Anyone else disappointed...that they expand FANTASYLAND?

[Mick G.]

Can't say I'm disappointed at all, even though the new attractions aren't that interesting to me personally. Fantasyland has always seemed too small, considering how many people go there -- It really is the central idea of the MK.

The new meet-n-greet attractions are a new concept, from what I can tell, so I don't have any opinion yet. If they can incorporate story and effects into the experience, then it could be really interesting. But my thought is that they could have used more Peter Pan type omnimover attractions, based on other characters, of course. I would prefer to see fully 3D scenes and characters, like Peter Pan and Pooh, as opposed to the more 2D Mr. Toad.

In terms of coasters, I really don't want to see WDW become a Universal-type coaster park, even if the theming is excellent, although I do like the family-type coasters in the tradition of the MK mountains.

Mick

 

[audiotinker]

On one hand, I'm uber excited and think this will be the most awesome thing ever... of course if done correctly. On the other hand, that money could have been spent on refurbing/building on the rest of the park such as refurbing rides or areas that desperately need it, retheming rides/areas, and putting in new rides/restaurants (since they don't have that many options), and also renewing tomorrowland which to me seems like a desperate grasp at something for the boys even though it makes no sense and seems ill-fitted. Mostly because there is already a "tomorrowland" in EPCOT, its called Future World, I never got this. Obviously Walt had a vision for tomorrowland, lets facilitate that and make it. Its supposed to be based on "Science, Fantasy and Fact" so lets expand on that. Right now its so... unmoving I feel like its just a ploy to get boys in the park. Anywhoooo...... ranting. :lol: So I see it both ways. That park needs some major updates... For instance:

1. Tiki Tiki Room :hammer: : it would be great without that stupid interruption of Iago screamin' in my ear with some crappy song.
2. Aladdin's Carpets: Terrible. Just Terrible. Re-theme. Re-do. Or just take down and Re-Place! They need to do Aladdin way more justice.
3. Stich's Escape: Ok, so I like this thing, but I remember when it was AE and it was beeping scary! That's awesome. At least make it scarier or something. Now its just a little kiddy version of its predecessor. Its like re-theming the haunted mansion to be Mickey's Scary Boo House or something.
4. Splash Mountain: Again I love this ride, and I do love the theme, but lets be honest here, at this point generations are starting to wonder what its based on considering Song Of the South is not even available in the parks or on DVD anywhere in the nation based on its "controversies". Can't say that I agree or disagree because I've never seen it but, come on. Either go with it and put the movie out, or retheme. I say turn it into Going Down the Bayou or something based on Princess and the Frog. It would be great.
5. Tom Sawyer Island: They need to Re-work this place. It really is dangerous and I get hurt just about every time I'm there :lol::lookaroun
6. Cosmic Rays: Wow. Bad food. Terrible. Its like a bad bowling alley. And the cafeteria seating area is not much better.

All that being said, MK is one of my favorite parks and I love it dearly!!!! I'm just torn that they are now adding to it (which is great), but I think maybe they should have focused on making the rest of the park great before adding. Thoughts????

 

[xdan0920]

On one hand, I'm uber excited and think this will be the most awesome thing ever... of course if done correctly. On the other hand, that money could have been spent on refurbing/building on the rest of the park such as refurbing rides or areas that desperately need it, retheming rides/areas, and putting in new rides/restaurants (since they don't have that many options), and also renewing tomorrowland which to me seems like a desperate grasp at something for the boys even though it makes no sense and seems ill-fitted. Mostly because there is already a "tomorrowland" in EPCOT, its called Future World, I never got this. Obviously Walt had a vision for tomorrowland, lets facilitate that and make it. Its supposed to be based on "Science, Fantasy and Fact" so lets expand on that. Right now its so... unmoving I feel like its just a ploy to get boys in the park. Anywhoooo...... ranting. :lol: So I see it both ways. That park needs some major updates... For instance:

1. Tiki Tiki Room :hammer: : it would be great without that stupid interruption of Iago screamin' in my ear with some crappy song.
2. Aladdin's Carpets: Terrible. Just Terrible. Re-theme. Re-do. Or just take down and Re-Place! They need to do Aladdin way more justice.
3. Stich's Escape: Ok, so I like this thing, but I remember when it was AE and it was beeping scary! That's awesome. At least make it scarier or something. Now its just a little kiddy version of its predecessor. Its like re-theming the haunted mansion to be Mickey's Scary Boo House or something.
4. Splash Mountain: Again I love this ride, and I do love the theme, but lets be honest here, at this point generations are starting to wonder what its based on considering Song Of the South is not even available in the parks or on DVD anywhere in the nation based on its "controversies". Can't say that I agree or disagree because I've never seen it but, come on. Either go with it and put the movie out, or retheme. I say turn it into Going Down the Bayou or something based on Princess and the Frog. It would be great.
5. Tom Sawyer Island: They need to Re-work this place. It really is dangerous and I get hurt just about every time I'm there :lol::lookaroun
6. Cosmic Rays: Wow. Bad food. Terrible. Its like a bad bowling alley. And the cafeteria seating area is not much better.

