News Announced: Mary Poppins Attraction in UK Pavilion

[The Empress Lilly]

My problem with Mary Poppins is that it is so locked in to the upper middle class la di da representation of a london centric Britain that I had hoped the pavilion would begin to move away from. I also have problems with the nostalgia aspect when it is being used to glorify certain aspects of British history that I believe need better more sensitive context than a theme park attraction. Sure Britain had power but it came at the expense of countless atrocities committed against countless communities. I liked Brave for the ride because it's expression of Scottish mythology was about as non problematic as British history gets and arguably fit much better with the edutainment aspect the park should be sticking to. If we can't have Brave I'm pulling for Sword in the Stone. Of course if Disney weren't so set on pushing an IP focus I'm sure they could produce something that fit much better than any of these; maybe something that focused on Britain's inventors and their contribution to the march towards modernisation or a ride through the stories of the individual nations patron saints?

Britain is honestly a tricky pull for a ride: our individual mythologies don't much influence our current society in the way many other cultures experience, we have very few unifying cultural threads and huge chunks of our history are ghastly to the point of offensive. Great swathes of IP's could fit if the only defining factor was location, but if we want any shred of edutainment that number dwindles down drastically. I see this ride going more the way of the Rat in France than Coco in Mexico when it comes to that factor but I'm still preparing to cringe if what is used to represent us falls in to the misguided nostalgia trap that Poppins would present.

Oh, poppycock. Where's the fun in that. I want a Rule Brittania show where Churchill explains how Britain made the modern world by either creating all the other WS countries outright or invading them into submission to British ways. Show why only Britain is preceded by Great.

And put Australia and India pavilions on either side too.

 

[bcoachable]

I feel that we are WAAAY overthinking this thing...
The Bigs are looking for something on this side of WS to balance out the park a bit. This would help pull crowds/hold crowds away from the front of the park (and Frozen/Coco) as patrons enter the park from the new gondola entrance. This attraction needs to (in their eyes) add a bit of a people eater but at the same time it can't create such a line creator like Frozen the Ride does. It is a "Hey Family, Rat is an hour and a half wait, why don't we do BLA Bla ride at the Uk, it is only a 20 minute wait..."
If it is too good, it doesn't serve its purpose very well.
I feel we better lower our expectations a ton.

 

[RSoxNo1]

If imagineering wants to hire me, I've got a Poppins concept lying around.

Does it involve her spaceship exploding and then her flying through space like Gamora using the force?

 

[wdwgreek]

I feel that we are WAAAY overthinking this thing...
The Bigs are looking for something on this side of WS to balance out the park a bit. This would help pull crowds/hold crowds away from the front of the park (and Frozen/Coco) as patrons enter the park from the new gondola entrance. This attraction needs to (in their eyes) add a bit of a people eater but at the same time it can't create such a line creator like Frozen the Ride does. It is a "Hey Family, Rat is an hour and a half wait, why don't we do BLA Bla ride at the Uk, it is only a 20 minute wait..."
If it is too good, it doesn't serve its purpose very well.
I feel we better lower our expectations a ton.

I am just talking about Marry Poppins fits into a cultural context. For my social history class in undergrad I did a whole presentation on how Disneyland was an idealistic attack on communism. Over thinking things is what we do as hard core disney fans.

 

[larryz]

Oh, poppycock. Where's the fun in that. I want a Rule Brittania show where Churchill explains how Britain made the modern world by either creating all the other WS countries outright or invading them into submission to British ways. Show why only Britain is preceded by Great.

And put Australia and India pavilions on either side too.

India and Australia Pavilions, confirmed!

 

[larryz]

Does it involve her spaceship exploding and then her flying through space like Gamora using the force?

Hey! Way too close to a spoiler...

 

[seabreezept813]

This Mary Poppins dislike, admittedly by a small minority, is killing me.

