| # | Author | Message |
31
| Nate McDuck
Tue 7/8/2008 2:19p | You do make an excellent point, though. If the attraction is just a swing ride with Mickey seats it's no better than any random amusement park. I really couldn't agree more. |
32
| dshyates
Tue 7/8/2008 2:19p | But do you go to DLR for only the character stuff. You don't like Haunted Mansion. Or would they be better with Pumba hosting the Jungle Cruise and oh, say, Sully, he's a monster, hosting the Haunted Mansion. They have monsters in a haunted mansions, right?
Look we know its Disney and they have a huge arsenal of characters, we like the characters. Just watch us scream if the ran a parade without characters down main street. But it seems that EVERYTHING they build has a commercial tie-in. They are even going and inserting blantant commercialization into the classics. When is enough become too much. I figure we are about there and Disney as usual is blowing past enough into to much and they will kill it. I liked the characters a lot more before I couln't get away from them.
Words like cloying and pandering come to mind. |
33
| Nate McDuck
Tue 7/8/2008 2:20p | I have to say I am thoroughly convinced. I was a bit on the fence on this topic, but davewasbaloo and dshyates have made some great arguments. |
34
| Hans Reinhardt
Tue 7/8/2008 2:21p | "If I just wanted to go to a generic park I can go to Great America."
Great America has characters too. At least the one here in Santa Clara does. |
35
| davewasbaloo
Tue 7/8/2008 2:22p | Actually Dshyates, for me, Tapestry of Nations was the best parade Disney has ever done after the MSEP. No characters to be seen in that one. |
36
| davewasbaloo
Tue 7/8/2008 2:25p | I am not saying get rid of the characters (though it makes me very happy they are retreating from the Liberty Tree Tavern in WDW). What I am saying is let's not turn the parks into a kid only zone. |
37
| Hans Reinhardt
Tue 7/8/2008 2:29p | "I think a ride like Buzz Lightyear is both a great attraction concept and fits the theme pretty well."
It does now because Pixar is what the current people running Disney wants to sell you. There was a time however, when the theme of Tomorrowland really meant something and that something wasn't cartoons or pre-existing characters. It was about the opportunities that the future could bring.
Tomorrowland might have fallen short on several counts, and it was all very commercial then too, but in a different way. In a way that showed vision and ambition. What they've done is turned serious topics like undersea exploration and future modes of transportation into dumbed down amusement park rids.
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38
| dshyates
Tue 7/8/2008 2:29p | Great America actually has 2 catalogs of characters (Nick and The Peanuts) to pull from. At least until the end of this year when they will lose the Nick characters. But Cedar Fair has Snoopy to fill the blanks.
Marriott is getting the Nick characters for their new chain of family indoor waterpark resorts. You can get characters at non-Disney hotels before you get on property.
I stay at the Ritz-Carlton for 2 reasons. 1. Its a better hotel than Disney can offer for $100+/night less. 2. to get away from the high pressuse commercialization. Seriously, the money grubbing is a real turn off for me. |
39
| RoadTrip
Tue 7/8/2008 2:48p | I think folks are being a little unfair with all of this talk about how DCA is being over-run by characters. DCA's premier attractions, Soarin', Grizzly River Run and Tower of Terror, have no character tie-in.
Everything on Paradise Pier currently has no character tie-in except for the big Mickey silhouette on Screamin', and even that is more a decorative touch for night-time lighting than a real character tie-in.
After all of this stuff is done, how many attractions will DCA have involving characters?
Three:
Monsters
Cars
Toy Story Mania
Oh me. Oh my. I think the world is going to end.
All of this wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth would be downright hilarious if it were not so pathetic.
P.S. davewasbaloo - I want you to know that this IS NOT directed at you. In a previous thread you thought I was criticizing you and I really was not. I am criticizing a particular mindset -- the whole Disney is going to hell in a handbasket gestalt. It is nothing personal.
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40
| davewasbaloo
Tue 7/8/2008 3:00p | No worries RT. Thanks for the disclaimer. However, the new stuff includes:
Little Mermaid Attraction
The character overlay of Mulholland Madness, the Orange Stinger, and the Sunwheel (still rumours on screamin' too)
Wonderful World of Colour
3 Cars attractions
That's a lot of toonage for 1.1bn that could be better spent on other attraction experiences.
This is adding to Playhouse Disney, Turtle Talk, Aladdin, Monster's Inc, Bugs Land, and Toy Story Midway Mania. To me the direction seems to be overkill.
Add that to the Nemo and IASW overlays, Buzz and all the other toon based entertainment added to DL in recent years, it's a bit much.
For us super theme obsessed fans, it is getting harder and harder to find an escape. |
