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RoadTrip
Member
Nothing but a guess, but I'm inclined to think that the actual land will look better than the concept art. Whoever did the art for both Star Wars and Toy Story land seemed to be obsessed with dark, angry looking skies. Hard to make anything look good against that backdrop. The themeing of the queue for Toy Story Midway Mania is some of the best at WDW.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Children in general like everything. It doesn't take much to entertain them. It's not about pleasing children, it's about quality themed lands and attractions.
D
Deleted member 107043
Original Poster
Back to Luigi's.... I stumbled across this video from about a month ago and it appears that the predictions that it will be a dry version of Aquatopia are true. Not sure this will be much more fun than Luigi's Tires.
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George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
My issue with attractions geared specifically towards babies, a trend which I believe began under Eisner's reign but continues to this day. Just about everything except the biggest thrill rides is accessible for kids and better than these pathetic kiddie rides. Dumbo is grandfathered in and a perfect attraction. All these baby rides in DCA have no excuse. When I was a little squirt, we had the normal attractions, no Bug's Land or Jumpin' Jellyfish or Luigi's Baby Ride. Make better ****.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
DCA was built with very little for kids which was one of the biggest complaints. If you had kids, you would probably understand why DCA was so incredibly boring to them back in the day. The response was Bugs Land and I personally think there is a pretty good balance at DCA, similar to the balance you have at DL. You could probably argue that the latter has even more kid friendly rides as a % of total rides. If the Marvel Land comes to fruition, you'll get your wish for more adult rides.
englanddg
One Little Spark...
I'll chime in on this.
My daughter adores Legoland, Florida. WIth an obsession (partially one that is based on the fact that she is obsessed with Legos, not a bad thing).
If you are not familiar with the history of Legoland, FL, I'll give a brief rundown. It's a refurb of a previously existing theme park called Cypress Gardens. One that was famed in Central Florida for its Gardens, and predated WDW as a world renouned botanical garden and tourist attraction for decades before Walt even had Disneyland as a glimmer in his eye, much less a Florida development. But, when Disneyworld came into being, and reshaped the tourist industry of central Florida, more traditional attractions like this, and others which opened around the same time as WDW (namely Circus World, which later became Boardwalk and Baseball before fading into obscurity), had trouble competing.
I went to Cypress Gardens as a kid...to me, the Gardens were boring (heck, frankly, they still are). But...to compete, they added a lot of "on the cheap" rides and attractions, trying to convert itself into a "dual attraction", with the Gardens attempting to attract "adults" and the other attractions aimed mostly at "kids". I loved the rides, hated the botanical Gardens.
Fast forward...
Lego bought it out and revamped it, and when I visited, while they had added some neat things, they really haven't been able to step away from that dichotomy yet. It's still that false mixture of "this is for adults, and this will attract kids"...
I took my kid, and I actually remembered (with dusty cobwebs) many of the attractions that are still there, and how exciting I thought they were...and now they feel rough and cheap. My kiddo, however, adores the place, and wants to go back.
It's the exact opposite of what Walt was aiming for, imho, and doesn't work. As you noted, it's about the whole package.
While my kid is perfectly happy going to Legoland and riding a bumpy roller coaster with ill effects, or a more recent example (from this past weekend), comparing Atlantis at Sea World Florida (which is a TERRIBLE ride) to Splash Mountain, the adult in me can surely see the difference. In the case of the latter, the ride systems are quite similar, as is the concept (blended log flume, dark ride, thrill ride). Yes, the execution of Splash is light years beyond what Sea World does. During the dark ride portions, there is a story that is told, there are exciting details and visuals, and the thrills are smooth and coherent. Atlantis, well, it's overall a very expensive "carny" style ride...with one surprise ending for adults that after it happens once, you really don't care to see it again. My daughter, on the other hand, adored Atlantis.
Another example from Sea World Orlando is the "brand new" penguin ride in Antarctica...which was...stupid. I don't mean bad...well, yes I do. It was bad, and it was stupid. In the attempt to jazz up their penguin display (which is actually really fascinating), they decided to create this b.astard child of Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Happy Feet (the movie...youknow, to appeal to kids, I guess), and a low budget wanna-be national geographic film.
It's...bad. Really...bad. It reeked of boardrooms making creative decisions based on marketing data and other factors, instead of creating environments and art. THAT is the difference with imagineering.
"Kiddie" rides are ok, even recycled ride systems are fine. As long as the environment and story fills it all in. I mean, how many times did the core Imagineers recycle the same ride systems...but add new touches, etc, to create new and different rides over the years? It doesn't always have to be the latest and greatest "tech", because it is story and environment and quality of show that truly are key.
And, going back for a second to Walt's idea...if you have that Dumbo spinner, adults will still find it interesting, not for the ride itself, but the other things that surround it, from architecture to food to streetmosphere...
Walt took his kids to ride the carousel. They adored it. He was bored...but he still took them. That carousel operator made money. But, as soon as his kids grew out of that attraction, I doubt Walt would be interested in spending more on it. The brilliance of his idea is that there is something for everyone to enjoy. And that means details, expansive offerings, and nuance...
