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

[CJR]

There was supposed to be a ride? First I heard of it. Was it part of the original plans? A dark ride like LM?

It never made it beyond rumors, but early reports of the FLE called for The Little Mermaid dark ride and a Beauty and the Beast dark ride. I think the primary reason for the cut was the Be Our Guest restaurant. MK needed (and they really did need it) another good place for people to eat at. I understand why they did what they did, but as a BatB fan, I was disappointed. Everyone would love a dark ride for their favorite Disney film... It's not realistic for that to happen, but it's something we all probably dream about.

 

[danlb_2000]

To an extent I understand where the OP is coming from. My wife and I have little interest in the actual FLE for this reason, it's almost entirely geared toward kids, but will also be the excuse for raising our admissions ticket next summer (just wait and see). It's not a selling point for everyone, as a lot of you pointed out, but 10% increase in ticket price will be applied to everyone regardless if they care about this or not.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the attraction itself, but as a big fan of BatB, it would have been nice for adults to be more included than they will be. My wife and I grew up watching BatB (not together obviously) so we love the film and were disappointed when the ride got axed. My thoughts are that this is better than nothing at all, but it's really not worth us paying more to get in. Perhaps next year Disney should only raise the cost of the child's ticket?

I have a hard time reconciling the statements in bold. If you love BatB so much why dismiss FLE? The meet and greet might not be for you but there is still going to be the Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston's Tavern, the village, and the all the BatB theming in the area. As a fan of the movie that should be more then enough to make you excited to experience this area.

 

[danlb_2000]

It never made it beyond rumors, but early reports of the FLE called for The Little Mermaid dark ride and a Beauty and the Beast dark ride. I think the primary reason for the cut was the Be Our Guest restaurant. MK needed (and they really did need it) another good place for people to eat at. I understand why they did what they did, but as a BatB fan, I was disappointed. Everyone would love a dark ride for their favorite Disney film... It's not realistic for that to happen, but it's something we all probably dream about.

Our resident insiders can correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that was ever anything more then fan made rumors, I don't believe there was ever a plan within Disney to have a BatB ride in FLE.

 

[GoofGoof]

It never made it beyond rumors, but early reports of the FLE called for The Little Mermaid dark ride and a Beauty and the Beast dark ride. I think the primary reason for the cut was the Be Our Guest restaurant. MK needed (and they really did need it) another good place for people to eat at. I understand why they did what they did, but as a BatB fan, I was disappointed. Everyone would love a dark ride for their favorite Disney film... It's not realistic for that to happen, but it's something we all probably dream about.

It would be cool to have another dark ride, but the restaurant and the general theming in the area are really well done.

 

[CJR]

As a fan of the movie that should be more then enough to make you excited to experience this area.

Who's to say we won't enjoy the area? I never said we wouldn't enjoy it. I just said that I don't think it really justifies the massive ticket price increase that will come with it. While we will indeed enjoy it, we won't as much as we could have had a ride/attraction that included adults was tossed into the mix. Be Our Guest and Gaston's tavern will be awesome, but they also come at the expense of our wallet, in addition to the price increase to get into the park.

Our resident insiders can correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that was ever anything more then fan made rumors, I don't believe there was ever a plan within Disney to have a BatB ride in FLE.

I can tell you that they definitely had thought of a BatB ride. Whether or not it was seriously considered for the expansion, I doubt few people would really know the answer. I'm willing to bet rides for more than half of Disney's films have been drawn up.

It would be cool to have another dark ride, but the restaurant and the general theming in the area are really well done.

I agree, but you have to consider this, and do know I speak my opinion, a ride is SO much better than an expensive well themed restaurant. I'm not saying that I'm not excited about the restaurant, but if it were up to me, I would have told Disney to do the ride over the restaurant in a heartbeat.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

After watching this video, I am so disappointed. It's like a preschool or a library class. I guess "storytime with belle" is exactly what it states. Being Disney, and how everything is always more than it seems, I'm so disappointed. This looks BORING. And corny. And that wardrobe would scare the crap out me if I was a kid.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Honestly, did the meet and greets ever target adults? I can't think of one that did, except for maybe the one with the Kim Possible face character.

 

[doctornick]

Just out of curiosity, for everyone who is disappointed that this is just a meet n greet what exactly were you expecting? Wasn't this always supposed to be pretty much exactly what it is?

Guys, this is what was always planned and if you expected more, shame on you. Look at the concept art. This is the SAME thing in the pictures. Only they greatly improved the effects.

Seriously. TDO planned to put a Belle M&G in a subarea devoted to BatB. Understandable given the popularity of M&Gs. And they did what we all want Disney to do -- they went all out and created a fantastic attraction with little details, immersive theming and top notch AAs. Whether this is a particular attraction you would enjoy or not, you have to be impressed with how Disney has taking an ordinary M&G and cranked it up a couple levels.

I mean, my dad hates roller coasters, doesn't like them at all because he psychologically doesn't tolerate the motion. But he rode E:E last trip just to experience it, didn't "enjoy" the ride but felt the show was fantastic. It's not an attraction for him, but he really appreciated what Disney put into it and thought it was great even though he can't enjoy it. Why can't people view this the same way?

