Biggest Imagineering Screw-ups!

[PhilosophyMagic]

I often think about how brilliant and well-planned the overall design of Disney parks and attractions is... how each part of the parks is designed to complement surrounding structures, and bring the guest flow in certain directions... and how attractions cause guests to notice and focus on just what imagineers want them to... well, USUALLY.

Being well-versed park-goers and critics, what do YOU think are the Imagineers' biggest screw-ups?


Personally, I think the placement of Dinosaur tops the list of weird designs. WHY is the best (or second-best) ride in the park hidden in the farthest possible corner of Dinoland?!? It's absurd! :hammer: Originally, I thought the design was to force guests to pass more stores, since the pathways to/from the attraction entrance do so, but now that Dino-Rama is in place, I think a very good portion of first-time visitors to the park never even notice Dinosaur!

If anyone has a clue as to why Dinosaur is stuffed in the back corner like that, please speak up... it's just too weird! Has Disney at least placed more signs advertising/pointing to the ride throughout Dinoland? Maybe they need some more...

 

[Pioneer Hall]

The two new Imagination Rides and Test Track (should have been so much better).

 

[General Grizz]

>> JOURNEY INTO YOUR IMAGINATION/WITH FIGMENT

>> ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM UNM (but better than a VR Aladdin!)

>> DINO-RAMA (not worth this text on the Internet )

>> FOOD ROCKS (closed to half an audience, friends; classic replaced by a half-baked - pardon the pun! - show)

MANAGEMENT Screw-up: Goofy's Dancing Jamboree/Meet'n'Greet

 

[goofyfan13]

The two new Imagination Rides and Test Track (should have been so much better).

I'll second that, while I like TT, I too think it could have been a lot better. Some others that I think are absolute screw up...... Dinorama, (I'm sure a lot will agree on that one too) and Magic Carpets of Aladdin (how many of these things do we honestly need?). :brick: Other than that I am pretty satisfied with everything else they have done.

 

[SpectroMan]

If anyone has a clue as to why Dinosaur is stuffed in the back corner like that, please speak up... it's just too weird! Has Disney at least placed more signs advertising/pointing to the ride throughout Dinoland? Maybe they need some more...

I think Dinosaur is in its place because Animal Kingdom is supposed to be an adventure. You are supposed to find where things are.

Dino Rama tops my list of worst imagineering skrew ups.

Journey into Imagination and with Figment- It was one of the greatest rides before they screwed it up.

 

[nicholas]

Maybe placing the Sorcerer Hat in the middle of MGM and ruining an incredible view and first glimpse upon entering the park. Love the hat, just not its location.

 

[rainfully]

Journey Into Your Imagination... ugh!!

And one thing that really bugs me about the Studios is how they have the two biggest super headliner attractions right next to each other... and at the end of a relatively narrow street. To me it tends to clog things up... if it was up to me, I'd spread things out a bit more...

 

[dreamitdoit]

I think that Test Track, Journey into Imagination 2.0 and 3.0, Horizons demolition (not retheming it), Tiki Room, The Skyway, and Buzz Lightyear are big Imagineering cop-outs. They normally wow me but those mistakes really stand out to me.
Horizons should have never been closed. It should have been updated. I know that we all have run this into the ground but that is such a testament to how much it was loved. The Skyway should have never been taken out, it was pretty amazing and fun.
I still want to be one someday.

and the hat in MGM should have never gone there........nor the hand in Epcot!

 

[DarkMeasures]

I don't think the Imagineers screwed up. I think it is those who gave the Imagineers' budgets fault.

 

[StrangeTikiGod]

I definitely agree with the removal of Horizons being a blunder...I miss that attraction so bloody much...

Hmm, what else? Granted it's the other US Disney Park, but the horrid revamp of Tomorrowland at DL was a travesty...

Although now that I think about it, I think a large number of the problems can be traced to the handiwork of the Accountaneers rather than the Imagineers themselves. Give them a decent budget, like Tokyo DisneySea, and look what they can do...

Edit: Looks like great minds think alike, DarkMeasures!

 

[Main Street USA]

I don't think the Imagineers screwed up. I think it is those who gave the Imagineers' budgets fault.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

You want to see what these Imagineers are capable of doing without budget constraints? Take a little trip to Tokyo.

