We all have one. The ride we don’t ride. The ride we avoid. The ride we forget.
You’d think that since I live here, it would be nothing but Soarin’ and Space Mountain all the time, but it’s fairly obvious why I don’t hit those rides much. Wait times.
I always make it a point to see the new stuff at least once (even the Frozen Sing-a-long), but I tend to stick with something that is A) Good and B) Available.
It took me almost two years as a local before I finally checked off every single attraction. The guy who was obsessed with seeing everything when I came on vacation turned into a very discriminate tourist when I actually moved down.
When teams try to complete WDW46, there are a surprising number of occasions where teams are riding a ride for the first time (usually the Main Street Vehicles or Tom Sawyer Island).
It got me to thinking about my frequent ridership, and what are my least-visited attractions in the parks. I wonder how would compare to folks who come on vacation, or other locals. I expect the mileage will vary, but I’m certain these forgotten Disney attractions are on everyone’s lowball list.
Magic Kingdom
Of all the parks, I have probably managed to spread the wealth around the most at Magic Kingdom. I rode Mansion a ton when I first moved down, but Pirates is probably the current winner. It tends to eat lines better than Mansion lately (thanks for nothing, FastPass+). The PeopleMover is also very high on the list.
But there is one attraction I avoid like the plague. It takes a great movie, and then chucks that greatness out the window for a chance to allow kids to tell grade-school jokes via the magic of text.
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
I have probably seen this a grand total of 3 times in the ten years I have lived here. The jokes are forced, the theming is out of place, and with all the great Monsters Inc. material to choose from, they latched on to a Mike Wazowski burp joke that appears just before the credits.
Whenever I walk through Tomorrowland, this attraction might as well be an empty warehouse for all the attention I give it.
As a footnote, the AstroOrbitor is probably a very close second. I have zero tolerance for the wait time. I’m sure I’ve ridden it five times or less since moving down.
Yes, that means the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery is higher on the list.
Here is a picture of the Laugh Floor from AstroOrbitor, which is a rare combination of forgottenness
Animal Kingdom
The most frequent ride for me is far and away the Safari, which is odd, since it usually has some of the longer lines in the park. But it was a good FastPass deal (old FastPass), and usually a walk-on in the evenings when we are most likely to visit.
Kali would be on the lower end of the spectrum because wet underwear in a theme park is not fun. But the champ is Primeval Whirl.
This unthemed rattling monstrosity is basically a Grand Inquisition torture machine, but without any of the redeeming qualities that Grand Inquisition torture machines typically have.
Unlike Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, I am always very aware of Primeval Whirl when I’m in the park. Usually it’s because I can’t hear myself think, and also because there is a sense of abject evil emanating from it, the way pea-soup vomit emanates from Linda Blair’s head.
Side note: With it’s limited show times, I have seen Flights of Wonder about the same number of times that I have ridden Primeval Whirl. But Flights of Wonder never crawled out of a sewer and ate my dog, so Primeval Whirl is the winner.
If Dante wrote a sequel to the Inferno, this would be its title.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Star Tours is running away with the popularity award. Like the Safari at Animal Kingdom, we always seem to end up on Star Tours during an evening at the Studios.
On the low-end of the spectrum, I am surprisingly light on Toy Story Mania. That killer, killer line is a real turn-off. Somewhere between 5 and 10 times.
But nothing can hold a candle to Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. I’ve seen this a whopping two times in 10 years. The first time was simply to cross it off the list as the very last attraction I experienced as a local.
The second time was to let my son see it, because he had been bad that day and needed to be punished.
Okay, I’m being harsh. Beauty and the Beast is no Primeval Whirl, since the first time you see it it is tolerable and does not cause zombie snakes to infest your home. But subsequent viewings are just intolerable. The theater is hot and miserable, the characters are expressionless in their foam heads, and everything about it exudes blandness.
I don’t have any pictures of the actual show, so here is a picture of a static Beast statue. It has approximately the same quality of performance.
Epcot
Spaceship Earth and Nemo lead the popularity contest here. I’m also good for a turn on Living with the Land.
The movie presentations fare the worst. O Canada, Impressions de France, and Circle of Life are probably between 3-5 times each. American Adventure is about 5 times as well (awkward show times and length).
I assume we’re not going to count Innoventions. I don’t go out of my way to experience every little corporate slideshow. I’ll usually do an exhibit once, but I don’t often repeat it. Playing the Playstations for five minutes counts as “doing something” right?
