Magic Kingdom's Broken Fantasyland
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 8. 08. 2022
- When most out-siders think of Disney parks, they probably likely think about the Magic Kingdom and Fantasyland. Yet, for being the most popular theme park in the world, their most iconic and marketable land is completely under-built. Today, I would like to break down why Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland is so underwhelming, especially in comparison to Disneyland and shine a spot-light on how useless the New Fantasyland project was in revitalizing this area. Furthermore, I also have a number of interesting ideas that I think would really help fix this land by using space in a creative manner.
Logo Background Source: / @freestuff-motiongraphics
Various Media Sources: pastebin.com/fHe6jtNX
Many of the music tracks found in my videos can be located on Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com/music/f...
As always if you enjoy the content, please give the video a like. You can also hit the subscribe button and bell notification to know when new videos are released.
Follow me on đ€ Twitter: / poseidonentmt
Follow me on â¶ïžFacebook: / poseidon-entertainment...
Follow me on đ· Instagram: / poseidonentertainmentyt - ZĂĄbava
Tangled bathrooms are probably the most disrespectful way to pay homage to their properties
"So we have this great Princess movie that started a new Renaissance! It's only 1/8 as popular as Frozen but we wanna give tribute to it"
"Let's give them an to POOP and PEE in!"
Yeah how I like them
Donât agree personally, they could have not referenced it at all just like many other films. I think itâs actually pretty cool that instead of just having a basic themed bathroom, they could use it as an opportunity to get tangled in the parks somewhere
I think that Tangled would make for a great ride. Either having it be a boat ride like in that part in the movie with the lanterns or something else.
â@@cadendicky1855it'd be cool if they made a huge winding slide dark ride where you see scenes from the movie as you go down!
New Fantasyland made us lose one of the most classic Disney dark rides in Snow White⊠for a meet and greet⊠that they couldâve built⊠I dunno⊠ANYWHERE else in the land?
I couldnât agree more! Snow Whiteâs Scary Adventures was an awesome ride!! The roller coaster severely under delivers. The classic ride was charming yet mildly frightening at the same time; the take on Disneyâs original classic was awesome! I could have even overlooked that if they refurbished the ride, but to replace it with a meet and greet??? Why??? They had an entire Fantasyland build-out for that!
@BK Beatty the Mine Ride is weak. Itâs a low intensity kiddy coaster with minimal theming. The one part thatâs in the mine is kind of cool, but take out that scene and it could be a ride straight out of Six Flags. It pales in comparison to Big Thunder, Everest, and Hagridâs Motorbike, and I do not understand why itâs the most popular ride in the park.
The only positive thing I can really say about it is that itâs way better than Slinky Dog. Talk about a piece of crap that Disney just mailed in.
@@fstanley2328 I was just about to reply to that comment lol, you saved me a lotta time and I agree completely on your assessment of the ride. It should be torn down and replaced with something else imo.
I recall how that attraction was before it's 1994 redesign when it was called "Snow White's Adventures" which ironically was more scary then when it became "Snow White's Scary Adventures". In "Snow White's Adventures" Snow White isn't in the attraction herself as YOU was Snow White and seeing things from her perspective.
Now my own memory of that version of the ride is hazy but I can recall the attraction being scary with the trees more horrifying and the Witch chasing you down and crashing though a window. In the end the Witch crushes you to death with a giant diamond...ride over. That was a attraction that many didn't know how scary it was for the time riders and took many by shock. Wish it remained.
@@AngelJD I remember when it was previously more scary, but then they watered it down.
The Disneyland folks do not have the luxury of space, but they still made it work. The Disney World folks have so much space to work with, and they just let it flounder.
Youâre right about that! Thatâs the irony in the entire situation. Disneyland utilized well the space they have; Disney World has a ton of space yet they under deliver with a small coaster, an oversized restaurant, and themed restrooms.
its a shame that all new expansions in Disneyland resort have the world philosophy of building by putting not a lot in a too much space. I am looking at you galaxies edge and marvel campus. packing stuff in elevates crowds more than just big walkways because it puts people in more lines.
I think about all the space in Toy Story Land and all they could come up with was a short coaster, a flat ride and a small quick-service location. They could have definitely used space far more efficiently.
Let itâŠFLOUNDER đźâđš good one
You got that right.
Removing a dark ride and replacing it with a meet and greet is probably one of the most heinous things Disney has done. At least reskin it to something else
It is isnât it?
Honestly tho fantasyland is aimed at children not adults and children found the Snow White ride to be very scary. While we as adults donât find it scary Iâm sure most little kids would rather meet their favorite characters than pee on themselves.
Not to mention meet and greets must be popular because people wait hours in the meet and greet lines.
I donât mind dogging on the parks but it just makes no sense for me to complain about an area that isnât aimed at my demographic. We all grow up and things change as we grow up, just like kids interests might change over time.
Especially a dark ride with so much history behind it. It scared me as a kid, but I hated to see it go.
@@constantlyannoying When I was a kid I remember vastly preferring Disneyland over MK because of its abundance of dark rides. And I was a complete scaredy-cat. Children can appreciate thrills and immersive experiences too, but how can you know if you don't give them the opportunity? (Sidebar, I didn't want to ride Snow White not due to the scary content but because I didn't want my parents to think I was "girly", huge regret of mine,)
@@shadowboxplayers420 I mean if kids wanna ride scary rides they can just get on the ones for everyone. Iâve never been to Disneyland but I plan to go soon. I get the girly thing but for me I always chose to be girly at Disney and then hide it once I left the premesis. I just think Disney needs to get with someone who actually cares about the parks the way we do and do some actually improving updates rather than just repainting things. Magic kingdom used to be my favorite but lately I find myself frequenting in Hollywood studios more just because thereâs tons of new stuff and Iâve gotten bored of magic kingdom lately. Bob chapek loves taking our money for mediocrity.
The problem with Disney's current leadership is that it is not customer centric. It is corporate centric with squeezing out as much money from as few people as possible. Overprice everything so fewer people can go, but make those that do pay disproportionately more than if there were more people at the parks. Lighting Lane is a perfect example of this thinking.
Agree that the current leadership is terrible (especially Chapek). But the parks (at least in Disney World) are always packed so they definitely do not need more people there.. They just need to stop being so greedy and squeezing every last cent out of guests. Like you said Lightning Lane and Genie+ are ridiculous.
That really isn't going to change anymore. Disney is now a run of the mill multinational. This is what they do.
Walts direct influence is now out of living memory within the company and is simply never comming back.
Better get used to it i guess.
100% the company is completely backward from back in the day. If you take care of your customers, they will take care of you and you will make money
@@jamesmoulliet5615 what a stupid idea.
You can simply not make ALL the money and even more of it every next quarter if you don't treat customers like walking atm machines.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 the fact you have been on this comment section for over 6hrs makes me think you have nothing else do to in life and have little brain activity. Just stop
I never understood mine train. Like itâs so similar to big thunder that is in the same park and this version is shorter and worse. And tangled could be an epic ride but we get restroomsâŠ.
