This is a tough situation to be in if you work for the creative and business ends of this FLE Expansion.
The debates on FLE on the threads grew hot for many days and weeks. People speculated on changes and what they would like to see if the plans were changed and some held steadfast that no changes would happen from what they heard and even just from their opinions and speculation too.
And now here it is. Staggs confirms that there will be changes.
And now the speculation about the changes are in full force and it will be fun to see down the road in hindsight if anybody came close as more is revealed as time passes.
I am on board with this guy. And I feel for anyone in a position at Disney for the what you want to do and what you are prevented from doing struggles by higher-ups, budgets, and the ever present struggles against business as usual that is present in any company.
His statements about the FLE plans, vision, and what is going on now of course can't be too detailed but it certainly is a teaser and and has mutli-faceted purposes, and well, it certainly caught most of our attention and held it as the days pass.
I can't imagine being the person who has to deliver this news after the FLE plans have already been revealed, knowing some will like it, some will not, and you just can't satisfy everyone. Additions, changes, replacements will always reap both praise and criticism.
That is why I love going to Disney but I sure would hate to work there at this point.
This is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, and to put it lightly, they are never pleasant ones to be in.
And this is just thread opinons, I can't imagine what it is like with jobs riding on the line and the almighty profit being considered in business situations. Or creative reputations on the imagineer ends.
It is usually better to add than to take away in business situations and I think both will happen, and they are tough calls to make.
FLE is now a balancing act between what was and what will be and how the end justifies the means. Some will lament the old plans whether the new offer more or not and are better, and if the new does not succeed, oh boy! the lamenting will be far worse.
So a huge land expansion, the biggest ever in MK, was revealed some time ago. Adults and especially girls and boys were told in detailed announcements and with conceptual art that a huge area containing princess homes, dancing with Cinderella, stories with Belle, and much more was happening. Pixie Hollow and Tinkerbell was coming, the Beast's castle table service in the chateau, Gaston's Tavern for a counter service option was coming, and probably stores and extras that weren't released yet either. Size, architecture, and amazing interaction experiences with beloved princess characters and Tinkerbell were all promised.The double Dumbo and circus tent area and the Little Mermaid ride experience.
And now all that was promised has certain elements being re-worked, or scrapped, or changed, or added. We don't know the half of it yet.
Now my two cents: What I would think happened and what might....
I think the appealing to boys issue is and was a big concern, big to Staggs, and probably other people in Disney too, much more than we may ever hear about. I think it didn't sit well with others besides Stagg the whole time. Your business competitior (WWOHP) just successfully incorporated a land in a park that has attraction and merchandising appeal to all genders and age groups. (And no, Disney execs are not so worried as to throw themselves off buildings or panic Orson Welles style, but any business would be fools not to sit back and somewhat compare it to your own future projects and endeavors.
And I think they did. I mean how could you not?
And I did. Though I am a peon that does not work for Disney and just goes to the parks I thought of that and I also thought of something else that I did post somewhere before the Staggs statements were made.
And my opinion of the princess part doesn't matter. Personally, I am not for how big it would be as a meet and greet, but that is just for me. An adult woman. I am not twirling my evil moustache and rubbing my hands together in my villain hide out/ lair in dastardly glee.
I don't want the little girls disappointed. If they build it I hope they enjoy it, have fun, and have wonderful memories with parents.
My fiance and I will walk around and tour the place once on our way to a dinner reservation at Beast's Castle. We will eat and then go LM and leave. But that is just me. And one thing sits heavy on my mind.
I just could not wrap my mind around one thing.
Why would they repeat history in MK? They have been down this road before and it has failed. Is removing a land a sign of failure? Why would they do this again if they have a limitless amount of options?
Ok, it is not the same but then again essentially and at its roots maybe it is.
Mickey's Birthdayland, Starland, Toon Town Fair, er probably other names and incarnations, was a temporary success but not a lasting one. At its core it was a large meet and great with sizeable land and character's homes, and more. I went to Mickey's birthday party back in the day. Maybe you love TT, I like it. I still have my pictures and autograph books when I was younger when my parents had me and my younger brother stand in front of the houses and pose. It was fun. More fun then when I had to hula at the Polynesian and for the poor witnesses that had to see my terrible dance moves. Justin Timberlake, I am not. And luckily I do...because this land is going...to make way for another M&G.
I can only speculate IMHO that the M&G FLE is getting down-sized, and some structures that were planned and some of the level of interaction planned.
If somebody told me to bet, I would bet, not my life but a bit, that what happened to TT was thought of it in conjunction with the FLE princess elements because the similarites are up for consideration.
