Why are carnival rides disliked?

[flynnibus]

"it's supposed to be tacky" is an excuse to make an off the shelf traveling carnival roller coaster fit in DAK. They told WDI what rides they would be installing and said "make this fit somehow!" That's all it is. Don't buy into the elaborate backstory that was created to attempt to justify it.

Except that is how Disney works quite frequently... Take a concept and them build it out to make it fit and integrate. Don't hate on the imagineering of it all as a 'attempt to cover it up'. The ride choices are what they are.. doesn't negate the integration done. It just doesn't fit everyone's cup of tea..

 

[Nitrokoff]

Carnival rides are meant to be set up temporarily. When I think "carnival ride" I think cheap, flimsy, and tacky. Not what I want on a vacation...

And no, Dumbo and the like are not carnival rides -- they are beautifully and permanently installed and elaborately themed "kiddie" rides, but nothing like you'd ever find at a carnival.

Chester and Hester's on the other hand, has all the cheapness, flimsiness and tackiness of a carnival, and deliberately so, but I think Chester and Hester's was a huge mistake by Disney...

Not carnival rides? Why, because they're prettier? At the end of the day, "flying around in a circle" is a carnival ride. Actually anything that just spins you in a circle is a carnival ride. I can spin in my office chair or I can spin in my boss's $5000 dollar office chair... it's still spinning in a chair.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Not carnival rides? Why, because they're prettier? At the end of the day, "flying around in a circle" is a carnival ride. Actually anything that just spins you in a circle is a carnival ride. I can spin in my office chair or I can spin in my boss's $5000 dollar office chair... it's still spinning in a chair.

Absolutely, because they are prettier. And nicely themed, with lights and music and other effects, situated in a an entire land that shares their theme. The quality of the experience they offer is elevated far and above what you'd get at a carnival, or I daresay, in your boss's chair, as nice as it may be.

That being said, I recognize that what defines "carny" to me may not be the same as how someone else would define "carnival ride." I realize that it's a a matter of personal opinion -- and apparently you disagree.

 

[Nitrokoff]

Absolutely, because they are prettier. And nicely themed, with lights and music and other effects, situated in a an entire land that shares their theme. The quality of the experience they offer is elevated far and above what you'd get at a carnival, or I daresay, in your boss's chair, as nice as it may be.

That being said, I recognize that what defines "carny" to me may not be the same as how someone else would define "carnival ride." I realize that it's a a matter of personal opinion -- and apparently you disagree.

So by your definition, Dinoland USA is okay then? It is in a land that shares the theme.

 

[Weather_Lady]

So by your definition, Dinoland USA is okay then? It is in a land that shares the theme.

No, because the theme IS a cheap, tacky carnival. They are overtly offering the carnival experience and nothing more.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Except that is how Disney works quite frequently... Take a concept and them build it out to make it fit and integrate. Don't hate on the imagineering of it all as a 'attempt to cover it up'. The ride choices are what they are.. doesn't negate the integration done. It just doesn't fit everyone's cup of tea..

Yeah, but its usually more of a case of "make this ride that doesn't quite belong in this area of the park fit with the theme", not "justify our decision to install a traveling carnival roller coaster here"

 

[Macca250]

Dinoland is probably the worst themed area Disney ever created. Not because of the carnival rides though, Paradise Pier at DCA is a great land and there's a fair few carnival rides there where you feel pulled into the setting. Dinoland IMO just lacks any coherent story and doesn't have any atmosphere. Dinosaur is the only reason I'd ever find myself in that area of the park.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Why is it that carnival-type rides at any Disney park are always looked down on by the people here at this forum? Why is it these people think that such rides are (or should be) beneath Disney's standards and thus should never be done?

I think its because carnival rides can be experienced anywhere. A six flags, boardwalk amusement park or carnival has these rides but charge far less the WDW. I like a few in the parks, especially if they are classics like Dumbo, but if one like Flying Carpets come in nobody says, oh great product here.

 

[Goofyernmost]

And EPCOT was built without a single one... as was MGM Studios. Yet still Disney parks.

And should Disney never look beyond what it originally did in DL?

