What ride would you improve and how?

[Auroraflame]

I know that no one here believes Disneyland is totally perfect. Naturally there's that one ride you exit out of and wrinkle your nose, thinking, "Surely, Disney could do better". I want to hear about these rides and hear how they might be improved.

This isn't a rant thread. Don't just say your least favourite ride and list all the reasons why you hate it. Tell us how it can be improved- how you would improve it! (Also, don't say 'just put it back the way it was'. That's cheating. Keep moving foward- use your imagination!)

For me- it's the Peter Pan ride. I love this ride, but I think it might be improved in a couple of ways:

I'd like to take one step further in the flying over London scene and make it even more realistic. Little tiny minature houses along London's streets with varying size and colour- some would have their lights on, while others would have them off (for they had reired for the night or were out). Of course, a clear path would need to be available, free of tiny houses in case of emergency where the guests need to 'disembark their pirateships', but there would still be tiny painted houses on the floor to give the illusion that they're really there.

If there were more space available (sadly, there is not) I would add more story to the ride, like the Lost Boy's hideout and a much bigger Indian village and Mermaid's lagoon.

Another, teeny small effect I would really like: I would like the pirate ship you're riding in to sparkle as if sprinkled with pixie dust when you leave the Loading station, or when Tinkerbell lights up the prop ship in the ride. The lights on the vehicle would need to be subtle, if not entirely invisible to the guests, but shine brightly enough when cued.

There are some of my ideas. Please contribute some of your own, to any ride!

[MonstersGoBoo!]

The Snow White ride for sure. Since I watched the movie last night a lot of things didn't seem to fit the ride. As soon as you go through the happy moment in the cottage, the Queen is looking through the window. In the movie, that doesn't even happen. The magic mirror isn't really present with his own little spiel or cameo.
I really can't find where to place the mirror with what I'm about to say, so maybe someone can add on?

Instead of pulling a lot of things out, or doing some major flip flopping, I would just cut the entire forest scene short. It's longer than it's segment in the movie! And then give a good solid ending with the Prince and Snow White in a miniature (sort of like in Storybookland). That is all .

[RegionsBeyond]

I argue for Pirates...and I don't say, put it back the way it was....I want kind of a meld of the two versions. Remove the early ride Jack Sparrows, the hiding behind the mannequin one and the popping out of barrel one, replace Barbossa with the old captain, and remove the references to J.S. in the Well scene and have the Pooped Pirate do his old dialogue...but keep the Davy Jones mist effect, just mix it in with the old ghostly voices dialogue alternating in the dark tunnel behind it, and keep the end Jack Sparrow figure. I am not proposing they remove all the movie stuff...a discrete Tia Dalma figure, non talking, on the porch of one of the shacks in the beginning would even be good..just tone down the shouting of the Jack Sparrow name and save him for the end, put the rest of the ride back to the old style.

[Auroraflame]

I argue for Pirates...and I don't say, put it back the way it was....I want kind of a meld of the two versions. Remove the early ride Jack Sparrows, the hiding behind the mannequin one and the popping out of barrel one, replace Barbossa with the old captain, and remove the references to J.S. in the Well scene and have the Pooped Pirate do his old dialogue...but keep the Davy Jones mist effect, just mix it in with the old ghostly voices dialogue alternating in the dark tunnel behind it, and keep the end Jack Sparrow figure. I am not proposing they remove all the movie stuff...a discrete Tia Dalma figure, non talking, on the porch of one of the shacks in the beginning would even be good..just tone down the shouting of the Jack Sparrow name and save him for the end, put the rest of the ride back to the old style.

Amen.

[Datameister]

I agree about Pirates, except I'd rather keep the first two Jack AAs and ditch the last one. The first two are discrete and don't fundamentally change what the ride is "saying"--I obviously don't mean that in the literal sense, unfortunately--but the last one totally contradicts the whole "dead men tell no tales" motif.

Space Mountain is one of my all-time favorite attractions, but I wouldn't mind sprucing it up a little more.

* Redo the safety spiel. It has some good elements, but some of the special effects involving the rockets are embarrassing, and it's a little too short--it'd be nice to see it just one less time while traveling through the queue.

