Storytime with Belle...That's it?!?

[alissafalco]

Can you name two traditional Disney dark rides within the United States that are more immersive and better done than this? They don't exist.

My thing is if you put a crappy ride vehicle in there everyone would love it.

Oh stop! You really can't be for real.

 

[GoofGoof]

A bunch of old men seem to be up in arms about something designed delight small children. Is this a pattern at this forum?

There is a general negative opinion around WDW from a bunch of people on here. As much as the "pixie dusters" never see the negatives the "doom and gloomers" never see the positives. No matter what Disney builds some people will just be critical and pick it apart. That is the pattern on this forum.

 

[tomman710]

Remember in the Matrix when Joey Pants experiences the real world and wishes he was back in the fake Matrix?

Sometimes reality is doom and gloom, I can't blame people who want to ignore it and go back into the Matrix.

 

[GoofGoof]

Remember in the Matrix when Joey Pants experiences the real world and wishes he was back in the fake Matrix?

Sometimes reality is doom and gloom, I can't blame people who want to ignore it and go back into the Matrix.

I go on vacation to escape from reality. Plug me into the matrix for a week.

 

[alissafalco]

A bunch of old men seem to be up in arms about something designed delight small children. Is this a pattern at this forum?

I'm a 37 year old mom to a 2 year old girl, and i'm sorry but this pre-school play with cheap paper cut outs is painful to watch. Why can't Belle just come out and tell a 2 minute story herself and then everyone go up to meet her? To make people suffer through this just to meet Belle is torture.

 

[LithiumBill]

Disney will never satisfy everyone, and as stated above, some people would not be happy even if they were living the dreamworld that they concocted themselves...

 

[LithiumBill]

... in a space that seems cheaply put-together is hardly anything that has to be seen to be believed.

Putting everything else you said aside (Giving you that argument), how can you call this cheaply put together? Did we watch the same Disney Parks video? Have you been there yet? (for the record I have not either) Everything about the lead up to the cottage, inside the cottage, the transformation of the mirror, the AA wardrobe, the AA Lumiere the library itself, they all look to be put together fantastically with nothing but the best of detailing... heck even the biggest doomers in this thread say that everything is amazing except the "story" itself? I think that part of your argument is not that logical, the "THIS IS NOT FOR ME ATTITUDE" is clouding your vision.

IMO of course. I totally expect to be claimed a Pixie duster in kind

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I haven't read the whole thread, but here's my take on this:

The animatronics look incredible! IMO, the Wardrobe and Lumière are the most convincing animatronics yet in WDW. After recently experiencing RSR in person and admiring what they accomplished there (even though Cars isn't one of my favorite movies), it's awesome to see WDW get some memorable and lifelike animatronics of its own.

That said, how are guests supposed to appreciate the Wardrobe when a CM has to loudly talk over her (and out-of-synch with her) in order to cast the silly little skit? The CM's presence (and failed attempts at 'interacting' with the Wardrobe) only serve as a reminder that the Wardrobe is a piece of technology - not a living character from a classic Disney movie. Obviously, we all know that the Wardrobe isn't real. But the disjointed 'conversation' still shatters the opportunity to suspend disbelief, which is what makes a visit to WDW much more emotionally compelling to me than a trip to my nearby Six Flags. And then that skit...I have no words. Whether it's supposed to be a full-fledged attraction or a new meet & greet for Belle, I think it misses the mark at both.

 

[danlb_2000]

I haven't read the whole thread, but here's my take on this:

The animatronics look incredible! IMO, the Wardrobe and Lumière are the most convincing animatronics yet in WDW. After recently experiencing RSR in person and admiring what they accomplished there (even though Cars isn't one of my favorite movies), it's awesome to see WDW get some memorable and lifelike animatronics of its own.

That said, how are guests supposed to appreciate the Wardrobe when a CM has to loudly talk over her (and out-of-synch with her) in order to cast the silly little skit? The CM's presence (and failed attempts at 'interacting' with the Wardrobe) only serve as a reminder that the Wardrobe is a piece of technology - not a living character from a classic Disney movie. Obviously, we all know that the Wardrobe isn't real. But the disjointed 'conversation' still shatters the opportunity to suspend disbelief, which is what makes a visit to WDW much more emotionally compelling to me than a trip to my nearby Six Flags. And then that skit...I have no words. Whether it's supposed to be a full-fledged attraction or a new meet & greet for Belle, I think it misses the mark at both.

Although this criticism is valid, these are just previews. Hopefully the wardrobe part will get smoothed out before the official opening.

 

[GoofGoof]

Just for the record, I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am in no way trying to belittle anyone for the way that they think. I think it is a valid thought to say this looks cool, but it's not for me. There are some things at WDW that I skip because I am just not interested. Where I think it's a little less valid is when people call this cheap or poorly done (cardboard cutouts aside - they could probably be a little more sturdy looking). Whether you plan to enjoy this or not you have to acknowledge that it's well themed and pretty well done for what it is, an elaborate meet and greet. When I first looked at the video my initial thought was that it was so much better than I expected. Maybe some people just had a lot higher expectations going in.

