I was very skeptical. Especially after being burned by FLE. But Pandora.....IS AWESOME! We enjoyed both rides (rode several times each) and I seriously can't wait to get another cheeseburger pod and grog ale! Well done, Disney.
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Pandora, more or less of a success than you predicted?
- Thread starter mergatroid
- Start date
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
No question it has a better lineup than Epcot and DHS.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Yes, non-MK division I'll take Animal Kingdom's lineup over DHS or Epcot and wouldn't think twice about it.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Burned by FLE? What were you expecting? I dislike Bruce Vaughn and Chris Beatty as much as the next guy but what aspect of New Fantasyland under delivered? The end product was substantially better than the 2009 announcement. Remember, the Mine Train was an after thought, and if @Lee and @marni1971 didn't tell you that at one point in it's history it had a longer track, you would be none the wiser. We could have received a land with Little Mermaid and three A-ticket Princess meet and greets.
But given the choice of the other two...
There again I'd still take Epcot over DAK. But that's just me.
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
After riding RSR, I barely even enjoy going on Test Track anymore. At least the old version had some personality.
Even for Epcot's flaws, the world showcase is still my favorite area of all time.
All I know is that I visited FLE, and now it burns when I pee.
But seriously, by *burned"*, I simply was referring to the amount of time, money and hype Disney put into it vs the final product. It's fun, don't get me wrong. I don't hate it. But it's far from my first stop when visiting MK.
And just because the original plan was made less feminine and added a plussed Barnstormer does not exactly make it a win. Loosing by 2 points instead of 50 points is still a loss.
I'm old school. I can do SSE, LwtL, Mexico and the showcase movies and AmAd all day long. Lunch at Biergarten and I'm happy.
We used to do Soarin once a visit. Now it's once a trip if that. TT can still be fun though.
Energy has gotten too painful even for what's left of 1982. The whole Imag complex is a reminder of how to do things wrong. But it does have my bathroom of choice.
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a great day to me, too.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
It needs a couple high-quality AA dark rides to make it a clear winner.
DHS is half a park, but ToT is a heck of a headliner - trounces anything at AK with the possible exception of Safari. Then you've (for the moment) got a classic AA ride in GMT, the best 3D movie on property with Muppets - ST and RnR...
And Epcot still has the echoes of past greatness with Spaceship Earth and some nifty dark rides.
It's odd... I think AK is WDW's best park by quite a bit (I'd even take it over MK) but going strictly by ride lineups, I'd still put it behind DHS and, on certain days, even EPCOT.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Why? Not trying to be difficult, but why? I have my favorites at both places and the list is longer at DAK.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
If we're going to judge everything by the cost than we're going to be wildly disappointed by everything Disney does. They spend ridiculous amounts of money relative to the end result. I think the problem with New Fantasyland is that it was the only substantial thing added to the Magic Kingdom in 20 years. That's not the fault of New Fantasyland, that's the fault of the 20 years leading up to it. We have a perfect example of this at DCA. The complaints about Little Mermaid there are minimal because it was never the focus. It was a smaller piece.
While criticism can certainly be leveled on the book report ride that is Little Mermaid, I would welcome more rides of that scale in MK. It needs those 2000 guest per hour D tickets, and Frozen Ever After would have been much better suited to be on that scale than what's currently in place over at Epcot.
Where New Fantasyland gets into trouble is when it's compared to what Universal had been doing around the same time.
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
What's this bathroom you speak of?!?
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
That's the thing. The expectations were too high. Especially after announcing a change and that a coaster was coming. It's a shame we didn't get an E-Ticket addition prior to the recession.
No problem.
DAK... has a few great attractions. We don't want to spend vacation time looking at animals. We can do that at home. Kilimanjaro is a must (day and now night), as is Dinosaur. We'll probably do FotLK once a trip. I dare say we'll spend some time in Avland this year. And that's about it. But like I said each to their own.
Imagination bathrooms. It's still like 1982 with the music.
Honourable mention to Odyssey bathrooms.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I think animal viewing at DAK is on par with shopping/strolling through World Showcase at Epcot. I'm more partial to the animal viewing myself, but admittedly that's largely relegated to Gorilla Falls and Maharajah Jungle Trek at this point. No love for Everest or Flights of Wonder?
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
Read that wrong. Thought there is some off the radar bathroom in Energy. Odyssey all day. When they had the passholder magic band exchange my gf couldn't get me out of the place.
Shopping or strolling WS doesn't do much for us either. Though I do take in the architecture and knock on the Germany mural of course.
Flights of Wonder is okay. Not a must do. Same for Everest. I'd rather ride BTM multiple times.
I feel similarly. Give me the American Adventure, SSE, LwtL, GMR, ToT, BTM, HM, and PotC all day long. I haven't seen Soarin' at Epcot since the new film debuted, but after seeing it at DCA last year... I much prefer the original film. Everest is almost a must-do for me, but I'm not let down if I don't get to it. The queue at Everest, though... it is so well done, you have to question whether or not it's all real! For my money, it's the one of the best queues in WDW, but every queue is a distant second to ToT.
