The two very different fantasyland's

[Thebrerrabbit]

Nice analogy.

Thanks good to know the random thoughts in my mind are thought well of!

 

[Thebrerrabbit]

It does. Small World is an E-Ticket. Really.
~GFC~

Agreed, as well as Pan, when has anyone ever walked past it without at least a 50 minute wait lol

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

The popularity of a ride doesn't dictate it's worth, and while PPF is indeed an enjoyable ride to say it's an E-Ticket calliber just because wait times can get nightmare-ish is inaccurate. I agree with the majority here saying that WDW's FL E-Ticket is "it's a small world" and is looking to stay that way for the next decade or so at least.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Agreed, as well as Pan, when has anyone ever walked past it without at least a 50 minute wait lol

E-Ticket describes the scope and scale of an attraction, not necessarily it's popularity. Now don't get me wrong, if the ticket system were still in effect today, I would expect it to be based more on demand than scope and scale, but back in the day that wasn't directly the case. Peter Pan, and the other classic dark rides would be C-Tickets.

 

[mp2bill]

There has been a lot of talk latley about the disapointment of taking snow white out of fantasyland and putting in a meet n greet when the seven drawfs mine opens. first of all i think this is quite smart, but also leads to a totally different concept.

For example:
your opening a snow white ride that will reach a much broader audience.
yes i'm a Disney purest as well, and love dark rides, but can they promote Scary adventures...they sure as heck can do it to the new one.
Its another reason to go to disneyland, Mr Toads, Snow white, Pinocchio, Alice, peter pan(which obv we have) in fact after this whole deal is done, it will be two completely different fantasylands. in Disneyland you have the classic, mostly dark ride fantasyland with a giant small world and the above mentioned attractions, as well as the Matterhorn. An in WDW you have the new age fantasyland, with e-tickets, meet and greets. if i'm disney i'm thinking, i'm offering something completely different on both my west coast and east coast kingdoms

Other things to think about this move
the amount of money they make on autograph books/pens/photopass is crazy
Fantasyland has very few meet and greet areas

Good points!

 

[jjharvpro]

I like how the West & East Coasts will have different Fantasylands. Gives reason to go to both WDW and DLR.

I actually really enjoyed Mermaid (rode it when I was in Cali for the Expo). It feels like it's on a much larger scale than Pooh (I LOVE The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh btw), and it will be a very nice addition to MK. I'm most looking forward to the facade, interactive queue, and all the details it will bring. along. In this sense, it will definitely be superior to DCA's version IMO.

 

[cheezbat]

Yep, It's A Small World was an E-Ticket, as was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, when it was still around.

If The Little Mermaid is anything on par with The Haunted Mansion, then I think it might be an E-Ticket. Can't wait to see!!

CoasterKing
:king:

It's good...but not that good. I rode it two days ago over in California. The animatronics are nice and has some great visuals, but the ride is short. Definitely NOT an E-ticket.

 

[Ignohippo]

I don't mean to bogart this thread or troll it off topic, but I took my son to Legoland Florida today. C-tickets all around and had a freaking blast.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Disney is really missing the boat by spending tens to hundreds of millions of dollars with every new attraction. WDW's Fantasyland needed more rides, period. Spend a couple of mil and give us more amazing dark rides like Peter Pan, Toad's and Pooh. Use the space for 4 or 5 rides instead of one $100 million D-ticket and a restaurant. The area will be amazing, but it won't solve the problems FL currently has.

A new amazing cutting-edge E-ticket is needed every few years but Disney's current management needs to stop thinking everything has to be that way. It's very much to the detriment of the parks that so desperately need new attractions.

Heck, Dumbo's one of the most popular rides there and it's also the cheapest. Tea Cups the same. Why not add more rides like those (cheap, but brilliantly themed) while waiting years upon years for a major E-ticket? When I come to WDW, I expect the options to be better than the parks in every other city, but I also expect to be able to ride more than 5 rides in a day. Or, in the case of EPCOT, DHS and AK, have more than 5 rides per park that are even worth riding!

There's a reason why those classic dark rides are still so popular, too. I'd care to bet, with it's $100+ million budget, TLM won't be any more popular in 10 years than the classic dark rides that could be created today for a hundredth the cost.

 

[jt04]

I don't mean to bogart this thread or troll it off topic, but I took my son to Legoland Florida today. C-tickets all around and had a freaking blast.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Disney is really missing the boat by spending tens to hundreds of millions of dollars with every new attraction. WDW's Fantasyland needed more rides, period. Spend a couple of mil and give us more amazing dark rides like Peter Pan, Toad's and Pooh. Use the space for 4 or 5 rides instead of one $100 million D-ticket and a restaurant. The area will be amazing, but it won't solve the problems FL currently has.

