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EPCOT Announced: Mary Poppins Attraction in UK Pavilion
- Thread starter TabulaRasa
- Start date
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
To be fair, I don't think the original Poppins has quite the sentimental cache with current younger generations as it does with those of us born in the last millennia. I also don't think that the sequel really brought on a ton of new fans, either.
I think the property is valuable these days to Disney in an iconography sense more than from a story angle.
The truth is, unless some of these things get modern sequels that catch on or are rebooted, the classic live-action stuff, in particular, is going to continue to slip more and more out of popular appreciation.
While I think it's important for them to keep producing a family-friendly balance of attractions for all ages, I don't know that it makes sense to be investing heavily into attractions that will stand for the next 20, 30... 50 years based on things more and more children today are already unfamiliar with.
If the second movie had done better, maybe but I think the best thing for this would have been an outdoor carousel with heavy visual nods to the movie, the music being played by the organ on the ride and maybe a plaque referencing the cultural value of the movie and story it was inspired by - especially as an attraction in World Showcase.
Beautiful, respectful, and simple.
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Rteetz
Well-Known Member
That's your opinion. I or others may think those deserve D and E tickets.
A-C tickets are needed in the parks. Not everything should or needs to be a major ride. Flat rides when done well are ok.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
The problem is A-C ticket attractions just need to happen.
No real announcements - no building of expectations - just open them.
Even if Disney keeps their mouth's shut, the bloggers are going to be out there squealing about how amazing xyz is so there is a limit to how far they can get with that but that's the world we live in.
That said, I think we should have found out something of this scale was coming from Biosconstruct rather than at D23.
I feel like the only two ways we'll ever really get things this way going forward, though, are with a new park or as an accessory to a D-E ticket - both in cases where they can happen with a budget that includes stuff meant to draw in crowds - not to just help eat them the way we want these attractions to.
... and the problem there is, they don't fix the current situation, they just help mitigate some of the extra congestion caused by the bigger new attraction with the heavy promotional budget attached to it.
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FettFan
Well-Known Member
Well, the only other option would be Snow White or that *other* little thing Germany is known for….
Say no more.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
I think you made my point more eloquently than I did late last evening.
Yes we all agree "filler" attractions are needed. Flat rides, A-B-C tickets, etc. So just do it, insert them where appropriate. Honestly, it doesn't even need to be announced, make a blog post if needed, wait until it is almost ready and be like "surprise, new teacup style ride at Epcot opens next month".
But if you announce at D23 "A Mary Poppins attraction for Epcot", and then this is the possible outcome... you are just setting yourself up for blowback.
Manage expectations. Scale the announcement properly.
AdventureHasAName
Well-Known Member
If the best they could come up with was a re-themed tea cups ride, then I'm glad it got cancelled. I'd rather have nothing than something bad.
Coaster Lover
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
If it were up to me Emperor's New Groove would have an E-ticket, but I don't think that's happening.
C-tickets work best as part of a "mini-land". If this was the Poppins Tea Cups + a (more or less) standard Poppins Carousel and one other Poppins themed flat all within the Cherry Tree Lane set, I think there would be far less complaints (and it would go much further in filling the parks needs for C ticket attractions).
Rteetz
Well-Known Member
In this context, I view each country as a mini land. No country has more than one ride. I think a flat ride in a country is fine addition. Is a tea cup style spinner the answer? Maybe not.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think adding a flat ride to the UK (or other pavilions) would be fine. I just don't think it makes sense to build an elaborate facade and queue based on Mary Poppins (or any IP, really) for one. That feels like a waste of resources, and as others have mentioned, would be setting themselves up for complaints/blowback. Just build a covered flat ride behind (or even replacing) the gazebo! The World Showcase is a place where if you're going to build a simple attraction like that you only need to make it fit the existing pavilion rather than go overboard. Save that for bigger/more substantial attractions.
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Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the ride was supposed to be a carousel…either way, the addition will be welcomed. But I will say, releasing this proposal now is like a tease, just another “blue sky” dream…it’s by like nah, nah, we have the idea and mock-up and you can’t have it…
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
but to build a mostly unadorned teacup ride in the back courtyard is the worst idea ever... it does exactly what most of us hate to see happening to our beloved parks. I think the idea of going inside the bowl to the cartoon world was sweet and magical. It would have been wonderful if it was one of a couple attractions, but now stripping it of it's queue and set and effects makes it feel sad and pathetic... I agree I would like to see more, but would really hate to see less... and this idea had merit...digitally mapping the sets and really feeling fully immersed in that cartoon world would be charming...and an old Disney touch. As long as it is not hyped by their marketing department as a spectacular new attraction. I think Marketing needs to back off a lot of things... Crowd levels are pretty miserable most of the year now...there is no longer an off season as there once was, Prices are off the charts...Perhaps they could back off the marketing and invest those hundreds of millions spent every year on new attractions and wonderful details... Like they once did.
EVERYONE knows where they are. They could literally stop marketing tomorrow and there would be no dip in attendance for years.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I didn't say they should just drop in an an unadorned teacup ride -- whatever they built should fit into the pavilion architecturally/thematically. In the UK, e.g., a carousel would work nicely.
I'm only saying they probably shouldn't spend millions and millions of dollars on an elaborate queue and facade for a flat ride. Costs are already wildly out of control and that's presumably part of the reason we don't get much expansion or great new ideas; spending that kind of money on a flat ride seems crazy in that context. That doesn't automatically mean it shouldn't have any kind of facade or nice queue; just that something a bit simpler seems like a better solution.
Look at the Little Mermaid ride. While the biggest problem there is that it's just not a good attraction in general, the facade and queue also set expectations that you're about to ride a major E ticket. That exacerbates the issue. Having that sort of build up for a flat ride would almost certainly hurt guest satisfaction due to the expectations game.
Drdcm
Well-Known Member
That queue is top notch though. I mean other than the crab things are too high up for kids. I’ve said it before, but I think that’s going to be better than the Moana walkthrough.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
I can see both sides here. Setting expectations can be important, but an excellent pre-show can help elevate an otherwise mundane experience. I’ve always found Enchanted Tales with Belle far, far more memorable for the kids due to the mirror illusion than any other meet-and-greet, to the point that I hardly mind how banal much of the rest of it is.
Also, I would find a built Cherry Tree Lane enjoyable even with no attraction, so I wouldn’t personally see that as a waste regardless.
My main sticking point with this design is just that a teacup attraction for a franchise with such an iconic connection to carousels seems like a weird miss, but this is probably just one of many concepts for the space.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
This is also more or less my reaction to the leak.
Rather than being reflexively opposed to a ride of this type, I can't believe this is what they were going to be spending all that money on. I also can't believe they were going to be giving a teacup ride such a big buildup. It's not like people will be fooled by all the fancy facades and pre-shows into forgetting the teacups over in the Magic Kingdom.
It just seems to be like a case of not understanding of all the things they could spend all that money on they chose this. Well, at least briefly!
FettFan
Well-Known Member
You know what would be really awesome? If they re-themed Space Mountain to The Cat From Outer Space.
"The Cat From Outer Space Mountain".
Solid E-Ticket right there, especially if they spray the beer directly into your mouth.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
They were really going to have TWO PRESHOWS for a clone of the teacups? That seems pointless and over the top.