Fantasyland Philosophy

jakeman

Well-Known Member
Given the amount of information we have at the moment I think it is too early to say anything other than, "That's a really nice piece of concept art."

There is just not enough information to make a personal judgement on whether the whole land is going to appeal to one demographic or another.

However, it wouldn't be a WDW fan site without a copious amount of, "This is great, but..."
 

janoimagine

Well-Known Member
Given the amount of information we have at the moment I think it is too early to say anything other than, "That's a really nice piece of concept art."

There is just not enough information to make a personal judgement on whether the whole land is going to appeal to one demographic or another.

However, it wouldn't be a WDW fan site without a copious amount of, "This is great, but..."

That really is the beauty of it ... isn't it? Part of me hates this new world of CG and photorealistic rendered models, because they become too literal, and it leaves nothing open for creative interpretation. Skinnylines and Artists renderings are much looser and are way more open to the mind's eye. It's an old ad term .... 'Theater of the Mind.' :D
 

Oriolesmagic

Well-Known Member
Very interesting quote by JL. Guy really seems to know what we are thinking about and explains it rather well.

Either way, I'm a teen (A young teen at that) and I'm very interested in the New Fantasyland. Princesses and all! I'm not sure if it will be more successful than HP. Just because it's an adult/teen series and adults and teens read the internet.

Also I disagree with the earlier post about toddlers in Disney. I was introduced to Disney at a very early age, about 1 I think. And I go there every year maybe about 20-25 times. My favorite rides were never the newest and greatest attractions. I loved the classics very much. My favorite ride was actually Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...
 

NewfieFan

Well-Known Member
If I may improve on that a bit: the inspiration for Disneyland was Walt's wish to have a place where he and his daughters could have fun together. Instead of the children having fun, and the parents sitting on a bench watching them have it.


The new FL is precisely contrary to this philosophy: the children can entertain themselves with colouring cards, the parents sit on a bench watching them having fun. :shrug:

Ok, then! Can you describe the perfect attraction that will entertain toddlers and their parents at the same time! Pretty hard, isn't it! But I'll let you in on a little secret... parents with young children ENJOY "watching" their children having fun! :eek: Shocking concept, I know! But we really do like to see enjoyment in our children even if that particular activity is not that entertaining to us!

(And I wish everyone would stop using the stupid example of card making as their only argument - it's one part of one queue/meet & greet!)

To be honest, I've never thought Disneyworld is an appropriate place for toddlers. Long lines, unforgivable climate, lots of walking about.

If a child needs a stroller, it had better not be brought to Disney.


Alas, I realize this is no longer feasible. Disney, in the public imagination, is a place where you bring your toddler. The actual experience for toddlers for the past fifty years has been mostly underwhelming. Not all that much fun for the very, very young.

Currently, the park is being rebuild to make it conform to the public image of it: Toddlerland. Alladdin spinners, playgrounds, and the new FL childcare activity centres.

Pity. WDW becomes less interesting to adults, and loses the street credibility for slightly older children. If I were a twelve year old boy, and my family were to drive me to the Magic Toddlerkingdom, I'd lie about it to my friends.

The market is there for the 6 and under and Disney is cashing in on it ... and so they should! Do you really think the MK is "Toddlerkingdom"? :rolleyes: Oh please!


By the way, OP fantastic post! Good for JL!
 

WDWFigment

Well-Known Member
Since seeing the concept art, I have thought this expansion would appeal primarily to two groups:

1) Small children - doubtlessly needed for the reasons Lasseter stated.

2) Disney fanboys - the level of detail should be high, which should be appreciated by this group. Disney shows that the large scale omnimover attraction is not dead.

The second group should also be rejoicing that Disney made a savvy decision in the expansion in appealing to its most neglected segment. Since they are Disney fanboys, it would stand to reason that they would want Disney to make decisions in Disney's best interests.

Then there is a small, but very vocal, subset of group 2. I know terms are bantied about here for this group, but let's call them the "Selfish Disney Fanboy". This is a fanboy that wants detail and 'classic WDW' (so the expansion should appeal to them for the reasons given in #2), but they also want every refurbishment and expansion to squarely appeal to their greatest desires. Anything less than something that seems aimed at their individual goals for this company falls shortly.

That said, assuming the expansions don't stray too far from the concept art and the TLM dark ride is top notch, I think 90% of guests or more will be 'very satisfied' with the expansion. That's not bad.
 

SirGoofy

Member
Good post, and a good podcast. John is a creative force and a big change for the better in the company. Doesn't mean I agree with him 100% on this one. It's about 75% agree, 25% disagree. Mermaid, Dumbo, the restaurant and theming will be great, but the princess experiences still rub me the wrong way.
 

marsrunner

New Member
If I may improve on that a bit: the inspiration for Disneyland was Walt's wish to have a place where he and his daughters could have fun together. Instead of the children having fun, and the parents sitting on a bench watching them have it.


