Splash Mountain Makeover - It's time for a change. Walt would agree.

azcavalier;2528469 wrote:

I have yet to find any other parks that are "a lot less" than Disney while being anywhere close to Disney quality. Here in VA, we have Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens. Kings Dominion has been around since I was a kid, and I used to love it. My daughter has now been there a few times with the band, and I've been a chaperone. My wife and other daughter tagged along, paying for their admission. Day tickets were around $50/piece. But that just gets you in to the park. And, yes, you can ride the rides. But if you want their version of the Fast Pass, it was another $60. Lo and behold, we're all of a sudden paying Disney prices for a much lower quality experience. And the food is terrible as well. And they don't do *anything* to keep the lines moving, etc, etc. I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for". And I think that Disney does it right. I've been to a couple of Six Flags, Sea World, Busch Gardens, and Kings Dominion/Kings Island. They're fun for a day, but they're not Disney, yet they're also not cheap.

This is another point we will have to disagree on. I feel that "Disney quality" is not Disney quality any more. We have a place here that I can pay $50 for the ultimate ticket and enjoy it just as much as I would enjoy a day at Disney - rides, miniature golf, video games, fewer people, less money. They started out as a little miniature golf place when I was in high school. They've grown as I've gotten older. All the things I used to love are still there and new things to try. Plus, the employees there know exactly what is going on and when. It is hit or miss whether anyone at Disney knows what is going on around there.

Cinderelley;2528478 wrote: So I was thinking about this today. Granted, I'm not a Disney history expert, but I don't think Walt ever changed what existed to put something new in its place. He always expanded - like buying the land for Disney World. Didn't he say something about now having the land to do all of their ideas? If he wanted to continually change things, wouldn't he have just torn down what he built to make room for his new ideas?

Yeah, impossible to say. I don't think he was around long enough for us to know for sure, I suppose. But I know that somewhere in one of the episodes of "The Imagineering Story" one of the Imagineers talked about how Walt didn't want anyone to go back and change any of his movies, but he wanted change in the park.

texas211;2528490 wrote: AZ, do you know who Paul Harvey or Cecil B Demille? Paul Harvey used to read pages of the news and then say what page he was on and Demille, long movies... Are you related to them

Oh, I know Paul Harvey. I'm almost 50. "And now you know....the REST of the story."

2002 - 2022: 20+ visits (POR, BW, All Stars, VWL, CSR, BLT, BC, SSR, CB, Dolphin, OKW, Poly, offsite x8)
DL - 1996, 2019
Next up - January 2023 short trip! We just want to try that 50th Anniversary chocolate monstrosity at Mexico!

 

I think I tend to be somewhere in the middle on all of this when it comes to change. For the most part, I really like when the change is the result of adding something new. I think Pandora was a great and needed addition to Animal Kingdom. I am excited about Tron, Ratatouille, and the Star Wars stuff. I was pleasantly surprised by the Slinky Dog ride. I personally think 7DMT is a bit overrated, but a good addition nonetheless. However, I generally don't like when things are destroyed or significantly changed that don't need to be. Did adding Captain Jack Sparrow really have any significant effect on POTC in terms of popularity or ride quality? I agree with 1DisneyNut that there is a difference between replacing or enhancing a ride that is not popular anymore (after all, Disney is a business) and spending the money to change an existing classic ride that is still extremely popular. I loved Horizons (one of my favorites) and think it was far superior to Mission Space, but also realize that it was not drawing many people (and apparently had structural problems). Splash definitely is still extremely popular.

We still enjoy Disney World, but our level of enjoyment has declined over the years. We do like the added attractions, but with FP+, you cannot enjoy them as frequently over the course of a vacation. I refuse to wait 2 hours plus for a ride. The spontaneity has been greatly reduced. The food has seemed to get more generic (I attribute this to the Dining Plan), although there are some signs of improvement in this area. And, I do believe the customer service is not what it used to be.

My biggest gripe is that for the longest time Disney seemed to have spent a lot of money trying to figure out how to get customers to spend even more money without improving the experience significantly. They seemed to go away from the model of spending money to be the best and build the best. I am extremely grateful to Universal for upping the competition and forcing Disney World to add the new experiences. I just wish it didn't take so long for them to complete these projects (and now with Covid, it will take even longer).