 

[Moustronaut]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

You want to see what these Imagineers are capable of doing without budget constraints? Take a little trip to Tokyo.

AMEN!!!! Tokyo DisneySea is simply the best themed park Disney has ever done as far as wall to wall detail. It's like Tower of Terror queue over the WHOLE park.


But as far as bad planning at Walt Disney World... I have to go with the location of the Dolphin in relation to World Showcase. Nothing spoils the magic being transported to other counties than the Michael Graves monstrosity towering over France and the UK. The sky blue hanger of Soarin' over Canada is nothing compared to that.

 

[StrangeTikiGod]

on an brief but interesting tangent, have you noticed how Tower of Terror seems to blend in with the architecture of the Morocco pavilion when viewed from the entrance to World Showcase? Not sure if that was intentional or not, but it does seem to work pretty well.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Dont necessarily blame all of these on Imagineering. Management / bean counters can certainly have an impact on decisions. If Imagineering ruled the world, we'd all be much happier and better off

That being said, here is my only major complaint:
- Not building Western River Expedition!!!

Thank you

 

[Slosh]

I agree with the placement of the E-tickets in the Studios, having both of them off on the side makes the whole area feel tacked on (which it is) to the rest of the park. Also, the general retheming of EPCOT to Epcot just plain bugs me, not just that stupid wand.
I have a few theories on some of the others though; any comments I'm all ears:
-When I was at Disneyland not too long ago I remember wondering why the Indy ride was way off to the side like it is, and I realized afterwards that it must be because of the sheer amount of space the ride takes up; maybe Dinosaur is placed for the same reason?
-I think The Hat, sadly, was meant to cover up the Chinese theater so they could demolish or reface the building- no real proof there, but it just seems to add up.
-Horizons was definitely a loss. but from my understanding the building was damn near condemned from structural damage, and there was nothing to do but demolish it.
-Test Track is not supposed to be a thrill ride, its educational. Remember? Like EPCOT Center was supposed to be? I find the whole building, queue and all, fascinating, even if it is a giant GM ad.

 

[trdisneyfan]

The biggest blunder? No doubt it's California Adventure. It really could have been SOOO much better. But it was built cheaply, and it shows.

And one theory I had about the Dinosaur placement... maybe it's similar to the reason supermarkets always put the milk in the far back corner of the store - it's to get people to walk through the entire store and be exposed to as many other products as possible on their way to the milk section (this is a proven technique that almost every large store uses). Perhaps they knew if their flagship attraction (based on DL's Indy's popularity) was too easy to get to, people would ignore the rest of the park.

 

[marni1971]

The size of the path by Small World in Fantasyland - compared to Paris when they got the chance to correct it (in Paris the same path is by Peter Pans Flight)

The size of the preshow theatre for Philharmagic (Fantasyland Theatre, originally the Mickey Mouse Revue) - holding area capacity is supposed to match the main attractions capacity!

The building designed to hold Japans `Meet the World`

I would imagine CTX was built where it was to balance the parks E Rides since Beastly Kingdom was to be built on the opposite side of WILD Animal Kingdoms `hub`.

 

[togasports]

I think everyone is missing the obvious:

EuroDisney-Disneyland Paris

 

[raven]

WHY is the best (or second-best) ride in the park hidden in the farthest possible corner of Dinoland?!? It's absurd! :hammer: If anyone has a clue as to why Dinosaur is stuffed in the back corner like that, please speak up... it's just too weird!

I'm not sure if you visited AK before 2002 or not but "Dinosaur" (or Countdown to Extinction) was built BEFORE Dinoland was even thought up. I'm sure it wasn't intentionally hidden.

To me, the Imagineering "woopsies" tend to be more traffic pattern issues. Some examples are the Splash Mountain/BTMRR dead end. Or the UoE dead end. Or the narrow passage through Fantasyland and the now crowded Frontierland in front of the Magic carpets of Aladdin. These to me are very irritable bottlenecks especially when there are strollers everywhere. I tend to avoid these areas now and not even go into those areas anymore.

 

[mrtoad]

I will stay away from the design of attractions because they are being covered well. What I think was a design in the park though that should not have been done is to add the carpet ride smack dab in the middle of Adventureland. It ruins the flow and the nice open feel it use to have. I can just avoid attractions I don't want to do, but I can't avoid a big spinning ride in the middle of the path.