Rivers of America (plus Railroad & Dioramas) Re-Imagineered 2017

Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
I was under the impression the treehouse on Tom Sawyer Island has been closed off to Guests for a while now.
So I wasn't surprised to see it still is.

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Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Macro said:
The tree house closed a few years ago when they went around upgrading safety railings. They apparently decided it was too expensive to fix. Now it's just theming.
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In addition you had to be a small child to even get up into that treehouse. Its extremely tight and narrow opening. Once your up there an adult can't stand upright. Its built for very small kids with no safety bars at all. There isn't anything inside. No wonder they closed it down. An idiot AP holder would probably break the treehouse.
 
D.Silentu

D.Silentu

Well-Known Member
Macro said:
The tree house closed a few years ago when they went around upgrading safety railings. They apparently decided it was too expensive to fix. Now it's just theming.
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It's a tease to leave the tree house there and say, "look, don't touch," which is sort of the antithesis of the island. However, I feel like I've heard that the structure has some role in Fantasmic, so that may account for it staying.
 
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Hatbox Ghostbuster

Hatbox Ghostbuster

Well-Known Member
Kira Nerys said:
Now that the dust has settled. Final analysis 2017.

I'm not really sold on any of this. While the train and watercraft are essential to the park and it was nice to see them back, I was ultimately let down. Nice rock work and features along the shore? Perhaps, yes. A bit too brown and gray for my taste. There's enough of that in SoCal. Disneyland should be lush and green in this section. Maybe the foliage needs to grow in. The awkward static animals and awkward Native Americans (excuse me, "Indians") are, well, awkward. I'm not one of those 2017 ultra-liberal white people that hate on white people and allegedly feel white guilt, but the "Indians" scene still makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe they should have gone away.

There is one scene on the train where the new stuff comes together and that's between the non-functioning presumed wibbly wobbly rock that's actually static (shocker!) and the entrance to Toontown. It's a really charming area exclusive to the train. The rest is a multi-tiered environment you can't properly view from the train. In fact, the train seemed to be designed as part of the environment meant to be viewed! The forward-facing trains provide an exclusive look to the left of the train, where the old Indiana dog house can be seen, as well as strange ugly behind the scenes views. Were we not supposed to look that way? Why is the dog house there?

The area around Toontown is a long schoolyard chain link fence. The area around Tomorrowland is ugly backstage. Still. I suppose it's better than getting off the train at that point?

Taking the slower ships around the river makes the static look even more static. At least the train zips by this stuff and many of the static displays can't even be seen. The area around Hungry Bear is really very bad. It looks like a Summer camp, not Disneyland. Look, it's Salute Your Shorts! At Disneyland, they'd be underbutt shorts.

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Gross. I don't remember the big wall of greenery at the dock. Whenever a ship isn't there, it's the ugliest thing across from The Haunted Mansion.

Tom Sawyer's Island is just awful. I took a stroll around it a while back. It's in such horrible condition. There's nothing even worth doing there except presumably looking at the new area behind it. The mega charming cemetery was removed. Why that?? You can't go in the treehouse, which appears to provide excellent views of The Haunted Mansion. You can see it from the porch looming above the island. Good luck getting up there.

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This is the most provocative area of the newly reopened island and it's abandoned.

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As for the new area that separates Big Thunder Trail from Star Wars? It's very awkward and ugly. It has a cheap rushed feel to it. The design is nonsensical. There's no charm to any of it except perhaps the most promising feature, the great big rock. We've seen this for a while now. Below is an area reminiscent of the Vasquez Rocks. It still looks cool, but the great big rock is static. I doubt they haven't flipped the "On" switch. It's a throwback to the rocks on the old mine train ride (designed by a guy named Fred, hence the great big rock falling on his head), but it has no function. There is an extremely bogus area with a rock wall, a rock, a gate, Ewok Village fencing, a paved road (???) and a static horse that is perhaps the worst part of the entire project.

View attachment 225053

What the? I'm not entirely confident this area was just thrown together at the last second, but I sure hope it was.
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I'm taking away from this your strong feelings of the new additions...
BUT more than anything, is your Salute Your Shorts nod. Gold star :)
 
D

Deleted member 107043

phruby said:
Why go to place you hate?
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It is weird isn't it? When I first joined the online Disney Park fan community I was very surprised at the level of vitriol that one can regularly encounter in discussion boards like the ones found on this site. Every disapproving person I know who hates Disneyland isn't nearly as passionate in their criticisms as the folks here who claim to love the place.
 
SSG

SSG

Well-Known Member
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
It is weird isn't it? When I first joined the online Disney Park fan community I was very surprised at the level of vitriol that one can regularly encounter in discussion boards like the ones found on this site. Every disapproving person I know who hates Disneyland isn't nearly as passionate in their criticisms as the folks here who claim to love the place.
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It's often that way with things we feel passionately about. For example, I'm a long time, diehard supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and one of the few things in the world that gets me inchoherently angry is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

SSG said:
It's often that way with things we feel passionately about. For example, I'm a long time, diehard supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and one of the few things in the world that gets me inchoherently angry is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
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It's funny that you referenced a football club in your example. I've recently realized that some Disneyland fans have begun to exhibit behavior that closely resemble their cousins - sports team fanatics. The branded clothing people wear in the parks and the loud WOOOs! at the close of the MSEP are examples, but some of the "team spirit" behaviors and attitudes are more subtle, like the way fans try to drum up rivalry between DLR, WDW, TDL, Universal, etc.
 
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George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
On the other hand, I don't understand the constant praise Disney gets for the things they do. All they have to do is have a Star Wars or Marvel funny book thing and people are going crazy. The overwhelming praise for the river since it opened doesn't entirely baffle me, but I don't exactly get it either. It just isn't that great from my vantage point on the Mark Twain or my seat on the train. It's a bunch of brown and gray rocks with weird "Indian" stereotypes and static animals. Not that there isn't any charm to it, but I liked the older version with the trees vs. the wall of canyons. Tom Sawyer's island is just a disaster and so obviously pointless for guest visitation.
 
Hatbox Ghostbuster

Hatbox Ghostbuster

Well-Known Member
phruby said:
I've never understood Annual Pass holders that go every day to Disneyland but hate everything there is. Why go to place you hate?
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I can't imagine a person being an annual pass holder and going every single day if they truly hated every single thing at Disneyland. There must be something that they enjoy.

For me, I go (not daily...or even weekly) because I love the old classics (HM, POTC, JC), the thrillers (Indy, BTMRR. Space Mtn), Buzz Lightyear, and a good ol' Mickey Mouse pretzel. Not to mention people watching!

However, I am still miffed at the direction Disney is heading with the bulk of their Parks and Resorts plans for the future. Just not miffed enough to stop going and enjoying the things I do love.
 
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mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
HatboxGhostbuster said:
I can't imagine a person being an annual pass holder and going every single day if they truly hated every single thing at Disneyland. There must be something that they enjoy.

For me, I go (not daily...or even weekly) because I love the old classics (HM, POTC, JC), the 90's hits (Indy, BTMRR), Buzz Lightyear, and a good ol' Mickey Mouse pretzel. Not to mention people watching!
However, I am still miffed at the direction Disney is heading with the bulk of their Parks and Resorts plans for the future. Just not miffed enough to stop going and enjoying the things I do love.
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Exactly. Just because we complain about the current direction doesn't mean we don't love most of what the parks are still about. I think you meant to put Splash ('89) in the 90s hits not BTMRR.
 

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