* Replace the video in the "window" of the loading area with something more realistic. Perhaps footage of a planet slowly turning as we orbit around it. Additionally, it'd be nice if it looked like it was far behind the wall of the loading area, instead of flush with it. Perhaps a setup with a slightly more distant screen and some mirrors would help.

* Make sure there's something at the top of the second lift hill, make sure it's something cool, and make sure it's lit just well enough for us to see it but not well enough to light up the rest of the mountain. The orange geodesic satellite that used to sit up there was great; I'm strangely attached to it. I don't need that exact same prop to return--though I would welcome it with tears and open arms!--but something that achieves the same effect would be nice. Something that makes you feel as if there's more than just stars out there. Something sufficiently abstract to not make you think too hard about it.

* Add a scattering of free-floating "stars" inside the mountain itself--in other words, ones that aren't simply projected onto the surfaces. Little tiny lights that are held out away from the walls and scaffolding on strong, thin, black supports. That'd improve the perception that we're surrounded by a three-dimensional array of stars all over the place, not simply stars that are flatly plastered against invisible surfaces. It'd help further disguise the infrastructure of the coaster.

* Improve the existing projections of galaxies, asteroids, the Millennium Falcon, etc. The galaxy that fades at the end of B lift is very cool, but it's been leaving a whitish blotch behind on the wall...very distracting and uncool. The asteroids and so forth are nice, but they'd benefit from having higher resolutions.

* While we're at it...why not add some small three-dimensional asteroids floating here and there? The unlit asteroid at the top of B lift doesn't count. I'm not talking about major show elements...just little objects that sit there, spinning and floating through space, adding more depth to the environment.

* And if we wanna get really fancy...let's add some small, dimly-lit spaceships of various designs that continuously loop through the mountain on their own little tracks. You'd see them in different spots each time, since they wouldn't be synced to your rocket's downward spiral. This could get tricky, considering all the scaffolding and so forth to avoid, but I think it could be done. The post-2005 track is a lot less bulky then the old one, so there's more room for goodies.

Anyway, while I'd love to see any or all of these actually done, I will continue to experience Space Mountain and enjoy it. There just happen to be some things that could be better.

[MickeyMousePal]

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters make it much longer with a new shape to shoot at worth 20,000 points.
At the end the top ten is rotated showing all top ten players not just the top spot anymore. Oh, the person that gets over 1 million with out the ride stopping should get some prize...Zurg pin!!!

[pineapplewhipaddict]

I argue for Pirates...and I don't say, put it back the way it was....I want kind of a meld of the two versions. Remove the early ride Jack Sparrows, the hiding behind the mannequin one and the popping out of barrel one, replace Barbossa with the old captain, and remove the references to J.S. in the Well scene and have the Pooped Pirate do his old dialogue...but keep the Davy Jones mist effect, just mix it in with the old ghostly voices dialogue alternating in the dark tunnel behind it, and keep the end Jack Sparrow figure. I am not proposing they remove all the movie stuff...a discrete Tia Dalma figure, non talking, on the porch of one of the shacks in the beginning would even be good..just tone down the shouting of the Jack Sparrow name and save him for the end, put the rest of the ride back to the old style.

I'm just annoyed that we hear Jack's name every 5-10 seconds in the ride. I love Jack, but it's an overload.


This is not my least favorite attraction in Disneyland, but it's the one that I wish for the most to be improved: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

I remember the old Submarine Voyage. How it catered to all audiences (except those too claustrophobic to ride), sparked imagination and wonder from the realistic, legendary and fantastical. With the current attraction, these elements, in my honest opinion, have been shelved.

Kind of like with PotC and hearing Jack's name every 5-10 seconds, we hear Nemo's name just as often, if not more. In terms of eye-candy for the attraction, comparing the old to the new, the outside lagoon barely has anything to look at. For me, that was a huge letdown. And while this may sound kooky to some, I prefer the old fish that were clearly pasted to the "coral" compared to the static cartoon fish that just sit there looking like they belong in Toontown. Where are all the animatronics? When you finally get into the caverns so that the projection technology can be utilized, that's basically all you get. There's not really anything new to see, except what part of the clip it is depending on where you sit. And then the Angler fish...they were supposed to be on KUKA arms like in Epcot, utilizing some amazing technology...and for some strange reason, those very expensive arms were never installed. So instead, we have a scary face simply lit up to scare a few riders. Lame. And then finally, in terms of mermaids and sea serpents, all we get are hidden rockwork. We end the attraction seeing two wonderful animatronics that, besides the sea bass, are the only natural-looking ones, and yet everything else is cartoony. Consistency is lacking, and I leave the attraction rather let down.

