Not Perfect, but fixable: The potential of New Fantasyland

[SmartNoob89]

Alright, so I've looked around this forum and seen the following:

+ The general simple and juvenile Enchanted Tales with Belle.
+ The cheap souvenir cups at Gaston's Tavern.
+ A lack of truly "family/everybody" rides.

Yes, I agree some these things could have been done a LOT better, but all these things don't seem as disastrous or utterly banal as, say, the way things are going in Future World. There is definite room for improvement and the best part is, it wouldn't cost TDO too much!

For example, maybe ETwB could ditch the whole improve schtick and focus more on meeting the characters. If they wanted to maintain the whole story-aspect, maybe they could do the whole "deleted tales" route that many of you guys suggest. Of course, this may have to be simplified for foreign audiences.

What I'm saying is a lot of these inconvenient details could be reworked better and it would cost TDO barely a penny (Sure, maybe I'm bit too optimistic).

 

[SmartNoob89]

This all said and done, you guys think TDO would find these suggestions too expensive?

 

[danlb_2000]

Alright, so I've looked around this forum and seen the following:

+ The general simple and juvenile Enchanted Tales with Belle.
+ The cheap souvenir cups at Gaston's Tavern.
+ A lack of truly "family/everybody" rides.

Yes, I agree some these things could have been done a LOT better, but all these things don't seem as disastrous or utterly banal as, say, the way things are going in Future World. There is definite room for improvement and the best part is, it wouldn't cost TDO too much!

For example, maybe ETwB could ditch the whole improve schtick and focus more on meeting the characters. If they wanted to maintain the whole story-aspect, maybe they could do the whole "deleted tales" route that many of you guys suggest. Of course, this may have to be simplified for foreign audiences.

What I'm saying is a lot of these inconvenient details could be reworked better and it would cost TDO barely a penny (Sure, maybe I'm bit too optimistic).

I lost you on that third point. People can debate the quality of the Little Mermaid ride all they want, but it's hard to deny it's a family ride. Also 7DMT ride be a good family ride.

 

[Powerline]

I'm sure that cost wasn't a major issue for something like ETwB (the animatronics aside) but that EtwB just wasn't thought out or fleshed to it's full potential.

 

[CJR]

I lost you on that third point. People can debate the quality of the Little Mermaid ride all they want, but it's hard to deny it's a family ride. Also 7DMT ride be a good family ride.

I think these will be great rides. However, they took out SWSA after they decided to do 7DMT. So really, all this money was poured in so that the park could gain one ride. Of course capacity will be way up, but for the amount of money they spent, I agree it could have been way better.

I think it's better than what they were going to do originally (with the houses), but I was never crazy about the expansion. Although, I'm very anti-M&G. I moved to FL from California though, which has better M&G's IMO. Still, rides are better, hands down.

It would be nice to see them add something small. The current Tangled show is great real estate for a lower key attraction. I would love a ride, but I'd go nuts over a Sleeping Beauty walk through like the one in California.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Alright, so I've looked around this forum and seen the following:

+ The general simple and juvenile Enchanted Tales with Belle.
+ The cheap souvenir cups at Gaston's Tavern.
+ A lack of truly "family/everybody" rides.

Yes, I agree some these things could have been done a LOT better, but all these things don't seem as disastrous or utterly banal as, say, the way things are going in Future World. There is definite room for improvement and the best part is, it wouldn't cost TDO too much!

For example, maybe ETwB could ditch the whole improve schtick and focus more on meeting the characters. If they wanted to maintain the whole story-aspect, maybe they could do the whole "deleted tales" route that many of you guys suggest. Of course, this may have to be simplified for foreign audiences.

What I'm saying is a lot of these inconvenient details could be reworked better and it would cost TDO barely a penny (Sure, maybe I'm bit too optimistic).

How about waiting until its fully open to comment on what you seen then? I think it's a bit early to declare failures and fixes.

 

[td1129]

Wait, enchanted tales with belle is a bad thing now? Good lord. Some of you need to sit a few threads out.

 

[SmartNoob89]

'

How about waiting until its fully open to comment on what you seen then? I think it's a bit early to declare failures and fixes.

I'm not saying that New Fantasyland is a failure. VOTLM and 7DMC all look like great rides and a lot of fun for all ages. The theming also seems to be spot on and well crafted. What I'm commenting on is the lack of things that could get people excited in a manner like the WWOHP. Disney World NEEDS that kind of upgrade and I'm not sure if this expansion will immediately provide this.

I understand that Fantasyland is designed to be the most appealing section of the park for kids, as it should be. However, like the rest of the park, it shouldn't deter away older guests just because it's cartoony and innocent. Barring a couple of exceptions, many of the new attractions seem specifically targeted to extremely young children, leaving many older folks on the sideline. Not that such attractions are BAD, per se, but there seems to be TOO MUCH of a focus on the little ones. I personally feel that for Walt Disney World to be that special and magical place we all cherish, balance is the key.

 

[JustInTime]

 

[SmartNoob89]

I lost you on that third point. People can debate the quality of the Little Mermaid ride all they want, but it's hard to deny it's a family ride. Also 7DMT ride be a good family ride.

Okay, maybe I was a little shortsighted on that point. My apologies.

 

[Hakunamatata]

'

I'm not saying that New Fantasyland is a failure. VOTLM and 7DMC all look like great rides and a lot of fun for all ages. The theming also seems to be spot on and well crafted. What I'm commenting on is the lack of things that could get people excited in a manner like the WWOHP. Disney World NEEDS that kind of upgrade and I'm not sure if this expansion will immediately provide this.

