I'm working on a rather large research paper for my College Comp class. So what do I pick but "Past, Present and Future of Disney World Resort" with a main focus on past attractions and who we will be unable to share them with our future kids.
Now here's what I need.
-A few good quotes with your permission about how you feel in regard to this matter. What would YOU have liked to share with your kids that's gone now and why you feel that way.
-Who knows why Wonders of Life closed?! World of Motion? Anyone know anything? (Other then loosing sponsorship, is there anything deeper that google isn't telling me?)
-If you have to focus on one lost attraction at a WDW park, what would it be and why? (I've already focused on 20k Leagues and Horizons)
Thank you in advance again!
If you haven't come across it already, there is a great site for Walt Disney World past attractions called Martin's Videos by Martin Smith:
www.martinsvids.net
His site features tribute videos to many former WDW attractions, including histories, ride/building layouts, and rare footage. You can (and will, if you love WDW) spend hours watching through the absolutely amazing stuff he's put together here.
Another good site, Widen Your World, appears to be on a temporary hiatus until January. There are a few articles there now, but when fully available it's one of the better WDW history sites.
Horizons has perhaps the strongest following of all the extinct WDW attractions. Many felt it embodied the boundless optimism for the future, how technology would improve all aspects of our family life, that was represented in the original EPCOT Center than any attraction built before or since.
Good luck with the paper!
I am very resistant to change when it comes to Disney replacing attractions. Probably the one attraction I miss the most is Cranium Command at EPCOT. It was, in my opinion, the perfect EPCOT attraction with a blend of entertainment and education. It also was pretty funny!
However, I think the changes that upset me the most have to do with Disney bending to pressure due to fads and quick fixes. The Tiki Room Journey to Imagination and Stitch's Great Escape are three that come to mind where the old attraction was better!
I think what makes me so sad when we lose those rides or pieces of them, is that we can never share them those who have never been to Walt Disney World. I have tried to explain how it once was to my sons and husband, and they truly can not picture it. When I speak of the Wonders of Life, Mr. Toad, etc. they just patiently listen. But as I have discovered...it is always difficult to truly do justice to the telling of those rides that were "magical" unless the auidence are able to experience it personally.
Mr. Niles, did you ever see the Magic Kingdom performance?
As for some of Disney's rides, I do not miss as much because the one that comes afterwards was an improvement.
Attractions that I really do not miss as much!
World of Motion
Comunicore
Horizions
Tom Saywer's Island (at Disneyland)
Kitchen Kaberet (though I do miss Food Rocks)
THANK YOU to EVERYONE who helped out with input and a few quotes I snagged. If anyone is interested I can post up the full paper here or email it around. Next semester stars in January so I'll probably find another way to relate a paper to Disney World and it's various lost and still present attractions. So please keep an eye out later on :)
It was one of the only things that I remember feeling genuinely entralled by...a real, complete experience without any indication of construction or intention. Now, with Stitch there it feels like everything has to relate to a film, more merchendise, more marketing, more plugging. Oh dear, I've got myself quite upset about this now actually!
Also miss Mickey's Birthday Land and Captain Eo.
I feel you completely and I'm a huge stitch fan myself. I don't know why they changed it other then to fit stitch into the park somehow but I can't even say the merchandise is decent in the store they have no T-shirts but just a bunch of toys! Overall I was really disappointed in the merchandise select WDW has now, most of it's Mickey Mouse and very little about any other characters that aren't Tinkerbell or Grumpy!
Alien Encounters is a mystery to me, I remember a big thing that they shut it down and changed it soon after the original opening because Eisner didn't think it was scary enough! So I can't see them using the "To Scary" excuse myself. This might be something to investigate for future note!
Sadly I had a page limit so I only really got to wax poetic on two attractions (20k Leagues and Horizons) rather then the four I had planned (Wonders of Life and Mr. Toad) . Otherwise I'd end up with a 25 page paper easily if I went off on all the cool stuff that is now gone.
Then again, AE never really had a big following or high rating on TPI. Most felt that it was OK.
The problem with Stitch being there now is that they did not exactly take out the factors that made AE so terrifying. Whats worse, parents are now willing to give the ride the benefit of the doubt because its Stitch. At least with AE, you were warned that it was scary. Its intersting because I always try to sit near the parent that brings their four year old on the attraction and see how they react. Usually is screaming in terror and I actually had a kid next to me almost escape out of his seat. Of course, Stitch also spit RIGHT INTO HIS FACE. Speaking of that, that Animatronic Stitch is out of this world (no pun intended) in technology. A saving grace for the doomed attraction?
As for changes, nothing at WDW seemed to have changed more than those two attraction areas in the front of Tomorrowland. AE and Timekeeper is what I remember, but there was Mission to Mars and Circlevision before and now Stich and Monsters INC
