Which Winnie the Pooh gift shop is better? MK's or DL's?
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Hundred Acre Goods vs Pooh Corner
- Thread starter DisneyAndUniversalFan
- Start date
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
Hundred Acre Goods used to be H*ll on the WDW version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I know the one I'm voting for.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
DL’s has cute decor. but took the place of Mile Long Bar, so Booooooooo.
Neither shop is good, because Pooh in the U.S. parks represents Disney at its greedy, heritage-bulldozing worst, and I wish I was kidding.
(Edit)
But at least the shops are more imaginative than the rides.
Neither shop is good, because Pooh in the U.S. parks represents Disney at its greedy, heritage-bulldozing worst, and I wish I was kidding.
(Edit)
But at least the shops are more imaginative than the rides.
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mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I don’t hate Pooh and think the exterior queue and surrounding area and shop are charming but upon reflection I think I would be a lot more harsh on it had I been going to the parks and experiencing CBJ during the time it was removed. It just happened to take place during a period where I wasn’t as interested in Disneyland. Blasphemous I know. Which was more or less 2000-2010. Anyway it does feel like a crime that we don’t have the wonderful Marc Davis jamboree at DL anymore. I think losing Splash (and possibly Hungry Bear) in that area too will make me feel it’s loss even more. When the IP takeover of Bear/ Critter Country will be complete.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
It’s hard to believe now that DL once had FOUR unique AA stage shows operating at once. That kind of AA extravaganza was what DL was famous for! Then the park lost the two largest shows and in both cases management filled the space with something cheap and merch-related. Sigh.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Wait you mean 3 right? COP/America Sings, Enchanted Tiki Room and CBJ
EDIT: forgot about Lincoln because he’s only one AA although an impressive one.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
The current state of the Carousel theater is absolutely tragic. The fact nothing impressive has occupied the building since America Sings closed over 30 years ago should be a major source of embarrassment for both TDA and WDI.
I mean that building is huge. And at one point it hosted either Carousel of Progress or America Signs- two of the most beloved attractions of all time. Now it's a gift shop.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
It really is sad and pathetic, isn’t it? The building should be saved and renovated, but whatever it’s currently hosting has got to go.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Over 30 years since America Sings closed. SMH
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Exactly. I hate that management thinks that’s okay. They’ve had plenty of time and chances to do something. But they choose to focus on other things that aren’t needed, like SW:GE, dance parties, the removal of Splash, etc.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
Well, they did try with Innoventions but yeah...you have a unique rotating theater, use it as a rotating theater.
PostScott
Well-Known Member
Hundred Acre Goods is more like stepping into a page in the book, like the ride right next to it is basically doing. Pooh Corner is built like a little town in the side of the mountain. While both concepts sound equally interesting, I think the execution is much better in Pooh Corner than Hundred Acre Goods. The store fits Critter Country so well and even on the inside the store holds its theme. Hundred Acre Goods just feels so similar to other Disney stores that theres nothing much unique about it. However, I will say that Hundred Acre Goods is a better and more clever name than Pooh Corner.
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
Pooh? Disney’s greediest? Did Tigger do something to your coffee?
it’s important to remember that, at the time of the first Pooh ride, the short in which the attraction was based on, Blustery Day, was already 30 years old. This wasn’t some new franchise they were trying to cash in on. Pooh was really popular. And it still is a timeless franchise.
The decision to replace Mr Toad with Pooh (although one many still don’t agree with) really has nothing on Mission Breakout, Incredicoaster, Nemo, New Pirates, Cosmic Rewind, etc. So often now, they want to replace long standing classics with flavour of the month franchises. Pooh is no flavour of the month.
Disneylover152
Well-Known Member
I think its nice how they replaced Toad in MK and Country Bears in Disneyland for Pooh. I'm pretty nostalgic for Winnie the Pooh, and while I love the Pooh attractions more than what they replaced (unpopular opinion, I know), I'm glad that one version, and more specifically the original version of Toad/Country Bears still exists.
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
A ride being born out of greed does not necessarily mean just being a movie promotion for the new hit movie (though its not a coincidence at all that the Disneyland version opened just a few weeks after Piglet's Movie).
Both versions of the Pooh ride have been accused in the past of being vehicles in increasing the revenue of in-park stores. Pooh especially in the 90's was a big money maker for merchandising while Country Bears and Toad... were not.
