I don't understand all of the 'underwhelming' Fantasyland talk. Generally, people don't go to Disney because of the rides, which is why you don't see a ton of new rides all of the time. Most people go to WDW to be a part of the experience, to see the characters and places they love. New Fantasyland does exactly that. Puts you right into the movies with Prince Eric's Castle, its going to put you right into the Snow White movie with the theming of the Mine Train, it let's you eat inside Beast's castle and meet Belle inside the castle library.
It's moments such as these, and meeting princesses inside a castle hall, that create great memories for families, and get them coming back. What do you think a family is going to remember from their vacation... meeting Mickey Mouse (or Woody or Cinderella, etc) or riding Toy Story Midway Mania (or Star Tours or Jungle Cruise, etc)?
The memories I have with my kids that we enjoy the most are of them meeting the characters at character meals, or interacting with the different characters in the parks, and watching them have fun with the characters in the Move It Shake It parade, seeing how much they enjoyed the live shows like FotLK, Nemo, BatB, Disney Jr, etc. Yes, my daughter loved going on Splash Mountain, but her memories of that pale in comparison to all of the other stuff I mentioned above. That is why Disney will continue to be the number 1 destination for vacationing families.
I get that people always want the biggest and best thrill rides imaginable, and want more of them... but if it was just about rides, people would go to their closest amusement park (whether its a Six Flags or Cedar Point or Knotts Berry Farm or whatever) and ride roller coasters and thrill rides more thrilling than anything Disney or Universal has to offer.
Here's my 2 cents on this as someone who grew up going to Disney...
My love for Disney wasn't because they had the most exciting attractions, or the best meet and greets. I'll freely admit that my love of Disney came from the overall experience I had when I was a kid.
The problem is that Disney has diluted and changed that experience to the point that I'm not sure people today can really get that same type of memory generating experience that I had growing up.
Growing up, as LockedOut mentioned, Disney was always at the forefront with their attractions. They were unique. They were exciting. They put me into new and exciting places and really stuck with me. meeting a character was a cool little thing that could happen, but it was a lot more spontaneous when you saw them around the park.
But now? Many of those attractions that were totaly unique Disney have lost the magic, or disappeared (at least, outside of the "untouchable" attractions in the MK). I've come to realize over the past several years that EPCOT Center was probably my favorite park when I was younger, and there is NOTHING left there today which I loved as a kid.
The spontaneous character interactions you used to get have been replaced with paid character meals or long waits for a structured meet and greet. The crowds at the park, combined with society's general degredation into a very selfish me-centered outlook have almost necessitated this since they can't have a popular character just show up on mainstreet anymore and expect people to behave in a rational and orderly fashion, unless are forced to wait their turn. But the end result.... It's not quite as magical when you are paying $50 for a "eh" quality meal and the chance to see a character for a few minutes.... or waiting in another queue line for 30min+ to get your 2minutes with a character.
The Unique Disney attractions which really stuck with me and are the core of my memories? Watered down, closed, or completely rethemed to be a sad shell of it's former glory, all in the name of "synergy" and bringing in the characters from movies which can sell more merchandise. The unique humor, storytelling, and experiences that you could only get a Disney park has all but disappeared in the name of bringing you more Pixar attractions. And Good luck getting Disney to actually build a new, original, and unique attraction today that doesn't use some already popular character or story as a crutch.
So for me.... when I weigh New Fantasyland against what Disney used to bring us.... It falls short. It's nice, and the theming is great and better then anything you will ever find at a local SixFlags or Cedar Faire type park.... But ultimately it's window dressing for ANOTHER couple structured meet and greets, and a ride which just tells you the Little Mermaid story you are already familiar with because of the movie. (and another needed tableservice restaurant).
Compare this with the attraction that used to be located on that land....20k Leagues. That was an attraction that yes, was based off a film based off a Jules Verne story...But the experience was unique and told it's own story. Even though it ultimately was a 1/2 submerged bus riding around a track with scenery on either side, to those who rode it you were experiencing something totally unique. You actually felt and thought you were diving to the depths of the ocean and seeing things you couldn't see anywhere else. It was based around the Verne Story and movie, but you didn't need to be familiar with it because it told a completely self contained story within the attraction that did not require or assume you already knew the source material. With Mermaid however, It's another omnimover (which I have no problems with) that takes you past key scenes of a movie with the assumption you know what's going on in the story. If you don't know the story and movie already, It can be very confusing since it jumps around from scene to scene without anything to really fill in those gaps.
So for me, personally..... I could care less if we got another major thrill attraction. What I would like though is for Disney to once again give us something that catches that unique Disney essence thru their ability to tell a new and unique story in it's entirety in the attraction..... without relying on knowing or being familiar with some sort of Disney source material from another media.
(Think about the difference between new and old star tours. Star Tours v1 didn't require much knowledge of the Star Wars universe. It was a pretty self contained story of a space tour company with a malfunctioning pilot droid who ended up taking you to some areas you didn't need to be in. There was a tie in to the movies... but you ultimately didn't need to know anything about them in order to enjoy the attraction and know what was happening. Star tours V2? It's a lot more jumpy and relies a lot more on knowledge of the Star Wars Universe in order to appreciate or understand the different locations and situations you run into. TBH, It's almost like the whole "spy" storyline was an afterthought to tie the whole thing together.)
disneys been purchasing outside properties for their theme parks since 1987
Even before that if you factor in the Development time. Star Tours' official open was 1987, but it was in the works for several years before that.
