Pooh's Hunny Hunt in Disneyland or Walt Disney World DISCUSSION

[HongKongFooy]

Great Movie ride is a completely different format than a trackless Pooh ride, just watch video or two of the trackless pooh and you'll see the complications of it are on another level above Movie Ride

No need for video since I've seen in person Tokyo Pooh maybe 10+ times and Great Movie perhaps 20+ times The Movie Ride used far bigger vehicles and thus was more sluggish in its movements.... Hunny Hunt moved more whimsically. But the basic technology among the two looked quite comparable to me. They both move along a prescribed path(unraised tracks) under the guise of being "trackless".

 

[thomas998]

No need for video since I've seen in person Tokyo Pooh maybe 10+ times and Great Movie perhaps 20+ times The Movie Ride used far bigger vehicles and thus was more sluggish in its movements.... Hunny Hunt moved more whimsically. But the basic technology among the two looked quite comparable to me. They both move along a prescribed path(unraised tracks) under the guise of being "trackless".

You might have thought they were comparable but they differed quite a bit. Movie ride basically had one hard wired path beneath the floor that the cars followed. Pooh's ride has no such set path. Yes the cars are basically going along one of three set paths but the paths are only dictated by three paths buried in the concrete they are just three prescribed paths based on the cars using sensor embedded around the ride. If the imagineers wanted to they could program the cars to take other paths without ever having to modify the floor of the ride, in the Movie ride you would have to rip up the concrete and modify the hidden guide. That indicates to me that there is a lot more to go wrong on the Pooh ride and if it isn't maintained properly I can see it having issues. Given Luigi's ride in California Adventure is one of the newest rides there and trackless but is number 2 on the list of most downtime I'm guessing these rides just aren't ready for a park with less than stellar maintenance. Remember CA has much better maintenance than you'll find at WDW parks and they are seeing a downtime of 13%. God only knows what the downtime would be if it were in MK.

 

[HongKongFooy]

Nicely explained.......well done.

 

[Parker in NYC]

The name Pooh offends me-it refers to a disgusting bodily waste, and it is in no way appropriate for a Disney theme park. I'm going to start a petition to remove all defecation references in this attraction. And, Piglet is a derogatory term, referring to a small person with weight issues, and can cause self-confidence and self-image issues if used towards someone. I'm thoroughly disgusted by this, and I'm reporting this thread to the admins.

If anything good has come to these boards whether via COVID or the Splash re-theme, it's learning who to ignore. Honestly, this does the work for you! It's the scientific study no one thought they needed.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Yes, although I’m not sure where it could possibly go.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I'd rather see a trackless Mr Toad instead...

 

[britdaw]

I don't know that I'd want it to replace the Pooh ride in WDW, but I do hope they'll give the existing ride an upgrade soon.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I don't know that I'd want it to replace the Pooh ride in WDW, but I do hope they'll give the existing ride an upgrade soon.

I’d love to see more detailed sets and the stuffed animal animatronics of the Tokyo ride. But I like the flow of our ride and the ride vehicle movement effects that are only really possible with track.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

It's one of the best attractions Disney has ever created. It's an attraction where your jaw drops afterward. It's an amazing example of how dark rides can evolve and truly wow guests.

The fact that they opened a mediocre Pooh ride in Disneyland after building this continues to be a source of disappointment.

If anyone doesn't want one of the greatest theme park attractions ever built to be in DL or WDW, I don't know what to say to that.

 

[Brer Oswald]

It's one of the best attractions Disney has ever created. It's an attraction where your jaw drops afterward. It's an amazing example of how dark rides can evolve and truly wow guests.

The fact that they opened a mediocre Pooh ride in Disneyland after building this continues to be a source of disappointment.

If anyone doesn't want one of the greatest theme park attractions ever built to be in DL or WDW, I don't know what to say to that.

I’ve always wanted to ride it. I’ve been a big Pooh fan since I was born. It was my first movie and the first thing to introduce me to Disney. I still like the Florida attraction. But the California Ride is certainly mediocre from a ride design and story flow standpoint. It doesn’t even have Paul Winchell as Tigger, like the Florida and Hong Kong versions.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

In Disney World, the current Winnie the Pooh ride fits the “classic fantasyland dark ride.” It is among other fantasyland classics and is one part of a land. It seems like it’s just about about right although I wish they would improve the lighting and special effects in the heffalump room. A theatrical haze machine and a simple Martin lighting rig would do wonders for that room!

