What are some of the worst immersive lands?

TwilightZone

TwilightZone

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I just finished an article about the worst immersive lands in disney parks. While it does have a good point about rides not fitting the land, I don't count that as being a bad immersive land. That's just bad ride choices, the land itself can still be immersive if themed well enough. So, not counting the rides in the land, what are some of the worst immersive lands out there?
 
justintheharris

justintheharris

Well-Known Member
SourcererMark79 said:
Most of DHS. It has lost all the defining character of what it was when it first opened. The whole idea just seems lost now.
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There's an interesting irony in the fact that Star Wars Galaxy's Edge will be the most immersive land Disney ever built while sitting in the least immersive park. Maybe we could hope for better once all the construction is complete around Hollywood Studios? However with theming, it is kinda a hot mess.
 
Damon7777

Damon7777

Well-Known Member
Future World:
The grounds and architecture do not afford immersion--- sterile, remote, and devoid of rich landscapes that we would normally see in other Disney areas.....relatively barren and full of nothing -- a mathematical empty set

((The way I see it under the rules of themepark 'lands' Epcot really only has two: future and showcase, right?
We can't rightly call something like an Imagination or Germany an individual land can we?))
 
G

Genie_naughty_whispers

Well-Known Member
I don't think Pandora is very immersive. Now hear me out, the floating mountains are amazing, and the Navi river ride is immersive BUT up until last week, I had no idea that section of the park was considered Pandora. I thought just the floating mountains and the two rides were it. Everything else over there looks standard AK. Plus the lighting at night contrasted with river right is disappointing to say the least.
 
DisneyDoctor

DisneyDoctor

Well-Known Member
MGM. But, the potential is there. I'd love to see a "Movie-world" of sorts where we could walk through different movie lands. For instance, we could move from TSL to Cars Land to Monsters Inc. Land to Frozen Land. It could fit the MGM bill a little better.
 
SourcererMark79

SourcererMark79

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
justintheharris said:
There's an interesting irony in the fact that Star Wars Galaxy's Edge will be the most immersive land Disney ever built while sitting in the least immersive park. Maybe we could hope for better once all the construction is complete around Hollywood Studios? However with theming, it is kinda a hot mess.
Click to expand...
Well, we're hoping it's the most immersive land to date. If expectations are set as high as many had for TSL...
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
I'll be contrarian regarding DHS...

The park's theming is that you're in an L.A./Hollywood studios environment. And they do a pretty good job of it (with a few exceptions). It's a very idealized version of "never was and always will be", but, in an impressionistic way -- it works (for me).

These areas 'work':
  • Hollywood Blvd; Sunset Blvd;
  • Echo Lake; Grand Ave.;
  • the restaurants;
  • the theaters (especially Graumans');
  • and, the pink studio warehouses.

Even the Star Tours area works as a Hollywood set as you see the backside of the AT-AT with the girders and spotlights.

These areas need work to fit into the LA/Hollywood theme:
  • RnRC entranceway;
  • TSL entranceway;
  • Animation Courtyard.

Where the park loses thematic unity is all behind the facades where the attractions wind up mostly being "ride the movie" with no other connecting theme or idea among them.
 
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BasiltheBatLord

BasiltheBatLord

Well-Known Member
- Critter Country at DL (What is it? Why is it here?)
- Future World (Zombified mess)
- Mermaid Lagoon at Disney Sea (plastic shopping mall in the middle of an otherwise well-themed park)
- Tokyo's Tomorrowland (Too much unthemed concrete, not enough "future")
 
scarr13311

scarr13311

Active Member
Genie_naughty_whispers said:
I don't think Pandora is very immersive. Now hear me out, the floating mountains are amazing, and the Navi river ride is immersive BUT up until last week, I had no idea that section of the park was considered Pandora. I thought just the floating mountains and the two rides were it. Everything else over there looks standard AK. Plus the lighting at night contrasted with river right is disappointing to say the least.
Click to expand...



