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

Crush Dude!

Crush Dude!

Back from WDW!Counting down to DLP in November!
TyrantBoss said:
After watching the newest Imagineer tour of Storytime with Belle I have a disturbing feeling.
I feel that the attraction will be absolutely boring for adults, especially those without kids, and teens.

Maurice's cottage looks great, but that is just the cue of the attraction.
The magic mirror looks amazing...and that takes you into Belle's library.
The talking wardrobe is fantastic and fun....but then.....

The cast member starts handing out cardboard picture frames, horse heads, and mockups of the dog/footstool.
She throws a cloth cape on a kid to play The Beast and then they are going to be part of the retelling of Beauty and the Beast. (Yes, not even The Beast shows up....you get some little kid playing The Beast...seriously?!)

That's It?!?!? That's all we get after all of this time, money and build up. We get to be trapped in a room while we watch little kids reenact the story of Beauty and the Beast? No changing scenery? No moving us through the ride or revolving stage like Carousel of Progress? Just a cast member playing Belle, 6 or 7 little kids with cardboard props, and a room where we have to sit and watch them act it out?!

Explain to me how this meets with Walt Disney's vision of having attractions fun for kids AND adults?
The only adults that can thoroughly enjoy this are the parents of the kids in the show. Everyone else gets to watch and be bored like you are in Turtle Talk with Crush.

Why do the Disney suits have to tailor everything toward only kids now?

So if I have no kids, and want to check out Storytime with Belle here is what is going to happen.
1) I wait in a ridiculously long cue just to walk through Maurice's cottage.
2) I shuffle into a little room with a group of other people to watch the show and there is nothing else for me to dobut to watch the kids perform. Yawn.
3) Meanwhile the next group will have to wait for (probably 10 minutes) the show to end and the next group to come in.
This is not Philharmagic where an auditorium of people can file in and move the line quickly. This is a small group show.

I see a major problem with this attraction. No dark ride, no fast moving flow of peope, just walk and wait. It seems very much like ToonTown and walking through Mickey's cottage. As an adult it is fun once to check it out....and I never went back there again.

IF this is all Storytime with Belle is going to be....I see a tremendous missed opportunity by Disney imagineers to make this something even more special and inclusive.

I am curious to hear everyone's feedback, or if someone has more information that can prove me wrong.
Click to expand...

What did you expect??

This is pretty much what everyone was exoecting!

This will be BIG!
 
wdwfan22

wdwfan22

Well-Known Member
Wdwprince said:
Already we are seeing moms saying "this is not for you but my kid will love it" to a guest who is paying the same ticket price as she is. Attractions should be for all ages like Walt intended. In the past, even kiddie rides like Tea Cups and Dumbo could be enjoyed by guests of all ages.

It is only now that Imagineers are isolating guests without children with attractions like these and playground queues being slapped on every attraction. This park was founded on the mission statement that guests of all ages could enjoy the attractions.

Again, moms if you want a place to take the kiddies that is just for kiddies, Legoland is down the street.
Click to expand...

How can every attraction be geared towards everyone? I hate when people use the argument that Walt wanted this and Walt wanted that. There have always been attractions geared towards different age groups but it balances out so that everyone has a good time. This experience has always been geared towards a meet and greet for children. Space mountain is geared towards teens and adults. Simple as that.
 
M

magictrickboy71

New Member
I assume that the OP has never seen the original Story time with Belle. It' is pretty much the same but updated. I think it looks amazing. My daughters love this and will want to do it on every trip. If it is not for you then go do something else, less wait time for me! I for one cannot wait for this to open and get to see my girls play with Belle again.
 
Crush Dude!

Crush Dude!

Back from WDW!Counting down to DLP in November!
magictrickboy71 said:
I assume that the OP has never seen the original Story time with Belle. It' is pretty much the same but updated. I think it looks amazing. My daughters love this and will want to do it on every trip. If it is not for you then go do something else, less wait time for me! I for one cannot wait for this to open and get to see my girls play with Belle again.
Click to expand...

