Does anyone else miss bugs land?

Rich T

Well-Known Member
I liked it. Sure the rides were generic but they were intended for very little kids so I can understand not spending a boatload of money on them. Not everything needs to be or should be a cutting edge E-ticket with a blockbuster budget. Some changes here and there could've been made, but it was a nice, shady place to enjoy something at a little bit of a slower pace while being amused by the cute immersive, scenery.
I think the main objection was the breaking of the tradition that Disney parks shouldn’t have “kiddie” rides, but gentle rides the family can enjoy together, like Dumbo and Casey Jr. Of course, Walt broke that rule with Midget Autopia... but Midget Autopia was the most awesome kids-only ride ever constructed! :D
 
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SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
I think the main objection was the breaking of the tradition that Disney parks shouldn’t have “kiddie” rides, but gentle rides the family can enjoy together, like Dumbo and Casey Jr. Of course, Walt broke that rule with Midget Autopia... but Midget Autopia was most awesome kids-only ride ever constructed! :D

I get what you mean. Do you think the claims that they were installed in response to guest feedback were true or just an excuse for them to go cheap. The latter seems plausible given leadership at the time, however, the former seems equally plausible to me.
 

Rich T

Well-Known Member
I get what you mean. Do you think the claims that they were installed in response to guest feedback were true or just an excuse for them to go cheap. The latter seems plausible given leadership at the time, however, the former seems equally plausible to me.
I think it’s both. I think they responded to guest feedback in the cheapest way possible.
 

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
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TP2000

Well-Known Member


My God. Cynthia Harriss was such a perfect example of a turn of the 21st century executive! She so perfectly recited her lines and her talking points, belching out vapid and meaningless drivel that was all written for her by a corporate "Communications" team.

And she did it with a smile, and a pantsuit, and a fluffy blonde corporate hairdo that was technically flouncy and fun yet also firmly AquaNetted into place for the day.

Cynthia Harriss and the Disneyland Resort of 2001 was so perfectly fabricated, so fabulously fake, so wonderfully vapid and empty and cheap and charmless. No wonder it failed miserably. 🤣

And when they rushed Flik's Fun Fair into being and rebranded the land as "A Bug's Land" in a panic in just under 12 months, the result was predictable. Yes, the popsicle stick benches were cute. Sure, a decade later the bamboo had grown to impressive heights. But overall that place was a sad reminder of how failed and charmless the original DCA of 2001 actually was. And thus, it was a sad reminder of how failed and charmless the Walt Disney Company of 2001 actually was.

Where's Cynthia Harriss now? She left suddenly to "spend more time with family" as an unmarried childless woman after her regime killed a third Disneyland customer in 2003. Then she went to The Gap just two months later, because her "family" apparently didn't need her time any more. Then The Gap fired her in '07. I know from a friend in Laguna that she still has her home in Laguna Beach, but I have no idea whatever became of her career after multiple failures and dismissals from various companies in the 2000's.
 
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Sharon&Susan

Well-Known Member
I don't miss Bug's Land, but I wish Disney have fixed Hollywood Land first. At least with Marvel getting its own thing, maybe Disney will actually use the Hollywood setting to its full potential with a Sci Fi Drive In or Dick Trac-

Or more MAHVEl, because the masses demand more superhero colleges!
 

smooch

Well-Known Member
I’m sure the performers will do the best they can. Personally I have no interest in seeing the world’s most expensive mannequin get flung into the air.
(Edit))
Okay, maybe a *little* interested. 😃

I’m betting Five & Dime and the Aladdin/Frozen stage shows will still be the best live entertaiment the park’s ever had.

I am genuinely interested in the stuntamtronic, if anything it's so genuinely impressive to me that they have created a fully separated animatronic that can execute certain movements and positions timed with the launch system, and not be so delicate that even with the netted landing the internals don't break. Also, I definitely agree with you on the live entertainment part, there's no way anything in Marvel Land will outdo such high quality live shows.
 

smooch

Well-Known Member
I miss having a go- to worst attraction in the resort response with Tuck and Roll. Now I guess I have to go with Jumpin Jellyfish. I refuse to choose Chip n Dales treehouse as it has no business being listed as an attraction in its current state.