 

[Ignohippo]

Two questions. Did we ever get the budget strictly for this attraction?
Also, does it count that for the segment that this is targeting, this experience will last 10 times longer than say Peter Pan's Flight?

....and have much, much less capacity.

But I'm not going to take up the argument for other people. I'm not against anything that's going in at all. I only wish another dark ride would have been part of the plans. I think they would have hit a Grand Slam if a BatB dark ride would have been included. MK's Fantasyland is short of rides as it is and with SWSA gone and a coaster coming in its place, a BatB dark ride would have gone a long way to filling that void.

 

[wm49rs]

Honestly, did the meet and greets ever target adults? I can't think of one that did, except for maybe the one with the Kim Possible face character.

I've heard of a Little Mermaid one in Amsterdam, but I guess that's a bit beyond the pale for this discussion....

 

[HMF]

Walt's dream of a place where parents and children could have fun together has come so far, hasn't it?

 

[doctornick]

....and have much, much less capacity.

But I'm not going to take up the argument for other people. I'm not against anything that's going in at all. I only wish another dark ride would have been part of the plans. I think they would have hit a Grand Slam if a BatB dark ride would have been included. MK's Fantasyland is short of rides as it is and with SWSA gone and a coaster coming in its place, a BatB dark ride would have gone a long way to filling that void.

I tend to agree with this. I think everything in the FLE sounds pretty good and I'm very excited for it. But I would have liked to see them work another ride or two into the plans. I think they could have used the space more efficiently if desired. For example, they could have put a facade/entrance for a dark ride in Belle's village and had the ride's show building be located behind the rest of the BatB land. Or if that's too much BatB, they could have replaced Gaston's Tavern with the Snuggly Ducking and attached it to a Tangled dark ride. Or, as I've suggested in other threads, they could have used the footprint of the 7DMT and attached a dark ride to that with the show building "hidden" within the mountain structure.

Alternatively, I'd love to see them take out the Village Haus and replace it with a clone of Pinoccio's Daring Journey -- the restaurant will be less needed once Gaston's and BoG open and the pathway to Columbia House is larger (would also help if Friar's Nook is open year round).

DL has so many rides packed into their small Fantasyland that it's crazy/sad to see such large real estate in WDW be used for much fewer attractions.

 

[NADisney]

The B&B dark ride was to be developed for Disneyland Paris's Fantasyland , along with the Little Mermaid attraction .It was showcased in the Tv grand opening of Euro Disneyland in 1992 hosted by Melanie Griffin, and husband at the time Don Johnson.She described what futuer plans where in store for the Mk,while images of concept art,and imagineers where working on models,painting figures. Apperently those plans where scraped, But you can see the plans for Little Mermaid ride on the new LM dvd.

 

[flynnibus]

After watching this video, I am so disappointed. It's like a preschool or a library class. I guess "storytime with belle" is exactly what it states. Being Disney, and how everything is always more than it seems, I'm so disappointed. This looks BORING. And corny. And that wardrobe would scare the crap out me if I was a kid.

Obviously people did not know the previous version of Storytime with Belle existed.. because that's exactly what it's always been!!! It's basically your kingergarden group reading session.. but with Belle and Disney atmosphere.

 

[wannab@dis]

Good to see you've pinpointed why exactly I won't be bothered to experience this adventure. You understand why its so frustrating then?

Not really. Before I had kids, there were many things I skipped. But, I didn't begrudge them their enjoyment and think everything should be about me.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Obviously people did not know the previous version of Storytime with Belle existed.. because that's exactly what it's always been!!! It's basically your kingergarden group reading session.. but with Belle and Disney atmosphere.

I knew it existed. Right over by the castle. I just didn't think they'd need such an elaborate set up for a dressed up version of a preschool library class.

 

[Skyway]

Walt's dream of a place where parents and children could have fun together has come so far, hasn't it?

As a parent, I can't wait to have fun in this attraction with my kids. I bet most other parents (and their kids) feel the same.

If you don't have kids to share this attraction with YOU CAN'T USE THIS WALT QUOTE! THE QUOTE DOESN'T APPLY TO YOU!

 

[wannab@dis]

Walt's dream of a place where parents and children could have fun together has come so far, hasn't it?

Yep, it started with the first height restricted attraction. @marni1971 could probably answer that bit of trivia as I have no idea. But I'm sure there were height restrictions in Walt's Magic Kingdom of the 50's.

 

[vonpluto]

Honestly, did the meet and greets ever target adults? I can't think of one that did, except for maybe the one with the Kim Possible face character.

Heck, Esmeralda can target me anytime!

 

[doctornick]

As a parent, I can't wait to have fun in this attraction with my kids. I bet most other parents (and their kids) feel the same.

If you don't have kids to share this attraction with YOU CAN'T USE THIS WALT QUOTE! THE QUOTE DOESN'T APPLY TO YOU!

Yes, that's the irony here is that Disney has taken something that would typically appeal only to kids and made it into something that can be entertaining for children and adults alike. To a large extent, this attraction embodies the sentiment that Walt was expressing -- despite being geared towards kids, it's something the while family can be amused by.