MK opening day rides vs. 70's additions

[PeterAlt]

Is it me, or am I wrong in that the rides that opened at MK on opening day, versus the ones that opened later in the 70's have a timeless quality to them, while the 70's additions already seem to be out of date?

Take for example the Haunted Mansion. Opened Day One. Timeless. You would never think that it is over thirty years old. It's like close to perfect and the special effects are baffling. You'd think that it uses super-modern holographic imagery, etc., while in actuality it really uses "primitive" tricks of light that magicians have used for ages. Now take the rides built later in the 70's, like Pirates, and you can see the chopiness of the movement of the AA figures, etc. and the ride is just crying "I'm out of date!".

Why is this? Were we more modern and technologically advanced in the late 60's than the 70's?

 

[Mateo1721]

With the 70s rides, I think they wanted to push the envelope as far as what technology they could use at the time (and AA was a new and exciting thing for them). When they did the Haunted Mansion they went with time tested tricks that they knew would look good. I think that Walt and imagineers probably wanted the technology to be updated as time went on, but the 70s rides became so popular that changing them would be considered almost blasphemy. So now these rides look out of date because we know what we can do with technology. Plus, the cost of updating all those figures would probably be too much and most people like the rides as they are.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

I think we were more advanced in the 60's than in the 70's. You also have to look at the historical significance of the 60's or 70's, and what caused people to seek such a futuristic tomorrow.

I guess classics don't really die. The haunted mansion, based on the 1965 disneyland version, uses some of the oldest "parlor tricks". It just thrills us all in some way. It wasn't until recently that I thought that the ghosts in the ballroom were done with movie projectors when they're not! It's even more simple than that.

Like you said, Pirates is starting to show it's age. Most of the animatronics in all the theme parks have not been converted or updated to the new versions. They need it badly. Yes it will cost money, but it will be a better outcome because they will look and move more lifelike and won't be so hard to fix, if they are mass produced at the same time.

As far as the 70s rides go, Look what happened to rocket/fight to the moon and mission to mars. They both respectivly were the end of their era, but we had the thrilling alien encounter, and most likely "far out" sticht's great escape coming.

If you had wings had seen it's prime. It lasted right into the late 80s. You can't update travel, but I wish I could see that ride with surround sound and plasmas!

Architecture changes as we have seen. I think it would have been appropriate to leave the white, blue, and purple architecture of the original tomorrowland, and then explain that it is a whimiscle look at how the future was seen when wdw opened.

Space Mountain hasn't changed too much in WDW. I prefer it's 1970s Apollo look, rather than the new Jules Vern look. It's the ride that matters to almost everyone. I just get a kick out of that 70s look in the pre and post show.

 

[PeterAlt]

Originally posted by Expo_Seeker40
I think we were more advanced in the 60's than in the 70's. You also have to look at the historical significance of the 60's or 70's, and what caused people to seek such a futuristic tomorrow.

I guess classics don't really die. The haunted mansion, based on the 1965 disneyland version, uses some of the oldest "parlor tricks". It just thrills us all in some way. It wasn't until recently that I thought that the ghosts in the ballroom were done with movie projectors when they're not! It's even more simple than that.

Like you said, Pirates is starting to show it's age. Most of the animatronics in all the theme parks have not been converted or updated to the new versions. They need it badly. Yes it will cost money, but it will be a better outcome because they will look and move more lifelike and won't be so hard to fix, if they are mass produced at the same time.

As far as the 70s rides go, Look what happened to rocket/fight to the moon and mission to mars. They both respectivly were the end of their era, but we had the thrilling alien encounter, and most likely "far out" sticht's great escape coming.

If you had wings had seen it's prime. It lasted right into the late 80s. You can't update travel, but I wish I could see that ride with surround sound and plasmas!

Architecture changes as we have seen. I think it would have been appropriate to leave the white, blue, and purple architecture of the original tomorrowland, and then explain that it is a whimiscle look at how the future was seen when wdw opened.

Space Mountain hasn't changed too much in WDW. I prefer it's 1970s Apollo look, rather than the new Jules Vern look. It's the ride that matters to almost everyone. I just get a kick out of that 70s look in the pre and post show.

Does anyone here remember the 70's version of Caroussel of Progress with the "Now is the Time, Now is the Best Time, Now is the Best Time of Your Life, Live Every Momement..."?

I think that version was much better than what we have now, which is an attempt to make it more like the 60's version. I think the script was better and so was the sound. An example of why the script was better... at one point the father asks something to the effect of "When is this going to be fixed?" and then the cookoo bird from the cookoo bird clock pops out and says in a smart alick voice "Now is the Time!". You can see it had more humor than today's (or should we say yesterday's yesterday's) version....

 

[MKCP 1985]

Originally posted by PeterAlt
Is it me, or am I wrong in that the rides that opened at MK on opening day, versus the ones that opened later in the 70's have a timeless quality to them, while the 70's additions already seem to be out of date?

Nah, Peter - Maybe HM was just a very well conceived attraction. Pirates is very good in its own right, and if it suffers anything, it is the misguided attempts of the pc police to tone it down so as to avoid glamorizing violence toward women. Even with the changes of pirates chasing women to women chasing pirates, and the lady in the barrel hiding her "treasure chest" instead of hiding her something else, Pirates scores big with my entire fam.

There were other opening day attractions that did not fare nearly so well as Haunted Mansion. Think Tiki Birds for example. Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse - not all opening day attractions have fared so well as has the Haunted Mansion.

 

[johnvree]

Actually, HM may be the one attraction at MK that hasn't aged. I think all of the other originals have shown their age. Don't get me wrong, I love the originals. But I usually include things like JC and POTC in that class.

 

[marni1971]

We all know WDWs POTC was rushed through...