high turnover rate of “cast members” (i.e. people who work in the park) because anyone who spends more than a month working there, becomes clinically insane. I can see a certain truth in that.
Be careful what you wish for. Disney pretty much wrecked the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disney World by “updating” it. They replaced its cool retro-funky vibe with a wise-cracking Gilbert Godfried. The wife and kids and I all got up and walked out … .
I agree with the OP, but more along the lines of what Pochacco says, and not the original intent of the OP! Of the three biggest things they changed, they messed up two.
1-- I didn’t mind Mr. Toad being replaced by Pooh. The theme was appropriate (i.e. frenetic action.) Score = 0 for Disney. (I didnt think it was better, just as good.)
2-- They ruined the Tiki Room, and compounded the error of MAKING FUN OF the old one (i.e. We’re not gonna do the same old thing…in with the new crap!) Score = -2 for disney. This more than makes up for their mediocre performance w/r/t Mr Toad.
3-- They changed Tomorrowland into a “Retro” themed place. Now, this isnt bad iteself, but it’s dropping with irony, since for me, the place itself held a retro charm of its own. On the face of it, though, it’s okay, since the look is somewhat superior (only when I look at it objectively), but the very fact they changed it makes me loathe to get too emotionally involved with the new “look”. After all, if they changed it once, they will change it again once the “new” look starts to have some “retro” (retro-retro as it were :)) charm :mad::mad:. Score = -1 for Disney.
This bungling of changes is compounded by the fact that “It’s a Small World” is STILL THERE AND UNCHANGED whilst they mess with the stuff I like. The only reason I ever go on that is because the line is always short. Ever-short line should tell you something, no?
Conclusion: they are out of touch with both what kids, and retro-sensitive adults, like.
Of the three biggest things they changed, they messed up two.