It's not too dissimilar to any of the modern rethemes in terms of objective (adding a more popular franchise to replace/retheme an old ride to sell more stuff). It's just less lazy than some others like say Star Wars Launch Bay (which is also being based on a franchise most would consider timeless) or the Incredicoaster.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
They chose Pooh because Pooh merch sells, and the average guest doesn’t buy a lot of Country Bear or Mr. Toad merch. Now, if either of the U.S. Pooh rides were actually better than what they replaced, this wouldn’t matter. But arguably in WDW’s case and definitely in DL’s case, a wonderful Imagineering creation was bulldozed and replaced with a cheap, lackluster ride whose main purpose was to funnel guests toward a Pooh gift shop.
That’s why the Pooh dark rides were built: To sell more merch. That’s why DL lost the Country Bears and a cast of British characters were shoehorned into a land supposedly set in America. This was not a decision made by the Imagineers or anyone at the company who actually cared about the park attractions.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
While I disagree that Pooh’s better, I’m glad you enjoy the attractions, and you make a great point about the originals still existing.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
To a point. WDW's Toad had two tracks, each with own scenes and gags, and was very different from the ride that still exists at DL. Which conveniently allowed WDW plenty of room to build their Pooh ride AND have room for the ever-important gift shop.
You can still find the Bears in Florida and Tokyo (which not only plays the Vacation Hoedown show that played at DL for most of its life seasonally, but essentially replicates the DL theater and set up) and have basically the same experience that you would have had at DL. But that's not really true when it comes to WDW's Toad.
While I understand that many people love that Pooh attraction, for me It is absolutely a loss that the same mediocre Pooh ride that can now be found in three of the six Castle Parks, that has been replicated first and foremost for its cost effectiveness rather than its effectiveness as an attraction, replaced a genuinely unique iteration of an attraction that they never built again.
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
WDW’s Pooh ride, as far as Fantasyland Dark Rides go, is a very good attraction. Colourful sets, good pacing, easy to follow, specific ride vehicle effects. It’s about as high effort as they come.
Never mind the fact that they chose to base it off of the highest rated Pooh film as opposed to any of the recent ones at the time.
Disney wanted to make a Pooh attraction for decades. What they went with (at MK) was what they thought was the best decision. Maybe it was the wrong one, but the product doesn’t feel rushed to capitalize on something.
Disneyland’s, on the other hand, is a bit different. The ride isn’t well suited to the building, which is why it’s so short and unimpressive. You could debate if it was the right area to put a Pooh attraction, but I don’t think it was the right attraction to build.
Never mind the fact that they chose to base it off of the highest rated Pooh film as opposed to any of the recent ones at the time.
Disney wanted to make a Pooh attraction for decades. What they went with (at MK) was what they thought was the best decision. Maybe it was the wrong one, but the product doesn’t feel rushed to capitalize on something.
Disneyland’s, on the other hand, is a bit different. The ride isn’t well suited to the building, which is why it’s so short and unimpressive. You could debate if it was the right area to put a Pooh attraction, but I don’t think it was the right attraction to build.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
It's fine. About as high effort as they come though? Not when they don't put the same care into disguising the limitations of the figures the way they did in the older dark ride attractions. Partially that may come down to lighting and how bright the attraction is compared to some of the older attractions, but the scenery is more obviously flat and with fewer dimensions than older attractions and the figures more static. For whatever reason, the Pooh at the end and his cheap swinging arms particularly offends me.
It's hardly the most ghastly thing Disney's ever done, and it looks much better than the Disneyland version, but a high mark it is not.
I'd definitely have less issue with it if it had stayed confined to Florida, but no. Instead, to add insult to injury, instead of cloning the one legitimately great Pooh ride that HAS been built, they've cloned the WDW version twice more. Even if in its WDW context the attraction is forgiveable, can the cloning of it really be justified in subsequent parks?
I get it-it's cheap to build, and people buy the merch. But I can't think of another attraction that has been cloned that has ever been less deserving of it.
It's hardly the most ghastly thing Disney's ever done, and it looks much better than the Disneyland version, but a high mark it is not.
I'd definitely have less issue with it if it had stayed confined to Florida, but no. Instead, to add insult to injury, instead of cloning the one legitimately great Pooh ride that HAS been built, they've cloned the WDW version twice more. Even if in its WDW context the attraction is forgiveable, can the cloning of it really be justified in subsequent parks?
I get it-it's cheap to build, and people buy the merch. But I can't think of another attraction that has been cloned that has ever been less deserving of it.
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