Unpopular opinions about the parks?

[BlakeW39]

Moana does not belong in Animal Kingdom.

I'd say I agree with this... I don't think Disney even owns more than two or three IPs that would fit in Animal Kingdom. Jungle Book, Lion King... what else? Therin lies one of the core issues with the popular-IP/franchise mandate. I mean objectively Moana has similar themes to DAK in the areas of nature and conservation, and it would be a better fit for DAK than basically any other franchise in Disney's library. But it doesn't fit like a glove either. I mean the film has literally 0 focus on wildlife which is a big part of what Animal Kingdom is about. Like I have said before, an Oceania land more similar to Harambe/Anandapur would be a much better choice for the park.

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

I'd say I agree with this... I don't think Disney even owns more than two or three IPs that would fit in Animal Kingdom. Jungle Book, Lion King... what else? Therin lies one of the core issues with the popular-IP/franchise mandate. I mean objectively Moana has similar themes to DAK in the areas of nature and conservation, and it would be a better fit for DAK than basically any other franchise in Disney's library. But it doesn't fit like a glove either. I mean the film has literally 0 focus on wildlife which is a big part of what Animal Kingdom is about. Like I have said before, an Oceania land more similar to Harambe/Anandapur would be a much better choice for the park.

I’ve always thought AK had the best theming of any park, but I’ve never thought it was necessary the best park. Visiting with kids has opened my eyes to this issue more. As a family park, it’s decent. I too think Disney CAN add IP in the Dinoland corner. This is for a few reasons:

1: It’s tucked away so it won’t mess with the overall theme, but it will add something for kids to do. Sure, the park is for families as a whole and not just kids, but I think AK is severely lacking for anyone under 7-10.

2: As you stated, the theming requirement is too strict. There’s not enough that can go into the park with how strict it is theming wise. It doesn’t have “lands”, as much as the park is really one continuous land.

3: Even in its glory, Dinoland was ugly. I love Dinosaur, but everything else sucks.

I think Disney can add Moana where Dinoland is and continue the conservation and nature theme. After all, much of the film is about Moana handling “diseased” trees and rotating the fishing grounds to maintain enough fish in each of the fishing regions to produce a viable amount of offspring for the next season. Leave out the supernatural force and it sounds like a perfect fit for AK!

Zootopia would be fine in the back corner. It would be separated from the rest of the park and would not distract from the overall theme. If anyone despises of it, just don’t walk over there! Besides the Dinosaur ride they would likely just reskin as a police chase ride, everything in this land would be an extension of AK that wasn’t there before.

 

[Splash4eva]

Meh, I liked the parks without any skip-the-line tools during Covid. Lines moved a lot faster… roughly twice to three times as fast.

Also… they got rid of it at the waterparks and I don’t miss the multi-hour wait for Summit Plummit!

Tough to compare crowds during covid to crowds during regular times…

 

[Splash4eva]

I think the best showcase of how much Fastpass slows the regular line down is Space Mountain… there are TWO tracks, and Fastpass not only filled up the Omega track, but it frequently would pour into the Alpha side of the track as well. Given this, the standby line moves at least 1/2 the speed it otherwise would.

Sure, it was nice if you could snag a pass for Flight of Passage and walk past everyone in that standby line, but the fact of the matter is that you could do more total rides if there was no skip-the-line option.

I will respectfully disagree with the statement more rides can be done with no skip the ride option… especially if you are someone who truly knew his to fully maximize the system.

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

I will respectfully disagree with the statement more rides can be done with no skip the ride option… especially if you are someone who truly knew his to fully maximize the system.

I understand that viewpoint. Going as myself, I too could do much more with skip the ride options. But just as people who go often can maximize the system, Fastpass+ was horrible for anyone who didn’t know how to maximize the system, for all the good Fastpass options booked up quickly.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

i used to work at a theater years ago that had that movie every friday & saturday night. horrible movie but it was worth watching the performers

I hate that movie…just can’t do it

 

[Splash4eva]

That is probably true, I doubt the parks will ever go all standby. HOWEVER, there were many times one would be unable to snag a “Tier 1” Fastpass.