Tangled-themed bungie jump for an up charge?
Agree! Itâs shockingly short and throws me off every time
coasters aside, a mine train through the dwarfâs mine was the original pitch from walt for what he wanted for his snow white attraction
The Beastâs Castle is the worst use of forced perspective Iâve ever seen. Itâs 30 feet tall and, instead the FP making it look larger, they somehow managed to make it look even smaller than it really is.
I was surprised to find out how tall it was. It failed to achieve what it attempted to do, but in the strangest way possible.
I love you ideas! But I think it would make more sense if the entire expansion area was the villains land. Instead of a bridge, it can be a dark cave with âturn backâ signs, maybe even bring over a clone of the sleeping dragon from DLP? The cave bridge would narrow the focus in for the guests, make them feel a bit claustrophobic, open their pupils up, and then BAM, theyâre suddenly in this crazy magical and evil themed area that feels entirely separate from the rest of fantasyland. And thereâs enough villains to fill that place up with well themed dark rides, flat rides, meet and greets shops, restaurants, and interactive experiences. The maleficent coaster, the hades boat ride u mentioned, skull island exploration/playground, maybe a stage show, a more thrilling flat ride and one or two less thrilling, âHaus of DeVilleâ which could be the evil equivalent to Bibbidi Boppity Boutique, I mean the possibilities r endless with it really. But yeah, thatâs the only change Iâd make to ur blue skies plan.
This sounds SO COOL! Might help to age up Fantasyland as well for the tweens/teens
Love it!
If only our current CEO cared about high quality creativity, immersive storytelling and ride engineering over stock market shares
While I agree, I worry how important the stormwater basins are. Building in a swamp is already tricky, and less places for the water to run off to might result in more flooding and environmental damage.
I donât understand why Disney completely abandoned the C-Ticket level âfantasyland style dark rideâ. Literally every park at WDW (including Magic Kingdom) would benefit from adding them.
I believe the idea that âevery new ride must be an E-Ticketâ started under Iger, but itâs not true, every park needs filler attractions- a park that lacks this the worst is Hollywood Studios
I think it was Eisner.. lol but that's just my generation 's bad guyđ
@@cherylmaden5989 Hot take, Eisner was good for the parks. The quality of the theming of rides from his generation is really good. Great examples being Blizzard Bay, Typhoon Lagoon, Tower of Terror, Everest, Splash Mountain, etc. Some of, if not the best things to come to the parks came under his reign. It felt like he actually cared about the parks and itâs guests. He created innovative rides that werenât just crappy IP dumps.
â@@gjmcgeenot so much create but rather he funded and greenlit
A boat ride themed after the River Styx from Hercules is a top tier idea, my dude.
Thinking the same thing!
Cool idea with a big animontric Cerberus
Kids donât know who Hercules is, and if they do, they donât really care about him. You guys seem to forget that Disney makes their most money off of families, so thatâs who theyâre mainly designing their parks for. Nobody cares if the 30 year old man doesnât like Dwarves mine train, when their customer base thinks itâs amazing. There is criticism to give Disney, but âThis family ride isnât thrilling enough so itâs a waste of spaceâ is something that has zero business thought behind it.
Totally agree with you that Disney should focus more on fully decorating their dark ride scenes, even if that means limited animation for the audioanimatronics. The rides that have lasted all these decades-Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc.-donât spend all their time building up to one impressive robot, but instead build atmosphere (and dare I say, wonder!!) with highly detailed scenes, lighting, and characters. Another great video!!
It was immensely disappointing when Disney hyped up Rise of the Resistance by stating that it would include almost as many animatronics as Pirates... and then it's mostly static stormtroopers. The battalion works fine for the scene, but it's almost a straight-out lie.
As someone who just went to Fantasyland, I can confirm at least one thing: itâs a small world is in DESPERATE need of repairs!!
That costs money and doesnât create an opportunity to nickel and dime people. So itâs a no go for Chapek.
I've heard that Disney refuses to pay their techs enough, so they're having issues retaining old talent and training new people. It would certainly make sense as to why things always seem to be falling apart.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Iâm old enough to remember going to Disney World when they used to brag about their high level of maintenance including mentioning things like how every single burned out bulb on the decorative lighting on Main Street were changed nightly after the park closed.
I last went in 2019 and I was shocked at how dirty and broken down so many things have become. I canât imagine itâs gotten better since the pandemic.
I went to Cedar Point a few weeks and it was much cleaner and better maintained than Disney World parks and it wasnât even close.
The monorail system in particular is something I find utterly shameful how theyâve let fall into such disrepair. Rather than buy new ones, I truly believe Disney is going to just keep riding the current ones into the ground until a guest is seriously hurt or killed in an accident. Then, theyâre just going to shut the whole thing down for good saying itâs too unsafe to run anymore.
You should do a video about the monorailâs current state.
I would start with the following:
1. Update Peter Pan to as close to the ride in Shanghai as possible. Needs a major referb
2. As someone else mentioned, move small world to Epcot and use the space for something else. Personally Iâd love to see an Aladdin dark ride. Maybe model it after pans flight but in this case be on a magic carpet flying through Agrabah, the palace, the cave of wonders etc. always felt magic carpets of Aladdin was a poor representation of the movie.
3. Definitely close enchanted takes with bell and the restaurant and bring the ride in Tokyo here. They could even add more to their version.
4. Add a Hercules based food stop, a gyro shop. Itâs cheap, easy and quick.
5. Definitely get rid of tomorrow land speed way. Itâs outdated, smells and the space could be used for something much better.
Exactly, thatâs where Tron should have been built.
Instead of an Aladdin ride how about a Pinocchio ride
And bringing back mr toads wild ride?
I have a crazy idea. Move itâs a small world to Epcot. It fits with the world unity theme as well as the worlds fair theme considering it premiered at the 1964 one in New York. Then use its old ride building in Fantasyland for one or several new dark rides.
Yeah and itâs not a particularly complex attraction either so moving it would be super easy, barely an inconvenience. I was thinking they could tear down the Captain Eo theater and build it there. Though it would face World Showcase. Thereâs enough room, I measured it on Google Earth!
Love the idea! I get that Small World is an iconic Fantasyland ride, but its themes of world unity shouldnât be considered a fantasy (especially now in 2022). Makes perfect sense in Epcot
@Jonathan Pal Oh no, hard pass on that one. I really dislike putting IP based attractions in the world showcase pavilions. Cheapens the experience. The pavilions do need attractions, just something more original like Maelstrom was.
I wouldn't reuse the show building for a new attraction, but use the show building's space as a corridor into the new expansion area north of Fantasyland. The Haunted Mansion's show building could be hidden by quick service and retail space themed to and attached to the Tangled restrooms. The proposed bridge over the roadway between Be Our Guest and The Little Mermaid can also be built, allowing for better traffic flow. Having only the one bridge connection as proposed by Poseidon would create a bottleneck like Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland.
