But you still can't do away with a traditional dark ride.
No, you can't. And yet so many nice folks in this thread don't really know what they are talking about when they refer to a "dark ride". In the traditional amusement park industry sense of the term, rides like Splash Mountain, World of Motion, or Space Mountain are
not "dark rides".
A dark ride is not simply a ride at a Disney theme park where the lights are low. A dark ride is a traditional amusement park ride where a small car travels along a bus-bar track past simple sets illuminated by blacklight and bright paint. Snow White is a classic dark ride. Space Mountain or Horizons or Haunted Mansion or Maelstrom are
not dark rides in the definition implied in this thread.
A dark ride is a D Ticket at most, but more likely a humble C Ticket, and it usually doesn't last more than 3 minutes. Alice In Wonderland, a favorite Disneyland dark ride to this day, only ranked as a B Ticket! It's true, and yet Alice In Wonderland has some of the longest lines in Fantasyland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKqquVlBSlM
Using that traditional industry definition of a "dark ride", Walt Disney World in Florida only has three dark rides on the entire property. Four Theme Parks. Two Water Parks. 25 Hotels. Six Golf Courses. Walkways A Mile Wide. But only three dark rides;
Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, and
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. And unfortunately for two of those, they haven't updated the technology or effects since Richard Nixon was President.
Disneyland USA in Anaheim has
seven dark rides in just one park;
Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice In Wonderland, Pinnochio's Daring Journey, and
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. And next door in California Adventure there is an additional new dark ride,
Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley To The Rescue!, that brings the total for Anaheim to
eight dark rides. Anaheim has narrow walkways. Only three hotels. Only two parks. But, eight different dark rides. And they refurbish them regularly and have been adding new digitial and fiber optic special effects over the last few years, in addition to the regular TLC. Alice In Wonderland is about to close for another six week TLC refurbishment later this month, then they'll work on updating Mr. Toad next. Casey Jr. Circus Train and StorybookLand Canal Boats are currently closed for five weeks for similar treatment at Disneyland's Fantasyland. Disneyland dark rides look great! WDW's pale in comparison.
I can understand why there would be confusion about what a dark ride actually is for East Coast fans who primarly visit Walt Disney World, as there are so few dark rides on that sprawling property and the term just isn't familiar to them. But traditional Walt Disney dark rides are integral to a visit to Disneyland, and I really think the sprawling and sometimes sterile and corporate WDW experience could be improved if it tried to capture a little of that traditional Disneyland dark ride experience. :wave:
But I've never argued the fact that PPS is only for young children and doesn't appeal to (or can be enjoyed by) anybody else (except for maybe the parents). My point is only simple - I like the spot and I think these free play areas are important elements in the parks. We need these areas for young children. I don't think they need three play areas in one area though (as I've stated). If they expanded ToonTown Park it would make me quite happy and then you could go ahead and tear down PPS. By they way, have you ever been to PPS in the night? It can be quite relaxing, the lights, the Pooh music playing, kids running free, check it out some time - you may be surprised!?!
