The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[mickEblu]

Splash Mountain gone. More alcohol at Disneyland. Fairies with mustaches at Bibiddi Bobbidi boutique. Replacing the Fantasmic dragon with projections or something else underwhelming. Yeah I’d say I’m taking a break at the right time. Here’s to the next regime (whoever they may be) and the hope that they right the ship.

 

[PiratesMansion]

My trip is over!
-Runaway Railway is great. My mother, not one to repeat attractions normally, loved it so much she requested to do it a second time. That basically never happens. There's almost nothing wrong with MMRR. If I had one minor critique, it's that the motion of the vehicles seemed a bit more jarring than in the other LPS attractions. Maybe that's just my perception, but that's how it seemed to me.
-For all of the discussion over New Toontown, most of it seemed...the same to me? Albeit cleaner and less dated looking.
-Only did Rise once the entire trip. Perhaps part of it was that my mother just did NOT like GE, but I also found that it was very easy to forget about GE because it's just removed enough from the rest of the park to make it somewhere you won't wander over to. It's an area you have to explicitly set out to see. Toontown has a similar issue, and they really should connect the lands to each other. It'd be a weird transition, but it'll make those two areas feel more connected to the rest of the park, rather than the islands they feel like now, at least to me.
-WOC One didn't seem that different in quality to me vs. the original show, but then, I've only seen the original show twice. Definitely better than Celebrate. In my head it was the "Marvel/Star Wars/everything else show" to the animation-centric "Wondrous Journeys", but there was much less Marvel and Star Wars than I was expecting, which was appreciated.
-The absence of Fantasmic and a night parade wasn't felt as strongly as I would have liked come 9 PM. I'm sure the jazz band was good and nice, but honestly I would have preferred a night ride on Mark Twain and a quiet NOS over the band and congestion.
-Carthay and Napa Rose disappointed this time, particularly Carthay. Plaza Inn? As good as ever!
-In terms of 100th Celebration foods, the only one I really liked was the Lemon Chiffon at Plaza. The potato cheddar burger at Hungry Bear was good, but not something I felt like I'd need to order again. Everything else was overly sweet.
-They don't do the opening countdown anymore, which is 100% fine with me.
-Something compelled me to ride Peter Pan around 8:30 PM, so I go to watch the gradual process of shutting down Fantasyland for Fireworks, which was interesting.
-Breakdowns seemed better than last year, though Indy was still Indy and Big Thunder in particular broke down a lot (more on this later).
-Indy was in the best shape I've ever seen it. Such a positive difference over last year! Hopefully it stays in this condition.
-Not to beat a dead horse, but after seeing the TBA fences in person-there is literally ONE thing that says "Tiana's Bayou Adventure" and like forty signs that say "Tiana's Foods." It is 100% Disney's own fault if people think the ride is being replaced by a restaurant.
-The heat and humidity ended up being basically identical to what was going on in Illinois. So it was bearable in a sense, but it did make tackling the parks more challenging this time around.
-The weekend days (Fri-Sun) were noticeably less crowded than Monday and Tuesday.

So as a coaster enthusiast, there's always a vague excitement at the idea of being evacuated from a ride. Naturally, with the recovering ankle, it happened this trip. I was on Big Thunder, going up the second lift, and suddenly at the top, we stopped. There was an announcement to turn work lights on. At that point, a CM came and said we would be evacuating. Naturally, the ankle started hurting the minute I had to get up. So to evacuate Big Thunder, you have to put your foot on the little lip running along the side of the car. This was difficult to manage with the ankle, and when I got down, there was applause, which was embarrassing lol. After hiking down the lift, we crossed the track, entered the mountain, and eventually ended up back at the station. Definitely something that was sort of cool to experience, but nothing I need to do again.

Overall it was a good trip, and it was nice to get to share most of it with my mother. I wish I had done HM a bit more, since I know it won't be there when I return in October (first time I've ever planned to go to DL twice in the same year), but otherwise everything more or less went to plan.