At Disneyland, Winnie the Pooh is all by itself and I feel it should be more of a destination than a simple dark ride. It’s the only non-height requirement ride in critter country.

 

[Brer Oswald]

In Disney World, the current Winnie the Pooh ride fits the “classic fantasyland dark ride.” It is among other fantasyland classics and is one part of a land. It seems like it’s just about about right although I wish they would improve the lighting and special effects in the heffalump room. A theatrical haze machine and a simple Martin lighting rig would do wonders for that room!

At Disneyland, Winnie the Pooh is all by itself and I feel it should be more of a destination than a simple dark ride. It’s the only non-height requirement ride in critter country.

Across the American parks, I’d probably rank MK’s Pooh as the second best of the US Fantasyland darkrides (first would be Alice). A cohesive plot, great score, unique vehicle movements in 2/4 sections, nice use of colour, nice looking sets. Disneyland’s Pooh is kind of a disaster. It might have the better End scene, but that’s it really. A 100 Acre Wood Land would be a nice “addition” to that park (certainly more fitting than Galaxy’s Edge). Not sure how feasible that would be though.

 

[Brer Panther]

Across the American parks, I’d probably rank MK’s Pooh as the second best of the US Fantasyland darkrides (first would be Alice). A cohesive plot, great score, unique vehicle movements in 2/4 sections, nice use of colour, nice looking sets. Disneyland’s Pooh is kind of a disaster. It might have the better End scene, but that’s it really. A 100 Acre Wood Land would be a nice “addition” to that park (certainly more fitting than Galaxy’s Edge). Not sure how feasible that would be though.

Magic Kingdom's Pooh is, in my opinion, a "book report" ride that actually WORKS. Having us actually venture into a storybook is a nice twist, and they actually have the riders interact with the story and characters (Gopher wishing us a "happy Winds-Day", bouncing in the forest with Tigger, actually traveling inside Pooh's Heffalumps and Woozles dream sequence, floating around in the Floody Place). Plus, it's got a great voice cast - Jim Cummings as Pooh, Peter Reneday as the narrator, Paul Winchell reprising his role as Tigger (though Jim Cummings does Tigger's voice for the safety spiel... I guess they redid the safety spiel after the ride opened?), Andre Stojka, Gregg Berger etc., plus Thurl Ravenscroft singing a few lyrics in the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene. I think people would be easier on it if it weren't for the fact that it replaced Mr. Toad.

Disneyland's only has two things going for it: the voice acting and the unique outdoor load area. Aside from that, there's so much wrong with it. For one thing, the plot is out of order and not cohesive in the slightest... it's a blustery day, then suddenly it's raining and the Hundred Acre Wood is flooded, then suddenly it's not raining or flooding and Tigger's bouncing around, and unlike the Magic Kingdom version we don't see Tigger warning Pooh about Heffalumps and Woozles before he falls asleep so the dream sequence feels random... and then Pooh wakes up and it's his birthday! The Tigger scene is a letdown and feels like an afterthought. The random scene in-between the Heffalumps and Woozles sequence and Pooh waking up where we see Pooh sticking out of the wall eating honey feels weird. Why is the Blustery Day scene, which is supposed to take place in the daytime, so dark? The Heffalumps and Woozles scene looks hideous with the neon paint everywhere, and why is there a pink Tigger in it? There wasn't a pink Tigger in the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene in the movie. The entire ride just feels weird and I have difficulty making heads or tails of the thought process that went into it.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Magic Kingdom's Pooh is, in my opinion, a "book report" ride that actually WORKS. Having us actually venture into a storybook is a nice twist, and they actually have the riders interact with the story and characters (Gopher wishing us a "happy Winds-Day", bouncing in the forest with Tigger, actually traveling inside Pooh's Heffalumps and Woozles dream sequence, floating around in the Floody Place). Plus, it's got a great voice cast - Jim Cummings as Pooh, Peter Reneday as the narrator, Paul Winchell reprising his role as Tigger (though Jim Cummings does Tigger's voice for the safety spiel... I guess they redid the safety spiel after the ride opened?), Andre Stojka, Gregg Berger etc., plus Thurl Ravenscroft singing a few lyrics in the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene. I think people would be easier on it if it weren't for the fact that it replaced Mr. Toad.