So what would I do? First of all, the old attraction was by no means unpopular; though it was in such bad condition and reeking of outdated technology, the line was always at least half an hour. All the attraction really needed was some TLC, maybe an updated scene or two. A few things had been taken out of the ride over the years or made into static figures because they broke down too often (from what I hear). Here's a great video of the attraction when it was brand new: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http:...?v=VDolfiZ4e-s (Side note - do my eyes decieve me, or are those mermaids topless? That must have caused a riot...)

I'd bring that life and movement back. With the technology that's available now, I'd have the Imagineers working on three-dimension fish that can swim, none of this flat projection stuff. Maybe there could be a Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Crush and Squirt covertly located amongst all of the other fish, maybe not...the ride wouldn't be devoted to the Pixar film. Additionally, and I actually have a painting of this from the Disney Gallery's sale, one Imagineer created concept art for updating the subs and including in it a mermaid pageant, which would utilize (at that time) the newest special effects and lighting they could have for it. It would have been absolutely beautiful - and since that was created in the late 80s, I can only imagine how much that idea could be improved upon. And perhaps I'd make the sea serpent a little less creepy. But it would mostly be the original attraction, updates with the latest technology, with a few new scenes.

The current ride overall seems like a glorified Fantasyland dark ride made strictly for 5 year olds. But that's just how I feel.

[f/m]

The Haunted Mansion

What I really appreciate in this attraction is the fact that they use death as a celebration of life. There is no escaping the dark nature of the attraction however. In Disneyland, the hearse out front is white, which is the color usually utilised in children's funerals. (I did a paper on the history of the hearse - fascinating stuff.)

What could be changed?

1. Bring the lights back down. Not just to hide the strings or other gags. One of my favorite quotes from The Twilight Zone is from the episode Nothing in The Dark. It goes: There's nothing in the dark that wasn't there when the lights were on. In essence I see The Mansion as a personification of: death is the least of your worries. Let it be dark, we'll show you there is nothing to be afraid of.

2. Bring back the scares. I remember exiting The Mansion when I was younger thinking I was the bravest guy on Earth. I faced death and I feel damn good. I said, with chest puffed out, and with a booming (for a single digit year old) voice: I experienced The Mansion! Oh yes, I was proud. This point does appear to contradict the whole point of the previous bullet, but I think that in this situation, why not play with people's expectations of the subject? I think it backs up the previous point by showing people that their expectaions are foolish. Afterall, after the scare, most people just end up laughing.

Those are the two big points. Again, the majority of those in The Mansion are celebrating. Perhaps I'm making way too much of the attraction, but I think to make this attraction affective, it needs to emrace what it is - a dark celebration.

Actually, on a totally different note: The Mansion in in NOS - for its anniversary - don't have a birthday, have a jazz funeral. If you've ever seen one - it is pure celebration.

[Datameister]

I totally agree about the lights, f/m, but your second point is leaving me in the dark a little. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) No, but seriously, what scares are you thinking of specifically? Are you sure it's not just the natural aging process? Yours, I mean? After all, the only things that are truly and majorly different now are the altered attic scene and the lack of pop-ups and blast-ups. While I agree that the "new" attic isn't as scary as the old, the pop-ups and blast-ups can stay in their graves, as far as I'm concerned. They never delivered any real scares for me; they felt more like tacky homages to the old dark rides that the Haunted Mansion has its roots in.

I wouldn't mind the mansion becoming a bit more scary, however. Some creepy elements that very rapidly pop out towards you and retract again could deliver unexpected thrills, for instance. A scarier Constance would be nice. I dunno...I'm just thinking out loud, I suppose.