Maybe, but its Mary Blair art style has become so iconic to Fantasyland that I feel a move would be unnecessary. However, I would definitely be interested in moving the Carousel of Progress over the Epcot, serving as an optional prelude to a new and updated version of Horizons.
I remember years ago when I was very young going to Disneyland in anaheim. All the kids were so excited especially looking for Mr. Walt Disney in the park who was in disguise. I knew Walt Disney arrived to monitor the operation of his park and its employees. His stay in the park was approximately 1 hour. I know this because the intercom came on with someone stating Mr. Walt Disney had left the park in that period of time. Entrance fees into the park were reasonable, we didn't pay for parking, merchandise was of the highest quality along with food within the park. Those were great memories.
Personally, I would have loved to see them bring the Tokyo Beauty and The Beast ride over. Also, getting rid of Snow White for a meet and greet was such a waste of space.
The Tokyo Beauty and the Beast ride is one of the best dark rides I've ever seen. All the benefits of modern technology with all the charm of a classic Disney ride.
Itâs unfortunate WDW doesnât have it yet.
I never understood how an amusement park that allowed Alien Encounter (for the handful of years it existed) also felt compelled to tear down an Opening Day classic like Snow White; just because the witch and trees were spooky.
@@wherethetatosat The thing about Tokyo Disney is they still seem to have the spirit alive and well of what Walt would have done. While the 1980s was a rough time for Disney. The Disney people gave them the Bible on how to run the Parks the Disney way. Tokyo had the luxury of being trained by the old guard of Disney, the very people who wrote the book, and because the Japanese adhere to tradition have never changed anything they were taught. Every new person is trained precisely as they would have been back in the 80s when the guest experience was the top priority. Current Disney isn't guest experience-driven, but number is driven. If the number says they can get away with something, they will try to get away with something. Profit over people is the name of the game. Use to they wouldn't mind overstaffing as it enhanced the guest experience. Now, if they can cut an employee or staff to the barebones level they will and this is why the parks are dirtier than ever and don't get me started on the deferred maintenance.
@@jtstacey83 yup i have never been to disney tokyo but its so funny to me that the only park not owned by disney (it also had a bad rep within the disney company because of it not being a 100% owned disney park) and yet because its japan and like you said trained by the old guard Disney Tokyo is as of now the only wel lets say 2 Disney parks that still feel like the og Disney and not some cash grabbing theme park (its still disney but my god they need to get away from these bad ceo's)
Toad and Snow White also were probably taken out since nothing could be âscaryâ anymore for kids. They both had frightening elements for kids (I could attest). Instead of embracing the element of freights, different than coaster âthrills,â dark rides are veering away from what they were derived from at amusement parks. Little Mermaid is fine, but there is nothing on it that scares my kids like the Mr Toad train or Snow White Queen/hag scared me as a kid. Kids are still allowed to get scared!
I hate how Disney caves to complaining parents. If Universal did so, HHN wouldn't be as successful as it is. The scariness was so essential to the personality of those rides.
it's a weird phenomenon, especially considering that a lot of kids LIKE to be scared. Mascot horror has become more and more targeted towards children, and even if your kid is easily scared, being scared in a safe environment can help them learn how to healthily handle their fear. Part of being a kid is learning how to grow up and handle yourself, and coddling kids endlessly counteracts this. Kids can tell when they're being talked down to, and they hate it.
Tokyo disneyland still has the original scary snow white ride from 1971 with all the jumpscares and the witch dominating the ride. It seems to just be an america thing since the ride gets really long waits and is popular with kids. It gets longer lines than haunted mansion and pirates because some people just go right back to it after riding.
The fact that they got rid of Mickeyâs Toontown Fair is even more tragic. That was a great place that could have remained
Itâs sadder when you realize Mickey and Minnie couldâve gone there instead of replacing Great Movie RideâŠ
@@NinthShinigami EXACTLY
The great movie ride would just he replaced by something else. It was on its way out
@@liamlennon3316 I'm pretty sure that Disney tore it out because they didn't want to spend more money on a new show-building. At least, that's the rumor I've heard.
It really should have remained.
Probably one of the most underrated theme park channels on CZcams. you bravely call out the many mistakes our favorite theme parks are making when we are too afraid to admit them. Keep it up.
đŻđŻđŻ
Iâm not, Iâm just not voicing my thoughts yet on YT like Poseidon is here.
You are right. Increasing the size of Fantasyland was a failure. You used to be able to walk through and jump on any of the small dark rides with a 10-15 minute wait. They were all great (for C-Ticket rides) and worth a ride for a pass-through.
Increasing the size of the area drew more people. Now there are hordes of people in the area, and the rides have 60+ minute rates all the time. The other "big" rides (Seven Dwarves and Little Mermaid) are only fair. Certainly not worth a wait.
B&tB dinner? The food was ok, but not worth the price. I sat facing the big windows. The person across from me faced a blank wall at the back of the restaurant.
And if you are adding such a HUGE amount of property, why the heck would you get rid of an existing attraction (Snow White) when you could have just as easily built its replacement anywhere else?
I used to go to Disney 2-3 times a year. The last visit was so bad that I won't be returning for a decade (if not longer).
Honestly, I'd love if WDW add more Disneyland-style dark rides for animated classics they haven't done yet. Aladdin, Lion King, Fantasia, Robin Hood, Lady and the Tramp, ect.
It's so weird that we've never gotten a Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty ride. I feel like Disney World should get a Sleeping Beauty ride (since the castle is Cinderella) and replace the meet and greet and Disneyland should get a Cinderella ride (since the castle is sleeping beauty) and replace Pinocchio
Right! Itâs wild that we still havenât got an Aladdin Magic carpet dark ride, similar to Peter Pans. Not that boring magic carpet outside ride. Donât even get me started on Lion King.
@@deepinthemoney Why The Lion King?
@@deepinthemoney An Aladdin Magic Carpet dark ride would be cool.
@@carminecdinoproductionsbecause itâs literally the best Disney movie ever, and still it hasnât got any ride until these days.
This channel has become one of my favorite if Disney knew anything they would hire you
BIG FACTS!
Love your expansion ideas, but I seriously doubt Disney would get rid of Be Our Guest because it's such a cash cow. I really feel like Disney is afraid to take such big risks, but after Epic Universe opens, they are going to realize that small "updates" and adding random restaurants/m&g areas are not going to cut it anymore.
Poseidon, you are spot on about getting rid of the Tommorowland Speedway which is basically a 1950's carnival ride attraction and has no place in a land that is heralding the future.
âOver where Mr Toadâs Wild used to beâŠâ ooof that one still stings lol. I never got to ride it but it looked amazing, and certainly a better attraction than the Pooh ride I eventually did experience.
Not gonna lie, I love Mickeyâs Philharmagic a LOT, but Iâm also a sucker for music, especially Disney music. I agree with your assessment, though. Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom was so underwhelming. I didnât find the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to be all that great. It felt like a milder version of Big Thunder Mountain and Expedition Everest, two vastly superior coasters.