Ok. Is this possibly due to Splash being critically in disrepair? I just read that one of the logs sank on the ride.

Cinderelley;2528531 wrote: Ok. Is this possibly due to Splash being critically in disrepair? I just read that one of the logs sank on the ride.

I doubt it. But I will say that the last few times I've been to the Magic Kingdom, there is always something on Splash Mountain that isn't working, whether it's some of the Brer Rabbit AA's not moving, to the Laughin' Place room only half operational, etc. It's been a while since I've seen it all working normally.

azcavalier;2528534 wrote: I doubt it. But I will say that the last few times I've been to the Magic Kingdom, there is always something on Splash Mountain that isn't working, whether it's some of the Brer Rabbit AA's not moving, to the Laughin' Place room only half operational, etc. It's been a while since I've seen it all working normally.

At least Brer Fox doesn't eat the tourists.

texas211;2528543 wrote: At least Brer Fox doesn't eat the tourists.

Just wait until The Dolls get a hold of him.

I’m actually very excited for the change. It’s one of my favorite rides.
Mind you I am a fan of the good old stuff and the song of the south. I also dig the secret stuff within.
But this is the time, this is a ride that could do well with an upgrade and I believe Princess and the frog is absolutely perfect for this ride setting. They may even reuse some elements.
I can’t wait to see it.

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I think Princess and the Frog deserves it's own ride regardless of whether they change the Splash theming or not. I can imagine a Pirates of the Caribbean type set up. The queue could take you through Lottie's party with a run in with Dr Facilier in the last room of the queue. Then you hop on Louis' back while singing "Goin' Down the Bayou" and following a stream of fireflies. Ray would have to be there of course. So many things could be done with it, including a Haunted mansion type cemetery scene for the ending of Dr. Facilier, but you float by on Louis instead of riding a doom buggy.

Cinderelley;2528658 wrote: I think Princess and the Frog deserves it's own ride regardless of whether they change the Splash theming or not. I can imagine a Pirates of the Caribbean type set up. The queue could take you through Lottie's party with a run in with Dr Facilier in the last room of the queue. Then you hop on Louis' back while singing "Goin' Down the Bayou" and following a stream of fireflies. Ray would have to be there of course. So many things could be done with it, including a Haunted mansion type cemetery scene for the ending of Dr. Facilier, but you float by on Louis instead of riding a doom buggy.

I'd ride that.

Cinderelley;2528658 wrote: I think Princess and the Frog deserves it's own ride regardless of whether they change the Splash theming or not. I can imagine a Pirates of the Caribbean type set up. The queue could take you through Lottie's party with a run in with Dr Facilier in the last room of the queue. Then you hop on Louis' back while singing "Goin' Down the Bayou" and following a stream of fireflies. Ray would have to be there of course. So many things could be done with it, including a Haunted mansion type cemetery scene for the ending of Dr. Facilier, but you float by on Louis instead of riding a doom buggy.

You know where they could put that? They could burn down The Country Bears and build it on the ashes. I'd be all for that.

azcavalier;2528689 wrote: You know where they could put that? They could burn down The Country Bears and build it on the ashes. I'd be all for that.

No Swiss Family. Build a ride there. No one is going to miss trudging flights of stairs, especially in the mask era.

Although I'm not a fan of The Country Bear Jamboree and can't climb the Swiss Family Robinson stairs, I'm sure there is plenty of space to put it somewhere that wouldn't be tearing down someone's favorite ride.

I have seen Country Bears who knows how many times. Sure the luster has worn off after seeing it so many times myself but I have really enjoyed taking children and in the future will be taking grandchildren for the first time. Children love it and usually laugh through it. I would hate to see Country Bears removed and know that future generations of children would not get to see it. With that said, we all have our attractions that we would never missed if they were removed but those are often someone else's favorite. I prefer leaving the classics and finding somewhere else to put a new attraction. Tom Sawyer Island is pretty useless if you ask me. It could be redeveloped and multiple attractions could go there.