 

[mickEblu]

My trip is over!
-Runaway Railway is great. My mother, not one to repeat attractions normally, loved it so much she requested to do it a second time. That basically never happens. There's almost nothing wrong with MMRR. If I had one minor critique, it's that the motion of the vehicles seemed a bit more jarring than in the other LPS attractions. Maybe that's just my perception, but that's how it seemed to me.
-For all of the discussion over New Toontown, most of it seemed...the same to me? Albeit cleaner and less dated looking.
-Only did Rise once the entire trip. Perhaps part of it was that my mother just did NOT like GE, but I also found that it was very easy to forget about GE because it's just removed enough from the rest of the park to make it somewhere you won't wander over to. It's an area you have to explicitly set out to see. Toontown has a similar issue, and they really should connect the lands to each other. It'd be a weird transition, but it'll make those two areas feel more connected to the rest of the park, rather than the islands they feel like now, at least to me.
-WOC One didn't seem that different in quality to me vs. the original show, but then, I've only seen the original show twice. Definitely better than Celebrate. In my head it was the "Marvel/Star Wars/everything else show" to the animation-centric "Wondrous Journeys", but there was much less Marvel and Star Wars than I was expecting.
-The absence of Fantasmic and a night parade wasn't felt as strongly as I would have liked come 9 PM. I'm sure the jazz band was good and nice, but honestly I would have preferred a night ride on Mark Twain.
-Carthay and Napa Rose disappointed this time, particularly Carthay. Plaza Inn? As good as ever!
-In terms of 100th Celebration foods, the only one I really liked was the Lemon Chiffon at Plaza. The potato cheddar burger at Hungry Bear was good, but not something I felt like I'd need to order again. Everything else was overly sweet.
-They don't do the opening countdown anymore, which is 100% fine with me.
-Something compelled me to ride Peter Pan around 8:30, so I go to watch the gradual process of shutting down Fantasyland for Fireworks, which was interesting.
-Breakdowns seemed better than last year, though Indy was still Indy and Big Thunder in particular broke down a lot (more on this later).
-Indy was in the best shape I've ever seen it. Such a positive difference over last year! Hopefully it stays in this condition.
-Not to beat a dead horse, but after seeing the TBA fences in person-there is literally ONE thing that says "Tiana's Bayou Adventure" and like forty signs that say "Tiana's Foods." It is 100% Disney's own fault if people think the ride is being replaced by a restaurant.
-The heat and humidity ended up being basically identical to what was going on in Illinois. So it was bearable in a sense, but it did make tackling the parks more challenging this time around.
-The weekend days (Fri-Sun) were noticeably less crowded than Monday and Tuesday.

So as a coaster enthusiast, there's always a vague excitement at the idea of being evacuated from a ride. Naturally, with the recovering ankle, it happened this trip. I was on Big Thunder, going up the second lift, and suddenly at the top, we stopped. There was an announcement to turn work lights on. At that point, a CM came and said we would be evacuating. Naturally, the ankle started hurting the minute I had to get up. So to evacuate Big Thunder, you have to put your foot on the little lip running along the side of the car. This was difficult to manage with the ankle, and when I got down, there was applause, which was embarrassing lol. After hiking down the lift, we crossed the track, entered the mountain, and eventually ended up back at the station. Definitely something that was sort of cool to experience, but nothing I need to do again.

Overall it was a good trip, and it was nice to get to share most of it with my mother. I wish I had done HM a bit more, since I know it won't be there when I return in October (first time I've ever planned to go to DL twice in the same year), but otherwise everything more or less went to plan.

Glad you had a great trip. Agree Plaza Inn is as good as ever. At least when I had it last about 6 weeks ago. Disagree on MMRR. Nothing wrong? It’s just feels too bare and like you’re in a warehouse to me. Also don’t care for the long vertical seams between the giant screens. It needs more physical set pieces and intimate spaces. Some better staging too like the big city scene.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, @PiratesMansion. I hope your ankle fully heals as soon as possible.

 

[TP2000]

People were fighting without it. Often time families fighting with other families, or within a family.

The most famous recent example of that was the Great Toontown Family Fight of 2022.

That was all one family, all visiting from Las Vegas, all fighting with each other in a knock-down, drag-out fight for the ages.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Disagree on MMRR. Nothing wrong? It’s just feels too bare and like you’re in a warehouse to me. Also don’t care for the long vertical seams between the giant screens. It needs more physical set pieces and intimate spaces. Some better staging too like the big city scene.