Mr Toads was such a bizarre ride that felt so out of place but thatâs honestly what made it special. The Pooh ride has a similar track concept but Mr Toads was waaay faster and jankier, it was def the better attraction ;0;
@@michikip45 Eh I think it's something that can only be loved by hardcore fans, but outside of that Pooh is definitely the better IP and fits way better into Fantasyland.
@@brandonhinete6508 Iâd agree but the ride is still at Disneyland and considered a favorite lol so clearly it has it place and a good heap of fans.
I think both could exist, Pooh may be more relevant but Mr Toad is a classic and the under seen classics like him deserve way more love
I like PhilharMagic, but I also perceive it as very dated. I think it would be cool if they restored the theater to something in the spirit of the Mickey Mouse Revue though. PhilharMagic has always just struck me as a cheaper version of that.
I just have to say the Mr. Toad ride at Disney Land was a sleeper favorite. The Hell part out of nowhere was WILD hahaha
The Villains idea would be the thing that drew me in - I wish I could have done the one they used to have under the Tokyo Castle. But obviously if anything like this happened, it would be seen as a response to Universals upcoming classic Monsters land at Epic Universe, and Disney would sadly never entertain that
Honestly, Iâd be interested to see this kind of walkthrough/review/âfix-itâ for the rest of the lands in Magic Kingdom.
same
It's Belle sweetâ€ïž
This is a đ ( bell)
I am used to Disneyland, and when I visited Magic Kingdom Fantasyland recently I was completely underwhelmed. How does Disneyland have like twice the rides with half the space? So weird.
My issue is many Disney fans see Disney rides as museums. Parks should evolve and improve.
Last time I went to magic kingdom I couldnât believe I was paying 100$ a day and every ride in fantasy land seemed sooooo outdated. the animatronics barely move. Small world has so much pontential with todays technology now it looks creepy.
Facts
Donât you realize that maintaining and updating things costs money and Bob Chapek has made it crystal clear that is something he will not do unless he thinks he can squeeze more money out of people for it.
that's such an apt point. everyone i know who actually likes disney just goes there to spout trivia about every little furnishing on the wall. they never talk about how thrilling a ride is, it's just "walt disney likes this color of socks so all the cast members wear them on thursdays"
I have to partially disagree with you. I think some older rides are charming because they were purposely designed with a minimal asthetic. I mean, the Haunted Mansion wasn't doing anything new when it opened. It was using technology from 100 years prior. But you bring up an interesting point about small world. I think the ride is perfect as is, but it does have potential to be something more. Look at what Disney did with Sinbad in Tokyo DisneySea. The animatronics have the style of their small world counterparts, but they are much more sophisticated. We could have a very high tech small world here in the states if Disney wanted to. Again, I wouldn't personally touch the thing, but it's definitely an idea that could be explored more.
I think that Pirates in Disneyland is a great example of how to keep older experiences feeling "classic" but still contemporary and relevant.
As a Californian who grew up going to Disneyland, overall WDW appears built on the cheap in comparison. There are abandoned and neglected facilities all over WDW. Itâs weird how Fantasyland in Florida has fewer rides when itâs the flagship land of the park. My theory is Disney does this on purpose, they donât put enough attractions at all the other parks so people are forced to visit all 4. Whereas DLR you get a better value with more attractions per park.
Ding, ding. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Californian here, planning a trip to WDWâŠand I donât even wanna go to Magic Kingdom. My list of must-rides are mostly Epcot and Animal Kingdom.
@@DavidBehlman Magic Kingdom is a glorified merch shop and day care. If youâre an adult going without small children itâs not worth more than a couple of hours for the 2-3 good rides. Go spend time at the other three.
@@DavidBehlman Lol I do exactly the same! Theres nothing that Magic Kingdom has that's better than Disneyland and, apart from the original Tower of Terror, there's no reason to visit Hollywood studios.
@@dannielz6 so totally agree with hollywood studios lol my parents and i visited it in 2017 and it was so very underwhelming in comparison to how it was even in like, 2014 when i last visited? i dont remember rlly but its so dumb lol its not even fun. epcot and animal kingdom are worth your time more than HS.
I don't really have the money to go to many theme parks. But channels like yours and Defunctland that dive deep into the industry and discuss the various gears in them is just fascinating to me.
It's certainly a fascinating industry, which I why I enjoy speaking about it so much. It's such an interesting crossroad of entertainment and art, manifested as a physical experience. There's so many artistic disciplines expressed in such spaces as well, ranging from architecture, to music, to set design, to engineering, to crowd control, to the culinary arts, etc.
As a big fan of Hades as a character, and just the Villains in general, that River Styx ride sounds like an absolute gem of a ride. It would also be really unique compared to Pirates, so parents wouldn't think "oh, it's JUST another water ride."
Instead, Parents would complain "my kid got scaaaaaaarrreeeed!" đ€ŠââThey always miss the point and it rides the fine line between alarming and funny
Also, the river Styx could be amazing, I'm astounded that Disney hasn't tapped in to all of this potential yet
I kind of agree with what you mean by the more upgraded animatronics taking up most of the money, making the rest of the ride look substandard in comparison. I would like to point out that some of the more upgraded rides with the more complicated animatronics tend to be the ones that break down more often than not. This is something Iâve been noticing in recent years.
Man and think about it, if u go on a ride with an "amazing animatronic" (to me life like does not translate to amazing, I want my animatronics to LOOK like ANIMATRONICS) and the animatronic is NOT WORKING, the ride is now WORTHLESS. Think of Rise of the Resistance, Navi River Journey, or hell even the Spiderman show at DCA, if their star animatronics are not working, ur left with nothing but disappointment.
Ya know, I've been going to The Magic Kingdom at least once a year since 2016. I had kept up with news but I've felt since 2016 that Fantasy land is surprisingly my least favorite land to visit. Which is absolutely crazy since I love the idea of Fantasy land and Disney's animated films.
I just feel more immersed by every other land, even the incredibly dusty and dirty Tomorrowland (my god, so much dust on the peoplemover). I desperately want to visit Disneyland since it's Fantasyland feels way more fleshed out while Florida's feels like the bare minimum.
It honestly feels like a lot of the problems would be fixed if Disney wasn't so cheap and expanded the park. They might be limited by the railroad but it feels like there's a lot of empty land they could expand into.
In regards to Philharmagic, I think it should stay but should be updated way more than it has. It eats up crowds and gives people a centralized place to enjoy "Disney". I also agree in tearing down the Tomorrowland Speedway, it feels way more outdated and it literally stinks.
PhilharMagic is alright, just dated. I would be interested in seeing the space return to a large animatronic show like it was originally.
They are not limited by the railroad. At Disneyland the whole of Galaxies Edge and Toon Town was built outside of the railroad.
Another good video!