I liked paper Fastpass the most, because it was the most fair. Fastpass+ was better than Genie+ (ignoring the pricing). Obviously, Genie+ is paid which makes it automatically the worst. I did like the extra value with the 90-day window a WDW resort gave you with Fastpass+, though.

Anyone staying on property had zero issues snagging a top FP and honestly even during the day i would easily get other worthy FP after using our 3rd…

To me the paper FP days were the least fair as unless you rope dropped and had the physical ability to be basically sprinting from kiosk to kiosk you are at a complete disadvantage. I vividly remember when TSM opened going to Studios and tickets being gone within an hour of park opening forcing you to wait on ridiculous lines or skipping ride altogether just as an example.

 

[Splash4eva]

I understand that viewpoint. Going as myself, I too could do much more with skip the ride options. But just as people who go often can maximize the system, Fastpass+ was horrible for anyone who didn’t know how to maximize the system, for all the good Fastpass options booked up quickly.

How can a system that gave you 3 rides at basically when you wanted them as a resort guest (sorry non resort guests but this was a great perk for staying on site so missing out bc of this imo does not make system unfair) I never had issues refreshing and finding rides throughout the day in each park during the FP days. I get everyone has different experiences but for most part i basically did 90% of my rides via FP and we vacationed at Disney to ride rides for most part so day was about that.

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

Anyone staying on property had zero issues snagging a top FP and honestly even during the day i would easily get other worthy FP after using our 3rd…

To me the paper FP days were the least fair as unless you rope dropped and had the physical ability to be basically sprinting from kiosk to kiosk you are at a complete disadvantage. I vividly remember when TSM opened going to Studios and tickets being gone within an hour of park opening forcing you to wait on ridiculous lines or skipping ride altogether just as an example.

It all seems like personal preference for the most part. Even Genie+ some vouch for because of the same-day bookings. Paper could be hard but it seemed simple at the time. Fastpass+ worked well and got more and more polished over time, but it was still not without its flaws. In addition, people tend to remember the extremes of things, both the extreme good and the extreme bad. For the most part, I’ve had no issues with most of these different iterations of the skip the line options.

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

How can a system that gave you 3 rides at basically when you wanted them as a resort guest (sorry non resort guests but this was a great perk for staying on site so missing out bc of this imo does not make system unfair) I never had issues refreshing and finding rides throughout the day in each park during the FP days. I get everyone has different experiences but for most part i basically did 90% of my rides via FP and we vacationed at Disney to ride rides for most part so day was about that.

The Fastpass+ days were before I moved to Florida, so I can’t vouch for anything outside of the holidays. I’ve travelled with grandparents, who’ve insisted on booking their own passes. The system was complicated for them, and the best ride they got was spaceship earth at Epcot. I’ve had good and bad experiences with Fastpass+, so I can’t really say I’m anything but neutral. I like that without the skip the line options you could be more spontaneous, but it did mean devoting more time for some rides. I don’t think any system was that much better or worse than another, but they all had different strengths and weaknesses.

 

[GladToBeHear]

Not sure how unpopular these are:

1. Dark rides > thrill rides
2. All standby lines > skip-the-line options

 

[Splash4eva]

It all seems like personal preference for the most part. Even Genie+ some vouch for because of the same-day bookings. Paper could be hard but it seemed simple at the time. Fastpass+ worked well and got more and more polished over time, but it was still not without its flaws. In addition, people tend to remember the extremes of things, both the extreme good and the extreme bad. For the most part, I’ve had no issues with most of these different iterations of the skip the line options.

I agree there and honestly ive used Genie a decent amount of times now and have had pretty good experiences since 1st using it basically when it was introduced as my trip was right after it was implemented.

 

[Splash4eva]

The Fastpass+ days were before I moved to Florida, so I can’t vouch for anything outside of the holidays. I’ve travelled with grandparents, who’ve insisted on booking their own passes. The system was complicated for them, and the best ride they got was spaceship earth at Epcot. I’ve had good and bad experiences with Fastpass+, so I can’t really say I’m anything but neutral. I like that without the skip the line options you could be more spontaneous, but it did mean devoting more time for some rides. I don’t think any system was that much better or worse than another, but they all had different strengths and weaknesses.

People just feel that if there are no skip the line systems lines would miraculously disappear and thats just not the case for most days at Disney now or the recent past at least. I was there last summer and parks were light for most part but why wait on lines if you can skip the lines?