Eh, it's a ride that is about being immersed in a cartoon world (thus, 2D makes some degree of sense) and a ride that depends on projections to do pull off some of its most impressive setpieces. I certainly wouldn't have objected to more physical set pieces, but for whatever reason I thought it all worked quite well. I would have preferred the more classical character designs, but the newer designs were very effective for what the ride was trying to do.

All the LPS/trackless rides are definitely larger and can feel 'warehouse-y' to people (even the hallowed PHH). It's not a ride system that's easy to create super intimate spaces with, but I didn't really notice any huge issues on this particular ride. There were older rides that could feel warehouse-y too: the defunct Energy Adventure from Epcot and this ride's predecessor at the Studios, Great Movie Ride, absolutely felt like they took place in gigantic buildings with ride vehicles like tanks, at least to me. So MMRR is at least an improvement on that in my eyes.

So to me it's a pretty fun, harmless ride in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Phroobar]

Splash Mountain gone. More alcohol at Disneyland. Fairies with mustaches at Bibiddi Bobbidi boutique. Replacing the Fantasmic dragon with projections or something else underwhelming. Yeah I’d say I’m taking a break at the right time. Here’s to the next regime (whoever they may be) and the hope that they right the ship.

Your saving your family's life.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, @PiratesMansion. I hope your ankle fully heals as soon as possible.

Thanks. Luckily it wasn't too bad most of the time; mostly I just don't have the stamina I used to. Last year, for 4 out of my five days at the resort, I was there from 8 to midnight: this time, the midday break was taken every day and much appreciated. I only made it to midnight once this trip, and that was on the day I slept in.

There were a handful of people navigating the park in medical boots like the one I was using to get around back in the Spring, which was a bit shocking! Granted, they seemed to be moving better than I was when I had to wear it, but still. When I was in that boot, Disneyland was one of the last places I'd have wanted to be, but more power to them I suppose!

 

[Phroobar]

Thanks. Luckily it wasn't too bad most of the time; mostly I just don't have the stamina I used to. Last year, for 4 out of my five days at the resort, I was there from 8 to midnight: this time, the midday break was taken every day and much appreciated. I only made it to midnight once this trip, and that was on the day I slept in.

There were a handful of people navigating the park in medical boots like the one I was using to get around back in the Spring, which was a bit shocking! Granted, they seemed to be moving better than I was when I had to wear it, but still. When I was in that boot, Disneyland was one of the last places I'd have wanted to be, but more power to them I suppose!

Makes you wonder if the boot isn't needed by those folks.

 

[Communicora]

Makes you wonder if the boot isn't needed by those folks.

Foot fractures can take forever to heal. I was in a boot for about three months and it can take a long time to get stability back. I can totally see using a boot on a freshly healed fracture or sprain if you are going to be doing a lot of walking.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Makes you wonder if the boot isn't needed by those folks.

I was able to move decently in the boot a fair amount of the time I required it, assuming the ankle wasn't acting up; I wouldn't assume that those people are inherently trying to game the system.

I just couldn't have imagined such a scenario for myself, but people heal differently and require different things. Just because those people appeared fine when I saw them didn't mean they never struggled later in the day. I know for myself there was a huge difference each day between how I felt at 8 AM (around the time I saw those people) and how I felt at noon.

 

[Phroobar]

I was able to move decently in the boot a fair amount of the time I required it, assuming the ankle wasn't acting up; I wouldn't assume that those people are inherently trying to game the system.

I just couldn't have imagined such a scenario for myself, but people heal differently and require different things. Just because those people appeared fine when I saw them didn't mean they never struggled later in the day. I know for myself there was a huge difference each day between how I felt at 8 AM (around the time I saw those people) and how I felt at noon.

True. Technically they could be using that boot for years if it helps standing in line for hours.

 

[mickEblu]

Eh, it's a ride that is about being immersed in a cartoon world (thus, 2D makes some degree of sense) and a ride that depends on projections to do pull off some of its most impressive setpieces. I certainly wouldn't have objected to more physical set pieces, but for whatever reason I thought it all worked quite well. I would have preferred the more classical character designs, but the newer designs were very effective for what the ride was trying to do.