Your Epcot grand winner? Wonders of China.
Up until last month, I had seen it only once, and actually made a special trip to see it again, just so that it wouldn’t be rated worse than Beauty and the Beast. It’s my least favorite of the World Showcase attractions, probably because it does not show one of the Three Amigos lacking self-awareness at how unfunny he has become.
But come on. It’s not worse than Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage.
What Are Your Forgotten Disney Attractions?
So I’m curious… whether you’re an infrequent visitor or if you go all the time—what wins the prize for your most Forgotten Disney Attraction?
Mr Toads Wild Ride a Walt Disney World because in the park area of the Rude you see both tracks and see each others cars go differently. Country Bear Summer Vacation one of the best musically and Country Bear Christmas let Disneyland all together but the original Country Bear attraction with its original soundtrack is still intact in Walt Disney World what is know about this attraction in Tokyo Disney any info?
Beauty and the Beast is mom’s favorite show at the parks and kind of one of mine too, despite it’s lack of updates. It makes me smile because it makes her smile and we both love the Disney film versions. But on the note of what I avoid… I generally avoid anything that I can’t ride. I have anxiety disorder and a heart condition. So I can’t ride any of the coasters or any of the mountains, although I have been on one mountain twice. However, I still love that mountain to death even though I can’t deal with riding it, so just because I can’t ride something doesn’t mean I don’t like it either. That mountain is Splash Mountain. I also lucked out in having a mind that prefers the same kinds of entertainment that very young children enjoy, so most of my favorite attractions are those that would bore thrill seekers to death. Like The Country Bear Jamboree, Small World, Tiki Room and Haunted Mansion. I LOVE those. I also love the Laugh Floor… Sometimes. Not all kids’ jokes are funny. But last time I went, some were comedy gold. haha
Unpopular opinion: I also love Stitch’s Great Escape. I have been a huge fan of Lilo & Stitch since before the movie was completed (because I was lucky enough to get to go on a behind the scenes tour for the film during its production). Before Lilo & Stitch came along, I had only one alien I wasn’t afraid of and that was E.T. Every other alien terrified me to pieces. They still do. In fact, my first and final time keeping my eyes open for the entire Alien scene in The Great Movie Ride was this year on August 12th (the day before the ride closed forever, r.i.p Great Movie Ride, I will never stop loving you and singing “Hooray For Hollywood”) and I have been going nearly every two years since 2002. That’s a span of 15 years. But anyway, Lilo & Stitch gave me more aliens to love instead of fear and I loved it so much for that. I still remember the morning I first heard Disney 361 announce Stitch’s Great Escape… I was 14 at the time and I went RUNNING through the house, screaming excitedly about Stitch finally getting an attraction at Disney World and right away, my mom made plans to take me to Disney World again the following year. It was never the best attraction, but I have always loved it nonetheless. Because in an odd way, the whole attraction seems to represent Stitch himself- little and broken but still good (because I think the same words he used to describe his new found family can also be applied to him). Plus, having been the world’s craziest Stitch fangirl, I really don’t mind getting spit on by him. So crazy, in fact, that I have my own story to share that has to do with later production in the Lilo & Stitch franchise, but that’s a story for another time.
But back to what started this… Is there an attraction I don’t like?? That probably depends. Like I said, I normally just don’t like too much thrill. One of the last times I went to Animal Kingdom, I refused to ride Dinosaur/Countdown To Extinction because it was too fast and too bumpy for me… But that aside, I LOVE watching the videos of the ride! Dinosaurs have been a favorite thing of mine since I was still in diapers, soooo… Yeah. Even that’s not a ride I really don’t like. Plus, I used to ride it when I was small and I loved it back then, too… Even though carnotauruses have always freaked me out. When I was a kid, it was because of their large size and their horns. But now I’m more used to that on animals and what gets me now is that they lack elbows. X_X Anyone here play ARK: Survival Evolved? I know it’s a bit off-topic, but I was playing a few weeks ago with a new female carno when I looked up and suddenly noticed it didn’t have elbows… I started screaming. X_X
So, though I don’t have any really disliked attractions (other than Frozen, but that’s a really long story), I am starting to have some disliked special effects… Like on Dinosaur, you know how at the end they try to make it look like the Iguanodon is riding with you? I really would have preferred Pepper’s Ghost. Or Disney’s selective preferences for singling out characters for interactive masks… Like, Mickey is cool and all, but when am I going to get to talk to Goofy or maybe Tigger? Maybe Stitch?
