David Koenig on the (near-ish) future of Disneyland park

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indianajack

Member
I gotta say I get tired of people saying that Disney fans don't want change and Disney can't please them with any changes to the park. False.

Fans have been vocal about many areas of Disneyland that they want to see change, even radical change:

1) Pretty much all of Tomorrowland
2) Pretty much all of Toontown
3) Two large areas of Fantasyland: Motor Boat Cruise and the Theater.

Disney fans really, really want change in these areas. What the fans don't want is stuff changed that is already good to great, and that's what they rationally oppose.
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
indianajack said:
I gotta say I get tired of people saying that Disney fans don't want change and Disney can't please them with any changes to the park. False.

Fans have been vocal about many areas of Disneyland that they want to see change, even radical change:

1) Pretty much all of Tomorrowland
2) Pretty much all of Toontown
3) Two large areas of Fantasyland: Motor Boat Cruise and the Theater.

Disney fans really, really want change in these areas. What the fans don't want is stuff changed that is already good to great, and that's what they rationally oppose.
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I would fit with 1 (but not necessarily ALL of it) and 3. As for 2, I agree Toontown needs help, but scrapping it for a Fantasyland expansion is the wrong thing to do, in my opinion. This is, after all, the home for Mickey and the gang.

In any case, I have a feeling that they will mention something about this at D23. After all, it was where they formally mentioned the Star Wars land, something that fans kept speculating would happen as hints about it were dropped, long before the previous D23 ever even happened.
 
October82

October82

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
I would fit with 1 (but not necessarily ALL of it) and 3. As for 2, I agree Toontown needs help, but scrapping it for a Fantasyland expansion is the wrong thing to do, in my opinion. This is, after all, the home for Mickey and the gang.
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It depends on how it is done. If a fantasyland expansion reduced the size of Toontown while updating the portions of Toontown that work, I don't think there would be a lot to criticize. There is a lot of underutilized space in Toontown.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
I am really excited to hear what they announce at D23. So many rumors flying around, they can't all be true. It'll be interesting to hear which ones are actually happening. One of the good things about D23 is putting pressure on them to have things exciting enough on the plate to announce.
 
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indianajack

Member
mharrington said:
As for 2, I agree Toontown needs help, but scrapping it for a Fantasyland expansion is the wrong thing to do, in my opinion. This is, after all, the home for Mickey and the gang.
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I like Toontown too, and adore its theming. It's a wonderfully immersive land. But I think we're in the minority among Disney fans in liking Toontown, and most would like it replaced with a Fantasyland expansion. If Disney is not going to reinvigorate Toontown back to its "playful place" glory when it opened, then I'm okay with losing most of it for a really good FL expansion. I would just hope they save Mickey's house (and even Minnie's) for the great walkthroughs and meet 'n greets.
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
Curious Constance said:
I am really excited to hear what they announce at D23. So many rumors flying around, they can't all be true. It'll be interesting to hear which ones are actually happening. One of the good things about D23 is putting pressure on them to have things exciting enough on the plate to announce.
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I got a feeling one thing they will talk about at D23 is a development on the Star Wars land. Maybe they'll even provide a scale model of the new land to come.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

indianajack said:
I gotta say I get tired of people saying that Disney fans don't want change and Disney can't please them with any changes to the park. False.

Fans have been vocal about many areas of Disneyland that they want to see change, even radical change:

1) Pretty much all of Tomorrowland
2) Pretty much all of Toontown
3) Two large areas of Fantasyland: Motor Boat Cruise and the Theater.

Disney fans really, really want change in these areas. What the fans don't want is stuff changed that is already good to great, and that's what they rationally oppose.
Click to expand...

