Disneyland General
Topic: LP Column: 5/5/08 Greg Maletic: Disney's Biggest Theme Park Mistakes

#	Author	Message
51	davewasbaloo Tue 5/6/2008 1:58p	I would say that DAK and Epcot are probably the two safest parks for protection from characters, and they are heavily in both now. Sadly, they seem to be the two least popular parks for Joe Sixpack. For me, they are a bastian of hope.
52	Kar2oonMan Tue 5/6/2008 1:59p	Yes, Animal Kingdom, too!
53	Lloydian Tue 5/6/2008 2:02p	Okay, I understand the disclaimer of "Here's all the problems, but I still love the place." It is, of course, a little disingenuous to nitpick about these things and have that disclaimer, but point by point, I'm going to disagree a lot: Pirates and Mansion: There have been lots of follow ups. Where have you been? America Sings, World of Motion, Splash Mountain, both incarnations of the Energy Pavilion, The Great Movie Ride (apparently, some of us like it more than you do), Indiana Jones/Dinosaur. DVC: I groan when I see a reference to a "Best Kept Secret" too, but each time, a little voice in me reminds myself of how much money they saved me on the current vacation. Disney's Name: The only time this ever bothered me was with the movie, "Disney's The Kid." Outside of that, I expect branding to take ownership of a decision or location. Same Pricing: Next thing you know, people who have no use for Mission: Space will have to pay the same price to enter Epcot as those who have no blood pressure issues. I'm not paying for the totality of the park; I'm paying for a period of entertainment. Urban Planning: Of course it could be layed out worse, but I'll agree that getting around could have been better. EPCOT: (aka Epcot since the acronym was dropped): Of course it didn't encompass the original Walt Disney plan, but his idea for a permanent World's Fair is still present here. It had to have some name. Resort: I live in Phoenix. Here, we have the Phoenecian Resort, a truly beautiful resort to visit. And yet, they don't even have one theme park there. What were they thinking? Budget: No park was too expensive, none was too cheap. How the money was allocated is certainly worth discussing. Disney's America: Okay, that was always questionable. What were they thinking? Characters: The kids get excited every time they see a character. Hard to fault Disney for catering to the kids. Substituting Fake for Real: Here is where you really lost me. Fake is what I like from Disney. I don't want real. If I wanted real, I'd ditch the Jungle Cruise and head off to the San Diego Zoo to see real animals. But it isn't the real animals I want to see. I want to see elephants bathing with their trunks on. I want to see an old man on a bayou creek listening to the strumming of a banjo. Disney's ability to evoke the real through the use of machines is what amazes me. And the tree of life is simply wonderful to look at. By the way, what's wrong with the San Angel Inn?
54	Kar2oonMan Tue 5/6/2008 2:08p	Disney's Name: The only time this ever bothered me was with the movie, "Disney's The Kid." Outside of that, I expect branding to take ownership of a decision or location.<< I get branding, but it gets a little crazy and cumbersome at times. "A bug's land, inspired by Disney/Pixar's motion picture 'a bug's life'." Sheesh.
55	Hans Reinhardt Tue 5/6/2008 2:09p	I find it ironic that fans continually argue that Pirates & Mansion are Disney's most "famous" attractions and yet, according to Disney, Soarin' and Space Mountain are DLR's most popular attractions. My own list of Disney theme park blunders looks like this (in no particular order): Disney not purchasing more land adjacent to DL 40 years ago for future expansion Building out DLR Paris at opening rather than waiting to see market response Building DLR Paris in France rather than Spain Allowing TDL to be operated as a franchise instead of owning it Opening a park in China Poor execution, PR and marketing of DCA Dumbing down the Disney theme park experience with an overabundance of pointless synergistic movie tie-ins Not owning the DL Hotel from the outset Ignoring the important story-telling elements that make the company's parks unique and special
56	gmaletic Tue 5/6/2008 2:28p	>Substituting Fake for Real: Here is where you really lost me. Fake is what I like from Disney. I don't want real. If I wanted real, I'd ditch the Jungle Cruise and head off to the San Diego Zoo to see real animals. I've been holding off addressing a lot of these points so I could get a good sense of how people were reacting to the article, though I will address all of these issues soon. But the "fake vs. real" point is one where I feel there could be some confusion, so I thought I'd clarify it now. "Fake" as manifested in Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Tom Sawyer Island, etc., is more than fine, it's necessary for Disneyland to be what it is. "Fake" is required in order to give people experiences that they couldn't otherwise have, and to make things look like they otherwise wouldn't (Big Thunder Mountain, for example. I'll even throw the Jungle Cruise in as a place where "fake" is okay, because there's no way to deliver the experience that the Jungle Cruise wants to give you by using real animals.) Where "fake" becomes a problem is when it substitutes for reality in places where reality would have been more than adequate. The one example that really hits home for me is the first one I cite. In the Canada pavilion, Disney could have more easily finished their film with a real, authentic Canadian folk song than write their own song. Then we'd actually be getting a slice of the real Canada, which is supposed to be the point of the film and, indeed, of Epcot itself. But they didn't. "Disney Magic" works when it improves what it's applied to. (Undoubtedly, Big Thunder Mountain is a better coaster than it would have been were it just unthemed steel.) But in the example I cite, they put some extra "Disney Magic" on the movie, and the result is worse (regardless of what you thing of the song itself, which is certainly pleasant), less authentic than it could have been, in a park whose goal is to deliver at least a little piece of authenticity. I don't know if that clears anything up, but that's what I'm trying to get at.
