In Defense of FLE

[lebeau]

Will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. God I hope they annouce something Marvel Oriented soon. Such a comic book nerd.

I would love to see Disney do something in the parks with the Marvel properties. But I wouldn't expect anything soon. For the foreseeable future, just enjoy Marvel Super Hero Island. It's better than anything Disney is likely to do with the characters any time soon.

 

[NewtoDisney2009]

I think that what I'm struggling to understand is why so many people have a problem with the Magic Kingdom being a "kiddie park." So what? It is my daughter's favorite because of all the stuff that appeals to her. What is so wrong with that? Don't we have other parks for adults? Don't we take our children to MK to have fun? Isn't MK supposed to bring out the kid in us?

 

[xdan0920]

I think that what I'm struggling to understand is why so many people have a problem with the Magic Kingdom being a "kiddie park." So what? It is my daughter's favorite because of all the stuff that appeals to her. What is so wrong with that? Don't we have other parks for adults? Don't we take our children to MK to have fun? Isn't MK supposed to bring out the kid in us?

Well FLE appeals mainly to little girls. That is a valid complaint. I do not have a little girl, so FLE has nothing to appeal to me at all. MK and WDW as a whole are supposed to appeal to all ages.

 

[wm49rs]

Well FLE appeals mainly to little girls. That is a valid complaint. I do not have a little girl, so FLE has nothing to appeal to me at all. MK and WDW as a whole are supposed to appeal to all ages.

So go to Adventureland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Main Street or the "older" attractions in Fantasyland instead. :shrug:

 

[RadioHead]

Well FLE appeals mainly to little girls. That is a valid complaint. I do not have a little girl, so FLE has nothing to appeal to me at all. MK and WDW as a whole are supposed to appeal to all ages.

Why I'm a father, and I adore princesses. I do have a fetish for princesses in general, but still, this is right up my ally!

 

[Tigerace81]

I'm a guy and it appeals to me. Mainly because I'm glad the area is getting much needed attention.

Just ran across this on another site so I though I would ask, Is there any plans to convert the current tournament tent style exteriors on the existing dark rides to something different? I saw that DL got rid of their "tents" and saw the dramatic difference when they changed it on their Mr. Toad's ride. Thought it would be something FL here in WDW could really use.

 

[itsmagical]

I think part of what makes Disney great is that it's visually appealing. While FLE may not have the rides and all that good stuff that people want, it should still bring tons of people because it will be "visually appealing." I know I want to check it out, real bad. Attractions or no attractions.

 

[RadioHead]

I think part of what makes Disney great is that it's visually appealing. While FLE may not have the rides and all that good stuff that people want, it should still bring tons of people because it will be "visually appealing." I know I want to check it out, real bad. Attractions or no attractions.

Don't forget the fact there will be princesses.....yummm, I love myself some princess!

 

[Evil Genius]

I think I fall among the group that has no problem with Fantasyland being "girl-centric". I can see where it's perceived that way and like so many others have stated...with the majority of the rest of MK appearing to be more testosterone tilted the FLE doesn't bother me.

Plus, you also have to look at the FLE appealing not just to girls, but to younger children in general. I really think once it's completed it'll be a wonderland for the toddler and youngster set if you'll pardon the pun.

 

[RadioHead]

I think I fall among the group that has no problem with Fantasyland being "girl-centric". I can see where it's perceived that way and like so many others have stated...with the majority of the rest of MK appearing to be more testosterone tilted the FLE doesn't bother me.

Plus, you also have to look at the FLE appealing not just to girls, but to younger children in general. I really think once it's completed it'll be a wonderland for the toddler and youngster set if you'll pardon the pun.

I'm still a child at heart! We were all children once, let's stop acting so serious, and go back to our roots!

 

[Evil Genius]

I'm still a child at heart! We were all children once, let's stop acting so serious, and go back to our roots!

Well said!

I personally CANNOT wait to see it when it's complete!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Disney acquired Marvel because their attempts to appeal to boys (Hercules, Treasure Planet, Tarzan) weren't very successful.

I'll have to strongly disagree with you on Tarzan. It's been Disney's biggest animated hit since Lion King making close to $450 million worldwide in 1999 dollars with $171 million in the domestic market. Not adjusting for inflation, it's still higher than Lilo and Stitch, Princess and the Frog and Brother Bear, Disney's top worldwide grossing 2-D animated films of the last decade. If we were to adjust for inflation (to 2009 average ticket price) the original total of $448 million would become $645 million.

If there's a reason it hasn't been recently exploited it's likely the extra cost in producing anything related to the character. Ever notice the special extra credit to the original author every time Disney uses him (see Kingdom Hearts as an example)?

As I understand it the character's likeness isn't exclusively owned by Disney like the Pixar creations, Pirates or even unoriginal characters based on public domain stories, which probably results in higher costs in making anything related to the movie. Merchandise may not have sold as well as the Pixar/Pirates stuff either which could explain why Disney has shoved the film aside despite its legitimate box office and critical success.

I do however agree with your latest defense point.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

I'll have to strongly disagree with you on Tarzan. It's been Disney's biggest animated hit since Lion King making close to $450 million worldwide in 1999 dollars with $171 million in the domestic market. Not adjusting for inflation, it's still higher than Lilo and Stitch, Princess and the Frog and Brother Bear, Disney's top worldwide grossing 2-D animated films of the last decade. If we were to adjust for inflation (to 2009 average ticket price) the original total of $448 million would become $645 million.