[f/m]

Well, when I was younger, just the idea of The Mansion scared me. But yes, I was referring to the attic scene with the pop-ups and what not. Though if they could recreate the feeling of "is this really happening?" from movies like The Others and The Orphanage in that scene, that would make me quite happy. I just don't know if tension would work / translate well in such a small area, especially since the rest of the mansion is pretty lighthearted. Though in an attic scene, playing with claustrophobia could work. Play with shadows, aural psychlogy - basically a room where "its all in your head." But tension needs a release. Have a few dressmaker's dummies in the attic. Put an "oddly arranged, and definatley not originally included" head on top of them (ex-husbands perhaps). Expecting these things to move would be disturbing enough. Think of the dummy coming through the mirror in the stage version of "Phantom." Having a few people react to the creation coming to life would help create tension in those following, and relieve it in those that experienced it. I'm struck with the image of a creature lunging forward with its arms spread wide open.

The attic scene also poses the most akward transition since Snow White - going from the attic to the graveyard. A claustrophobic attic opening to the wide expanse of a graveyard would be a tremendus transition psychologically, but the question remains: why am I "jumping" from the attic to the graveyard? The scene in the attic should give us a reason for the transition.

Perhaps if the bride were to replace the raven? She starts out alive and benevolent, then becomes more and more... obsessed. Make the guy trapped in the coffin husband number (whatever number he is.) That way once you get to the attic, the bride has set her sights on you. She could be the gag that lunges towards you, thus "pushing" you out the window. Or she pulls a Tosca, and jumps out the window herself. You then see her in ghostly form in the graveyard, celebrating her new life - so to speak.

This would make The Mansion about her though.

This is me thinking aloud too. I love The Mansion (even though the movie physically and emotionally hurt me) and I do tend to have a very dark personality, so I am thinking about something that would chill me, but also make me happy in the context.

[GothicManor]

#1

P E O P L E M O V E R Track

Put Something, Anything To Run On It Asap!

[Disneyland Daddy]

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters make it much longer with a new shape to shoot at worth 20,000 points.
At the end the top ten is rotated showing all top ten players not just the top spot anymore. Oh, the person that gets over 1 million with out the ride stopping should get some prize...Zurg pin!!!

Honestly - I'd just get rid of it all together. I mean, it's entertaining and such, but I don't see how it is speaking of "The World of Tomorrow" - is the World of Tomorrow a 'space game'? Do we turn into toys? I don't see how this contributes to the imagination of the world of Tomorrow. It seems like a DCA ride to me....should move there. If this is an example of "The World of Tomorrow" then we should all hang our heads in sorrow...as it would appear that we have no future.

#1

P E O P L E M O V E R Track

Put Something, Anything To Run On It Asap!

You took the words right out of my mouth - er, keyboard.

[DisneyIPresume]

I have been thinking about some changes to the Matterhorn and Autopia lately. What a nice coincidence that this thread is here.

My idea is based on the premise that the Matterhorn sits on the border between Switzerland and Italy.

The change to the Matterhorn would be minimal. The Fantasyland side would remain unchanged as that side already is well themed to the archetecture that is already there.

On the Tomorrowland side I would give it more of an Italian flair. The only major change I would do to the Matterhorn is switch the music from all that yodeling and polka stuff to Italian music such as Funiculi Funicula and the Tarantella.

What I would do to Autopia is to change the cars so that they resemble Ferraris and Lamborghinis so that this would give this area of the queue a more Italian flair, and also spice up the Autopia in a badly needed way.

[Dopey's Girl]

This is for the Disney Imagineers: Certain rides can be improved by adding anti-nausea special effects. Indy, Teacups, Star Tours, Soarin', Thunder. Not for me, you understand, since it is well-known that I have the stomach of a Mercury astronaut, but for my endlessly sea-sick, ride-barfin, can't handle a car-ride-on-a-pot-holed-road brother and all those like him.

Imagine the joy and unity it would bring to our troubled Earth if families and friends of these ride-challenged bretheren of ours were, I don't know, somehow healed by the Power of the Mouse so that we could actually ride on all the rides together thereby bringing peace to said families and friends who otherwise have to endlessly say "We'll meet you by the churro cart".

Peace will reign.

[Auroraflame]

What I would do to Autopia is to change the cars so that they resemble Ferraris and Lamborghinis so that this would give this area of the queue a more Italian flair, and also spice up the Autopia in a badly needed way.

Just curious- why Italy?