Another thing I hate and this is just an experience I get (not for the public)… Is when we are at the parks and my mom casually ignores the careful attention to detail and fluid animation in the audioanimatronics… Last August, there was no line when we reached Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and my mom just brushed past Scuttle in the waiting queue like no big deal. I yelled at her (because she was super far ahead of me).
my favorite attraction was drinking around the world. start in the UK with a Bass, a MooseHead larger in canada, then continue all the way around, drinking each countries delicious native nector as you go. finally finishing in Mexico with a fiesta margarita! i worked in tomorrow land in 2002-2003. it was sort of tradition to take someone (if we liked you) to EPCOT to do a “Drink around the World” . i sure hope this liver destroying tradition is still alive and well today.
Now that Mr. Toad’s is gone, I pretty much forget all of Fantasyland. I’ll do the teacups, but that’s about it. Avoiding Fantasyland means I am spared having to hear “It’s a Small World”, which makes me want to punch puppies.
Oh man, so much hate for some old attractions I love! I agree with so many of you but I must admit I have a love for all attractions at these parks, as I believe you can’t have a bad time when at WDW. The Magic Kingdon for me may be a tie between Dumbo and Prince Charming Carousel. I just have no need to ride either of these again.
EPCOT…..now it is Mission Space (just not my cup of tea). I see a lot of hate for Gran Fiesta Tour, and yes, old EPCOT Center was better, but still fun in my book.
Hollywood Studios is home to my favorite attraction, The Great Movie Ride! I love this thing. The one area I never make it to is The Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.
DAK, honestly, is a half day park for me at best. I love the Safari, Dinosaur, and Everest is over rated but ok. I would have to say I avoid The Kali River Rapids. It was stated perfectly in the original post, wet underwear is no fun!
Of course completing this list has me now wanted to ride these again ( minus Mission Space). Also, Ellen’s Universe of Energy is great, you just need to like Ellen’s comedy, spending 45 minutes out of the heat, and letting your inner kid enjoy the AA!
Where’s the hate for the Tomorrowland Speedway. I haven’t been on that since 1994, and that was only because 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had broken down.
There is much hate for the Speedway from my end. But to its credit, I have ridden it more times than I have seen Laugh Floor. We here at Parkeology love and miss 20K dearly.
“Kali would be on the lower end of the spectrum because wet underwear in a theme park is not fun.”
Great Caesar’s ghost! you can say that again! I don’t mean to get too graphic but the last time I rode Kali the wet underwear I got from the ride chafed me so bad it was as if a cheese grater had been taken to my my taint, thank God for the special cream I bought from the hotel shop afterward.
So I wont be riding that ride again unless I’m wearing a pair of swim trunks.
I did not know they sold such cream at the hotel gift shop.
It was a tube of Lotrimin to be exact.
Don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but the ladies’ room outside of Kali is like Minnie Gone Wild, especially when those Brazilian tour groups are in the park. There is always a cluster of women stripped down to the bare minimum trying to dry off under the hand dryers so they don’t spend the rest of the day feeling like a wet potato chip.
I tried to be smart and wear a poncho because my daughter loves that ride, even in January, and someone has to take her on. We went around once and she begged to go again. I said okay, and decided to put up the hood of my poncho for the second go-around– not realizing a big wave had partially filled it with water. So I put the hood up, dumping cold water directly down my back and into my butt crack. I let out a scream that probably made those giant bats stop eating their lettuce. However, I had too much dignity to join the ladies blow-drying themselves in the bathroom and just decided to squish around for the rest of the day.
Melanie, you have NOT mentioned this before. People keep asking us about the mysterious door in AK, but it seems like the goings-on behind that Kali door are much more lurid.
I have seen guys drying off a few things as well, though it is usually socks. Hardly exciting stuff.
Aww.. Laugh Floor is one of my favorites.
The first thing that comes to mind is Mission: Space, I will never EVER go near that ride. Final.
Magic Kingdom: Stitch. Another that I will never do in my entire life, no way, never ever, it might even be hated more than Mission: Space.
Hollywood Studios: I still haven’t done Tower of Terror, so that, I guess. But I hated The Great Movie Ride so I suppose that’s worse.
Finally, Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur. Nope.