Love Mary Poppins and feel like a ride would help ease the pain of one of the lost scenes of the Great Movie Ride.. but if using Poppins is just an excuse to plop a carousel in then I’m not for it, and I am an absolute lover of Carousels!! The thing is we save and splurge for Disney to get something we can’t get at our local amusement park.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Does it involve her spaceship exploding and then her flying through space like Gamora using the force?

Gamera the turtle?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Gamera the turtle?

Not sure what you're going for, but I'm just going to say, "no."

 

[marni1971]

India and Australia Pavilions, confirmed!

Australia was a fan fuelled crazy who was trying to get some publicity.

 

[JoeCamel]

Maybe it will be a Nigel Farage AA on a stump explaining why Britain should not be part of the EU. Complete with Nicola Sturgeon stumping for independence. It would be a moment in history for sure.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Does it involve her spaceship exploding and then her flying through space like Gamora using the force?

She uses Fae Magic to fly. She's a princess of Avalon. After the sequel comes out and the Mary Poppins Ferris Wheel is finished, she'll be inducted into the Disney Princess franchise and will have M&Gs both in the United Kingdom of England and Wales and the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland Pavilion (soon to renamed the British Isles Pavilion) and in Princess Fairy Tale Hall; because who better than to be in that hall then a princess of the fairy folk?

 

[Sundown]

With the Fox acquisition...are there any appropriate former-Fox intellectual properties that would now be considered for the U.K.?

 

[MisterPenguin]

With the Fox acquisition...are there any appropriate former-Fox intellectual properties that would now be considered for the U.K.?

If yes, it'd be a year or two for the dust to settle before Disney truly owns them.

Also, just because Fox produced or distributed a film doesn't mean they have the licensing rights to create park attractions from those IPs. The original author may hold those rights, or, they may have been sold/leased to another company. E.g., Universal has park licensing rights to Simpsons. There are Ice Age attractions that exist around the world, and we don't know what the licensing agreement is.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Not sure what you're going for, but I'm just going to say, "no."

 

[larryz]

Not sure what you're going for, but I'm just going to say, "no."

Gamera
VVV

Gamora
VVV

Does that help?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Gamera
VVV

Gamora
VVV

Does that help?

YES!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

[TiggerDad]

I feel that we are WAAAY overthinking this thing...
The Bigs are looking for something on this side of WS to balance out the park a bit. This would help pull crowds/hold crowds away from the front of the park (and Frozen/Coco) as patrons enter the park from the new gondola entrance. This attraction needs to (in their eyes) add a bit of a people eater but at the same time it can't create such a line creator like Frozen the Ride does. It is a "Hey Family, Rat is an hour and a half wait, why don't we do BLA Bla ride at the Uk, it is only a 20 minute wait..."
If it is too good, it doesn't serve its purpose very well.
I feel we better lower our expectations a ton.

True, and the insiders have repeatedly called this a B or C ticket, not D or E. But the real thing the Bigs are looking for is something to hide backstage UK from the gondola line, akin to Rat for France. That's why an outdoor carousel simply won't do.

 

[Magenta Panther]

This Mary Poppins dislike, admittedly by a small minority, is killing me.

Yeah, seriously, what the heck is that? "Mary Poppins" was Walt's crown jewel, and it portrayed London/Great Britain in a generally flattering light. I realize the movie doesn't dwell much on British history beyond the mentions of King Edward and the Suffragettes, but so what? Would people prefer that TDO build a Tower of London complete with ravens and severed heads and the murdered boy Princes?

 

[TeriofTerror]

Yeah, seriously, what the heck is that? "Mary Poppins" was Walt's crown jewel, and it portrayed London/Great Britain in a generally flattering light. I realize the movie doesn't dwell much on British history beyond the mentions of King Edward and the Suffragettes, but so what? Would people prefer that TDO build a Tower of London complete with ravens and severed heads and the murdered boy Princes?

Henry VIII's Wild Marital Ride. You have three possible adventures: you'll either end up divorced, beheaded, or you'll die in childbirth.