You say that now but just wait until an actual announcement is made.
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
indianajack said:
I like Toontown too, and adore its theming. It's a wonderfully immersive land. But I think we're in the minority among Disney fans in liking Toontown, and most would like it replaced with a Fantasyland expansion. If Disney is not going to reinvigorate Toontown back to its "playful place" glory when it opened, then I'm okay with losing most of it for a really good FL expansion. I would just hope they save Mickey's house (and even Minnie's) for the great walkthroughs and meet 'n greets.
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If Toontown were impacted by Fantasyland, they would have to create new homes for Mickey and Minnie because I doubt they would keep that sliver of corridor leading up there. I also hope they keep the (or at least create a brand-new) kiddie coaster.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
If Toontown were impacted by Fantasyland, they would have to create new homes for Mickey and Minnie because I doubt they would keep that sliver of corridor leading up there. I also hope they keep the (or at least create a brand-new) kiddie coaster.
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Toontown has a lot of potential. If they could spice it up with 2017 technology and really make it feel "alive" like it should be I would rather it stay then replaced with a Fantasyland expansion, even if that included a BATB and Frozen ride. But making Toontown come to life would probably entail making the whole land indoors with screens and projections and I don't see Disney spending that kind of money for a Land that they view is only for toddlers and frankly not on their priority list with all of their recent acquisitions.

So I would hope if Toontown does go it's for a Fantasyland expansion and they better green light it fast. Because I don't want a 20 acre Star Wars Land. I also don't want Arendelle. I would hope they just continue the European village theme which allows for most fairy tales. After all, what is Arendelle but a European village with snow on it. So I guess it doesn't really matter but I just don't want to see it on the map as some separate entity.
 
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GrizzlyAdams

Active Member
We can hope the success of BATB will help rethink any mass Frozen plans. Especially since they have so many other films in the pipeline that could be applied to the park.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Disney fans are sheep. They are so use to reading from Micechat that Toon Town and the Subs suck that they must be replaced that they actually believe that now. Toon Town needs to be fixed not destroyed. Fix Gadgets Go Coaster so the fish spit water and the sculpture works correctly. Fix the musical Mickey fountain. Do something with Chip n Dales ball room, Donald's boat and restore Goofy's house.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

Nothing appeals to me in Toontown besides Cartoon Spin, and it's difficult to get to from most areas of the park, so I wouldn't shed a tear if Disney closed it. TBH with so many more compelling things to do at DLR I rarely visit that corner of DL, including the FL Theatre and Small World, and I bet I'm not alone. If Disney has data that makes a case for increasing capacity by dramatically rearranging things around FL then they ought to do it.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
Nothing appeals to me in Toontown besides Cartoon Spin, and it's difficult to get to from most areas of the park, so I wouldn't shed a tear if Disney closed it. TBH with so many more compelling things to do at DLR I rarely visit that corner of DL, including the FL Theatre and Small World, and I bet I'm not alone. If Disney has data that makes a case for increasing capacity by dramatically rearranging things around FL then they ought to do it.
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But it isn't geared towards you. It's geared towards the preschool set.
 
HMF

HMF

Well-Known Member
phruby said:
But it isn't geared towards you. It's geared towards the preschool set.
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"Disneyland really began when my two daughters were very young. Saturday was always Daddy's Day and I would take them to the merry-go-round, and sit on a bench eating peanuts while they rode. And sitting there alone, I felt there should be something built, some kind of family park where parents and children could have fun together".-Walt Disney
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
HMF said:
"Disneyland really began when my two daughters were very young. Saturday was always Daddy's Day and I would take them to the merry-go-round, and sit on a bench eating peanuts while they rode. And sitting there alone, I felt there should be something built, some kind of family park where parents and children could have fun together".-Walt Disney
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Sometimes having fun for a parent is to sit on a bench and rest and watch their rug rat slide down a slide or climb through a tube.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

phruby said:
But it isn't geared towards you. It's geared towards the preschool set.
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Understood, which is why I said that if Disney can back up a decision to make big changes to FL and/or Toontown with data then they should do it. The point I'm making is that a decision like that ought to be based on a strong business case, not our personal preferences.
 
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Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
HMF said:
Possibly, but it is against the very foundation that the Disneyland concept was based on.
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Gosh, then we better get rid of all those benches. Walt would never approve. Let's add that to the Rules of the Park.

Disneyland rules:
:
Rule 583 - Watch your children at all times
Rule 584 - You must play with your child at all times.
Rule 585 - No sitting on benches
 

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