I’m
You haven’t tried Dinosaur or Tower of Terror? Go ride those then tell me what you think of Laugh Floor! 😉
I used to like you, shane, but now I’m not so sure. Beauty and the Beast?! I watch that show at least twice on every trip I take. Can’t get enough.
I’m with you on these rides. PW did nothing but hurt my back. Although TSM is a neat ride, I don’t understand why they’re is always such a long standby wait. Not a big fan of the Country Bear Jamboree either. You mentioned the American Experience. Last time we were there, my son was a couple weeks shy of being 5. It was a little late when we saw the show. He sat down and promptly feel asleep. When I woke him to leave, he stood up, looked around and said, “that was short.”
You must just manage to get bad shows when you do Laugh Floor. It’s usually pretty hilarious. In fact, most of the cast members portraying the monsters are improv actors that formerly worked at Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer’s Club.
I don’t know, Jake. While I’m sure some performers are funny, there are a ton of repeat jokes (just based on my limited viewings) and I’m positive that most of it is scripted.
I agree with Jake in that every time I have done Laugh Floor I have enjoyed myself and enjoyed the fun others were having. I think Turtle Talk with Crush is better (a similar-type show), but I still think Montsters, INC is WAAAAY better than Stitch or Country Bears. I think you should give Monsters another try Shane…
Stitch is my least favorite Disney attraction, number one for all parks. My daughters bloodcurdling cries during that “show” still haunt me 15 years later – and she had loved the character until the day she experienced it.
DAK for me is the Pocahontas show – do they even still have it? LOL
Epcot – Ellen’s Energy Adventure is mind-bogglingly boring. I’ve seen it twice. Once was in college and once when my daughter was 3 (I’m 46 and she is 18 so…)
Hollywood Studios is the Great Movie Ride. My daughter and I agreed years ago NEVER AGAIN. Hate it and it could be amazing.
Pocahontas is long gone. And I agree with everyone saying that Stitch is bad — but at the very least the interior is interesting and the AA figures are great. Monsters is just so… blah.
Great list as usual. Your logic is quite sound on all of those.
In all of my years of visiting the parks I have never done the Laugh Floor or the Astro-Orbiter at the Magic Kingdom. I have never had any desire to do either one. I also have never done the tea cups but that is simply because I cannot take spinning things. Thus I have also stayed away from Primeval Whirl and Triceratops Spin at Animal Kingdom. Epcot is probably the park I have most loyalty to the attractions, save for Mission: Space. I have not been into that pavilion since they closed Horizons (which was a personal fave).
I am a little surprised by the loathing towards the Grand Fiesta Tour. Granted El Rio del Tiempo was a truly great ride but I do not that the new storyline necessarily took away from the vibe of the original. Also, it hopefully introduced the Three Caballeros to a new generation of Disney fans. In my mind, Mexico is the best executed of the pavilions so my opinion is skewed.
Perhaps another interesting question along this vein is which World Showcase Pavilion is “forgotten” or can be skipped? My vote on that account is Italy. The Italian Pavilion seems to be nothing except a very elaborate Olive Garden. You don’t feel like you can become lost or taken into it like Morocco, France, or the United Kingdom. Each of those three has nooks and crannies you can explore. Germany has the Romantic Forest train display, Japan has the beautiful gardens of the Yakatori House, Norway has the Stave Church… I digress but great thought-provoking post. And a great distraction for a Monday!
I do not loath Gran Fiesta Tour either, but it’s definitely a step down from El Rio del Tiempo.
And I completely agree with you that Italy is the most forgotten World Showcase pavilion. There are nice details, but it does seem very open compared the others, and hard to lose yourself in it. American Adventure is actually the most completely bland pavilion — but makes up for it by having an awesome major AA show.
You are 100% correct about the American Pavilion. I think the familiarity of it detracts from it as well as its similarity to the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. But wow!! The American Adventure is truly an astounding show that demonstrates great technology. My particular favorite scene is the country store scene where the rain in falling off the roof. It is very realistic. I also enjoy the scene where Frederick Douglas is piloting the boat through swamp.
It is truly “classic EPCOT” and perhaps does suffer a little bit with younger audiences. But we all know that Disney is about us thirty-somethings and not about children!!!
MK- For me it’s absolutely Stitch. I would watch Monster’s Inc several times before I did Stitch once. It’s AWFUL. I think I have done it twice.
