Had a brief solo trip to WDW last weekend through Tuesday. (Solo trips are the best kind.) I have serious issues with Liberty Square. No, I'm not talking about burnt-out lightbulbs or broken AAs. Everything looked good from that standpoint. This is way more nit-picky! For a company that takes pride in details, there are some huge holes in what I'm about to point out.
Warning: This is stuff that most normal people (aka NOT us on here) would not even think about. And possibly some stuff that will make you, the die-hard WDWMagic fan, think I'M crazy! Forgive me if this is all in another thread somewhere, but I'm terrible at searching and didn't come across much of it.
Here we go.
Let's talk about the overall theming. It is a distinctly Colonial themed part of the park. This is where the problem begins. First is the music. My sister and I could have sworn the music loop was back to the original colonial version in January. Last weekend, it was the newer one with the Sousa marches. Who thought this was a good idea? So ALL of the architecture and costumes scream "COLONIAL" to me, yet Sousa is a distinctly LATE 1800s/early 1900s composer. Did they just think that songs like E.E. Bagley's "Under The Double Eagle" or Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" would sound "better" than the colonial music? It's great music, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't belong in a COLONIAL-era part of the park. That would be like playing the Beatles in Fantasyland and saying "well they're European, like most of these rides, right?" Am I crazy for thinking that is this a is a major failure on Disney's part? Sousa is as American as Apple Pie and Baseball, but his marches don't belong in a land themed to Colonial era America. Actually, from a music history perspective, they would fit better on Main Street U.S.A. than anywhere else! (I do like the new MSUSA loop by the way.)
As I walked to Frontierland, I found that the Liberty Square loop continues to play LOUDLY out of the speakers as far down as the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade!!! That stupid frontier themed meet n' greet with Donald (?) has the Sousa music coming out of the speakers! The music transitions so well in every other part of the park, but it's really frustrating to look at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue and hear marching band music blasting instead of the acoustic cowboy music that makes Frontierland so great. What on earth is going on here? Something being broadcast to the wrong channels? This must be something they can fix.
Let's talk about the bride scene in the Haunted Mansion that had serious changes in the 2007 refurb. I hadn't thought of this for a long time. All of the wedding photos in the attic are dated in the late 1800s. Why? Isn't this supposed to be a colonial era mansion?? The mansion itself is purposely designed with Gothic revival architecture. So why are all the wedding photos dated from the 1860s? All of the other ghosts are wearing period-era costumes, so why did they seriously drop the ball with this one? Poor theming to say the least. (I have other serious issues with the bride, but I'll save them for another time). I feel like imagineers couldn't make up their mind if they wanted Colonial or Victorian era stuff in HM.
This reminds me of late 90s or early 2000s-era movies have invaded a land that's supposed to be based on the concept of Tomorrow. Last I checked, there was nothing futuristic about Buzz Lightyear, Monster's Inc., or Lilo & Stitch. Don't get me wrong, Buzz is a great ride, and I do enjoy the Laugh Floor occasionally. But they definitely don't belong in a place called Tomorrowland. It's like they can't decide what Tomorrowland should really be.
The last bit isn't really about theming, but I want to add that I think the George W. Bush and Barack Obama AA's in the Hall of Presidents are the worst looking of the bunch. Perhaps it's because we live in a day and age where we are used to seeing the President constantly, and it's just harder to nail their look when we are so familiar with them. But President Bush looks nothing like him, and President Obama doesn't quite have the eyes right and looks to me like a creepy version of the real dude. Anyone agree?
Ok, rant over!
Warning: This is stuff that most normal people (aka NOT us on here) would not even think about. And possibly some stuff that will make you, the die-hard WDWMagic fan, think I'M crazy! Forgive me if this is all in another thread somewhere, but I'm terrible at searching and didn't come across much of it.
Here we go.
Let's talk about the overall theming. It is a distinctly Colonial themed part of the park. This is where the problem begins. First is the music. My sister and I could have sworn the music loop was back to the original colonial version in January. Last weekend, it was the newer one with the Sousa marches. Who thought this was a good idea? So ALL of the architecture and costumes scream "COLONIAL" to me, yet Sousa is a distinctly LATE 1800s/early 1900s composer. Did they just think that songs like E.E. Bagley's "Under The Double Eagle" or Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" would sound "better" than the colonial music? It's great music, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't belong in a COLONIAL-era part of the park. That would be like playing the Beatles in Fantasyland and saying "well they're European, like most of these rides, right?" Am I crazy for thinking that is this a is a major failure on Disney's part? Sousa is as American as Apple Pie and Baseball, but his marches don't belong in a land themed to Colonial era America. Actually, from a music history perspective, they would fit better on Main Street U.S.A. than anywhere else! (I do like the new MSUSA loop by the way.)
As I walked to Frontierland, I found that the Liberty Square loop continues to play LOUDLY out of the speakers as far down as the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade!!! That stupid frontier themed meet n' greet with Donald (?) has the Sousa music coming out of the speakers! The music transitions so well in every other part of the park, but it's really frustrating to look at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue and hear marching band music blasting instead of the acoustic cowboy music that makes Frontierland so great. What on earth is going on here? Something being broadcast to the wrong channels? This must be something they can fix.
Let's talk about the bride scene in the Haunted Mansion that had serious changes in the 2007 refurb. I hadn't thought of this for a long time. All of the wedding photos in the attic are dated in the late 1800s. Why? Isn't this supposed to be a colonial era mansion?? The mansion itself is purposely designed with Gothic revival architecture. So why are all the wedding photos dated from the 1860s? All of the other ghosts are wearing period-era costumes, so why did they seriously drop the ball with this one? Poor theming to say the least. (I have other serious issues with the bride, but I'll save them for another time). I feel like imagineers couldn't make up their mind if they wanted Colonial or Victorian era stuff in HM.
This reminds me of late 90s or early 2000s-era movies have invaded a land that's supposed to be based on the concept of Tomorrow. Last I checked, there was nothing futuristic about Buzz Lightyear, Monster's Inc., or Lilo & Stitch. Don't get me wrong, Buzz is a great ride, and I do enjoy the Laugh Floor occasionally. But they definitely don't belong in a place called Tomorrowland. It's like they can't decide what Tomorrowland should really be.
The last bit isn't really about theming, but I want to add that I think the George W. Bush and Barack Obama AA's in the Hall of Presidents are the worst looking of the bunch. Perhaps it's because we live in a day and age where we are used to seeing the President constantly, and it's just harder to nail their look when we are so familiar with them. But President Bush looks nothing like him, and President Obama doesn't quite have the eyes right and looks to me like a creepy version of the real dude. Anyone agree?
Ok, rant over!
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