Just some simple questions.

[Vertical Horizon]

Why does the Magic Kingdom not have the Pinnochio dark ride nor the Alice in Wonderland dark ride? For that matter why has the Alice in Wonderland dark ride not been duplicated in any of the other Disneyland/Magic Kingdom parks? The Magic Kingdom is part of the world's premiere Disney resort but its Magic Kingdom's dark rides are shared with every other Disneyland (except Hong Kong at this point I suppose) and it does not have all of the ones the others have.

I'm just curious as to why it ended up this way.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I'm no rocket scientist.. but I suppose Disney looks at what stories/themes match and resonate with what cultures etc and then does their best from there...

Separately, I imagine they want to keep the parks somewhat different so that someone who goes to DisneyWORLD and then DisneyLAND has somewhat different experiences and sees different things.

Knox

 

[disneychic]

Maybe something will come about after the Tim Burton AIW movie??

 

[doconeill]

Disney wants each park to have unique elements so each experience is different, but also to have some familiarity as well. Many of the attractions that are "duplicated" are not truly duplicates - they vary is different ways. I'm looking forward to when my kids are old enough for the 6 hour flight to see how Disneyland is different that WDW, and I'd LOVE to check out Tokyo.

 

[Vertical Horizon]

Maybe I wasnt very clear. I'll try again. I thought someone here might have an answer or at least heard a reasonable reason as to this. My focus just for this discussion is on the Fantasyland concept and the dark rides based on the animated features. I realize for example that the Peter Pan Flight may not be precisely cloned in each park but the general concept is pretty well cloned --a dark ride in each park based on Peter Pan. Frankly to the eye of most visitors to more than one of the parks this ride is pretty much precisely cloned in each park and only to many of y'all who are completely into these parks are any nuanced differences noticeable from park to park.

That said excluding Hong Kong each Disneyland actually has more of these dark rides based on animated movies in their fantasyland than the Magic Kingdom does. My question is why Pinnochio for example has not been added to the Magic Kingdom and for that matter why Alice in Wonderland--original to Disneyland in Ca as is Peter Pan has never been duplicated in any of the other Disneyland's including the Magic Kingdom. That one is completely unique to California as is also now Mr. Toad's. What is the business reason as to why the Magic Kingdom does not have at least as much of these type rides as the other parks around the world. Its just something I have been curious about. I figured this site would be where I might find an answer to this.

 

[Condorman]

Maybe I wasnt very clear. I'll try again. I thought someone here might have an answer or at least heard a reasonable reason as to this. My focus just for this discussion is on the Fantasyland concept and the dark rides based on the animated features. I realize for example that the Peter Pan Flight may not be precisely cloned in each park but the general concept is pretty well cloned --a dark ride in each park based on Peter Pan. Frankly to the eye of most visitors to more than one of the parks this ride is pretty much precisely cloned in each park and only to many of y'all who are completely into these parks are any nuanced differences noticeable from park to park.

That said excluding Hong Kong each Disneyland actually has more of these dark rides based on animated movies in their fantasyland than the Magic Kingdom does. My question is why Pinnochio for example has not been added to the Magic Kingdom and for that matter why Alice in Wonderland--original to Disneyland in Ca as is Peter Pan has never been duplicated in any of the other Disneyland's including the Magic Kingdom. That one is completely unique to California as is also now Mr. Toad's. What is the business reason as to why the Magic Kingdom does not have at least as much of these type rides as the other parks around the world. Its just something I have been curious about. I figured this site would be where I might find an answer to this.

WDW'S MK has had Philharmagic for years, long before any other park received it. Philharmagic took the place of a previous dark ride both to advance the technology (with Kodak's sponsorship, of course) as well as accommodate more people than any dark ride ever could. Furthermore, while the MK is larger than most DLs in the world, all other Fantasylands in the world are twice as big as the MK's, which allows them to have an AIW or a Mr. Toad's, etc. Look at WDW's MK from Google Maps' POV and you will see several unused acres where 20kLUTS used to be. If Disney wanted to expand, they could. The space is there. They choose not to.

And why do they choose not to?

It's what I refer to as the Chicago Cubs Syndrome. The Cubs sell out every home game. The owners, whether the old ones or the new ones, were making as much money as possible off a losing team as they would on a winning team. IOW, the MK in WDW is the single most popular theme park in the world. It sees more visitors than any other site on Earth. On Earth! There is no reason for them to spend more money to attract and entertain people when the people are already coming in droves. Oh, they will add to it in the future, but those are just rumors for now.

 

[KMovies]

Maybe Alice in Wonderland was very popular when it opened in Disneyland. By the time WDW was built, maybe the movie was perceived as not as popular, and therefore, not added.

Pinocchio wasn't as popular as many of the other classics in terms of boxoffice at the movies; therefore, maybe that is why it wasn't added either.

 

[skier_pete]

Well, here's what was the same in WDW FL when it first opened:

Peter Pan
Small World
Dumbo
Snow White
Mr. Toad
Carousel
Tea cups
20,000 Leagues

That's 8 rides that were copied from DL. That they didn't choose Alice or Pinnochio is likely a function of popularity. These were probably the most popular rides, and thus were duplicated at WDW. They had a certain budget for MK, and couldn't (or didn't want to) copy everything. Why is their no Matterhorn? At the time, a hugely popular ride at DL. Mostly a budget issue.
(Like I've said in other threads, everyone complains about Disney Corp being all about the money, but the fact is, they've always been about the money.)

Changes since opening:
20,000 Leagues was removed because of expense / handicap accessability. Mr Toad was replaced because they wanted a Pooh dark ride, and Mr. Toad was the least popular. Philharmagic, while started at MK, did NOT replace a dark ride...that building was used for variety of stage shows...prior to the current resident, it was a lion king stage show...before that I believe it was Mickey Mouse musical review, or something like that. Rumor has it the Little Mermaid dark ride being built a DCA will eventually come to MK as well.

SkierPete

 

[MemoToMe]

If you were to do a comparison of placement, you would see that where Pinocchio is at DL is where Philharmagic is at WDW. Prior to 1982 (when DL had its huge Fantasyland overhaul) there was no Pinocchio, and in that location was the Fantasyland Theatre (showing movies and shorts). Prior to Philharmagic at WDW the space was used for the Lion King (I can't rember the exact name of the show), and before that it was home to the Mickey Mouse Revue (which was subsequently shipped to Tokyo Disneyland).

As far as Alice, I don't know why. Perhaps that powers that be decided that Alice didn't have the enduring qualities that Peter Pan or Snow White did.

As far as why they didn't do either in the other parks, well, as far as Pinocchio, it always seems to be the least popular dark ride at DL. As for Alice, you're guess is as good as mine.