All that being said, MK is one of my favorite parks and I love it dearly!!!! I'm just torn that they are now adding to it (which is great), but I think maybe they should have focused on making the rest of the park great before adding. Thoughts????

Your kidding right?

 

[NewtoDisney2009]

I think the new concepts for the meet-and greats look amazing. I'm super excited about the whole FL idea! My Little girl can't wait for Pixie Hollow!

 

[FoppaFoppa]

In my experience, the current FL as a whole, is the most log-jammed area of MK (obviously due to the massive amounts of children). My wife and I before our son was born, would usually only ride on Small World and pass on through to Tomorrow Land due to the wait times for rides such as Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh and others being ridiculously long. Now that we have son, eventhough there won't be many "boy" themed attractions in the new FLE, one thing is for sure...when completed, it will relieve a ton of the congestion in FL, thus making the experience of visiting that area much more enjoyable. That alone, is reason for me to be happy with the addition. :sohappy:

 

[lebeau]

OK I got it, I am nearly the only one. :lookaroun

I have been away from wdwmagic for quite some time so I have so far only the basics about the FLE.

Am I getting it right that the entire FLE features only ONE new Ride? The Little Mermaid? And the entire rest of it is only a gargantuan meet and greet area plus some new restaurants (which are alos partially meet and greet).

Does anyone know why they didn't at least take Villain Mountain as the new E-Ticket in the FLE and why they planned the largest expansion in the history of the MK with an absolute minimum of new rides or other non-meet-and-greet attractions?

Your comments suggest to me a strong bias against the FLE. But if you are interested in a more balanced view of the project, I suggest you take a look at my Defense of the FLE thread. We've gone into pretty great detail over there about the pros and cons of the expansion.

 

[dvcnut39]

Why is it that I think DHS is the smallest? :shrug: :lookaroun

I've always read that MK = 107 acres

DS = 135 acres

 

[Evil Genius]

The was I see the FLE, what WDI is doing is rather than just create a bigger themed land with a handful of attractions...they are developing a completely immersive experience!

None of the meet-and-greets are simple photo ops. Instead they are opportunities for guests to fully interact with the princesses and really draw you into the stories. I'ts a complete world they're creating rather than just a mish mash of attractions with a lose theme tying them together.

I for one can't wait to check it out seeing as my next trip will coincide with the completion of the project!

 

[UberMouse]

If I had unlimited wealth here is what I would do. Every land needs an E-ticket ride.

Adventure land needs expanded, and at least one E ticket thrill ride...Bring the Indiana Jones ride from DL.

Fantasy Land needs a a roller coaster of some sort for the adults to enjoy. Do something with Aladdin's Carpet ride and kick it to the curb and maybe turn the Carpet ride into the Roller coaster. After all it is just a ripoff of Dumbo. They could expand it over to where the TL Speedway is and just do away with it all together. Plenty of room there for a coaster.

Liberty Square and Frontier Land are fine how they are, and there is nothing I would change other than maybe updating TSI.

Tomorrow Land seems like a cobble of crazyness. Stitches Escape is somewhere between scary and annoying. Buzz is still cool, though with TSMM at DHS it seems dated already, but it's not. Rocket Tower plaza and the Astro Orbitor are really cluttered to me. They need to do something there. You can't really see the rocket ships unless you are riding TTA.



Cluttered :

The just need to find a happy medium between these two...



Nice and clean....

I know I am reaching, but a dream is a dream. Take it for what it is.

 

[BrerFrog]

I think other areas of the park were more in need of an expansion than Fantasyland. The top priority for that area should be completely refurbishing the dark rides that are now extremely outdated, even if I enjoy them all.

When you see Princesses and Fairies paired up on one big expansion it is not hard to see why Fantasyland is the area they are working on.

With that being said, I can't wait to see how it will look when it is all said and done. Even if the M&Gs don't interest me, the scenarios will make up for it. :sohappy:

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Your comments suggest to me a strong bias against the FLE. But if you are interested in a more balanced view of the project, I suggest you take a look at my Defense of the FLE thread. We've gone into pretty great detail over there about the pros and cons of the expansion.

I read your thread and at least partially you convinced me. You're right, we don't loose anything really important but get quite a lot, concerning the space and demolished areas. I won't miss anything of Toontown Fair except Minnies House (where I actually will only miss the Disney Art shown) and the losses in Fantasyland are not even mentionable.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

The top priority for that area should be completely refurbishing the dark rides that are now extremely outdated, even if I enjoy them all.

Ahem, that's exactly the problem. You enjoy them like they are at the moment. I mean the queing lines for Peter Pans Flight were INSANE when I was in the World last time (2007). I waited until EMH (after 1 o'clock AM!) to finally do this classic without at least 30 min. waiting time (more like an hour during daylight).
The Disney head of board of today are businesspeople. They are not Walt, he would have added new attractions because it was his philosophy, just to avoid stagnation and because he himself was his greatest guest in his own park. But the managers don't see a necessity to refurbish an attraction that has insane lines or invest too much money in a park that still is the most visited tourist attraction on the entire planet.
We all are a little guilty because we try to go there as much as possible. If we and millions of other guests would stay away, they would be forced to win us back with much more than only refurbs, they would need new spectacular attractions.
But we go there anyway, we don't care about the fact that Adventureland had it's last major addition when Nixon was president. That Tomorrowland is becoming a kind of desaster area. That DAK still is only a half-a-day-park and EPCOTs WS concerning attractions the most outdated and boring Land of the entire resort. We keep going so they don't see any reason to invest a billion in a major expansion like in DCA. In DCA people were staying away and they had to do something. In WDW we are still coming regardless if there are a lot of troubled areas.
If IOA would have been a hit then we could have expected more to happen. I hope that finally that Harry Potter-Land will be the majorimpact that USF are desperately in need of. And if suddenly attendance in the World would drop we could hope for some REAL big addititions, not only one E-Ticket and the worlds largest meet and greet area.

 

[Lee]

Disappointed in FLE?

Simply put, yes. Of course.

But...I understand WHY they are doing it, I just think it is not what the MK really needs. At least not all of what it needs.

Meet and greets for the kiddies....sure. Fine. Whatever.:shrug:
Something new and ground breaking for the rest of us? An E-ticket? Hello....?

Maybe if they had at least given us a half-decent new Space Mountain, then FLE wouldn't sting so bad.

An acquaintance at WDI put it best:
"Universal swings for the fence......Disney bunts."

 

[everest-dude]

Am i the only one who wants WDI to build a fifth Park with in the next ten years?!? with this expansion it looks less and less likely ):

 

[dxwwf3]

Disappointed in FLE?

Simply put, yes. Of course.

But...I understand WHY they are doing it, I just think it is not what the MK really needs. At least not all of what it needs.

Meet and greets for the kiddies....sure. Fine. Whatever.:shrug:
Something new and ground breaking for the rest of us? An E-ticket? Hello....?

Sums up my feelings completely

 

[Enchantâmes]

I have to confess, I am generally disappointed by the entire decision to expand Fantasyland und in detail by the plans for the expansion.

I know in Fantasyland there ist most of available area for an expansion due to the demolishing of 20.000 Leagues. And the kind of provisoric character Mickeys Toontown Fair always had (at least to me).
But if you know about the projects in the line for the MK in the last 20 or so years again, IMHO, they chose one of the most lame projects. They didn't even include Villains Mountain into the expansion plans but instead design a complete new E-ticket that doesn't sound too thrilling to me.

I would have liked the plans for a larger Adventureland to be chosen instead, especially for Fire Mountain as the new E-Ticket reverse coaster in my favorite land.

What do you think?

I love the new expansion I mean at least were getting one, people need to be grateful that WDW is getting this kind of treatment in general...

 

[the-reason14]

You never realize just how bad the Magic Kingdom is until you spend a day at Disneyland.... then almost all of the Florida parks look like a cheap imitation by comparison... I recently took my employee (a 5 year WDW employee we recruited away) there for a business meeting, and he was blown away.........

I somewhat agree with you. For years I would hear about how great Disneyland is compared to the MK, and would never really buy it until I was fortunate enough to go. I wouldn't go as far to call the MK "bad," but there are a few things I shake my head at when I saw them at DL and wondered, "Why couldn't the Magic Kingdom have gotten that."


As far as the new expansion is concerned, I think it's a good thing. Yes, the new land doesn't seem that appealing to older people and boys, but it is definately better than what's there now. One issue I see with it is over the little mermaid ride. From what I understand, it will be this amazingly themed E ticket based off a movie with moving AAs and a wonderfully themed que, then you have Snow White, Pooh, and Peter Pan also based off of their movies with no themed lines and the old school dark ride figures that will look cheap in comparison. I know these rides been there for years, but when comparing it to the new LM ride, they will seem kinda cheap.

But overall it's an upgrade. Imo, it still won't come close to the DL FL because in DL, you have the one thing that can appeal to pretty much anybody, and that's actual rides like Toad, Pinocchio, etc.

 

[mickey2008.1]

I am also in the group that does not like FLE. It just lacks something. A mature feel. Its like toon town, but done fantasy style. And why do we need two dumbos? Why not TSMM, can never get on that. I want MK to get an update, But i think it should have been too all areas of the park. Im glad they are spending money, just not how its being spent. And know matter what TDO does, someone will be disappointed, so lets not hear " just be happy"

 

[everest-dude]

i am also sad toontown is leaving... i love this area of the park

 

[the-reason14]

I am also in the group that does not like FLE. It just lacks something. A mature feel. Its like toon town, but done fantasy style. And why do we need two dumbos? Why not TSMM, can never get on that. I want MK to get an update, But i think it should have been too all areas of the park. Im glad they are spending money, just not how its being spent. And know matter what TDO does, someone will be disappointed, so lets not hear " just be happy"

Well if not "just be happy" look more on the bright side of things. The way I see it is even though it won't appeal to me personally, it will be a much better looking land than it is now. I still do things in FL, like Philharmagic, and Small World, and I still will do these things. But now, it'll be a better looking FL than what it was before. It may be more difficult to navigate and cut through to get to and from Space mt. but thats a whole other issue.