Just a thought on ride rehabs and new rides.

mdk010 · Post by **mdk010** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 2:17 pm

While I was listening to the original Journey into the Imagination I was thinking about the fiasco when it was rehabbed and Figment was removed. Then it was redone again and Figment was added. I was just thinking about how fans of the "classic" ride were mad about this. Personally, I am all for having classic rides stay the same, but at some point some things need to change. WDW keeps people coming back by adding new attractions that people want to see. For example, my family was really excited to see the rehab on Spaceship Earth. After riding it we thought it was great. I think WDW Imagineers really know how to make a ride new, but at the same time keep the same nostalgic details.

What does everyone think Disney did great and Disney screwed up as far as ride referbishment/replacement goes?

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 3:09 pm

As far as Imagination goes...They took a ride and cut it in half, and at first, got rid of the heart of the ride..Dreamfinder & Figment and realized their mistake by putting Figment back into the ride. But they still screwed it up as it just doesn't have the same feeling it once had. It just feels like they put half the effort into this rehab and doesn't have the same WOW factor that most Disney attractions used to have back in the day.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 3:44 pm

I'm all for refurbing some of the "classic" attractions, but just don't screw them up! Like Imagination, I agree with pacwingfn, the WOW factor isn't there anymore. I think Disney did an awesome job on Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth, they didn't ruin the WOW factor of these original classics, they just made them better!

I do wish they would've left some of the classics alone like World of Motion and Horizons. I'm also a little upset about the Seas. I love Nemo, and although the Seas could've used a bit of a face lift, I don't think the drastic change was necessary.

mdk010 · Post by **mdk010** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 6:46 pm

I think the Seas they we trying to use the raving popularity of Finding Nemo to get more crowds into The Seas. I like the new attraction. It is basically the same thing with clam mobiles.

samuraiblue · Post by **samuraiblue** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 6:47 pm

I've got to give it to the imagineering crews though. When they know that an attraction has a LARGE fanbase, such as the Haunted Mansion, they definitely take their time and work to simply enhance, and not rebuild the entire attraction.

I agree with you boilerbabe, I love Nemo too, and as much as I would have LOVED to have seen the Hydrolators back in action, along side the vehicles to SeaBase Alpha... I think Nemo was overall a good addition to a pavilion that frankly, was just sitting there.

Imagination, on the other hand, did pull some of the original heart and soul out of the attractions rehabed rehab, but another aspect of Disney is looking at something with fresh eyes. I mean, hey, I love the original EPCOT Center. It's my favorite of the parks, and houses my favorite attractions of 'em all. But think back to when you were young, and saw figment for the first time, or the first time you saw those flashing buttons on Horizons, that said Desert, Space and Undersea... When you bring your kids, or friends that have never experienced WDW, its completely fresh to them. They'll find their own heart and soul.... minus a catchy 80s tune to go along side it...

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 6:53 pm

I was disappointed to see that the tunnel no longer exists at the Seas. Does anyone remember that?! You went through a tunnel and the fish were literally all around you. I'm not 100% sure what happened, but we when we did Dive Quest, we swam over the tunnel, I had almost forgotten that that used to exist. It's just closed off now. I wish they would've encorporated a little more of the original attraction and just added Nemo in here and there.

purple figment · Post by **purple figment** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 6:53 pm

Figment was fun before the original change and seems a little annoying now. Personally, I have not seen the Spaceship Earth change. I loved the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates changes.
I do sometimes miss World of Motion, but people seem to really enjoy Test Track. I like the ending, but most of the rest of it just seems okay.
I often miss Horizons, but Mission Space is truly unique.
I don't think all the changes in the living seas were good. The clamshell ride seems a little haphazard.
People get really worked up over the Toad/Winnie change. I don't love Winnie, but don't especially miss the Toad.
I think the imagineers can really get it right when they are commited to keeping the original feel of the ride, but when they want to make complete changes, they usually end up upsetting people.

spodie · Post by **spodie** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 7:18 pm

I think it's just a matter of when we grew up in Disney. I think that if they took Splash Mountain and turned it into Splash Mountain featuring Bolt, I would hate it and probably not want to ride it because it lost what I had loved about it. However, kids who are seven years old and ride it on their first trip to Disney would probably love it because that's all they know. But then after ten years when Disney decides to make it over into the next fad, those kids that are now seventeen will hate it and it and the vicious cycle has begun.

Yeah, there are going to be refurbs that we don't like, but unfortunately, not everyone will be happy with everything. However, that's why Disney is so great! There are so many different attractions that I can easily skip over a few I don't like and still be so entertained for years by what is left.

samuraiblue · Post by **samuraiblue** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 8:15 pm

Its true... The number of people that would pass by and say, "UGH! I can't believe this stupid Mission:Space took over from Horizons." Had never even rode Space.... Just open your minds once! Give the new attractions a go at least once, then make your own decisions!