A new amazing cutting-edge E-ticket is needed every few years but Disney's current management needs to stop thinking everything has to be that way. It's very much to the detriment of the parks that so desperately need new attractions.

Heck, Dumbo's one of the most popular rides there and it's also the cheapest. Tea Cups the same. Why not add more rides like those (cheap, but brilliantly themed) while waiting years upon years for a major E-ticket? When I come to WDW, I expect the options to be better than the parks in every other city, but I also expect to be able to ride more than 5 rides in a day. Or, in the case of EPCOT, DHS and AK, have more than 5 rides per park that are even worth riding!

There's a reason why those classic dark rides are still so popular, too. I'd care to bet, with it's $100+ million budget, TLM won't be any more popular in 10 years than the classic dark rides that could be created today for a hundredth the cost.

Disney is well aware of changing expectations and Jay Rasulo talked about it at the D23 in 2009 if I remember correctly. They realize that guests want interactivity and activities guests can experience together. They have responded with the evolving m&g attractions and enhanced queues. I think you will also see more of these activities in the Dumbo tent and other areas of the FLE not yet detailed.

Disney started responding to this change with Buzz and Laugh Floor (where the audience is part of the show) and then TSMM and AIE and especially Kim Possible and a similar attraction going into the MK. I am certain this is much more than a short term trend. Which is why I am shocked LM did not contain an interactive element when it opened. I was certain it would have something like the flashlights featured in the new "Monsters" ride in Tokyo. I really believe Mermaid may be the last of the classic style dark rides.

This is why I have been saying that Legoland is a challange for the MK since it was announced. Legoland's theme is perfect for interactive elements by the nature of the product. I think that is why you responded to it the way you have. And word of mouth will quickly spread. It is a great concept in a great setting (Cypress Gardens) in a great location (central Florida).

I just hope Disney does not respond too quickly by shoe horning in spinners and off the shelf carnival rides with light theming slapped on. But they will need to respond. Personally I think the nextgen queues and Dumbo are the beginning of that response. They have already anticipated your concerns.

 

[Condorman]

I hate to contradict my BFF Lee, but I don't see the Mine Train as more than a C at best. It's short ... very few show scenes ... and not big on thrills. Slightly better than Barnstormer.

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but neither WDI nor anyone on these boards determines what is an A, B, C, D or E ticket. Popularity and length of wait determine the intrinsic "value" of that specific site.

E-Tickets, whether in the day of Walt Disney himself, or today, are any ride, show or attraction that maintains a 45 min to an hour wait consistently throughout the day and/or lures an audience/crowd in at rope-drop. That's it. That's the definition. Now that you know, you'll know which rides, shows and attractions are C-Tickets and which ones are E-Tickets. And I can guarantee you right now, when the Mine Train and Little Mermaid open at MK, both will be E-Tickets for some time to come.

 

[csm]

It's good...but not that good. I rode it two days ago over in California. The animatronics are nice and has some great visuals, but the ride is short. Definitely NOT an E-ticket.

The ride is like seven or eight minutes long. If you consider The Little Mermaid to be short, how do you definie Indiana Jones Adventure? Is that a B ticket to you?

The Mermaid bashing is really silly. The ride is visually stunning with sets that rival that of which you would find in Tokyo DisneySea - right down to the projections all over the walls to enhance the feel. The animatronics are fantastic. The flow of the ride is great. All the foaming fanboys that bash it for having "no ending" are too full of themselves to recognize that the ride has since day one been about the MUSIC of the film. Each scene focuses on a famous song that came out of the movie - not a plot scene. It makes perfect sense when you ride it if you actually pay attention to that fact beforehand instead of going in LOOKING for things that are wrong with it.

I rode Mermaid more times than almost anything else in California last week. It's a really enjoyable experience, and a definite E-Ticket. Anyone who says otherwise is just looking for something to complain about. The sheer scope of the ride alone cannot be denied, especially when combined with the level of technology used throughout. I'm so excited to have it coming to Florida next year. This ride could turn out to be the shining star of the Fantasyland expansion.

 

[csm]

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but neither WDI nor anyone on these boards determines what is an A, B, C, D or E ticket. Popularity and length of wait determine the intrinsic "value" of that specific site.

E-Tickets, whether in the day of Walt Disney himself, or today, are any ride, show or attraction that maintains a 45 min to an hour wait consistently throughout the day and/or lures an audience/crowd in at rope-drop. That's it. That's the definition. Now that you know, you'll know which rides, shows and attractions are C-Tickets and which ones are E-Tickets. And I can guarantee you right now, when the Mine Train and Little Mermaid open at MK, both will be E-Tickets for some time to come.