See I understand the idea that there weren't supposed to be kiddy rides in Disneyland and everything should be able to be done together with families but that simply isn't true anymore. I remember trips where I was too short to ride Space Mountain, where I couldn't go on Indy, or even for a tiny bit after I was tall enough the thrill aspect of the rides scared me. I loved the Fantasyland dark rides and in California Adventure my brothers and I really enjoyed Jumpin Jellyfish, it was fun and not super scary but still had some more physical thrill than a dark ride. I think people need to acknowledge that there should be some form of kiddy ride in either park, because having another option for parents with a young child will be a good thing when there are so many more thrill type attractions than there were in the past. Sure, I won't ride any of them personally, but it reminds me of the Autopia debate. People talk about how you just drive around which isn't fun because driving is just a chore to get to and from work for some, but as a kid I loved Autopia. It made me feel so cool and grown up getting to drive around, I would always joke with my mom or dad that it was my turn to drive them since they always drove me. I don't ride it anymore, and I do admit it takes up a lot of land, but removing the ride outright would be a huge loss for the park. Some experiences are perfectly fine being tailored towards younger kids, it gives them these magical feelings they can't have in the real world that they can hold on to, like the memories I have had.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
See I understand the idea that there weren't supposed to be kiddy rides in Disneyland and everything should be able to be done together with families but that simply isn't true anymore. I remember trips where I was too short to ride Space Mountain, where I couldn't go on Indy, or even for a tiny bit after I was tall enough the thrill aspect of the rides scared me. I loved the Fantasyland dark rides and in California Adventure my brothers and I really enjoyed Jumpin Jellyfish, it was fun and not super scary but still had some more physical thrill than a dark ride. I think people need to acknowledge that there should be some form of kiddy ride in either park, because having another option for parents with a young child will be a good thing when there are so many more thrill type attractions than there were in the past. Sure, I won't ride any of them personally, but it reminds me of the Autopia debate. People talk about how you just drive around which isn't fun because driving is just a chore to get to and from work for some, but as a kid I loved Autopia. It made me feel so cool and grown up getting to drive around, I would always joke with my mom or dad that it was my turn to drive them since they always drove me. I don't ride it anymore, and I do admit it takes up a lot of land, but removing the ride outright would be a huge loss for the park. Some experiences are perfectly fine being tailored towards younger kids, it gives them these magical feelings they can't have in the real world that they can hold on to, like the memories I have had.


I think Walt just wanted a place where parents could really have a good time with their kids and not just sit on the sidelines watching the whole time. That doesn’t meant that every single attraction needs to fit that criteria. Tuck n Roll had my vote for worst attraction as not only was it boring for adults but it was boring for kids too. I think the age group/ demo that could actually enjoy that ride had to be the smallest in the entire resort. Also just a terrible concept to have bumper cars that go .5 mph an hour.

Autopia on the other hand can be enjoyed by adults and children. It just hasn’t aged well, takes a lot of of space and doesn’t really fit in TL. I think I was 18 the first time I rode so I don’t really have any nostalgia for the ride itself. I do appreciate that part of the park though because between Autopia, the monorail, lagoon and all those trees you have a lot of old school DL charm. But like I said in another post, I think the best they can do is put back another people mover or rocket rod type ride using the same space. Keep the lagoon and subs but just change Nemo to something else. A real E ticket. Then all of sudden it doesn’t seem like such a waste of space and you don’t get rid of so much for some huge show building shoehorned in next to the Matterhorn.
 

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
If Tuck n' Roll was replaced with a Honey I Shrunk the Kids style play area, and if Heimlich's got a dark ride portion, I'm pretty sure a lot of us wouldn't have hated on Bugs Land as much. It had the best theming in all of DCA up until 2012.
 

truecoat

Well-Known Member
Where's Cynthia Harriss now? She left suddenly to "spend more time with family" as an unmarried childless woman after her regime killed a third Disneyland customer in 2003. Then she went to The Gap just two months later, because her "family" apparently didn't need her time any more. Then The Gap fired her in '07.

She was fired after a series of folding accidents in the stores.
 

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