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 10:03 pm

see, i hate mission space. I went on it twice and felt very sick after both times. If you get rid of a popular family ride, dont replace it with something that half of the people attending the parks cant go on. They should have put it in WOL sicne they were already getting rid of that, adn it was a thrill ride.

samuraiblue · Post by **samuraiblue** » Apr Sun 05, 2009 11:55 pm

yodiwan1 wrote:They should have put it in WOL sicne they were already getting rid of that, adn it was a thrill ride.

But lets not forget that Horizons wasn't just a rehab. There was a Sinkhole that had opened beneath the building, and the roof had numerous issues... The money involved to deal with the building structure alone probably just warranted a new attraction in management's eyes.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Mon 06, 2009 4:55 am

spodie wrote:I think it's just a matter of when we grew up in Disney. I think that if they took Splash Mountain and turned it into Splash Mountain featuring Bolt, I would hate it and probably not want to ride it because it lost what I had loved about it.

That's true to some extent, but a lot of objections to the new stuff are because they are poorly-themed or just generally ill-conceived, at a very fundamental level. Singing fish in Future World, monster comedians in Tomorrowland, an attraction about imagination that tries to limit your mind instead of freeing it, etc.

Nostalgia is certainly a factor, but we shouldn't just forgive Disney when they make poor decisions. People love to trot out the "Disneyland is not a museum" quote, but you can't justify everything by simply saying "change is good". Good change is good. Bad change sucks.

As for Horizons, most of us have heard the rumors about the sinkhole and such, but I don't think any proof has been presented. It seems unlikely to me that they would built another multi-million dollar attraction on top of a sinkhole if that were the only problem, but I could be wrong.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Apr Mon 06, 2009 9:31 am

yodiwan1 wrote:see, i hate mission space. I went on it twice and felt very sick after both times. If you get rid of a popular family ride, dont replace it with something that half of the people attending the parks cant go on. They should have put it in WOL sicne they were already getting rid of that, adn it was a thrill ride.

I have to agree with you here yodiwan, I don't care for Mission Space, we went on it before there were two different versions and we all got very sick. The new versions leave something to be desired. I don't think I could've said it better, if you're going to replace a family attraction, don't put something else there that some/most people won't be able to enjoy. Definately not a family ride!

samuraiblue · Post by **samuraiblue** » Apr Mon 06, 2009 9:41 am

boilerbabe wrote:if you're going to replace a family attraction, don't put something else there that some/most people won't be able to enjoy. Definately not a family ride!

But lets be honest, every park has attractions that some of the family can't/doesn't want to go on. It's no different from someone saying, "Living with the Land? Why would I ride that? It's boring and stupid." However, with the Green/Orange switchover, the entire family can experience Mission:Space, just without the G-Forces from the Orange Side. But the line for the Orange Side is always at least twice as long as Green.

Future Guy · Post by **Future Guy** » Apr Mon 06, 2009 10:31 am

I have no problem with rehabbing old rides and making them better. I just hate to see something good made worse. Take the Imagination pavilion: the sole reason that it was rehabbed in the first place was because it was one of the most expensive pavilions to operate. The object of the rehab was not to make it better, but to make it cheaper to run. Disney really gave their customers the raw end of the deal on this one.

With some of the other rehabs, though, I'm of two minds. The Seas With Nemo and His Computer-Generated Friends doesn't fit in with my idea of what EPCOT should be, but when I visited in 2007 the new Seas pavilion was more crowded than I've seen it since 1986 when The Living Seas first opened. I don't like Test Track, but I'm definitely in the minority there, since it seems to be pretty popular. And anyway, the blame for that one can be laid at GM's feet, since it was their clueless management who insisted that World of Motion 2.0 be a more automobile-centric attraction.

As for the Magic Kingdom, it's pretty much Licensed Character land. The Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor is probably the best show ever to occupy that space, and it's obvious that Disney spent a serious amount of money on it--a halfway job it was not. I'm not crazy about Stitch's Great Escape, but it's more family-friendly than Alien Encounter. Honestly, I preferred Mission To Mars, but for today's audiences it'd be a real snoozefest.

As for the Horizons thing, I think that the sinkhole story is pretty credible. Why else would Disney go to the expense of tearing down the building? Most rehabs are simply worked into an existing building and ride system, after all. The Mission:Space building is considerably smaller than the Horizons pavilion was; it probably doesn't rest on the sinkhole at all.