You're absolutely 100% wrong if you believe that is how a ride ticket was determined. As someone already pointed out, it was all about the scope of the experience, quality of the attraction's show and amount of technology utilized. It had nothing to do with wait times. I'm sorry, but that's just an absurd suggestion to even make.

 

[unkadug]

Wow. I can't believe you've already ridden the Mine Train. Even before they finished building it! Do tell. You seem to know everything about it.

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but neither WDI nor anyone on these boards determines what is an A, B, C, D or E ticket. Popularity and length of wait determine the intrinsic "value" of that specific site.

E-Tickets, whether in the day of Walt Disney himself, or today, are any ride, show or attraction that maintains a 45 min to an hour wait consistently throughout the day and/or lures an audience/crowd in at rope-drop. That's it. That's the definition. Now that you know, you'll know which rides, shows and attractions are C-Tickets and which ones are E-Tickets. And I can guarantee you right now, when the Mine Train and Little Mermaid open at MK, both will be E-Tickets for some time to come.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that is just incorrect. Line length is more a function of capacity than of popularity.

A "C" ticket with a low capacity and high popularity does not make it an "E" ticket.

 

[jt04]

The ride is like seven or eight minutes long. If you consider The Little Mermaid to be short, how do you definie Indiana Jones Adventure? Is that a B ticket to you?

The Mermaid bashing is really silly. The ride is visually stunning with sets that rival that of which you would find in Tokyo DisneySea - right down to the projections all over the walls to enhance the feel. The animatronics are fantastic. The flow of the ride is great. All the foaming fanboys that bash it for having "no ending" are too full of themselves to recognize that the ride has since day one been about the MUSIC of the film. Each scene focuses on a famous song that came out of the movie - not a plot scene. It makes perfect sense when you ride it if you actually pay attention to that fact beforehand instead of going in LOOKING for things that are wrong with it.

I rode Mermaid more times than almost anything else in California last week. It's a really enjoyable experience, and a definite E-Ticket. Anyone who says otherwise is just looking for something to complain about. The sheer scope of the ride alone cannot be denied, especially when combined with the level of technology used throughout. I'm so excited to have it coming to Florida next year. This ride could turn out to be the shining star of the Fantasyland expansion.

I certainly hope you are right.

You have to understand that some of our resident "experts" dug themselves in to the position that mermaid is a D or even C attraction a couple years ago and they will never admit being wrong. Especially since some of us (ahem :wave stated the belief that mermaid would be closer to the Haunted Mansion in scale and scope as opposed to something like Toad or SWSA.

So it is E Ticket quality? Glad to hear I am right again! :sohappy:

 

[csm]

I certainly hope you are right.

You have to understand that some of our resident "experts" dug themselves in to the position that mermaid is a D or even C attraction a couple years ago and they will never admit being wrong. Especially since some of us (ahem :wave stated the belief that mermaid would be closer to the Haunted Mansion in scale and scope as opposed to something like Toad or SWSA.

So it is E Ticket quality? Glad to hear I am right again! :sohappy:

Mermaid is VERY much closer to The Haunted Mansion in quality of experience than anything currently in Fantasyland. It's not even close to a Toad or a Snow White dark ride experience. A friend of mine left The Haunted Mansion to work at The Little Mermaid - and in fact my comment to him was he just traded in dark colors for pastels. The ride is stunning.

Understand this - I have been to every Disney Theme Park with the exception of Hong Kong Disneyland (and for that, I'm waiting until it's actually *finished* in 2014-2015). My standards are very high, and I'm typically quite cynical, especially about new things. Quality has dropped so much over the years and I will not accept excuses to cover it up. For me to say something is superb is a really big deal. The Little Mermaid truly is. It feels like it belongs in Tokyo DisneySea, NOT Disney California Adventure.

 

[Enchantâmes]

WDW's Fantasyland doesn't have any E ticket attractions. The Little Mermaid is apparently a D ticket attraction. The Dwarf Mine Train has been confirmed by insiders such as Lee also as being a D ticket. Matterhorn is apparently the only E ticket ride at any Fantasyland around the world.

Meet n Greets aren't what i'd call a competent and substantial replacement for a ride.

Tokyo Disneyland's Fantasyland has The Haunted Mansion and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Isn't its a Small World a E Ticket? :veryconfu

 

[jt04]

Mermaid is VERY much closer to The Haunted Mansion in quality of experience than anything currently in Fantasyland. It's not even close to a Toad or a Snow White dark ride experience. A friend of mine left The Haunted Mansion to work at The Little Mermaid - and in fact my comment to him was he just traded in dark colors for pastels. The ride is stunning.

