Other Ideas For Holiday Versions Of Rides At Dl?

[Sherry E]

Okay, we all know about how great the holiday versions of It's A Small World and Haunted Mansion are. But, when you think about it, they could really expand on this idea by revamping many of the rides in holiday motif. I know they could not do too many at one time because that would mean too many rides shut down for two weeks while they decorate. But, in the future, they may alternate. Maybe they will stop doing IASW at some point and we need another ride to step up and take its place for the holidays?

What would be your choices for new holiday rides at DL and DCA and what could they do with them that would be unique? Any suggestions? Right now, some Disney mastermind is probably thinking of this very subject, but we may not see it come to fruition until years from now.

 

[disneychrista]

Country Bear's !

 

[Sherry E]

Country Bear's !

Country Bears would be good for a holiday version. I am trying to think of other rides or attractions that are kind of on the long side, because it wouldn't really be worth it to do a holiday version of a short ride like Snow White.

OooooH! I know!! I just thought of it! The Storybookland Canal Boats! Wouldn't it be great to ride that at night and see all the miniature houses decked out in wintry holiday decor, with fake snow and all? That would so neat!

Another long ride, obviously, is something like Jungle Cruise or Pirates, but I don't know if a holiday motif would work for those. Hmmm...

Or...how about the Tiki Room singing all Christmas carols?? That would be great!

 

[dizneekrazee]

OooooH! I know!! I just thought of it! The Storybookland Canal Boats! Wouldn't it be great to ride that at night and see all the miniature houses decked out in wintry holiday decor, with fake snow and all? That would so neat!

Thats what I was thinking!! Strorybook land would be great!! It is already one of my favorites!!

 

[Sherry E]

Thats what I was thinking!! Strorybook land would be great!! It is already one of my favorites!!

I think we are on to something! That is the perfect ride because all of the houses on it could have different types of holiday decorations, depending on the themes of the stories, like Aladdin's decorations would be different from the Three Little Pigs' house. I can just see it now. And you are right - it IS a good ride. It is actually one of the more underrated and underappreciated rides at DL, in my opinion. I can't say that we get on it every time we go because sometimes the line is just too hideous to bother with, but I would HATE to ever see it leave and I would LOVE to see it in a holiday version!

Okay, so we have Country Bears (but that is gone now so we can't bring it back), Storybookland Canal Boats, and I still think Tiki Room/all Christmas carols holiday version would be good.

What else? Who can we contact at Disney to push the Storybookland idea?!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Disneyland is a step ahead of this wonderful idea for decorating Storybook Land. Last December, I saw wreaths on the trees and Gepetto's village was decorated with wreaths, Christmas lights, and so on and so forth.

 

[DangerMouse]

Country Bears DID have a Christmas show. I saw it before they took it down. It was awesome.

 

[Sy-]

What would be cool is if they could rotate which rides they do every year. For example on the odd years (2009, 2011, 2013 etc etc..) do the Haunted Mansion and Story book canal overlays. Then on the even years (2010, 2012 etc...) do an overlay for Splash Mountain and Its a Small World.

I like traveling mostly between Oct and December and I can't remember the last time I have seen the Haunted Mansion without the Nightmarish overlay.

 

[Sherry E]

What would be cool is if they could rotate which rides they do every year. For example on the odd years (2009, 2011, 2013 etc etc..) do the Haunted Mansion and Story book canal overlays. Then on the even years (2010, 2012 etc...) do an overlay for Splash Mountain and Its a Small World.

I like traveling mostly between Oct and December and I can't remember the last time I have seen the Haunted Mansion without the Nightmarish overlay.

Great idea, Sy! Because, realistically, it is a lot of work for them to revamp those rides, and it takes two weeks to do it for each ride - in fact, IASW would be re-opening two weeks earlier this year if not for the holiday re-do - and they just wouldn't be able to keep adding more Christmas versions of rides on top of the existing ones, because half the park would be shut down! I mean, let's be honest here - I would LOVE it and would accept a two-week shut down of the park IF they re-did ALL the rides in holiday motif. Wouldn't that be awesome - to go to Disneyland during the holidays and not only get all the regular benefits of being there during that time but also getting all totally redone rides? That would be amazing, if they could transform the park, literally, from the inside out! So much work, though.

But back to reality. Sy's idea is fantastic. Rotate the holiday rides. HM and IASW are kind of spectacles. They are moving 'shows,' almost. Not just rides, but songs and overall spectacles. Storybookland may have had some little decorations here and there, but Disney obviously did not go all out 100% with it or they would have advertised it as 'Storybookland Holiday.' So it couldn't have been a totally redecorated ride. They probably just stuck in a few ornaments. Then again, even if they DID totally deck it out with fake snow and different Christmas scenes, it STILL would not be the 'spectacles' that HM and IASW are. Splash Mountain would be a good Christmas fit. I am still on the fence about Pirates. I just don't think that would work. I think Tiki Room would be perfect. I think they could do something interesting with Alice in Wonderland and they could really decorate Tom Sawyer's Island to make that a little mini-holiday village.

But whatever they do, rotating is excellent because then, each year, you would know you were getting something different. And after seeing HM in its holiday version, I am almost NOT as interested in riding it when it is in 'regular' form! You just cannot top that, but if they did it year round, it wouldn't be as special anymore!

 

[DangerMouse]

I strongly prefer the original HM version. I'm not a fan of the NBC overlay and would be very happy if they did away with it altogether. I understand there's a fan base so I don't expect it to ever happen, but when Jack has taken over the mansion from late Sept-early Jan, that's a large portion of the year.

 

[Sherry E]

I strongly prefer the original HM version. I'm not a fan of the NBC overlay and would be very happy if they did away with it altogether. I understand there's a fan base so I don't expect it to ever happen, but when Jack has taken over the mansion from late Sept-early Jan, that's a large portion of the year.

I can see your point too. I guess because I was so used to the old version I was happy when they did something new with it for a brief period of time. This year, it will be late September to early January. I think that if people are not familiar with the NBC movie, they might not take to this ride as much. So I always wondered what non-NBC fans thought when they went on it. But because NBC has a spooky-holiday theme, I think it is very clever the way they worked it in to the HM ride. And I suspect that they will keep the HM-NBC holiday version and eventually do away with the IASW holiday version in favor of another ride (which one will it be?). Just a feeling I have, not based on any facts. Then maybe they will do the IASW holiday down at WDW.