Mickey and the Beanstalk as a ride

[mharrington]

It's been a long time...

I had been kicking around various ideas for a Mickey Mouse ride for a long time, particularly at WDW's Magic Kingdom, mainly to compensate for the loss of Toontown Fair, many of which I had put up in various degrees on this site. Many of these ideas involved vignettes of old shorts. However, one of the main stumbling blocks, for me at least, was trying to weave a storyline around various separate shorts, which was difficult to do in a theme park medium, particularly since, while the concept was initially considered as part of the never-built Dumbo's Circusland at Disneyland, I did not have much to go off of, beyond the fact that it was a dark ride/roller concept themed to old black-and-white Mickey cartoons. And besides, I guess that concept has more or less been brought to reality with Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, even though that ride is at the Studios.

Another idea I've had, which seems relatively more straightforward, is a ride themed to "Mickey and the Beanstalk", one of the segments of "Fun and Fancy Free". I've always had a soft spot for this movie, and this segment of Mickey's long career seems to go largely ignored, at least by today's standards, even though the film can be found on Disney Plus, and they even made a board game out of it, courtesy of Funko:

Anyway, I've thought of a ride themed around "Mickey and the Beanstalk" to be added somewhere, preferably at WDW's Magic Kingdom. I'm not sure how it could be done, though. The initial concept was based on a suspended Puss In Boots roller coaster found at the Universal park in Singapore:


Similar to the Puss In Boots ride, the initial concept would revolve around the climb up the beanstalk and encounter/escape from Willie the Giant. However, I've had a rethink on the concept, because not only do I not think the space is big enough (I've thought of having it partially take over the Speedway), but there are also more than enough roller coasters in that one area of the park alone (Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Great Goofini, Space Mountain and TRON).

I've also thought of doing it as a traditional dark ride, though I'm not sure how the trip up/down the beanstalk could be done here. I'm even having a hard time determining how a ride vehicle could be done, except maybe beanstalk leaves.

Does anyone know how a ride themed to "Mickey and the Beanstalk" could be done?

 

[MickeyMouse10]

I know you aren't going to agree with it... but Fantasyland is the spot for it. Sir Mickey's (store) is already there, you could even exit out into it. The attraction fits perfectly there.

Mickey and the Beanstalk could board where Princess Fairytale Hall currently resides. But mostly take place on the roof of the right side of Fantasyland (Friar's Nook, Storybook Treats and Winnie the Pooh).

 

[mharrington]

I know you aren't going to agree with it... but Fantasyland is the spot for it. Sir Mickey's (store) is already there, you could even exit out into it. The attraction fits perfectly there.

Mickey and the Beanstalk could board where Princess Fairytale Hall currently resides. But mostly take place on the roof of the right side of Fantasyland (Friar's Nook, Storybook Treats and Winnie the Pooh).

I agree that Fantasyland is the best spot. I'm not arguing there. The Speedway space would have been absorbed into Fantasyland; it would no longer be a part of Tomorrowland.

However, I don't think in this day and age, the space you proposed would be big enough. I'm pretty sure most attractions nowadays would require more space than the small cramped spaces of the past. More importantly, I'm not sure those who love the princesses, as I'm sure a lot of people do, would be happy to see the one reliable spot to meet them removed.

As for your idea of building over the preexisting buildings, it's a nifty concept to be sure, especially since the story is set in the sky. But I would think so much of the area would have to be closed down just to accommodate. Plus, I think it was only done once before, when the Alice ride in Disneyland was mostly built over Mr. Toad. And that was back in the 1950s.

So anyway, I'm pretty sure ride spaces are nowhere near as small as they once were. Dark ride spaces nowadays would have to be at least as large as that for the Little Mermaid ride, if not large, and honestly, I don't think the Fairytale Hall space is that big, even if you did incorporate Sir Mickey's next door. According to Google Maps, the footprint for the Little Mermaid ride, at least at the CA Adventure, is roughly 835 feet in distance. I'm pretty sure the footprint for the Florida version is much larger, given its bigger queue. By contrast, the Fairytale Hall/Sir Mickey's space is only roughly half that amount.

I've also considered adding this ride, whatever it may be, to Disneyland Paris, possibly over by where the Fantasyland train station is. And that park, too, has a similar store called Sir Mickey's Boutique.

Just so you know, I still haven't really decided on what kind of ride it should even be. I'm not just considering a dark ride, I've also considered a raised spinner, something like this:

 

[Lord Fozzinator]

I absolutely love this idea, I still stand by reimagining the speedway into a more organic ride with elements of tron.

 

[mharrington]

@MickeyMouse10, you also did not answer my question about where the princesses would go since the one place to reliably find them has been removed.

 

[Frankenstein79]

Sounds great, maybe there could be a Storybook Land placed somewhere in the world. With just story from literature and shorts.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

@MickeyMouse10, you also did not answer my question about where the princesses would go since the one place to reliably find them has been removed.

I think they could put the Princesses in "Enchanted Tales with Belle". That show is pretty lousy anyways. All they'd have to do is change the name and call it something else like "Belle and her Royal Friends".

 

[mharrington]

I think they could put the Princesses in "Enchanted Tales with Belle". That show is pretty lousy anyways. All they'd have to do is change the name and call it something else like "Belle and her Royal Friends".

You may not like it, but that doesn't mean no one else does.

Also, I don't believe Disney does dark rides in small cramped spaces anymore, at least not since Winnie the Pooh in 1999. Most rides nowadays usually require bigger spaces than that, like for the Little Mermaid ride.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

You may not like it, but that doesn't mean no one else does.

Also, I don't believe Disney does dark rides in small cramped spaces anymore, at least not since Winnie the Pooh in 1999. Most rides nowadays usually require bigger spaces than that, like for the Little Mermaid ride.