I understand that Fantasyland is designed to be the most appealing section of the park for kids, as it should be. However, like the rest of the park, it shouldn't deter away older guests just because it's cartoony and innocent. Barring a couple of exceptions, many of the new attractions seem specifically targeted to extremely young children, leaving many older folks on the sideline. Not that such attractions are BAD, per se, but there seems to be TOO MUCH of a focus on the little ones. I personally feel that for Walt Disney World to be that special and magical place we all cherish, balance is the key.

That's odd. The times we have been during off seasons when kids are generally in school, FL is no where near dead. I would venture to say that FL is just as popular with adults as many of e other sections of the parks.

 

[englanddg]

The expansion brought beer and wine to MK. What is more adult then that?

 

[SmartNoob89]

That's odd. The times we have been during off seasons when kids are generally in school, FL is no where near dead. I would venture to say that FL is just as popular with adults as many of e other sections of the parks.

Thanks for pointing that out. I tend to overlook a lot of things.

Anyway, my post isn't about Fantasyland as a whole, just this new section. Hope that clarifies things a bit.

The expansion brought beer and wine to MK. What is more adult then that?

Those are definitely pluses to the park. I'm not saying that the expansion will fail to bring older guests in, but that a good majority of the additions seem exclusively tailored to children.

 

[doctornick]

To me, all of the new additions look pretty cool, especially visually where I think the "land" will collectively be very impressive and immersive. If I had to change something, I would argue that's it's too many M&G's and I would have suggested replacing Pete's Silly Sideshow with a circus themed ride (even something themed similarly where you see the classic Disney characters performing their circus acts as you ride through).

But what I would suggest for FL going forward would be to simply add some complimentary rides somewhere (e.g. replace Village Haus with Pinocchio's Daring Journey or put a Sleeping Beauty dark ride in the space currently occupied by Fairytale Garden). And renovating the existing buildings to be up to the same visual impact of the new additions.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

To me, all of the new additions look pretty cool, especially visually where I think the "land" will collectively be very impressive and immersive. If I had to change something, I would argue that's it's too many M&G's and I would have suggested replacing Pete's Silly Sideshow with a circus themed ride (even something themed similarly where you see the classic Disney characters performing their circus acts as you ride through).

But what I would suggest for FL going forward would be to simply add some complimentary rides somewhere (e.g. replace Village Haus with Pinocchio's Daring Journey or put a Sleeping Beauty dark ride in the space currently occupied by Fairytale Garden). And renovating the existing buildings to be up to the same visual impact of the new additions.

Village Haus has an access road going into it from the back, into to a huge loading/unloading area for food, being the main access point for the Utilidors. They would need to figure out how to build a show building over this, not very practical, and very expensive vs. building where critical backstage infrastructure isn't located.

Fairytale Garden really isn't big enough for a Fantasyland ride, plus a Fantasyland ride here wouldn't really be in Fantasyland as it would face Tomorrowland and the hub.

Take a look where Pete's Silly Sideshow is in relation to Mermaid's awkwardly place show building, then tell me if you think a decent sized show building can be put here . . . it can't.

 

[JenniferS]

I don't think FLE was ever meant to be a Potter-swatter. My understanding was that it was all about increasing capacity and flow.
I think Avatarland/Pandora and/or the Carsland/Pixar Place expansion is what is supposed to compete with WWoHP.

On another note, removing the Tomorrowland Speedway would yield a lot of real estate, which, as others have suggested, could house two decent attractions; one in Fantasyland and the other themed to and accessible from Tomorrowland.

Aaah, we can dream, can't we?

 

[Next Big Thing]

I don't think it was meant to be a Potter-Swatter, nor can/will it be, but the fact is, from all we've seen the FLE is taking many elements from the WWoHP and implementing them into the FLE.

- Enchanted Tales with Belle = Ollivander's
- LaFou's Brew = Butterbeer
- Map on FLE Website is basically based off the one Uni used to promote Potter
- BoG lunch = Three Broomsticks
- Gaston's Tavern = Hog's Head Pub

*The main advantage Disney will have is having a sit down restaurant with BoG (although rumors persist of a sit down in the Great Hall). Also, the Dwarfs coaster will be much better themed than FotH.
*The main advantage Universal has obviously is having the better main attraction in Forbidden Journey.

Both are/will be very different experiences and are aimed at completely different demographics, but you can't deny that much of this expansion seems to be influenced by Potter.

 

[danlb_2000]

I don't think FLE was ever meant to be a Potter-swatter. My understanding was that it was all about increasing capacity and flow.
I think Avatarland/Pandora and/or the Carsland/Pixar Place expansion is what is supposed to compete with WWoHP.

On another note, removing the Tomorrowland Speedway would yield a lot of real estate, which, as others have suggested, could house two decent attractions; one in Fantasyland and the other themed to and accessible from Tomorrowland.

Aaah, we can dream, can't we?

Exactly this, it was never intended to counter Potter, it provides greater capacity for Magic Kingdom in general and Fantasyland specifically which really needed it.

 

[Prototype82]

I have no problem with what they're building and producing. It looks awesome. I wish the Tavern glasses had "Gaston's Tavern" molded into them, but oh well. They still fit the area. Do I wish we had a forbidden journey-like ride? Yes. But we're getting some amazing things in Fantasyland. I'll be happy.

 

[CJR]

The expansion brought beer and wine to MK. What is more adult then that?

True, but that's not included in the cost of admission. We can go to places nearby and get it at a far cheaper price. I know Disney's selling point though: it's the most magical beer on earth.