I think itâs time for all of us long-time fans to accept the company is coasting on our nostalgia for attractions and experiences that havenât existed for over 15 years.
These armchair imagineering ideas are cool!
I won't lie, I often disagree with your opinions on Disney parks. They can tend to feel hypercritical. But I do agree that fantasyland's last expansion was totally botched. There was too much emphasis on meet-and-greets and not enough on expanding capacity with rides. Enchanted Tales With Belle hasn't even been open since the shutdowns, and everywhere I look I see underutilized empty space. I think your idea of a villains mini-land is an excellent alternative to the Dark Kingdom Park everybody wants but will never get. Especially the Hades River Styx ride. That mini-land would also help justify bringing back Snow White's ride, and the little neighborhoods concept they had with the original concept art.
Great content! You mentioned that you didnât know why Be Our Guest moved to a prix fixe menu. It was actually because people were making reservations to only get âthe grey stuffâ since it was only available at dinner back then and for people to get photos, so the menu changed to fix that issue and the grey stuff was added to the lunch menu in a trio of desserts (and the lunch menu budget for ingredients was downgraded to stop the grey stuff issue from repeating itself at lunch)
What they did with New Fantasyland in that back area of the park actually isnât bad, and itâs certainly a step in the right direction. The problem is, they didnât finish the job. They left the outdated facades beyond the castle which look super outdated, and they didnât do enough to create more themed attractions like Seven Dwarfs and Little Mermaid.
The mine train is actually a super cool concept, itâs just too short. The long wait times it gathers isnât worth the short ride experience that should be so much longer. But, it makes sense since thatâs probably the most well themed attraction in the land. Thereâs something special about that 1983 refurb of Disneylandâs Fantasyland that no other Disney park has really captured. Magic Kingdom just needs TLC all around, Tomorrowland and Fantasyland being the worst.
You're so right that the SDMT is a waste of space. I would change it to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so that the majority of the track is inside the mountain (by covering the track currently outdoors) and then flip the direction of the ride's layout. Instead of a coaster with one scene, it could be an indoor coaster where riders follow the dwarfs from their cabin (keeping the scene with them dancing in the cottage) to the mine (also keeping and moving closer to the cottage scene the little hi-ho scene) but on the way home from the mine the Evil Queen pushes a boulder onto the track and the mine train switches last-minute to a track that dives further into the mine. Riders then travel through caves that are decorated and themed before the dwarfs switch the track or somehow save the riders in the end to bring them back to the cottage (or at least the mine's entrance) and unload.
The main issue I have with "updates" made to the parks is that more and more, disabled folks (such as myself) are finding there is less and less for them to enjoy. Spine patients can't do coasters and simulators, for example. Epileptic folks and those with PTSD can't always handle strobes and flashing lights. Wheelchair users. . .well, you get the idea.
This is why I miss Energy Adventure/Universe of Energy; not just because of nostalgia, but because it was the last really big attraction that disabled folks could experience without having to worry overly much about their disabilities getting in the way, and/or holding up the works for everyone else, so to speak. Most of us can't go on Cosmic Rewind, to be frank.
With the advent of covid, we're going to see a drastic increase in the number of disabled and chronically ill people in the coming years. Yet. . .no one with any significant power seems to realize this, or care, if the design decisions of most companies are anything to go by.
We were always an afterthought well before the end of the Iger era. Now, in the Chapek era, it feels like they don't want to acknowledge we exist at all.
Adventureland seems to have the most potential for expansion(Cave of Wonders, Moana Boat Ride, Fire Mountain, etc), and can have a thematic overlap with mythological themes. The Beauty and the Beast theming can definitely spread out into a Black Forest/Uberwald expansion theme complete with Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Mr Toad and Night on Bald Mountain rides, while on the western side of Fantasyland(near the Haunted Mansion), they could have both a Sleepy Hollow ride and a Pocahontas Dark Ride to overlap with Liberty Square. Frontierland could use Disney's old plans for Discovery Bay and Thunder Mesa as a basis for expansion into a new land.
I think all of your suggestions would work wonders for the land, though the only thing I'd do differently is I'd keep Pooh where it is, give it a refurb, and build Mr. Toad in the plot you laid out for Pooh. There's so much nice theming outside of Pooh right now that I'd hate to see destroyed, and it'd probably be overall more cost-effective to just build one new ride and refurb another rather than demolish one ride and build two new entire rides.
I may be biased because I really love the Pooh ride at MK, a lot of that being nostalgia, and I just find the style of it charming- it's very akin to the older dark rides in its simplicity, even if it's not as engaging as something like Pirates or the Haunted Mansion.
I love Mr. Toad. I've always wished Disney would update it with higher speeds and smoke effects and such. I think it would be so fun
I like your retheme of Fantasyland, but I think some people might miss Philharmagic, so might I suggest moving that show to Studios? I mean, it would fit great in a new animation building that replaces the outdated Launch Bay.
I always wished that disney had made a Beauty and the Beast ride instead of just a restaurant! It doesn't have to be like the Tokyo Disney one, just something like the older dark rides or something! Also if their not going to get rid of PhilharMagic they could atleast make it like the newer Star Tours where it has a bunch of different segments it could mash up so it's a little different every time.
If they tore out Enchanted Tales, they could probably fit something like that in there. That's part of what I appreciate about those older style of rides; they use space efficiently.
I wished that they added a Cinderella Castle Mystery tour. You can have the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and the Horned King but you could add Jafar, Ursula and Cherberbog into the mix.
It would work since the castle is pretty much just there and you can't go inside. There's also a demand for villain attractions and florida isn't prone to earthquakes, so it will definitely be an ideal attraction to add
Poseidon, your ideas are great. I'm not sure why Disney Corp never thinks to put someone who loves the IPs and history of the company in charge. They always find a suit with no real love for Walt's vision who promises to squeeze more money out of what they believe to be a bottomless well of customers. I've spent a lifetime loving Disney theme parks and Disney animation, but I'm not optimistic about the company's future. My wife and I and our 11 year-old son are planning a two week trip to Orlando this Christmas/New Year's, and we're going to Universal. Even one year ago we would have chosen Disney World or a Disney cruise.
Wow I can't believe its been 10 years since New Fantasyland opened. The last time I went to Disney World it was still under construction, this video ended up being pretty nostalgic in that way. Great work as always.
How dare you propose that the new Disney corporation actually -- gasp! -- *spend* money on improvements when they can simply keep squeezing wallets until people wise up and they fall apart?
I LOVE the idea of a sub-area in Fantasyland dedicated to the Villains a la Knockturn alley at Wizarding World! Could also be a repository for a lot of the more darker mature rides (more intense roller coasters, horror-esque walkthroughs, etc). It would not only add a significant boost in capacity, but would also add more to the Fantasyland experience and make Magic Kingdom one of the definitive Disney parks; more than just a Disneyland clone.