As a side note, DCA...this is what is wrong, imho, with the Bugs section, and it's also what is wrong with the Toy Story section at Hong Kong Disneyland and Disney Studios Paris...that said, I've not experienced either first hand, but both look cheap, like Chester and Hesters. This IS the issue I have with Chester and Hesters, nomatter how convoluted a story some Imagineer on his fourth shot of scotch comes up with.
Something you would expect to see at Sea World or Legoland and the like, NOT a Disney Park. Not with the quality the brand represents, and the prices they demand.
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englanddg
One Little Spark...
As I recall, one of the sections of DCA boasted a Tractor...not a ride, just a Tractor, as the main attraction. I suspect there was more going on than the fact it needed a few spinner rides.
The issue is people assuming that kids and adults have different desires. Sure, as you get older you can HANDLE more thrills, you WANT more scares...but that doesn't mean that adults enjoy Splash any less than Kids.
And, I use Splash as an example, because it's a perfect version of a ride done right. Pirates, Mansion, they all foot that bill. Even ToT does, though my daughter at 11 has decided it is too "scary", she adored it from 5 - 8...dunno when she decided it was "scary" after her first ride...that first ride she was freaked out...
Anyhow, doesn't matter, if you gear your rides and environments towards quality, it will attract all.
Kids are not stupid, but, as noted, they are easily entertained. But, if the parents are ALSO interested, you'll be surprised what kids will find "cool"...
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
DCA didn't just open in 2001 with a tractor display as an "attraction"...
(Now those yellow tractor seats still in A Bug's Land make more sense, don't they!?!)
It also had fiberglass cows to look at.
California Adventure in 2001 was mostly really bad. Really, really bad. And boring. And cheap. And bad. And run by clueless executives like Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harriss who kept pretending that it wasn't bad.
Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters will be light years more entertaining than what they passed off as "attractions" in 2001.
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
Yeah, we went to DCA 3 months after it opened with a 5 year old and a 9 month old. The park had a plethora of problems.
First and foremost, was simply how the park was conceived. They didn't start with a thematic concept. They started with analysing the local competition and tried to be them all. What they got was "Mountain Berry Studios". 1/3rd Magic Mountain, 1/3rd Universal Studios, 1/3rd Disney Park all slathered in a Knott's nod to California.
Then combine that with the $630 million they had for the whole park. And the fact that the real imagineers were busy with TDS so they had the Mall Store Team design a lot of the park. You end up with an entrance that looks like an outdoor mall. A pier that is Six Flags without what makes Six Flags a thing. And an overall feel that is derivative and cheap. The park opened with 2 Disney quality rides and one of those was a common raft ride. Soaring Over California was the only unique Disney Quality attraction in the whole park.
First and foremost, was simply how the park was conceived. They didn't start with a thematic concept. They started with analysing the local competition and tried to be them all. What they got was "Mountain Berry Studios". 1/3rd Magic Mountain, 1/3rd Universal Studios, 1/3rd Disney Park all slathered in a Knott's nod to California.
Then combine that with the $630 million they had for the whole park. And the fact that the real imagineers were busy with TDS so they had the Mall Store Team design a lot of the park. You end up with an entrance that looks like an outdoor mall. A pier that is Six Flags without what makes Six Flags a thing. And an overall feel that is derivative and cheap. The park opened with 2 Disney quality rides and one of those was a common raft ride. Soaring Over California was the only unique Disney Quality attraction in the whole park.
RandomPrincess
Keep Moving Forward
I'm hoping that when all the cars are out dancing around each other it will be a lot of fun. People love the Tea Cups and Mater this is a similar type thrill level and experience. I hope that each different song will have the cars move in a different pattern.
D
Deleted member 107043
Original Poster
Exactly what I'm thinking Phruby. I've watched a few videos of Aquatopia and it looks cool, but I imagine the ride being kind of boring with maybe the exception of a water spout hitting you occasionally. In the clips I've seen most of the riders look bored. The new Luigi's probably won't be worth more than a 15 minute wait.
Travel Junkie
Well-Known Member
Aquatopia looks cooler that it is. It provides some kinetic energy to the area, but the ride is pretty bland. I imagine they will try and jazz up Luigi's with music, but I don't have high hopes for it. I'm sure it have some appeal at first for people who have not ridden a trackless ride before.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
This ride is a really stupid plan B. It should have been at least bumper cars. They would have been better off putting the Pooh bee hives on them and sending them though Winnie the Pooh. The Effalumps and Woozles scene would be a lot more fun if it was trackless.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
I have been on Aquatopia several times, and I laugh my head off every time I do it. My first visit to DisneySea I tried to find an Aquatopia attraction poster because it was such a highlight. They didn't sell them. 
Aquatopia looks bland, but it's really a lot of fun. It's hard to explain.
Aquatopia looks bland, but it's really a lot of fun. It's hard to explain.
RandomPrincess
Keep Moving Forward
I think bumper cars would have upped the height limit.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
They totally would do that. Passengers would also have over the shoulder head restraints and be packed in bubble wrap. The cars would move slower than walking toddler.