Maybe I am just so starved for something new, or maybe I am snorting Pixie Dust, but I have been very impressed with all of the FLE so far opened. Sometimes I just can't understand how people are so negative about it. I am a realist (to some extent) and understand the D&G opinions around broken AA in Splash or Everest or cutbacks at the parks and I even get some of the sentiment around the napkins, but I can't get behind nitpicking every new thing that opens and trying to find flaws. Started with Casey's Splash Zone, that thread was brutal. Then we jumped to Dumbo being unsafe, LM being a lame copy of the DCA version and the Mine Train being a kiddie coaster no better than the Barnstormer.

 

[LithiumBill]

...The theming is shoddy, and it shows.

I guess we have to agree to disagree here. I'll take a closer look with the family in December, but I just don't see the shoddy construction or poor "show". The library looks great to me, and the hallway with the wardrobe is just that, a hallway.

We can revisit in January, lol.

 

[GoofGoof]

....Except it's not immersive at all. The castle spaces are very sparsely detailed. The whole thing looks very cheaply done, and, if I walked in there not knowing that the space was supposed to be BATB-themed, I would not feel like I am in a castle.

Excuse me, but my opinion is not "a little less valid". I gave reasons for my opinion when I stated it. I don't expect you to agree with it, but I arrived at my opinion empirically, not out of a reflexive hatred for meet-and-greets.

We definitely watched a different video. You are entitled to any opinion you want to have. We can agree to disagree.

 

[Lee]

I shouldn't, but...

You mean the same small children that would have been just as delighted with a well-themed, traditional M&G experience that didn't cost millions of dollars which could have been put to better use?
Those small children?

 

[wannab@dis]

I shouldn't, but...

You mean the same small children that would have been just as delighted with a well-themed, traditional M&G experience that didn't cost millions of dollars which could have been put to better use?
Those small children?

Yeah, those kids. They will love this updated and plussed show. Don't be so jealous. You and others say that Disney keeps going cheap... they didn't. You and others say they keep cutting attractions and shows... they didn't. You and others keep saying they take the easy way out... they didn't. But yet the exact same few STILL look for and always find something to complain about. You lose credibility when you drop to this level.

 

[wannab@dis]

At no point in the pre-opening marketing was this attraction ever promoted as something exclusively for small children. In that regard, this attraction has failed because that is exactly what it has become in the execution.

You do realize this show previously existed, right? So if you thought it was going to be drastically different from the previous Storytime with Bellle... that's your own fault. They took the old show and made it much better.

Reference:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/09/a-tour-through-new-fantasyland-at-magic-kingdom-park/

Click on the second thumbnail.

 

[Lee]

Yeah, those kids. They will love this updated and plussed show. Don't be so jealous. You and others say that Disney keeps going cheap... they didn't. You and others say they keep cutting attractions and shows... they didn't. You and others keep saying they take the easy way out... they didn't. But yet the exact same few STILL look for and always find something to complain about. You lose credibility when you drop to this level.

I never said they went cheap on this...ummm..."attraction".
My opinion is that they overspent on a glorified M&G, when a traditional one would have pleased the target audience just as much.
The didn't take the "easy way out", they took something simple and way overdid it.

This money should have gone into a ride, maybe even a BatB one, which would have appealed to a much wider demographic and given MK a much needed new attraction.

 

[HenryMystic]

I never said they went cheap on this...ummm..."attraction".
My opinion is that they overspent on a glorified M&G, when a traditional one would have pleased the target audience just as much.
The didn't take the "easy way out", they took something simple and way overdid it.

This money should have gone into a ride, maybe even a BatB one, which would have appealed to a much wider demographic and given MK a much needed new attraction.

And the 2 things don't need to be mutually exclusive. You can have rides with meet and greets. See: Mermaid and 7DMT.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I never said they went cheap on this...ummm..."attraction".
My opinion is that they overspent on a glorified M&G, when a traditional one would have pleased the target audience just as much.
The didn't take the "easy way out", they took something simple and way overdid it.

This money should have gone into a ride, maybe even a BatB one, which would have appealed to a much wider demographic and given MK a much needed new attraction.

EXACTLY!!!! I do wonder who's behind the show/attraction scripting these days. Why would anyone think that building only 2 AAs to tell the BatB story and forcing little kids or reluctant adults do the rest was a great idea?

 

[BigThunderMatt]

EXACTLY!!!! I do wonder who's behind the show/attraction scripting these days. Why would anyone think that building only 2 AAs to tell the BatB story and forcing little kids or reluctant adults do the rest was a great idea?

Because then they don't have to not pay maintenance for not taking care of all the other AA's they would have had to not take care of. Nothing's cheaper than having guests take the part of something you would have had to pay to maintain or an entertainer you would have had to pay to perform.

 

[danlb_2000]

I can't image what these discussions would have been like if they had built three of this type of M&G like they originally planned!