This all feels like when the parks fell into disrepair / had very budget additions under Michael Eisner. Very transparent money grubbing with no creative or long term direction. I feel bad for people experiencing the parks for the first time right now. :/
I see what you mean, but I would consider this to be different. Many of Eisner's projects were opening, flagrantly cheap, but at least there were other genuine artistic efforts in conjunction with them. Animal Kingdom and later Everest is really a testament to this. Instead, I feel that Iger and Chapek's projects have instead shot for "good enough", coming off as sterile, corporate products designed by committee and built only to provoke merchandise sales. For as many issues as Eisner had, it seemed like things were picking back up again, at least outside of WDSP and Hong Kong.
Speaking of disrepair, it seems that recently a lot of the animatronics are losing functionality without being properly repaired. In Wisconsin Dells, near where I live, they have a habit of building an attraction and letting it decline year upon year until the whole thing gets torn down and a new attraction is built in its place. It's depressing to watch this happen. I'm interested to know if people who go to the Disney theme parks frequently are observing a similar process.
I think you have your eras wrong. Under Eisner, the parks experienced massive growth and sprucing up. The Imagineers had free reign to do pretty much anything they wanted. Eisner opened both MGM and Animal Kingdom. It was an incredible time to be at a Disney park during his leadership.
@@RobCartwright That may have been true about the early Eisner years, however after the financial debacle of EuroDisneyland (which is truly a fantastic park) Eisner changed his view on shooting for the stars as well as a âspare no expenseâ mantra for projects after that. Thatâs how you get things like the original incarnation of California Adventure.
@@bailantilles77 I'm not sure I'd attribute that change in demeanor to Eisner, I'd more pin it on the board whose goal is to make money for shareholders. I think some of the change in Eisner's leadership style probably had to do with the passing of Frank Wells also.
Imagine if Seven Dwarves Mine Train had been themed, instead, to Mr. Toadâs Wild Ride. All those charming British cars galloping over those grass covered hills, and really done it up right for the final trip through hell, Disneyland style
That is a really good idea!
The concepts for the big Expansion plot interest me a lot. Obviously sometime in the future, near or far, they're gonna want to use that and more Fantasyland is a reasonably likely candidate. Your idea of Arendelle on one side and a Villain area on the other is neat, but it got me thinking what one would put in the middle. Both Arendelle and villains land would probably be mountainous and feature some kind of castle-ey focal point (will Belle's Castle also adjacent), so naturally in the middle you've got a sort of a valley. Embracing the idea there's sort of a melting pot in this magical valley stuck in the middle would help root a mishmash of attractions in the themeing and not overshadow the two big draws on either side. Maybe there's a lot of different cultures converging in this valley -- insert some combination of Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine/Aladdin, and maybe even Encanto. Would make for a natural place for a replacement princess meet and greet hall too. Then as you get closer to the villain side it gets a bit more rogueish and seedier - Pinocchio, Robin Hood, and Tangled's settings might fit over here. Obviously you can't fit all of these IPs but the idea there's everything and anything converging in this valley between two opposing ideals of good and evil could thread them all together nicely.
Say we clone Pinnochio's dark ride near the entrance to the villains area; its urban setting could transition towards the good side with Encanto's Casita, probably some kind of restaurant. Likewise, Robin Hood or Tangled forest would probably fit next to Mulan's home or Pocahontas nicely. Say we give Mulan the dark ride and put a medieval restaurant/tavern in the Robin Hood/Tangled spot. Maybe you can even shove the themeing kicking and screaming into cohesiveness with the Hades ride and run it by the restaurant, Disneyland PotC style. And then we've got enough room to shove the princess area adjacent to Frozen's entrance with shops interspersed throughout. Theme the whole thing, villains, arendelle, and center as "Fantasy Valley".
Now that would be a real Fantasyland. I agree that, as it is, it's very underwhelming; worse, perhaps, that what there was before.
There used to be a shop inside Cinderella's Castle called The King's Gallery, and it sold real medieval arms and armor, and other medieval goods, but then it was replaced by Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique in 2007.
Ah the good old days. Bring back classic Mainstreet too
I'm glad I went to be our guest before it declined...
Here is my opinion on Magic Kingdom. They don't make any improvements because they don't have to. It has and still is the most visited theme park in the world. People are visiting no matter what the state of the park is. Magic Kingdom is the supposed crown jewel of the Disney parks. I've always thought of it as an afterthought.
I would like to see more homage paid to the classics in the way of rides, like The Rescuers, The Aristocats, 101 Dalmatians.
I remember someone making a pitch for a Rescuers ride and it sounded awesome
As a west coaster, I like the Snow White mine train. I think a reason itâs a popular ride could be due to the fact it isnât at other parks. On my first trip to Disney World, my priorities were to rise stuff I donât get at Disneyland/California Adventure. I may have done multiple rides on the Tower Of Terror. Miss it a lot in California but I do like Mission Breakout alot too.
Yeah maybe, but I have a feeling that its crowds are the result of artificial demand. Disney blogs want to share their "here's how to beat the crowds at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!" articles and it creates this perpetual cycle of creating demand by inciting a scramble of people who feel that they "have" to ride it or else they're missing out on a high-demand attraction that otherwise wouldn't continue seeing such dramatic wait times.
@@PoseidonEntertainment that could be as well. Iâm sure its a mixture of all sorts of stuff.
I really enjoy your videos even if I donât always agree with your views but you caught my interest because Disney parks are losing their luster. Iâve been going to Disney parks nearly every year of my adult life and they arenât as good as I remember. I may skip them entirely this year and youâve pointed out a lot of reasons why.
Anyways, have a good day.
There are not nearly enough classic style indoor dark rides at Magic Kingdom's Fantasy Land. And the lack of attraction capacity is a problem at Disney World in general, at every park.
WOW, you actually followed up on that video covering Fantasyland that I asked about on an earlier video, you are the greatest! This is such a cool topic and I'm glad that you are covering it in your own way.
I honestly don't remember being asked, but I started off with the idea of doing a 10 year retrospective for New Fantasyland and the script evolved into this. I apologize because I didn't actually remember, but I suppose it worked out.
@@PoseidonEntertainment That's ok, I only remembered because you replied to my original comment asking about it and you expressed interest in the concept.
I'm glad you brought up the Little Mermaid ride, since as a big fan of the movie I've always felt the ride has missed potential. I've only been on the California Adventure version, but I've heard that they are pretty much identical and suffer a lot of the same issues. I feel like one of the biggest problems is that there are massive, long stretches between the scenes (particularly at the beginning of the ride and after the Ursual scene) that are practically empty except for some rockwork. IMO they need to focus on these spaces a bit more if the ride is ever going to improve. Doubt that'll happen under current Disney leadership though.
At least the queue in Magic Kingdom is interesting. On the flip-side though, I suppose the queue at DCA doesn't raise your expectations as high.