Epcot-I have never seen the Circle of Life movie to my knowledge. But I wish Ellen’s Energy Adventure would leave.
HS-I don’t really have one here. I guess Disney JR, but as I have a daughter who is 20 months old, my viewings of it will be going up in the next few years. She loved it as a 13 month old.
AK-I have never done Triceratops Spin or Primeval Whirl. I plan to do both in about 2 weeks.
Circle of Life is so forgettable, I nearly forgot it while working on my list of forgettable attractions. But yet I have actually seen it more times than Wonders of China. Not because China is bad (it’s not at all!). But China has awkward showtimes and is rather long.
Animal Kingdom – Primeval Whirl – once was enough!
EPCOT – Circle of Life movie – think I may have seen it twice in 20 years
DHS – Lights! Motors! Action! Stunt Show (once) and Beauty and the Beast (never)
Magic Kingdom – Stitch’s Great Escape (1) and Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor (1),
Very solid list, Dan! I think you should see Beauty and the Beast once just to say you did it. Didn’t my glowing review help sell you on the idea?
Very good list. It really does depend on a couple of factors for us. We are actually in the world right now and I will be honest the mk was so crowded on sat night at 9 we literally walked in and walked back to bay lake. With that for the mk I would probably go with stitch or the country bears, with stitch getting the edge. I would rather hit the bears because little or no wait but we never seem to get there.
Ak is a little tougher. As much as premieval whirl is a headache and will never ride unless it’s a walk on, I like it for a guilty pleasure and try to incorporate it as much as possible. So I would pick the lion king. Great show but there are better things to see.
MGM I would go with Indiana jones or the stunt show. Never saw the stunt show so that wins. I think that has to do with the times and length. I need to see it but it’s hard to justify. Your thoughts on its production?
Last Epcot. I agree with china. I have seen it once and that may be it.
I do not live in fl but am a vacation club member and come at least 2times a year.
Jon
Jon, you are a good example of how sometimes the most forgotten attractions are not the bad ones. Lion King is a fantastic show, but difficult to time properly and also easy to get shut out of. I have not seen it very many times myself, but not because I dislike it.
I would encourage you to see it again though, if nothing else to see the new Harambe Theater District, which is fantastic.
I had some similar and a different choice for these forgotten Disney attractions. For Magic Kingdom, I only saw Laugh Floor once and that was enough. Yes, it was funny when a member of my party was “That Guy,” when I saw it but I have never made another trip to go see it and really don’t regret it. I agree that my choice for Epcot would have to go to Wonders of China. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw it. For Hollywood Studios easily that would be whatever incarnation of Playhouse Disney Live on Stage is currently playing. I can honestly say that the last time I set foot in that building was when there was still an Aladdin Restaurant in it. For DAK I would have to say that I avoid Chester and Hester’s area as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the ORIGINAL tacky Chester and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures but the whole parking lot side show attractions are avoided by my party unless cutting through to go to Countdown to Extinction (Yes, my family calls it by its original name) from Everest or Finding Nemo: The Musical. Once again, another interesting and GREAT article by Parkeology!!!
Playhouse Disney is definitely skippable and probably would have been my runaway winner for DHS, if I didn’t recently have a young kid. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve taken him there in 2 years, so in another couple years, Playhouse may be my winner again.
The laugh floor is really dependent on the cast members running it.. and the audience in attendance. We’ve seen some real flops, and laughed until we thought we broke something.
Primeval Whirl is a multi ride event for us.. I have a weakness for crazy mouse coasters in general though.
I’ve never been on Toy Story.. the last time we went was in 2010 and it was pretty new. We were at DW for 18 days, every single time it was a four hour wait and fast pass was gone for the entire day.. no matter what time of day we tried.
I must have had the misfortune to get the bad cast, because Laugh Floor is not only unfunny, it is cringe-inducing every time I see it.
I am also infrequent to Toy Story, for the exact same reasons mentioned. The line is just not worth it.
I guess mine would have to have been the Backlot Tour up until it closed. Ivery been to DHS 8 or 9 times over the past decade and it’s basically the only thing at that park I never got around to. Should i feel bad or did I really miss anything?
It was really cool the first time.. not something we ride often.
You have missed exactly nothing. Backlot Tour should have been put out of its misery years ago.