 

[BlakeW39]

I’ve always thought AK had the best theming of any park, but I’ve never thought it was necessary the best park. Visiting with kids has opened my eyes to this issue more. As a family park, it’s decent. I too think Disney CAN add IP in the Dinoland corner. This is for a few reasons:

1: It’s tucked away so it won’t mess with the overall theme, but it will add something for kids to do. Sure, the park is for families as a whole and not just kids, but I think AK is severely lacking for anyone under 7-10.

2: As you stated, the theming requirement is too strict. There’s not enough that can go into the park with how strict it is theming wise. It doesn’t have “lands”, as much as the park is really one continuous land.

3: Even in its glory, Dinoland was ugly. I love Dinosaur, but everything else sucks.

I think Disney can add Moana where Dinoland is and continue the conservation and nature theme. After all, much of the film is about Moana handling “diseased” trees and rotating the fishing grounds to maintain enough fish in each of the fishing regions to produce a viable amount of offspring for the next season. Leave out the supernatural force and it sounds like a perfect fit for AK!

Zootopia would be fine in the back corner. It would be separated from the rest of the park and would not distract from the overall theme. If anyone despises of it, just don’t walk over there! Besides the Dinosaur ride they would likely just reskin as a police chase ride, everything in this land would be an extension of AK that wasn’t there before.

oof, hard disagree there. Last thing DAK needs is more cheesy IP to break down its otherwise consistent theming. To address your points individually:

1. if an IP has to be tucked away in the corner of DAK, so that it doesn't ruin the rest of the park, then maybe it just doesn't belong in the first place? There are plenty of ways to include more kid-friendly attractions at DAK without forcing in some random intellectual property.

2. the theming requirement for DAK isn't 'too strict.' You can do plenty of different things with the basic premise of a wildlife theme park. Animals real, extinct, and imaginary are all fair game. There just aren't that many IPs that would fit, but that's a problem with Disney only wanting to use IPs in its parks, not DAK having a strict theme.

Also, the park isn't just one continuous land. I think what you're describing is just a thematically consistent park. It's what a theme park looks like when it isn't just a hodge podge of different random stuff. All the lands at DAK have the same basic themes, but they explore those themes in different ways, and they have different sub themes as well. So there are different lands, but they all follow the same thematic guidelines, making the park more than just the sum of its parts. Which imo is what makes it the best park in Orlando.

3. Agreed. Dinoland kinda sucked. But, that's not an excuse to replace it with something silly like Moana or Zootopia. Like I said Moana would be better than Zootopia, but it's still not a great fit for the park and various non-IP options would work much better. Obviously that's not gonna happen, but without Rohde, I don't think TWDC will make any effort to try and keep the park's themes in tact. They didn't with EPCOT or DHS

 

[NelsonRD]

I kind of like Journey into Imagination with Figment, and have defended it over time on this forum.

As a kid from the 80's my memories of the original, specifically the literature room, was terrifying.

 

[Andrew25]

There are only 2 "skip the line" options I believe work fairly:

1. Universal's Express System - premium price for a premium offering, limits the # of guests who actually use it to prevent the standby/express ratio to be out of wack like Lightning Lane has unfortunately done.
2. Volcano Bay Tapu Tapu- this only works at a park that has enough "non-ride" experiences with high capacity (ala Epcot). Why make people wait 90+ minutes for Frozen/Ratatouille when you can provide an actual Virtual Queue and you could direct them to one of the World Showcase theaters? I would much rather get in line virtually for 90 minutes, not be allowed to enter at another attraction, and wait it out at the American Adventure and Impressions de France.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I just thought of another opinion of mine that is unpopular -
I love Mission Space, especially the more intense version.

 

[Jrb1979]

Halloween parties shouldn't be help in August.
HHN is much better than MNSSHP

 

[kong1802]

My unpopular opinions:

Disney Food as a whole. Character meals, food booths, special snacks. I have never found any of it to be worth the time and effort to get ADR's or seek them out.

AK - Still a half a day park at best.

Character M&G's are a waste of park time.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Halloween parties shouldn't be help in August.
HHN is much better than MNSSHP

As I agree with this, this will be added to my personal list of unpopular opinions.