@@PoseidonEntertainment That is very true unfortunately. The queue takes up an honestly ridiculous amount of space for a ride that never has a wait time longer than 10 minutes. I swear 90% of the queue is ropes off/empty every time Iâm there
What I find weird, is the fact they built the Haunted Mansion right on the river's edge. Completely closing off access to Park expansion up and around the rivers of America. Where they put the new bathrooms, they could have made a path back that way. They also landlocked themselves on the other side of the river with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It seems future planning did not go into consideration when building the Magic Kingdom
I feel Big Thunder Mountain would have been salvagable if Thunder Mesa became a reality. Like the idea of an "underground" tunnel crossing through the mountain to the other side to continue on around the river would have helped a ton. The Haunted Mansion is completely on them however.
@@TheOnlyBongo itâs a shame thunder Mesa never got built. An entire big thunder mining town theme sounds truly awesome!
I see what you mean, but I actually don't find it to be that necessary. Magic Kingdom still had the Tomorrowland expansion space where Tron is now going and they could expand south beyond the backstage parade route to expand Adventureland. I know the northern area I proposed isn't designated for park expansion, but I think that with enough creative thinking, that space could be used up without moving past the Haunted Mansion.
You also wonder how much space we would have had in Adventureland if they never built Pirates and went with Thunder Mesa.
Let's not even go into how the Tangled Restrooms completly go INTO THE EXIT of the Mansion destroying the entire meaning the transition and crating crowd flow confusion
I think that's a necessary side-effective of at least attempting to relieve crowd flow there. My largest issue is the lack of care with the sightlines. I hate seeing the tower from Frontierland. They couldn't be bothered to plant a tree in front of it?
I would build the unbuilt Bald Mountain coaster planned in 2001 in a villains area as well as a Nightmare before Christmas dark ride to make up for not having the holiday overlay like in California. I would also love Mystic Manor to be added to magic kingdom somehow someday.
Fun fact: back when the Magic Kingdom was still in development, there were plans to give its Fantasyland a totally different slate of dark rides! At Disneyland the three main original dark rides (Mr Toad, Peter Pan, and Snow White) each embodied a certain emotion that determined the tone of the ride; zany, chaotic fun in the case of Toad, beauty and wonder for Peter Pan, and dark fright for Snow White. At Magic Kingdom, Mr. Toad would've been replaced with a ride based on the Wizards Duel from Sword in the Stone, Peter Pan would've been replaced with a Mary Poppins ride that used flying umbrellas as the ride vehicle, and finally Snow White would've been replaced with a scary Sleeping Beauty ride including an encounter with the Maleficent dragon! Obviously this never happened but I think the Sleeping Beauty ride idea would've been the perfect replacement for Snow White's Scary Adventures when it closed. Imagine how cool a Sleeping Beauty dark ride could be!
I mean, the Tony Baxter Mernaid ride was exactly the remedy you were looking for, faster paced. not to mention with a novelty dry-for-wet technology that would've made it feel like you were actually underwater.
I didn't get the impression that the ride improved on this much. Judging from the video, I don't really understand the praise it gets.
@@PoseidonEntertainment to be fair the video isn't the actual ride, and i'm sure like Peter Pan's flight, they had the ability to speed it up or slow it down as needed. Plus i"m sure the bubble with water in the ride vehicle would've really rounded out the experience. (Think of what the 20k Ride in Tokyo looks like)
Dude, your content is fantastic!
As always, reasoned, well-thought-out critiques of what they do right and, unfortunately, what they too often do wrong. All of the problems highlighted reflect the poor quality of upper management with repeated failures in caring or understanding the problems the parks face. Poor management down to the lowest level at the parks has been running the experience and park quality into the ground for years. Disney management seems to be incapable of proactive action to fix problems. Probably by design since they don't have to do anything or fix anything if management doesn't care
Following the fantasea expansion coming to Tokyo Disney Sea in 2023, Magic Kingdom could import the new Peter Pan and Tangled rides. It's a small world could become the Tangled boat ride. The peter pan ride could replace the area big top souvenirs. The current Peter pan dark ride could become something new.
Someone at Disney either needs to give this man a well paid job, or at the very least steal all of his ideas he's given you so far for free. But for christ's sake, don't waste this man's talent.
Excellent video as always! Itâs crazy that you seem to know more about the Disney parks than Disney itself. They need to make you president of Disney parks.
The worse part of what you are suggesting is that it makes perfect sense and would really work so with that being said we know that this would be turned down by anyone at Disney! Fantastic video though!!!!
After going to fantasyland for the 1st time since being a kid only a few days ago. I gotta say that certain aspects really impressed me (like the mine train, Winnie the Pooh's ride and a couple of others) but yep... The food quality and overall experience at Be our guest was average at best... (It was also the most expensive)
I understand the importance of a good meet and great area for the princesses but removing snow White's dark ride for it is a bad move!!
However, it's worth pointing out that meeting the princesses is super important for a huge chunk of guests, arguably more so than snow White's dark ride.
The fact you get to meet 4 of them quite easily in magic Kingdom is a complete breath of fresh air compared to Paris's terrible system that offers 2 completely unknown princesses (of which you only get to see 1 depending on if you speak English or french) after a 2-3 hour wait!
If anything needs fixing... It's that!!!
Those Cinderella murals are quite beautiful!
If they update Orlandoâs Peter Pan, not only projections and new effects, but also new animatronics as well.
What needs fixed most with the BnB area is Beastâs Castle. It has no definitive silhouette and the forced perspective is a joke. I think this small fix would have a huge impact.
Love the changes. When we first visited MK we were so excited but then quickly became underwhelmed. The best way to describe it is the Magic Kingdom has no Magic. Growing up in socal, Disneyland was a staple. It wasnât until we visited mk that we realized how perfectly placed Disneyland is with attractions. Now as a resident, weâve had more time to explore and ponder what we donât like. It seems to us that MK and Hollywood studios are missing at minimum an entire land each. With all of the space available, itâs a shame that of all places MK falls flat. We have family visiting soon and we are taking them to the 3 other parks, skipping mk. Told them to stick with Disneyland for that. Tron alone wonât save mk either. They are missing out on huge opportunities. If they did half of what you suggested it would bring the magic to magic kingdom.
I went to WDW last in 2017. Definitely felt let down on the MK day and half the Epcot day. Weather was dreary and park felt dated and stale. And ânewâ Fantasyland felt like a medieval-themed flea market. Lines were long which limited how many rides I could do, but it was Thanksgiving week which is best avoided. On a bad day the MK is really bad and doesnât rise above its weaknesses.
This summer, I went to Magic Kingdom during a busy day. At about 12 Pm, which was rush hour, me and my family went to the New Fantasy Land. Surprisingly it was empty, even the Little Mermaid dark ride had a 5 minute wait time. It was very unusual to us due to the fact the park was filled to the brim.
So much for expanding pathway capacity if no one goes to the area
I feel like an Encanto dark ride would be a really smart idea. The entire thing is set in a house for the most part, making it the perfect fit for a very compact dark ride that sends you careening from one room to another with lots of old-school effects. Given all the unique sets in the movie, it could be a good fit for the area and pay tribute to the movie without a huge cost.