Understand this - I have been to every Disney Theme Park with the exception of Hong Kong Disneyland (and for that, I'm waiting until it's actually *finished* in 2014-2015). My standards are very high, and I'm typically quite cynical, especially about new things. Quality has dropped so much over the years and I will not accept excuses to cover it up. For me to say something is superb is a really big deal. The Little Mermaid truly is. It feels like it belongs in Tokyo DisneySea, NOT Disney California Adventure.

I believe you. I could see in the blueprints released and the artist concepts that this was very much more than a standard FL D ticket. So what you are saying rings true.

You have to understand that there are some posters here who crawl out from under somewhere anytime something new is announced at WDW or something new opens to claim doom and gloom about everything. It is obvious their motivation is to "take the shine off" these announcements and kill any momentum created. It is like clockwork. I knew they would do the same thing after Avatar was announced. You can also detect that some of them coordinate the spin such as Joe not being part of the project. When that failed miserably they changed it to him not being happy about being part of the project. The spin fails so miserably at times that they sometimes go from the ridiculous to the impossible within hours.

Sorry, I used to think you were one of them. :lol:

Got to go. Have a good evening.:wave:

 

[Lee]

Seems like Mermaid is going to turn out to be a rather polarizing ride. I've heard reviews going both ways, from a wide variety of people whose opinion I value. (Though, I must admit, hearing Mermaid and DisneySea in the same sentence is a bit of a shocker! Even it's biggest supporters have stopped well short of that.)

I really need to get out there and ride it so I can have my own take on it. From the videos, art and plans...I'm not impressed. Sure, it looks better than Pan or Snow White...but that's as far as I'm willing to go. Nothing about it looks to be in Mansion's league. Or Pirates. Or Hunny Hunt.

As for the letter grading system...it's pointless these days. It alll comes down to opinion. I know folks love to argue opinion...but it gets us nowhere. Like what you want, hate what you want. Doesn't matter in the long run.

 

[TP2000]

You have to understand that some of our resident "experts" dug themselves in to the position that mermaid is a D or even C attraction a couple years ago and they will never admit being wrong. Especially since some of us (ahem :wave stated the belief that mermaid would be closer to the Haunted Mansion in scale and scope as opposed to something like Toad or SWSA.

So it is E Ticket quality? Glad to hear I am right again! :sohappy:

I've ridden Mermaid dozens of times. It's fantastic, and very pretty and technologically impressive. Lightyears beyond any traditional dark ride in either Fantasyland on both coasts. I have to resign myself to the fact that now people only consider a ride an E Ticket if it involves G-forces and shoulder restraints, so I can deal with calling Mermaid a very lavish D Ticket instead.

And anyone wondering what Mermaid is going to be like should just go ride the darn thing in Anaheim! DCA is open daily; 10AM to 8PM weekdays, and 10AM to 10PM Friday-Sunday.

Take three days of your life and go to Disneyland jt04, my good man!

In 20 seconds I just put a 3-day weekend, the first weekend in December, airfare and hotel to Anaheim from Orlando together for you on Expedia for as little as $400 staying at a pleasant Best Western motel 2 blocks from Disneyland, or for $525 staying at the very nice Hilton 3 blocks from Disneyland. You leave Orlando Friday afternoon at 1:00PM on American Airlines, land at LAX at 3:30PM, catch airport shuttle to Anaheim Resort District and check in at hotel, and are walking through the DCA entrance and riding Little Mermaid by 6:30PM and then seeing the first World of Color at 9:00PM. You then have all day Saturday and most of Sunday to explore the Disneyland Resort, then you catch the red-eye from LAX at 11:30PM Sunday night and are back in Orlando on Monday morning at 7:00AM. I will meet you at Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel on Saturday evening and buy you a drink to celebrate! You can switch airlines to Virgin America or Delta, if you want. Throw in a couple hundred bucks for the airport shuttle, a half dozen or so meals around the parks, and a Disneyland t-shirt and Little Mermaid keychain from the gift shop, and you are done. Done, and done! :wave:

Wanna know what the Little Mermaid ride will be like at WDW? Go ride it now at Disney California Adventure. You don't even need a Fastpass at DCA, it's just a 10 minute wait for a people-eating Omnimover right there in Paradise Pier.

The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Disney California Adventure, 2011

Mermaid in Paradise — Explore! by andy castro, on Flickr

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Sharing 100% legitimate flaws and offering criticism with how certain Disney parks are run is not a cause to ban someone. Attacking people for pointing things out though should be a cause for punishment. It's uncalled for flaming.:brick:

Sometimes it's perfectly possible to determine what sort of ride experience you'll get from small scale plans and layouts. I'm inclined to agree with Lee about Mermaid and 7 Dwarfs on what sort of ticket they are.