Disneyland's only has two things going for it: the voice acting and the unique outdoor load area. Aside from that, there's so much wrong with it. For one thing, the plot is out of order and not cohesive in the slightest... it's a blustery day, then suddenly it's raining and the Hundred Acre Wood is flooded, then suddenly it's not raining or flooding and Tigger's bouncing around, and unlike the Magic Kingdom version we don't see Tigger warning Pooh about Heffalumps and Woozles before he falls asleep so the dream sequence feels random... and then Pooh wakes up and it's his birthday! The Tigger scene is a letdown and feels like an afterthought. The random scene in-between the Heffalumps and Woozles sequence and Pooh waking up where we see Pooh sticking out of the wall eating honey feels weird. Why is the Blustery Day scene, which is supposed to take place in the daytime, so dark? The Heffalumps and Woozles scene looks hideous with the neon paint everywhere, and why is there a pink Tigger in it? There wasn't a pink Tigger in the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene in the movie. The entire ride just feels weird and I have difficulty making heads or tails of the thought process that went into it.

The reason why Pooh works so well as a “book report” is because it’s adapted from a 25 minute featurette. Despite what the name of the attraction is, this ain’t no “Many Adventures” of Winnie the Pooh. It’s one Adventure, and that’s “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day”. The only thing from the other segments are the balloon Pooh and the Pooh in the honey tree, straight from “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”.

The only other book report that works well is Splash Mountain. Why? Because it’s easier to tell a cohesive story with 20 minutes of film than it is with 90 minutes of film.

Another great thing about Pooh is the way it plays with the flat cutout sets as “pages”. It’s very creative. This isn’t a thing in the Disneyland version. So the flat sets are just...needlessly flat.

 

[Brer Panther]

I already pointed this out, but the pink Tigger in the Disneyland version's Heffalumps and Woozles scene feels so out-of-place to me. You know what I think? My theory is that while the Disneyland version was under construction, they made a bunch of duplicates of each animatronic/figure in the Magic Kingdom version and stuck them wherever in the ride (I believe the Tigger in the birthday scene at the end is a clone of the bouncing Tigger animatronic in the Tigger scene of the Magic Kingdom's version). However, they couldn't find a place for their clone of the figure of Tigger pounced on Pooh, so somebody just said, "To heck with it, let's just paint Tigger pink and stick 'em in the dream room."

 

[Brer Oswald]

I already pointed this out, but the pink Tigger in the Disneyland version's Heffalumps and Woozles scene feels so out-of-place to me. You know what I think? My theory is that while the Disneyland version was under construction, they made a bunch of duplicates of each animatronic/figure in the Magic Kingdom version and stuck them wherever in the ride (I believe the Tigger in the birthday scene at the end is a clone of the bouncing Tigger animatronic in the Tigger scene of the Magic Kingdom's version). However, they couldn't find a place for their clone of the figure of Tigger pounced on Pooh, so somebody just said, "To heck with it, let's just paint Tigger pink and stick 'em in the dream room."

Not even a theory. That’s just what happened. I believe there’s two unique Pooh figures and a unique Rabbit figure. Everything’s else is from Florida.

 

[Brer Panther]

I think the Rabbit figure is a clone of the Rabbit animatronic in the Magic Kingdom version's Blustery Day scene (the one stuck in a pumpkin). I could be wrong, though. I believe the Pooh animatronic in the birthday scene is also a second clone of the one in the Blustery Day scene as well.

Come to think of it, I think the only animatronic in Florida's version that doesn't have a clone in California's is the spitting Gopher during the Floody Place scene.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I think the Rabbit figure is a clone of the Rabbit animatronic in the Magic Kingdom version's Blustery Day scene (the one stuck in a pumpkin). I could be wrong, though. I believe the Pooh animatronic in the birthday scene is also a second clone of the one in the Blustery Day scene as well.

Come to think of it, I think the only animatronic in Florida's version that doesn't have a clone in California's is the spitting Gopher during the Floody Place scene.

The Rabbit doesn’t seem to be a clone. The Pooh is a clone. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it. The Pooh in the Heffalump hot air balloon is also a clone of the honey eating Pooh that can be seen in the same field of view. Unreal.

 

[Brer Panther]

Somewhat related note, didn't the gift shop our version exits out to used to be larger? When I went on the ride back in 2019, I was amazed at how small the shop was. They apparently got rid of a good chunk of the storybook pages and plywood cutouts, like the Heffalump and Jack-in-the-Box Woozles (maybe because they've already got almost identical plywood cutouts in the actual ride, and they thought it was redundant?).