The new FL is precisely contrary to this philosophy: the children can entertain themselves with colouring cards, the parents sit on a bench watching them having fun. :shrug:

Well, I may be wrong here, but if Walt Disney meant what he said exactly as you are interpreting it, then Disneyland would have been a failure even during his lifetime. How exactly would a family with small children have been able to experience the Matterhorn Bobsleds "together"? Even if there weren't height requirements back then would anyone in their right mind have taken a one year old on that ride? I doubt it. Why then was it built in Disneyland during Walt's lifetime if every attraction was supposed to be able to be enjoyed by everyone in the family at the same time? If its wrong by that "philosophy" to construct an attraction that hypothetically only appeals to the under 6 crowd then why would it be any more against that philosophy to build an attraction that can only be hypothetically enjoyed by the over 6 crowd? I really don't think your argument holds much water, and this is coming from someone whose entire family (37, 35, 14 and 5-years old respectively) will have no interest in anything in this expansion outside of The Little Mermaid.
 

djkidkaz

Well-Known Member
I may be in the minority here, but when I think of my past WDW trips, its not even the attractions that come to mind the most. I think about how I feel the moment I walk into my resort room for the first time after all that flying and check-in. Or that first walk around the resort, or getting off the bus at Magic Kingdom for the first time of my trip. I love all the attractions, but that isn't what immediately comes to mind when I think about what makes it my "special place". Its just that joy of walking around the beautiful parks with the people that I love in my life, creating memories and just enjoying the surroundings. Im a 30 yr old male and while I don't have any connection to the princess movies of the 90's, Disney always does everything so far above and beyond expectations that even grown men can find something to like. I'll walk around the new FL and enjoy all the water features they add, the architecture of the villages and Beast castle. Those are attractions in themselves to me. An attraction is something that attracts you and doesn't always need to be an actual moving ride system.
 

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
John Lasseter really cares about the parks and knows what he's talking about, unlike Jay Rasulo.

Personally though, I think FL needs at least two more dark rides (perhaps BATB and Pinoccio?) then you would severely shorten the lines for just about everything in FL.
 
I think John Lasseter is a genius BUT I also think Disney knows how much Disney fans love him so they use him to sell all their ideas.

To me the new Fantasyland sounds awful but you get someone like Lasseter to say it's amazing and the same awful plan looks better.

That's why they have him making videos every week convincing you to buy 70 dollar Buzz and Woody toys.
 

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
I've also come to realize that new FL is WS for MK. It's fantastic.

GREAT OP, and great quotes from Lasseter.:sohappy:

THANKS for sharing those thoughts.

It's going to be splendid when it's done. Great move on Disney's
part.
 

Figment632

New Member
Good post, and a good podcast. John is a creative force and a big change for the better in the company. Doesn't mean I agree with him 100% on this one. It's about 75% agree, 25% disagree. Mermaid, Dumbo, the restaurant and theming will be great, but the princess experiences still rub me the wrong way.


It rubs me the wron way as well but if they put that coaster in I wont care. All I want is one thing to cater to me the rest of the land would be fine with me then,.
 

djkidkaz

Well-Known Member
Good post, and a good podcast. John is a creative force and a big change for the better in the company. Doesn't mean I agree with him 100% on this one. It's about 75% agree, 25% disagree. Mermaid, Dumbo, the restaurant and theming will be great, but the princess experiences still rub me the wrong way.

What is your issue with the princess experiences?

In my opinion, this is the next generation of meet and greets. The current iteration of just standing in a long line in the Florida sun is in desperate need of updating and thats what we're getting. I would compare it to the idea of the TTC and taking the boat to Magic Kingdom. Its the idea that you are building anticipation of whats to come. The kids get to create bday cards for Aurora while they wait for her to show up, or practice a play for Belle. This builds anticipation for the kids to see the princesses as well as the parents who are excited to see that interaction played out with their child once the princess arrives. Personally Im a grown male and don't have any kids so this doesn't really do anything for me, but I am able to understand why they are doing it and it makes perfect sense.
 

SirGoofy

Member
What is your issue with the princess experiences?

In my opinion, this is the next generation of meet and greets. The current iteration of just standing in a long line in the Florida sun is in desperate need of updating and thats what we're getting. I would compare it to the idea of the TTC and taking the boat to Magic Kingdom. Its the idea that you are building anticipation of whats to come. The kids get to create bday cards for Aurora while they wait for her to show up, or practice a play for Belle. This builds anticipation for the kids to see the princesses as well as the parents who are excited to see that interaction played out with their child once the princess arrives. Personally Im a grown male and don't have any kids so this doesn't really do anything for me, but I am able to understand why they are doing it and it makes perfect sense.

Yea, I get the idea behind it.

I have a problem with a half a billion dollar expansion that's going to be largely made up of glorified M&Gs. And he fact that, in my opinion, those meet and greets are strictly girl oriented. I feel like very few little boys are going to be excited to make a card for Sleeping Beauty or tell a story to Belle. I'm really impressed with the Cinderella one, because they threw Knight training in with it. I also have some worries about them on a capacity/operations side, but I'll wait till they open to see if those pan out.

Overall the expansion looks very good. Great theming, a new terrific E-ticket, a new TS restaurant, and a cool Dumbo area. But I have some reservations.
 

Figment632

New Member
No coaster. Just the Barnstormer apparently.

Well there goes my hopes :fork:

It would be nice to put in something for boys and older guys besides Dumbo. They have so many films that would fit the new FL that they can use.

Robin Hood
Fox and the Hound
Black Caldron
Sword and the Stone
Pinocchio
Alice in Wonderland
 

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
I think Hercules would be just great--love that film.
You have to wonder, how the numbers played out for that one,
though, because they have really let it just sit. There must
be a reason, where they figure there's not enough demand/love
for the film and character.
 

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