We're not talking about a dark ride in that space. We were talking about a Meet and Greet. So I don't know why you're bringing that up.

If you don't want people to give opinions to your ideas then don't post them.

 

[mharrington]

We're not talking about a dark ride in that space. We were talking about a Meet and Greet. So I don't know why you're bringing that up.

Because you proposed putting the ride in a spot that currently houses a meet-n-greet, which in turn once used to house a ride. You seem to think that if it housed a ride once, it can house it again.

If you don't want people to give opinions to your ideas then don't post them.

I was actually quite hesitant to post my idea, since I hadn't done anything of the sort in a while. More importantly, I was also hesitant, knowing that it would be met with a proposal that is more "pure blue sky" than anything.

As I've stated before, when I come up with ideas, I like to be realistic with them. I like to think like a real Imagineer. That means taking space into account. To me, the space to hold whatever idea I have is just as important as the idea itself. I do not like to set my ideas in what some might refer to as a parallel universe. I like to set them up in real spaces. I also like to try and add without taking away. One of the few exceptions is the Speedway, which takes up a lot of space and could probably benefit from a replacement or two.

I'm not a princess person, but I don't want to upset those who may be. I like to try and keep as many people happy as possible.

Another idea I've had was to do the ride either as a small lift ride, like the Tower of Terror, only milder and more family-friendly, or whatever that new Peter Pan ride is coming to Tokyo DisneySea. I still don't know what the technology will be there, although some have speculated that it may be the same flight simulator technology as for Avatar: Flight of Passage.

 

[mharrington]

It should also be noted that one reason I had decided to do this instead of that special Mickey ride on Main Street with numerous shorts references to compliment the Town Square Theater space is because I've been trying, with little success, to limit the choice of cartoons to those featured on Disney Plus. However, one of the cartoons there, "Magician Mickey", and one of the cartoons heavily referenced in the old ride, had been inexplicably removed from the streaming service back in March.

I figured theming a ride to one cartoon would be a relatively straightforward affair.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Sorry for being a bit rude.

It's just you ask for people's opinions than you shoot them down every time. Than you say "I'm more realistic than everyone else."

Good Luck with your proposal. Hopefully you'll find what you're looking for. I'm obviously unable to find what you want. So I will bid you adieu.

 

[mharrington]

Sorry for being a bit rude.

It's just you ask for people's opinions than you shoot them down every time. Than you say "I'm more realistic than everyone else."

Good Luck with your proposal. Hopefully you find what you're looking for. I'm obviously unable to find what you want. So I will bid you adieu.

Well, here's what I was able to throw together without it being a roller coaster, though bear in mind, it's very crude and thrown together and needs a lot of work, since I alone came up with this idea with no help at all:

Located out on the edge of Fantasyland, next to the Mad Tea Party, is a modest drop tower (less intense than the Tower of Terror)/dark ride themed around "Mickey and the Beanstalk", a scene from "Fun and Fancy Free". The queue is set up in the quaint home of Mickey, Donald and Goofy, with the beanstalk climbing up through the roof, taking much of the house with it.

You board a hanging ride vehicle of some kind (not sure, maybe bits of furniture with leaves on it). Through the use of screens, you find yourself being lifted into the sky by the beanstalk, though in reality, you're only lifted about twenty or thirty feet into the air. You see Mickey and friends in the tendrils of the beanstalk, too.

Then, after making a brief round of the room, you then find yourself approaching Willie the Giant's castle. You and Mickey and friends enter and find yourselves on a huge table full of gigantic food. But as Mickey and friends are about to consume the food, as they are so hungry, they spot a voice calling for them. It's the Golden Harp from Happy Valley, where the giant had stolen from to sing him to sleep. The friends retrieve the harp from the open box, just as Willie the Giant returns.

He spots the group escaping with the harp. This leads to the most thrilling part of the ride: the climb back down the beanstalk (again, though, it's mostly about twenty or thirty feet with screens). You go down the beanstalk with Mickey and friends holding the Golden Harp, while your car drops down, jerking and bouncing upward every so often.

When you reach the bottom of the beanstalk, you see Mickey, Donald and Goofy frantically cutting the beanstalk down, which causes Willie the Giant to fall to his supposed doom, which is accompanied by one last bounce and some flashing strobe lights.

You then see Mickey, Donald and Goofy listening as the harp sings "My, What a Happy Day," the day having been saved.

Once again, this is very thrown together, all done by me alone without help, which should give you an idea of how hard it was to do. Moreover, I'm not sure how the exterior should look or how the ride system can work. As I said, it's a combination mild dark tower with dark ride elements thrown in.

The thing is, as someone realistic, I'm not used to letting my imagination run wild.

 

[mharrington]

@MickeyMouse10, I finally did my Mickey and the Beanstalk ride. How do you suppose it could work realistically, given the very rough verbal tour I just put up?

 

[mharrington]

The only way I could see this realistically working is if I did something like this ride at Great America or Canada's Wonderland:


The tower (the beanstalk) would spin and raise the gondolas to the top of the structure (the giant's castle), where you would see Mickey and friends trying to get the harp and then you would have the descent down the beanstalk and cutting it down to defeat the giant.

I'm not sure, however, how to hold a huge attraction at the top of a slender structure like this. Plus, the height of the tower seems a little short. I also think that we can only do much of the ride with screens/projections, and everyone here hates projections instead of physical set pieces.

I was also advised to put the ride over where the princess meet-n-greet once stood, but in addition to displacing the princesses (which many people may not accept), I also think that a ride like this would be out of scale to the rest of the area, which is supposed to be a castle courtyard.