All the LPS/trackless rides are definitely larger and can feel 'warehouse-y' to people (even the hallowed PHH). It's not a ride system that's easy to create super intimate spaces with, but I didn't really notice any huge issues on this particular ride. There were older rides that could feel warehouse-y too: the defunct Energy Adventure from Epcot and this ride's predecessor at the Studios, Great Movie Ride, absolutely felt like they took place in gigantic buildings with ride vehicles like tanks, at least to me. So MMRR is at least an improvement on that in my eyes.

So to me it's a pretty fun, harmless ride in the grand scheme of things.

Oh I agree that it’s a fun-ish/ harmless ride as it didn’t replace anything. Just think there’s plenty of room for improvement.

 

[brb1006]

Sad news everybody, Disney Historian Jim Korkis has passed away this morning

 

[Too Many Hats]

I really, really want to like Runaway Railway. I can tell the general public really enjoys it. But on my one and only ride (so far), I just wasn't able to immerse myself in the experience. I've never related to this critique when it comes to Rise or Radiator Springs Racers, but here I definitely felt like I was in a big empty warehouse. Loved the tornado, the dance studio, and the final picnic scene, but most of the ride just felt like I was staring at projections on a wall -- there was no "greater than the sum of its parts" quality.

And the fact that the projections are so detailed actually worked to the ride's detriment, in my experience; it's as if the ride kept inviting me to look around, in all directions -- but then if I did, I'd see this:

The facade, queue, and preshow are all spectacular, though. It's a very charming addition to Toontown.

 

[Rich T]

I really, really want to like Runaway Railway. I can tell the general public really enjoys it. But on my one and only ride (so far), I just wasn't able to immerse myself in the experience. I've never related to this critique when it comes to Rise or Radiator Springs Racers, but here I definitely felt like I was in a big empty warehouse. Loved the tornado, the dance studio, and the final picnic scene, but most of the ride just felt like I was staring at projections on a wall -- there was no "greater than the sum of its parts" quality.

And the fact that the projections are so detailed actually worked to the ride's detriment, in my experience; it's as if the ride kept inviting me to look around, in all directions -- but then if I did, I'd see this:

View attachment 733787

The facade, queue, and preshow are all spectacular, though. It's a very charming addition to Toontown.

I think Runaway Railway is a very weak ride. The fact that nearly everything is just a projection removes nearly any sense of involvement, wonder, or —in the factory— peril. The plywood cutouts on Mr. Toad are more involving and fun.

 

[Rich T]

Sad news everybody, Disney Historian Jim Korkis has passed away this morning
View attachment 733791

So sorry to hear this. Mr. Korkis was one of the very best Disney historians, and he covered a lot of interesting facets of the Walt Disney co. that others might overlook, and he found a way to present the information in a way that made you care about the personalities involved. I loved every interview, column and article he produced.

 

[brb1006]

So sorry to hear this. Mr. Korkis was one of the very best Disney historians, and he covered a lot of interesting facets of the Walt Disney co. that others might overlook, and he found a way to present the information in a way that made you care about the personalities involved. I loved every interview, column and article he produced.

Here's a page from MousePlanet that features all Korkis' write ups as recent as March 2023.

 

[brb1006]

Jim Korkis' GoFundMe Page just made an update announcing his death.

Disney historian Jim Korkis needs your help!, organized by Mark Goldhaber

Jim Korkis needs your help! The 72-year-old, internationally-respected… Mark Goldhaber needs your support for Disney historian Jim Korkis needs your help!

www.gofundme.com

 

[PiratesMansion]

While not every ride is going to be for every person, to me, MMRR is a fun ride in a thematically appropriate area that replaced basically nothing, has decent capacity, a good air conditioned queue, and, if nothing else, it will draw people from other attractions. Modern Disney could do a lot worse.

I feel like some of the criticisms about MMRR and details not reaching the ceiling (where I don't feel like most guests are really looking anyway) could also be applied to several attractions, including IASW.

YMMV.