Yep it is a fantasic upgrade to what was a nice little show for the kids, which is what we all knew it would be
 
ExtinctJenn

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
ExtinctJenn said:
If you want to be technical, there's less for kids than adults. An adult can walk into/onto any attraction whereas children are limited by height. The bottom line is the idea was there would be something for everyone to enjoy at Disney's parks. That doesn't mean everything can be enjoyed by everyone, it means that there is something everyone can find to enjoy.
Click to expand...
To add to this... can you imagine what a boring place any Disney park would be if everything you built had to please everyone? There'd be... what? I can't think of anything every person in the world likes. Oh! Food! Yeah ok so it'd be a huge restaurant and that's about it. LOL! :D
 
M

MickeyPeace

Well-Known Member
burks said:
Disney and Universal market themselves to different audiences with some overlap, Disney markets to young children and Universal to teenagers. In what Disney commercial do you see teenagers or young adult going around flexing their muscles around the park. That's left for Universal, go have fun.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that there are no muscles in Disney Parks? That fit people should go to Universal and out of shape people should go to Disney? Preposterous.
 
phi2134

phi2134

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
If we do this then I have a feeling we will be seeing the puppy picture every other post ;)
Click to expand...

It helps distract you from the grumpys :)

grumpy2.jpg
 
B

Bullee

New Member
Clamman73 said:
I'd like to go just to see how that mirror works.
Click to expand...

Exactly, I am sure my little girl will drag me to this anyways , but I will be glad to watch and try to figure it out. Plus the new automated characters are pretty amazing, I wonder if they are in person. Let ya know in Nov. lol
 
M

mets7

Active Member
tomman710 said:
I thought they always sold it for what it was ... a meet and greet and/or revamped Storytime with Belle.

I for one have always been cynical and dismissive of those experiences (and I have little kids) ... BUT ... I don't see how any one could not be pleasantly surprised by this final product compared to how it was originally advertised.

A meet and greet wasn't turning into an E-Ticket ... but they sold it as a meet and greet and I definitely think its something more.

I hesitate to say I am impressed because god forbid that opens the flood gates to add more of these but for now I think this looks very interesting and innovative.
Click to expand...

I agree completely.....I was not surprised to see this as a fancy m&g. That is what they said it was all along. I just wonder what the OP was expecting. Where have you been for the last year or so since they announced this?

I also agree with everyone else about the rides for everyone. My DD9 is very small for her age and still can't ride a few things. Next year when she is 10 I will be paying full price for her and there is a good chance she still won't be able to ride every thing in all the parks. In case you not paying attention....my DD will be coming to the parks on an ADULT ticket(that means the same price as you OP) and she still might not be able to experience everything. BTW do you climb around and play in the splash area in the FLE? Because I don't see you complaining about that.
 
Scuttle

Scuttle

Well-Known Member
ChrisM said:
I think it's actually a neat way to plus the standard meet 'n greet experience, but obviously nothing mindblowing. As things stand now, I loathe meet and greets and think they are truly the most boring wastes of time ever conceived, but this looks tolerable (at the very least).

That said, was this truly what they had in mind for Cinderella's Chateau and Sleeping Beauty's Cottage? Instead of the Seven Dwarves Mine Ride we'd have gotten two more versions of this?

Holy hell. That would have been craptacular.
Click to expand...

Agreed! Thank you Staggs!
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
It would be better without the cardboard cutouts.

Luminere looks fantastic. They've (they being the new outsouced company) has really gotten great at articulating movement with AAs. I would love to see what they could do with human AAs though since all of the recent AAs have been of animated characters.
 
I

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
Once again, it all comes down to expectations. All this area was ever meant to be was a new location for "Storytime With Belle". I see the OP's point in a lot of ways. IMO, the entire BatB area is beautiful, but the budget and that much space probably could have been used better. Add a BatB dark ride to it and you'd easily have a grand slam.

The idea that every attraction should be for everyone is ridiculous though. There's no way to make very one happy all of the time. Besides, who's to say there aren't adults that won't like this as well?

I'm much more concerned that rides that should be intended for families are being created with height restrictions (like the SWMT). I think imagineering needs to do a better job of figuring out who the intended audience is and going after them full barrel. Having a coaster with a height restriction that won't appeal to coaster lovers or thrill riders really doesn't make much sense.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom