Sure, perhaps the 'trend' for E tickets is height restricted. Likewise, the 'trend' for B, C, and D's might be for the kiddos. OVERALL, there really isn't a trend, but a balance.
If you view it like a see-saw, yes, there is some balance. There's the height-restricted E-tickets at one end, and the kiddie ABCD's at the other (mostly AB's). Perhaps it does balance out the scales.
But a see-saw is not how Disney originally made the effort to keep themselves balanced. The idea was more of a bell-curve. The bulk were distributed close to the middle. Yes, there was some stuff at the edges. Not really at the edges compared to the thrill-parks of the world, but still, a few things that got out there, like the Tea Cups. Likewise, there was Dumbo at the other end. But there was much more stuff in the middle.
Its two completely different ways of maintaining a balance. Again, one can argue the merits of one or the other, but you can't realistically claim there is no difference. Clearly, there is a great potential impact on the various markets that past offerings appealed to, as well as the future offerings.
If what you want to say is that Disney used to make E tickets that more people could potentially enjoy than they do today, I'll go with that.
You can stop there. That's really it. The attractions were grouped more in the "hump" of the bell curve, as opposed to the edges of the see-saw.
When I've said "whole-family" in the past I've sometimes tried to qualify it, but find it cumbersome to do it everytime.
I'm not sure that the "middle ground" that you feel is being ignored now was ever that expansive.
Again, I can only point you to the attractions considered more "exclusive" today, and ask you to note the dates. Prior to the existence of these attractions, what attracted guests?
But, I'd say that the vast majority of attractions were established with the goal of having every member of the family (or as many as possible) enjoy them. Honestly. That was a MAJOR goal of Walt when he designed his park.
Yep. Its a well documented fact.
It's no longer that the guests "can't/won't/don't experience" a ride - the choice has been taken away from them.
Also very true.
The new trend is that children are now being prohibited from new attractions because of the height restrictions. Even the new half-speed bumper cars at California Adventure have a higher restriction than the Matterhorn or Big Thunder.
You know, this is a very good point. When you look at the older parks, its harder to spot this trend, because it takes a long time to change them. But when you look at the newest park, you get an idea of what Disney's current vision is for a park. It opened with EIGHT height restricted attractions. What's been or will be added?
Tower of Terror
Playhouse Disney
Three kiddie attractions in A Bug's land
A fourth kiddie attracion in A Bug's land, but it still has a height requirement.
Alladin (replacing Blast)
Only one attraction can be called anything close to a "whole family" attraction (Alladin), and its a replacement.
Then there's the recent additions at WDW. Magic Carpets, and Tri Spin for kiddies, and Primeval Whirl for adults (48" requirement).
Space is coming, most certainly with a height requirement (anybody know what it might be?).
Only Mickey's Philharmagic could be a whole-family deal, but it wasn't even important enough for Disney execs to mention when asked about what's coming at WDW.
Gemini? Heavily weighted at the extremes.
Lets not forget the Yeti Mountain proposal for AK.
Once again, its one thing to say this is the right direction, but you just can't say it's not a change in direction.
I really think some of this is the result of taking guest surveys too literally. When guests say "there's not enough to do for my kids", its not always the best solution to plop in a spinner. Walt understood that while parents want to make their kids happy, they want even more to make their whole family happy. Its just that when they take a guest survey, the boredom of their child is likely first and foremost in their mind.
(Same idea applies to teens, btw)
) because I clicked on the link at the top of the thread - and several links within the WDW Magic site - and never saw a pic of the ride vehicle. I hit Refresh a couple times in case that was the problem, but nada. Help?
). A ride doesn't have to be a thrill ride to be too intense for many to ride it.