If there's a reason it hasn't been recently exploited it's likely the extra cost in producing anything related to the character. Ever notice the special extra credit to the original author every time Disney uses him (see Kingdom Hearts as an example)?

As I understand it the character's likeness isn't exclusively owned by Disney like the Pixar creations, Pirates or even unoriginal characters based on public domain stories, which probably results in higher costs in making anything related to the movie. Merchandise may not have sold as well as the Pixar/Pirates stuff either which could explain why Disney has shoved the film aside despite its legitimate box office and critical success.

Yeah, but I don't think they've shoved the Tarzan franchise aside completely. They do still utilize it. Maybe not as much as they did in previous years, but they still do.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Just ran across this on another site so I though I would ask, Is there any plans to convert the current tournament tent style exteriors on the existing dark rides to something different? I saw that DL got rid of their "tents" and saw the dramatic difference when they changed it on their Mr. Toad's ride. Thought it would be something FL here in WDW could really use.

Only the Pooh ride's exterior is going to see changes.

The others are expected to remain the same, since they're all going to be within the "castle boundaries", which explains the new castle wall that is going to be built as part of the FLE.

Other forum posts and blogs can explain all this a lot better than I could.

 

[lebeau]

I'll have to strongly disagree with you on Tarzan. It's been Disney's biggest animated hit since Lion King making close to $450 million worldwide in 1999 dollars with $171 million in the domestic market. Not adjusting for inflation, it's still higher than Lilo and Stitch, Princess and the Frog and Brother Bear, Disney's top worldwide grossing 2-D animated films of the last decade. If we were to adjust for inflation (to 2009 average ticket price) the original total of $448 million would become $645 million.

If there's a reason it hasn't been recently exploited it's likely the extra cost in producing anything related to the character. Ever notice the special extra credit to the original author every time Disney uses him (see Kingdom Hearts as an example)?

As I understand it the character's likeness isn't exclusively owned by Disney like the Pixar creations, Pirates or even unoriginal characters based on public domain stories, which probably results in higher costs in making anything related to the movie. Merchandise may not have sold as well as the Pixar/Pirates stuff either which could explain why Disney has shoved the film aside despite its legitimate box office and critical success.

I do however agree with your latest defense point.

No slam intended on Tarzan. I liked the film and it did very respectable box office. On the whole, a solid hit.

I was just responding to the idea that Disney might add something like Hercules do the parks to lure in the boys the way the princesses are meant to appeal to the girls.

While Tarzan and Hercules were good films and both performed reasonably well at the box office and had mostly positive reviews, neither one is suitable as a franchise the way Cars and Toy Story currently are.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love a well-done Tarzan attraction (preferably at AK). I just don't see it happening.

 

[Tigerace81]

I could see a Hercules sometime in the future at FLE

 

[Frontierland CM]

Honestly, I think we should all be appreciative of the fact that imagineering is giving some love to the Magic Kingdom. We should stop being critical and let them do their jobs. When I worked there all the Cast Members wore a pin that said Fantasy next to our nametag. Fantasyland is the perfect choice for the expansion, because fantasy is the Magic Kingdom's specialty.

 

[Frontierland CM]

Looking forward to it. I pretty much agreed with you on the boy-girl thing.

The whole point of Walt Disney World is that you can be a kid, no matter what age you are!

 

[Flip83]

I think the new FLE will be amazing. Once it is all said and done. Everyone will be fully impressed with the expansion. Little girls AND LITTLE BOYS will like the new expansion, which then will please all the families that visit. Like I've always said on here, it seems nothing pleases a lot of guests anymore, they always want more more more.

As for alcohol in MK, keep it AWAY. I enjoy have a drink like the rest of the guests, but MK doesn't need it. It's already in HS too, but it should just be in Epcot. Alcohol is already ridiculously abused in Epcot as it is. Nothing bothers me more then seeing guests completely trashed in line for an attraction. I don't even have kids yet, and I cant stand it. I still wish there was some kind of way to control the amount of alcohol each guest can consume per day in a park. It's still a family resort. I have no problem with having a few drinks, but I've seen so many guests feel so uncomfortable with other guests completely wasted in lines or on the bus back to the resort at night

 

[Animaniac93-98]

No slam intended on Tarzan. I liked the film and it did very respectable box office. On the whole, a solid hit.

I was just responding to the idea that Disney might add something like Hercules do the parks to lure in the boys the way the princesses are meant to appeal to the girls.

While Tarzan and Hercules were good films and both performed reasonably well at the box office and had mostly positive reviews, neither one is suitable as a franchise the way Cars and Toy Story currently are.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love a well-done Tarzan attraction (preferably at AK). I just don't see it happening.

I don't see Hercules or Tarzan happening either, as much as I think Hercules would be a good fit for Fantasyland. I merely responded because I thought you implied Tarzan wasn't a sucess dispite box office numbers saying otherwise so I'm glad you cleared up your point.

Both films used to be a part of the half-hearted, short-lived "Disney Heroes/Adventurers" franchise that was likely meant to be the counterpart to the Disney Princess product line.

I just feel it's a shame a film that was popular on it's own merits is forcefully forgotten because it doesn't fit into some neatly defined franchise, but that's a topic for another discussion.