Yea, and look what has happened to Epcot and DHS. I don't see that as a positive. To be honest, I am not really concerned about it. Some people feel that "it was not the goal of a Disney Park", and the fact that it all started that way kind of throws that theory out the window. As someone said, just about any ride can be looked at as a carnival type ride, either in your face or basic structure. I just don't find it anything that needs to be concerned about. It is keeping with tradition, but, not cast iron tradition and it give people something to do. I just don't see the problem.

 

[Nitrokoff]

What everyone loses sight of is the WDW is theme park for children that parents and adults can also enjoy. Not the other way around. If you want epic thrill rides then there are other parks in the area for you to enjoy. Don't try and make the parks not enjoyable for children just because you don't like something.

 

[flynnibus]

Dinoland IMO just lacks any coherent story and doesn't have any atmosphere. Dinosaur is the only reason I'd ever find myself in that area of the park.

... or Disney picked a subject that most people can not relate to at all and therefore have no positive connection with and hence see it for it's physical attributes vs what it represents. Dinoland is a miss because the subject doesn't connect with people in a positive way... or at all.

 

[HM Spectre]

Dinoland is probably the worst themed area Disney ever created. Not because of the carnival rides though, Paradise Pier at DCA is a great land and there's a fair few carnival rides there where you feel pulled into the setting. Dinoland IMO just lacks any coherent story and doesn't have any atmosphere. Dinosaur is the only reason I'd ever find myself in that area of the park.

I actually think Dinoland is well-themed for its concept, it's just that the concept is out of place and feels cheap/tacky. It actually has a story behind it but that doesn't make me like it any more.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Carnivals, by definition, are non-fixed amusements. A seaside boardwalk, roadside attraction, pleasure garden, general amusement park, etc. are fixed amusements. As such, carnival rides tend to also be non-fixed, making the bulk of the rides portable flat rides. There are a few portable roller coasters and dark rides, but they are not the staple rides and only becoming rarer.

It also does not matter if Disneyland opened with all carnival rides. Themed entertainment has moved beyond rides as rides.

 

[WondersOfLife]

So they have a few carnival rides.. Big woop..??

If you don't like them, ignore them! They're obviously bringing some enjoyment to REGULAR park guests enouhj for them to stay put. Also, it's not like they're everywhere you look. They're kept up in a couple of little areas that you will probably only visit once that day. . . Pay your hundred dollar pass and go enjoy what you WANT to enjoy. Don't spend all your time complaining about what you don't like. Because it's most likely that even if these dumb little rides weren't there, you guys would most likely be complaining about something ELSE that you believe Disney did a half butt job with.

Honestly I feel like Dinoland USA is more complete than half of the rides in Tomorrowland and Future World..

 

[Redhawk]

And FWIW, I always preferred the Carpets, since you didn't feel you were going to fall out of the darn thing, as with Orbiter and Dumbo.

I would not include Astro-Orbiter in the list of "carnival rides" at Disney. However, the first time I rode it (as an adult -- I don't think I ever rode as a child) I indeed thought I was going to fall out! I got over the fear quickly and love the ride, but that first time it was the scariest thing I've ever been on at Disney, including ToT and RnRC.

 

[MinnieM123]

I would not include Astro-Orbiter in the list of "carnival rides" at Disney. However, the first time I rode it (as an adult -- I don't think I ever rode as a child) I indeed thought I was going to fall out! I got over the fear quickly and love the ride, but that first time it was the scariest thing I've ever been on at Disney, including ToT and RnRC.

My mother and I rode that in 1985, although I think the name of it back then was Star Jets. I also thought I was going to fall out of it, and anxiously waited for the ride to finally stop. I've been too scared to go on it ever since—renaming it to Astro Orbiter did nothing to lessen my fear!

 

[Marc Gil]

Only two things scare me and one of them is nuclear war... The second?

Carnies, circus folk, nomads, you know... Smell like cabbage.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Because they are run by thieving pikey bar-stewards

 

[seascape]

I always thought they should add a couple of small boardwalk rides to the Boardwalk. I live at the Jersey Shore and can't figure out how a resort that is supposed to represent the Jersey Shore left out some rides.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I always thought they should add a couple of small boardwalk rides to the Boardwalk. I live at the Jersey Shore and can't figure out how a resort that is supposed to represent the Jersey Shore left out some rides.

That was the plan at one time, including a big wooden roller coaster.