57	Kar2oonMan Tue 5/6/2008 2:34p	>>In the Canada pavilion, Disney could have more easily finished their film with a real, authentic Canadian folk song than write their own song.<< Yes, but they went the extra mile and did something custom. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. JiminMerced has mentioned it before, but it's worth repeating. At California Adventure, they dropped in a bunch of familiar California tunes. Which after awhile, get pretty old. It would have been a better thing to create fresh music that evokes the feeling of the various regions of the state. It's those custom touches that make a big difference.
58	Kar2oonMan Tue 5/6/2008 2:44p	From the column: >>Yet it didn't occur to the team that built Animal Kingdom that a "hundred-forty foot tall sculpted tree" is not a "natural icon?"<< Well, sometimes "fake" is more real than real. One of my favorite memories of my visit was spending a good hour with my brother, pointing out to each other all the creatures interwoven into the Tree of Life. I can't think of a more amazing icon in any Disney park. In terms of "real" being better than "fake" I would say a better example would be the safari ride at DAK. It's cool being able to drive about and see all the animals in a naturalistic setting. Very well done. Where it goes a bit over the top in my opinion is the whole "keep an eye out for poachers" storyline. To me, while I understand the intent of the message, it intrudes on what could be simply a pleasant and educational ride without all the invented drama. It's a classic example of where less could be more.
59	gmaletic Tue 5/6/2008 2:50p	>>>JiminMerced has mentioned it before, but it's worth repeating. At California Adventure, they dropped in a bunch of familiar California tunes. Which after awhile, get pretty old. It would have been a better thing to create fresh music that evokes the feeling of the various regions of the state. <<< I'd suggest that any song would get old after being played as many times as the songs in California Adventure are! I do, however, think you might be correct in saying that it wouldn't be as important for California Adventure to use "authentic" music, because that park is a stylized take on California. It's not really trying to -be- California, or provide visitors with an "authentic" California experience: they're already in California, after all. (That being said, I think the use of "real" music was a good choice.) Epcot, however, is supposed to be different. The Epcot pavilions are presented as "authentic," built in cooperation with the governments the countries represent, and staffed by people from those countries. So that's why I get a little frustrated when I see the Canada film end with a song written by Disney: that was an easy place to deliver a piece of authentic Canadian culture, and they passed it up. Why they did that, we can only guess, but it ends up feeling like the folks at Disney think that their take on Canada is more compelling than what Canadians themselves can come up with. >>>Where [Kilimanjaro Safaris] goes a bit over the top in my opinion is the whole "keep an eye out for poachers" storyline. To me, while I understand the intent of the message, it intrudes on what could be simply a pleasant and educational ride without all the invented drama. It's a classic example of where less could be more.<<< Yeah, I think you're totally correct here.
60	Kar2oonMan Tue 5/6/2008 2:55p	>>Why they did that, we can only guess, but it ends up feeling like the folks at Disney think that their take on Canada is more compelling than what Canadians themselves can come up with.<< Careful what you wish for. The Canadians gave us Celine Dion and Bryan Adams. I'm just sayin'. ; )

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