News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close

[MerlinTheGoat]

True. And it would be nice if TSL shot for a higher goal. But...

What you just said about Slinky and Aliens... can't that be said for a whole bunch of rides in the MK? Dumbo and Orbital are just spinners. The carousel is just a carousel. Barnstormer is an off-the-shelf kiddie ride which is more county fair than even Six Flags.

Maybe someone at Disney is saying, "Nope, we're not building Toy Story Land for adults to rush to and push out kids. We need kids rides for kids. If it's good enough for Storybook, it's good enough for TSL."

Granted, "family friendly" would be better than "kid friendly", but, it sure seems like TSL is aimed at "kid friendly."

I have always made an exception for the Carousel due to how beautiful it is. It has a very high degree of elegance and class lacking in other spinning rides often seen in carnivals and Six Flags. Enhances the area wonderfully and looks particularly great at night (particularly cool to view it from Main Street through the castle gate). One could make a similar argument for Dumbo in its original location (the view of the surrounding area is a reason I could enjoy it even as an adult). But regardless of how you feel about their inclusion, these particular spinners occupy an extremely small and insignificant footprint. They are also not the only attraction, nor the primary ones. Fantasyland at MK has five other non-spinner rides on top of these (Disneyland's considerably more). The Star Jets optimized its land even better- being built on top of the Peoplemover loading station. It also blends in well with the land (again offering some nice views), and again there are other rides in the area.

I don't care for Barnstormer or Aladdin's carpets. Aladdin lacks the beauty and elegance of the Fantasyland ones, and ruined a well designed area. But there are still other rides in the land. But I have nothing positive to say about Barnstormer or the current incarnation of the land it's in. The opening roster of California Adventure had a lot of that sort of thing too. Dinorama at Animal Kingdom is also awful. EPCOT Center when first opened was mercifully free of these sorts of attractions.

Toy Story Land has nothing to do in it except for these Six Flags caliber rides. No real substance whatsoever, just cheap-looking wasteful filler.

"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."
-Walt Disney

 

[brb1006]

Pixar deserves far better than Toy Story (Play)Land, their films have almost always punched far beyond the demographic of many other cartoons, their rides should do the same. Toy Story in particular warrants far more respect than it has gotten in the parks, including either this land or Midway Mania.

And for those who argue these types of attractions are necessary to help absorb crowds and keep the kiddies entertained- there are far better solutions to this than loading the place with nothing but Six Flags caliber nonsense. And no not every ride needs to be a huge and expensive E ticket either (though plenty more of these are still necessary as well). There is a large step between these two extremes that won't break the bank but also satisfy a broader audience than small children. Classic Fantasyland dark rides being one example. Or even Storybook Canal Boats and intersecting Casey Jr Circus Train.

I'm starting to believe Disney lacks the ability to create experiences like these anymore, at least truly good ones. Modern imagineers seem to have trouble working within limitations, it takes them a huge amount of money and space (and their cream of the crop talent) to pull off a quality ride anymore, and their best exterior theming is usually designed by Zsolt Hormay. They clearly have issues pulling off forced perspective effects (again they need a lot of space to create their best looking scenes). The old guard of imagineers (Walt era up through Tony Baxter's era) had an uncanny ability to do a lot with very little, finding creative ways to accomplish some great scenes using relatively simple (and old) effects and tricks.


Great Movie Ride absolutely is an E ticket.

We need more people at Disney like Zsolt Hormay and Tony Baxter someday. At least we have Joe Rhode.

 

[brb1006]

they had many opportunities to put more of Pixar stuff.. not more Toy Story.. Toy story is already everywhere and overused. Almost as bad as Frozen.

I love how they are able to make a fun indoor coaster based on Finding Memo at Disneyland Paris. This would have to be the closest we can get to a Monsters Inc coaster.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It's not just the Imagineers, it also has a lot to do with Iger and Co. slashing the budgets for most projects.

I agree, but there is unquestionably some degree of blame placed on the heads of the people actually creating these attractions as well. I forgot the exact amount Toy Story Land was costing them, but it was obscenely large and unreasonable. Perhaps Martin remembers, I think it was stated to be several hundred million. There is a lot of waste going on, mixed with an unhealthy helping of corporate Iger greed to boot.

 

[brb1006]

I want them to make a Hyperion Avenue/Silly Symphony Land behind GMR, keep one man's dream, and maybe move Philharmagic here.

If they did, I would hope there's something to represent "Who Killed **** Robin", because let's face it- "Who Killed **** Robin" is one of the finest Silly Symphonies ever produced. In fact, just saying the title of "Who Killed **** Robin" brings a smile to my face. Try it! Say "Who Killed **** Robin" out loud to yourself right now and see if you don't start grinning.

