Really?....Howcome?

[GoofyDuck32]

So i was just looking at concept designs for the new fantasyland in WDW.

and it started me thinking...WHY? