What if "The Disney Decade" did take place, Would You Have Liked It?

[DL_CRAZE]

In 1990, the Disney company came up with a ten year plan for Disneyland that would be described as "The Disney Decade" and would have a handful of new attractions each cyear or two.

We would have:

These Shows:

The Young Indiana Jones Adventure Spectacular: An action stunt show which would have took place at Big Thunder Ranch.

Here Comes the Muppets: A Muppet show like the one that had originally began at Disney-MGM Studios and would have played out in the Fantasyland Theater.

The Magnificent Muppet All Star Motorcade: A Muppet Parade.

Mickey's Starland (A.K.A. Mickey's Toontown):

Muppet-Vision 3-D: Basically the same show we have at DCA but located in the Starland (Toontown) portion of Disneyland.

The Little Mermaid: Basically the ride we are getting at DCA in 2012.

Tomorrowland 2055: (A New Tomorrowland in 1994):

The ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter: The same attraction from the Magic Kingdom would be located in the Mission to Mars building.

Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue: An animatronic show featuring aliens playing instruments or themselves as instuments. I guess it's a cross beteween Country Bears and Aliens. This would have been placed in the carousel theater and doesnt sound good on paper or in my imagination at all.

The Timekeeper: This tomorrowland wouldn't have been the only magic kingdom to not get this attraction. This would have been placed in the Circle-Vision building.

New 3-D Film: A new 3-D films prodiced by Disney and George Lucas.

Hollywoodland: (Placed between Space Mountain and Main Street):

Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers: An Audio-Animatronic Dark Ride with special effects based on Disney's 1990 film "Dick Tracy".

Toontown Trolley: A Motion-simulator ride like Star Tours based on Roger Rabbit.

Superstar Television: A clone of Disney-MGM's version.

The Great Movie Ride: A clone of Disney-MGM's version but with different films featured.

Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy Ride: A dark ride based on Baby Herman.



What would be different if this happened:

We wouldn't have had the disaster known as Tomorrowland 1998.

No HISTA, Rocket Pizza, Innoventions.

DCA would not have a Hollywood Backlot.

There would be no Toontown. No Car Toon Spin.

No Little Mermaid ride in DCA.

This probably would have affected Indiana Jones Adventure but can;t be entirely sure.

Would you have liked if they went through with "The Disney Decade"?

[Alex E]

Hmm I've never heard of this. Interesting thread.

To be honest I'm not so sure I'd like it now. Despite the current state of Tomorrowland I'm pretty content with how the park is now and I personally don't see anything on the list I can't live without. On top of that, I'd miss Car-Toon Spin and probably Tower as well if it didn't make it into DL. And it probably wouldn't have since from what I understand it was built in part to boost attendance for DCA.

[Smaps]

Hmm. Interesting.

No "Innoventions" already has me chomping at the bit for a, "Yes, yes, YES, DISNEY DECADE!" God, the very IDEA of that fair exhibit not being wished into existence..

I never remember watching the Dick Tracy movie, but I remember seeing the trailer many, many times at the beginning of other VHS tapes. A dark ride may have been very, very cool with the visual style of the film itself.

Baby Herman ride: hmmmmmmmm. Interesting. Baby Herman doesn't have that much lasting power for me, though. And, god, it's a wonder "Roger Rabbit" made it through anyways (rewatching it after you've grown up enough to catch 99% of the jokes that once flew over your head: PRIIIIIIIICELESS!)

No Toontown would be.... hm. I don't get around there much, but it's really a beautiful and incredibly creatively and intricately designed part of the park. The way the hills are situated in the backdrop is one particularly alarming attention to detail: there is nothing else so immersive, visually and to the brain. It's place on the horizon is phenomenal. The queue for Roger's ride was almost better than the ride itself, so I can't say I'd be crying crocodile tears if it wasn't there.

Possibly no Indy? Uhh, no thanks. No, no thanks. Indy > all.

Little Mermaid ride... oh god, oh god, hold back-- but no, it's far better situated at DCA with the ocean theme and the way the sun sets in that area of the park, anyways; warm and breezy. I hate having to wait for it because Ariel is my homegirl and favourite princess of all time, but... DCA is better. It's good they waited. It'll be better, now.

All in all, I'm glad the Disney Decade idea was trashed. A lot of it sounds like Disneyworld-esque Universal Studios slipcover. Nothing really that exciting.

[Mar-Que?!]

IF They happened, this would be the CURRENT result per idea:

The Young Indiana Jones Adventure Spectacular: An action stunt show which would have took place at Big Thunder Ranch.

That would have gotten old fast, just like the Hunchback show, so it'd be gone by now (look at MGM's.. its barely hanging on)

Here Comes the Muppets: A Muppet show like the one that had originally began at Disney-MGM Studios and would have played out in the Fantasyland Theater.

Can't speak for that, but it doesn't sound all that wonderful... even though I love the muppets.

The Magnificent Muppet All Star Motorcade: A Muppet Parade.

Would have lasted a couple of years at most, then we'd be right where we are now.

Mickey's Starland (A.K.A. Mickey's Toontown):

Muppet-Vision 3-D: Basically the same show we have at DCA but located in the Starland (Toontown) portion of Disneyland.

Well considering we have it now, and it's already empty... that would have been as empty as HISTA by now.

The Little Mermaid: Basically the ride we are getting at DCA in 2012.

A good thing, except it'd be different than DCA's new one... because DCA's will be omnimover, this one would have been individual cars with a slower load time...

Tomorrowland 2055: (A New Tomorrowland in 1994):

The ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter: The same attraction from the Magic Kingdom would be located in the Mission to Mars building.

Would have turned into Stitch's by now cause it was "too scary" for little children

Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue: An animatronic show featuring aliens playing instruments or themselves as instuments. I guess it's a cross beteween Country Bears and Aliens. This would have been placed in the carousel theater and doesnt sound good on paper or in my imagination at all.

Yeah, that sounds horrible, and probably would have later become Innoventions anyway. =P

The Timekeeper: This tomorrowland wouldn't have been the only magic kingdom to not get this attraction. This would have been placed in the Circle-Vision building.

Well if it went the way of the one in WDW, then we'd have ANOTHER empty building anyway..

New 3-D Film: A new 3-D films prodiced by Disney and George Lucas.

Okay depending on the film, it'd be awesome.

Hollywoodland: (Placed between Space Mountain and Main Street):

Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers: An Audio-Animatronic Dark Ride with special effects based on Disney's 1990 film "Dick Tracy".

IF this was a good ride, then Dick Tracy would have lived on... but most people don't even know who Dick Tracy is anymore.

Toontown Trolley: A Motion-simulator ride like Star Tours based on Roger Rabbit.

I love Roger Rabbit... but same as above, if this was a good ride, it'd be great, otherwise... naw.

Superstar Television: A clone of Disney-MGM's version.

It'd probably have changed into American Idol by now.

The Great Movie Ride: A clone of Disney-MGM's version but with different films featured.

Good addition, but NOT for DL.

Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy Ride: A dark ride based on Baby Herman.

Assuming it's a good ride, it'd be nice.




Basically the end result is, we'd have a LOT of defunct rides... then again I guess some of the stuff we got now is considered defunct too, but I think the Disney Decade would have actually left DL in a worse shape than it is now based upon everything that would have been built... because if they didn't want to spend that much on newer rides in the 2000's, then they wouldn't have replaced ANY of these defunct rides built during the Disney Decade.

Of course I'm making assumptions, but I'm glad we got what we got, rather than that, even though I'm a Roger Rabbit and Muppets fan.

[I Heart Disneyland]

But....they didn't.

[The Disneylander]

I prefer DL the way it is now. The whole 'Disney Decade' thing sounds just too gimmicky for me, and plus there wouldn't have been many lasting stuff.

[Legacy]

Quite honestly, none of this stuff really interests me, and a lot of it sounds very out of place thematically. I'm really glad it didn't move forward, and though I don't like our current Tomorrowland much at all, I highly prefer it to the Tomorrowland described here.

[WJNM]

Nice post.

The only real element I think I would've missed there would've been Tomorrowland 2055 ... but it's true that ExtraTERRORestrial would have been dumbed down, and Plectu's ... even though I really loved the idea when displayed at the Gallery ... would be drawing in lesser crowds by now.

Hollywoodland would have been built in the backstage area between Town Square and Tomorrowland ... not sure where the parades would have disappeared too, but it sounds like WAAAY too much Roger Rabbit for me. Hollywoodland wasn't even going to be centralized around a Hollywood theme ... just a Roger Rabbit theme (back when they were expecting it to be a franchise series and a more lucrative character than it is now). Something about the theming to go from Town Square to that would have been off ... could you imagine a replica of the Chinese Theatre back there, or later on, a ToT?

For better or worst, the DL Paris debacle put the parks on a tight budget, canceling Hollywoodland and TL 2055.

Originally, the Starland concept was only a temp land for MK ... it was built to specifically pay tribute to Mickey's 60th and was never planned for Anaheim. Later, when it was realized that this was successful (and the money began to flow again) this idea was transplanted to Anaheim and mixed in with a MAJORLY reduced Hollywoodland idea ... thus creating Mickey's Toontown. That's one reason that if you look at Toontown, it's slightly disjointed: Downtown Toontown is very much based off the fictional Toontown from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" whereas Mickey's Neighborhood is based off of a more stabilized concept of Starland.

So, except for the lack of 2055 and perhaps an expanded Downtown Toontown, nothing much is missing for me in this ...

[Ride Warrior]

I would have liked that itinerary of attractions then. but, that was yesterday. I look forward to the current plans for Disneyland and DCA far more than that hodge podge of attraction ideas.

Extremely fascinating, well devised and put together thread topic, Dr_CRAZE.

[tomrules1955]

This would have been Pressler era stuff and as tepid as it reads in print, with his hand in it, "The Disney Decade" would make DCA seem like the best thing since DL opened in July of '55. How Indy got built during this time I'll never know.

[Vasooki]

[quote=DL_CRAZE;3467278]

The Young Indiana Jones Adventure Spectacular: An action stunt show which would have took place at Big Thunder Ranch.

Seeing as this would have been in the wrong place to begin with, I would not have liked it. Also, as we saw, having too much Indy is not always a good thing. I believe that if this was built, Indy (ride) would not have been built, or as Disney likes to call it, indefinite hold.

Here Comes the Muppets: A Muppet show like the one that had originally began at Disney-MGM Studios and would have played out in the
Fantasyland Theater.

I've never really like the muppets. I dont think that the muppets belong in DL anyway. Seeing as how stage shows dont really last long in that theater anyway, I think this could be put down as "would have been soon defunt."

The Magnificent Muppet All Star Motorcade: A Muppet Parade.

All I have to say is that too much of one movie/franchise is never a good thing, this wouldnt have been very good.

Mickey's Starland (A.K.A. Mickey's Toontown):

I like toontown the way it is. Its so much fun just to look at the bendy buildings.

Muppet-Vision 3-D: Basically the same show we have at DCA but located in the Starland (Toontown) portion of Disneyland.

I think this is more of a second-gate DCA type of ride. And by second-gate ride, I'm sure you know what I mean.

The Little Mermaid: Basically the ride we are getting at DCA in 2012.

I really honestly believe there is no where that this could work thematically in DL. And because technology is better now, it will be an overall better ride now. I'm glad they waited.

Tomorrowland 2055: (A New Tomorrowland in 1994):

Yes. Anything is better than our current advertising-seemingly-but-not-really-futuristic-but-avaliable-things-today-land.

The ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter: The same attraction from the Magic Kingdom would be located in the Mission to Mars building.

Too scary. It would will have been Stitchs not-so-great escape by now.

Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue: An animatronic show featuring aliens playing instruments or themselves as instuments. I guess it's a cross beteween Country Bears and Aliens. This would have been placed in the carousel theater and doesnt sound good on paper or in my imagination at all.

Everytime I try to imagine it, that little good-idea part of my brain screams in pain.

The Timekeeper: This tomorrowland wouldn't have been the only magic kingdom to not get this attraction. This would have been placed in the Circle-Vision building.

Sounds interesting enough, but I think that that building is cursed.

New 3-D Film: A new 3-D films prodiced by Disney and George Lucas.

Notice how one of the best rides of the park is George Lucas? This gets a win status.

Hollywoodland: (Placed between Space Mountain and Main Street):

Knowing how important this area is for parades, and how it would not work thematically at all, I think its a good thing this got canned.

Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers: An Audio-Animatronic Dark Ride with special effects based on Disney's 1990 film "Dick Tracy".

Seeing as how I am too young to know who Dick Tracy is, it's a good thing it wasnt built. No matter how good the ride was, it would get canned by not being relevant to todays audiences.

Toontown Trolley: A Motion-simulator ride like Star Tours based on Roger Rabbit.

The roger rabbit we have now is fine. I'm not crying over not getting this.

Superstar Television: A clone of Disney-MGM's version.

Ewww. No thanks.

The Great Movie Ride: A clone of Disney-MGM's version but with different films featured.

I always felt that this ride was a bad copy of the wonderful Universal version. So, since I didnt like it where it belonged, putting it somwhere where it doesnt does not solve the problem.

Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy Ride: A dark ride based on Baby Herman.

I think this would be scarier than extraTERRORestrial.

(Start simon cowell impression)I think this would have been a total and under flop. Too gimmicky, and most of these things are very dated, and now-not known things. (End impression)

None of these things would have been a timeless attraction. Indy is good because even with it's dated movie tie-in, it only uses the characters for telling the story. Not using the ride to tell the characters.

[jagass]

Very interesting...This is my first time to know this...

[goatdan]

Would you have liked if they went through with "The Disney Decade"?

Here's the thing -- at the time, if they had gone through with it, it probably would have been wonderful, and it would have totally changed everyone's outlook on the park, as much of that stuff would have had to have been revised after it was installed just because of the type of attractions that they were.

However, things happened like they happened, and I'm still very happy with it, so I would have been disappointed looking back if they didn't have Disneyland turn out like it is now, but I wouldn't have known it.

Hollywoodland is an interesting concept and it would have been really interesting to see it, however I can't imagine how it could transition out of 'small town America' and into 'Hollywood' or from 'Hollywood' to 'Tomorrowland.'

The one thing that I do greatly wish had happened was the Toontown Trolley. I remember seeing some concept art about all the interactive stuff they were going to do with the simulator itself while you were riding, and it sounded *very* cool.

[Aladdin]

Baby Herman Buggies and Roger's Trolley (which would have been something like Islands of Adventures Spiderman ride) were more designed with WDW Hollywood Studios in mind, not DL.

Alien Encounter did end up in WDW, But DL really missed out on not getting the Tomorrowland 2055 Concept.