I love these ideas, Silly Symphony needs more love at the parks.

I really loved the Tortoise and The Hare and Elmer Elephant shorts the most. Heck Donald Duck even debuted in a Silly Symphony cartoon.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I agree with everything you said, except for your comment about Storybook Circus. For whatever reason, I have always enjoyed that area of the park. While I realize that there is next to nothing to do over there, I just really enjoy the atmosphere. One addition I would love to see in that area someday is a version of the Casey Jr. Circus Train from Disneyland. It would fit the land PERFECTLY. It was such a missed opportunity when they didn't bring the attraction to Florida.

The main problem with the land is the lack of substance. And yeah, the Storybook Canal Boats and Casey Jr would indeed help alleviate that somewhat (preferably with another dark ride or two). I'm not a huge fan of a circus theme, but those additions at least would have provided something to do and I would be more satisfied. Even Disneyland's Toontown has a Roger Rabbit dark ride.

I just don't like Barnstormer, not enough theming to interest me (and there is even less theming than it had when the area was Toontown). Dumbo is pretty, but its relocation really ruined the nice view it used to have in its original location.

 

[marni1971]

I forgot the exact amount Toy Story Land was costing them, but it was obscenely large and unreasonable. Perhaps Martin remembers, I think it was stated to be several hundred million.

Above 250m.

 

[TP2000]

Above 250m.

That's criminal. Like, seriously criminal. What does WDI do with all that money?

 

[marni1971]

That's criminal. Like, seriously criminal. What does WDI do with all that money?

They have wild parties with champagne and caviar, wild women and loud music.

(Probably not)

But It is a ludicrous amount of money even including clearing and prepping the land.

 

[TP2000]

They have wild parties with champagne and caviar.

I half believe you.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

We need more people at Disney like Zsolt Hormay and Tony Baxter someday. At least we have Joe Rhode.

Zsolt Hormay is over at DAK working on the Avatar project. Hopefully he will move over to the SW project when that is completed.

 

[HMF]

We need more people at Disney like Zsolt Hormay and Tony Baxter someday. At least we have Joe Rhode.

Joe Rohde is losing his creative credibility by being in charge of turning Tower of Terror into the giant oil refinery monstrosity in Anaheim.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Joe Rohde is losing his creative credibility by being in charge of turning Tower of Terror into the giant oil refinery monstrosity in Anaheim.

It's not like Joe really has a say in the matter. He's in charge of all things Marvel stateside so he's automatically put on this project.

It's not like he made the call to green-light the project. He's just following orders.

 

[HMF]

It's not like Joe really has a say in the matter. He's in charge of all things Marvel stateside so he's automatically put on this project.

He could go to Universal Creative in protest. It would probably be better for his reputation.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

They're going to revoke his earring privileges for this.

 

[Next Big Thing]

He could go to Universal Creative in protest. It would probably be better for his reputation.

Maybe if Joe was younger, but at this point in Joe's career, he's basically at the top of WDI and likely making a buttload. He may get the same amount of money from UC, but he very likely wouldn't be front and center involved with so many attractions like he currently is at WDI.

He's better off just spending the rest of his career with WDI and then retiring.

 

[HMF]

Maybe if Joe was younger, but at this point in Joe's career, he's basically at the top of WDI and likely making a buttload. He may get the same amount of money from UC, but he very likely wouldn't be front and center involved with so many attractions like he currently is at WDI.

He's better off just spending the rest of his career with WDI and then retiring.

He's risking his reputation by being the spokesperson for probably the most controversial project in WDI History.

 

[Next Big Thing]

He's risking his reputation by being the spokesperson for probably the most controversial project in WDI History.

Do you think he honestly cares what people on the internet are going to say about his reputation? He designed arguably the most beautiful American park in existence. As long as DAK is looking good, I think he's sleeping well at night. DAK is his baby.

 

[HMF]

Do you think he honestly cares what people on the internet are going to say about his reputation? He designed arguably the most beautiful American park in existence. As long as DAK is looking good, I think he's sleeping well at night. DAK is his baby.

More likely he's just kissing up to the boss so he doesn't get the Baxter treatment.

 

[Kman101]

I'm glad some of you know him so well personally to decide what he is and isn't a fan of. (Edit: and no, I don't believe he's a fan at all of the Mission Breakout overlay, but he's paid to do a job and I'm sure he wants to keep said job). And let's not forget he's aware of these boards.