The original long format Backlot Tour circa 1989 had some good things going for it including David Letterman threatening that thugs in mouse suits may beat you up. Over the years it devolved to crap. It ended on a whimper with it all being an excuse you haul people out to Catastrophe Canyon which was a rip off of Universal’s Earthquake ride to begin with.
I’ve written about it on my own blog. The backstage tour, incl the animation studio bit, suffered from the same corporate secrecy that Innovations suffers from. In Innovations, corporations are secretive and not interested in showing what they have because it is mostly software. Because of that, it is all too easy for another to see it and rapidly replicate it and perhaps even beat one to market or to the patent office (the fact that it was at Disney first would help one win the patent suit, but not necessarily then allow one to claim the patent for themselves – it is a tricky situation).
In the studio, the same thing was going on but for artistic property rather than technical: when people see a sequence being shot, or previews of an animated film coming out, the marketing department has lost control over the promotions. People will be in a position to talk about what they saw (and this is even before the internet accelerated that to instantaneous reaction time), so scenes that may not make the final film end up being what the film is pre-judged on. Marketing and promotions teams (as well as directors and producers) can’t have that loss of control over the product, nevermind have it happen a year or two before the targeted release.
So take the studio tour out of the backlot tour and all you’ve got is a parking tram driving past museum pieces. Not much to go on. Now add the fact that catastrophe canyon is pretty stale, but too expensive to redesign, and, well, there we are…not riding it.
It only held on as long as it did because WDW in general has a LOT of “new” business. There are many who come to WDW only once, or only once over a great many years (I myself haven’t been since 2007, though even as an east-coaster I’ve still managed to make it to Disneyland 3 times since 2006). So what is stale to the local residents and regulars (those who can visit annually) is still brand new to many.
This allows for WDW to hold onto seemingly stale rides a lot longer than California can, explaining why Country Bears and Muppets 3D continue out east when their west coast cousins have moved on (and why Country Bears went through 2 alternative soundtracks in California before finally closing), and why Small World and Haunted Mansion can each get their extensive holiday make-overs which the Florida parks would rarely if ever attempt, relying on fireworks and much more extensive street decoration to keep to the seasonal mood.
So there are reasons it lives on even though regulars think it shouldn’t. Not saying they’re all good reasons, but there are reasons.
When I went to WDW in 2007, it was my first time there since 1984. Needlesstosay, “things changed”. For the most part, I was hitting the key ones and trying to reconcile my memories of 30 years with what I was seeing in front of me (e.g., I totally hadn’t connected that Buzz Lightyear was on the same room and track as If You Had Wings ’til that final tunnel).
Twilight Zone is a “never ride”, but that’s me, not lines. I just don’t like drops. Never will.
I never went on Maelstrom – lines were long, my fastpass for the afternoon already booked (Test Track 1.0), and I wasn’t in the mood for a water ride in any case. Seeing a few ride-through videos recently on youtube, I am to this day unimpressed, and just don’t get everybody’s expressed ‘love’ for the thing.
I think Mexico would have been better with the 3 being tour guides to what they were seeing (replacing the narration) rather than a distraction (following yet another variation of the “where’s somebody” plot line that the ‘story’ writers for WDW can never seem to escape from). This would have put it more in tune with the original movie, as well as given a context of what was there. One can be a tour guide with humor, as both of the Latin American package films had. So that is probably the “won’t do again unless I need to get out of the sun” ride, at least for EPCOT.
As for DAK, I don’t even think I’ll ever actually step foot in AvatarLand or whatever the hell they call it. To me that is a waste of money and resources, for a property that actually has not shown it even has any legs at all (and to be honest, I was unimpressed by the film). In my opinion the space should have been saved for *American* animals – if the point is to attractions that double to teach conservation and respect for natives, who better to show that than Bambi, Pocahontas, and the bears of Brother Bear (with a little special nod from Kevin in Up). Imagine a slow-fast darkride a-la Seven Dwarves Mine Train that is the audience reenacting Bambi trying to escape from the forest fire?
So much possibility using Disney’s own property, I thought. The relative success of the rebranding of Paradise Pier at DCA kinda proves the point.
Mexico is far from good, but I will admit to hitting it semi-frequently. If you can tune out the Caballeros, it has a very distinct “old EPCOT” vibe which I find attractive.
Everyone I’ve talked to thinks Avatar is a horrible idea for an AK land. And I don’t love it as an idea either, although I think the actual execution will be spectacular. It will be mobbed I’m sure.