@@devonalomar9012 Which wouldn't make sense, since the setting of the movie seems to be Columbia. But then they stuck Frozen in Norway.. so.. yeah, I could see them doing that.
@@Spiff99 frozen is supposed to be based in a fictional Norway though? Even Arendelle gets its name from a similarly named town in Norway
I love how blunt and introspective your videos are đ
you have became my favorite theme park channel thank you so much for the though and effort you put in your videos!!
Same. But out of curiosity which others do you like on YT?
@@aayotechnology Offhand Disney, Defunctland, Yesterworld, WDWNT, TPMvids, Disney Dan, Amusement Labs. I'm sure there are tons others but those are the ones on the top of my head
Mine as well!
@@DylanRyan8 those channels are great, and tend to be a little less biased to Disney which is always great!
For me the standout issue with your proposal is the absence of a space for a meet and greet facility. I loved Snow Whiteâs Scary Adventure so much, but ultimately you need a princess meet and greet area somewhere. Itâs a critical experience for families.
Maybe in the middle portion of the expansion area you proposed, but if you want to restore Snow White you need an alternative princess meet and greet.
Originally the princesses were hosted in Toon Town, but now thematically that just doesnât work with the circus theme.
Honestly, all the land to the north that I didn't really propose anything for could work. As someone who cares very little for meet and greets, I have very little knowledge of how important it might be to the average person visiting, so I suppose I'm not the best judge with how much of it should be included. I don't know if this makes sense for the guest experience, but I rather prefer the idea of character "sightings" as in Cinderella waving to guests from the upper part of the castle, rather than waiting an hour to meet her. It seems to work well for Disneyland and definitely adds a lot more to the atmosphere there.
I remember attending the pass holder preview for New Fantasyland and being completely underwhelmed. Then we still had to wait for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and that was underwhelming too. There was so much anticipation for this expansion and we rarely rode anything aside from Seven Dwarfs and Dumbo.
I do give them credit for the Dumbo playground and queue. Itâs comfortable and well-themed. That was a lifesaver when my boys were little.
Unfortunately the lack of good quality attractions and a better use of this plot of land comes down to money as usual.
One of my new favorite channels, I like that you don't just state boring facts, but you actually present your own ideas alongside the hard facts.
The most broken thing about Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland is the fact that the only freaking cast member bathroom was next to Mousecateria in the utilidoors between _it's a small world_ & _Be Our Guest._ Meanwhile at Haunted Mansion - my old attraction - there was a bathroom upstairs above the hallway after the stretch rooms. CM bathroom placement in MK is freakin' crazy!
Thank you for your critical views and great inputs. I love your videos and always leave upset because I know how much better Disney could be doing⊠right now Iâm just waiting on whatever theyâll announce during D23 (although I expect nothing major) but HOPEFULLY they will do something because Epic Universe is breathing down their neck.
My theory on why they donât update Peter Pan is due to its abysmal hourly ride capacity. If they redid the ride to make it a must-do, they would need a full blown vehicle and track overhaul to increase rider capacity to acceptable levels to ensure enough people could actually ride it.
I love these long video essays at work đ
Storybook circus is one of my favorite lands and definitely the best part of fantasyland and I like how itâs so chill and thereâs less crowds
My one issue is that yellow tent in the back. It feels like they didn't really know what to do with the space, but it could definitely benefit from a small attraction.
Really appreciate all your hard work on these videos, keep them coming!!!!
Disney should update their Snow White dark ride at all their parks with improved audio-animatronics so the ride should be called âSnow Whiteâs Enchanted Fairytale Adventureâ!
Great ideas as always, makes us see how much space really is squandered!
I was wondering if there could be an elevated building of sorts to capture âupâ space without taking away other visuals. Something along the lines of an elevated flat ride with shaded areas, concessions or restrooms.
This is your best work so far!
I hope somebody at Disney sees this!
Loved your balance of pointing out the challenges, plus adding positive ideas for the improvement
I really think that Disney should replace the princess meet and greet with an updated version of Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Disney should also replace Mickeys Philharmagic with an updated version of The Mickey Mouse Revue. As for the princess meet and greet, they can remove Enchanted Tales with Belle, and then relocate the princess meet and greet to that space.
The biggest problem with MK's Fantasyland is a severe lack of cohesion. Other lands have one theme going on: Tomorrowland is futuristic; Frontierland is the Wild Wild West; Liberty Square is colonial America. Fantasyland was never all that cohesive, but now it's got Beauty and the Beast and then turn around and there's the Little Mermaid, and right across from both of them is Snow White. In Disneyland, most of it is has this medieval "where the Grimms probably lived" sort of feel, so even with Dumbo right there, and Pinocchio's whale over there, you still feel immersed in this land of Fantasy. The parts that wouldn't work - It's a Small World and Toon Town - are removed from the half-timbered world that doesn't belong to any single character. MK's medieval theming have been invaded by a bunch of cheap Renaissance Faire awnings, so there's no real immersion. Unless the immersion you are looking for is Six Flags (people that claim that Disney is all about immersion, they need to just walk down the lane between It's a Small World and Peter Pan). Removing Dumbo from the rest of Fantasyland was smart, though underwhelming in execution, as you said.
The simple fact is, Disney just isn't interested in immersion anymore. Immersion is in the details and the details cost money. They did immersion for Pandora, and it made Animal Kingdom the #2 park in Orlando. But how much merch is it selling? Meanwhile, Galaxy's Edge isn't immersive - unless the immersion you want is some cheap, Disneyfied version of the Star Wars universe. And Toy Story Land is immersive in the same cheap way. But, hey, they both sell merch!
So why build the Beast's Castle when you can build a tiny one and put it far away for "perspective"? Why build the gorgeously-expensive castle from Tangled when you can build Rapunzel's prison? (Yay?) I will say Little Mermaid Avenue is successful, as they did a good job hiding the Mermaid and Dwarfs rides and there's detail here, though it's a bit Pirates of the Caribbeanish. But there's height here, height is immersive. Head to the other side of the "coaster" and there's no height and no immersion. Because height is expensive. So they can throw in some new rides, but getting to them will still be nothing like walking through the Fantasyland out west.
I can't say that I really find the other lands of the Magic Kingdom cohesive either though. What ties Jungle Cruise to the Tiki Room? What ties Buzz Lightyear to the Carousel of Progress? I think that the generic, overarching theme for each land works great as a template for a variety of experiences. Something that has bothered me about their new "immersive" lands is how boxed in they are by story. A few of these lands are great here and there, but it's ultimately more limiting than I think it's worth.
My issue with the Little Mermaid ride is the lack of water. It makes the ride seem cheaper to me, though I understand the purpose of it helping with ride maintenance.
I'm consistently amazed that we don't have an Emperor's New Groove coaster. I get that it's not a mainstream fan favorite, but they literally have "Pull the lever, Kronk" to pull from.
*âWRONG LEVER!!!â*