I have not seen Pandora yet, we are scheduled to go in November. I did see the movie Avatar and did not care for it, in fact I thought It somewhat violent, which does not fit in the Disney style. It felt like I was watching Aliens, Dances with Wolves, with some spiritual stuff thrown in. Still don't feel if fits in AK. From the vloggers videos I have seen on You Tube, as always Disney did a great job with detail, color and creativity but not immersive.
 
KCheatle

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
I don't know if it's "the worst" but I personally find the Dinoland area unappealing and disappointing. I agree that dinosaurs are animals worthy of recognition in AK. But, the land does the theme so much disservice. It could have been done in more of a Jurassic Park (eek! non-Disney reference) way than in this Flintstones (eek! another non-Disney reference) retro-vibe way. It's irritating because the ride Dinosaur is really good, and the line is actually informative. But, outside of that, the vibe is that this is all just carnival games and fictitious play; like the dinos were all just made up and were a pop-culture thing in the mid-20th century, so let's go back to that time period. I feel like the theming took away a lot of potential for learning where the other reality-based lands in AK (obviously exclude Pandora) really immerse you in the culture/environment/truth of those lands.
 
SourcererMark79

SourcererMark79

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
MisterPenguin said:
I'll be contrarian regarding DHS...

The park's theming is that you're in an L.A./Hollywood studios environment. And they do a pretty good job of it (with a few exceptions). It's a very idealized version of "never was and always will be", but, in an impressionistic way -- it works (for me).

These areas 'work':
  • Hollywood Blvd; Sunset Blvd;
  • Echo Lake; Grand Ave.;
  • the restaurants;
  • the theaters (especially Graumans');
  • and, the pink studio warehouses.

Where the park loses thematic unity is all behind the facades where the attractions wind up mostly being "ride the movie" with no other connecting theme or idea among them.
Click to expand...
Agree with the attraction part, however everything is still a hot mess. I enjoy the studios, but it makes me sad to see most of that theming is so irelevant given the change in entertainment offerings. Look at the street performers on sunset for example. Its a fine example of good Disney immersion, but what else is there besides that? How often is the a sizable group watching? Not very, they're all running past to get to their BatB FP+ (or maybe those other two E tickets over there)
 
Skibum1970

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
Damon7777 said:
Future World:
The grounds and architecture do not afford immersion--- sterile, remote, and devoid of rich landscapes that we would normally see in other Disney areas.....relatively barren and full of nothing -- a mathematical empty set

((The way I see it under the rules of themepark 'lands' Epcot really only has two: future and showcase, right?
We can't rightly call something like an Imagination or Germany an individual land can we?))
Click to expand...

I have always felt that Futureland could become an idealized version of the future. Fountains, waterfalls, green spaces, and that type of Utopian setting. Clean lines and so on. It doesn't have to be sterile but I think that the evolution of the park (or devolution) has driven this. You don't have all the pavilions anymore.
 
Model3 McQueen

Model3 McQueen

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
DisneyMedStudent said:
MGM. But, the potential is there. I'd love to see a "Movie-world" of sorts where we could walk through different movie lands. For instance, we could move from TSL to Cars Land to Monsters Inc. Land to Frozen Land. It could fit the MGM bill a little better.
Click to expand...

Too bad TSL isn't Cars Land. Arguably the best part of DCA entirely and my last real remaining reason to visit.
 
geekza

geekza

Well-Known Member
I have to say the current Future World in Epcot. There is no longer a connective theme. It's just a mish-mash of unrelated attractions with the depressingly-large-but-virtually-empty (former) Communicore in its center. The original iteration was amazing. The current iteration is a sad skeleton.
 
ThemeParkTraveller

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
Aside from the well-themed Ratatouille area, I would say WDSP's "lands" are the absolute worst at immersing guests out of any Disney park. The majority of the park feels like an ugly and soulless concrete backlot, and it lacks the scenic placemaking of the similarly themed DHS. It's a good thing it's getting an enormous expansion in the next decade that will address this glaring issue.
 

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