M&G's that have permanent areas just don't stand the test to time. They do not become classics like POTC, HM, and countless others. And though the architecture, activities, every original detail about the princess elements are visually, emotionally, physically, and more, so absolutely amazing and inspired. I think that this area will undergo the most revision, changes, and exclusions. And maybe even Tink and her forest too.
What do you think a Jonas Brother meet and greet will be like in 20 years? Will you be standing in line?
If Mickey and the main characters, and their homes, and other extras in TT can't make it permanently, character icons, Mickey and Minnie and others... the originals and heart of the park, than I truly don't think anything else will either as permanent M&G's. They appeal to adults, children...everything about TT should have been lasting, but alas, it didn't and they see fit to remove it.
To make another TT, another permanent M&G, even with attractive extras, but this time with just the pricesses and potentially more narrowed attraction and marketing appeal. I think this is concerning them as much as it concerns me and perhaps others too.
And I don't have measurements but that full realization would have been even bigger than TT. Please if someone can look at the aerial shots and estimate size and I am wrong please correct me. I'm not a math and measurement person in general.
So Staggs speaks. The seed is planted, I don't like the terms damage control, but it may be what it is. We were told the plans are changing and reassured that it is for the better. I believe he worded it that it was hinted or left for interpretation that attraction(s) may take the place of the changes that they are looking at.
I think that they know that there are many disappointed adults, children, especially girls now, and that it had better be good. Backtracking has occured and you can only do so much after so much was revealed already initially.
You don't rethink and overhaul plans lightly. Only fools do and they are not fools. I think some of this never sat well with many and from the get go. One person however powerful can't do this alone.
Have things been done to the parks that completely boggled people and made us slap our heads over the years...yes.
Is a lot riding on what they now do?
It most certainly does. To save face and to move forward in the face of competition. And let me reiterate, notbecause they are breaking out in a sweat 24-7 in hysterics over Potter, but any smart business will study what the competition is doing. Of course they do.
You know when your neighbor is fixing his house...come on, you know you passed in your car and looked and pretended not to when you had sunglasses on. When your lawn is brown and you keep trying everything because the dude next door has effortless emerald green grass. It is only human nature....and in this case, it is business.
There are limitations though. I do not believe that the princesses are totally getting the axe. You can't promise 100% and take away 80% or 90% and the princesses are still a strong division of Disney.
I just think that perhaps they are going to scale down the homes and the forest for Tink and what they would have offered. I don't think anyone not even Staggs is going to hold a press conference and say that the whole princess thing is canned, homes included, interactions included, and Tinkerbell's forest too. I don't think they can backtrack and do that now, well, just because they can't. You can say re-think, replan, retool, or whatever words were used, but not that the whole team or one person just second-guessed themselves about everything they wanted to do at this late point in time... their whole vision. That will not come off well.
Some are non-negotiables IMHO. I think the Beast Castle, LM, and Dumbo, and Gaston's are not going anywhere. Maybe stores and merch that might have been in the works could possibly be changed though.
Now I just talked about removal, what is staying, and what has been down-sized, how about what I think they could or should add.
I think an attraction besides LM might come. If, a big if, if they downsize perhaps something needs to be added to replace the orginal vision?
Well, there is no going back in Orlando for Toad and Leagues....in my dreams perhaps, but dreams are not reality. Still bitter that they are in other parks....
Would it be so difficult for them to add something besides Mermaid. Hell, no. Some we know about and can anyone really imagine the true amount and details of plans and rides they have that never saw a place in the parks? Trust me, I have spent many a night on The Neverland Files, this website, and countless others, admiring concept art, scouring details, and saw some amazing stuff that never saw the light of day and is just sitting somewhere in perhaps a dusty filing cabinet.
Now some were just plain ridiculous...but that is for another time.
They have many options and they could even just start from scratch but that would be difficult because the due date on FLE is approacing steadily for each phase and the project completion as a whole.
I would love to see Pinocchio. Throw me a bone. I believe two other parks already have it. Save some money and time and perhaps design a queue exclusively for Pinocchio Orlando and there you have it. Not hard at all. And the Fantasylands in CA and other countries have some stuff if they went the less risky route instead of designing brand new or rehashing and dusting off the old " Never realized file" in a cabinet office somewhere in Orlando.
Just my humble two cents. I figured I could do this in one instead of 30 posts.
Also, I feel for any attractive young girl CM who would don the Cinderella costume and blonde wig.
How the heck would you be able to dance with all those little children? Perhaps a strong coffee at the Main Street Bake Shop before your shift would help. Not being facetious, I was just wondering how it would work smoothly.
And please this is opinion, brainstorming, perhaps analyzing, and not the word of the Lord. Be Kind!:ROFLOL:
My vague statements are all I got.:lol:
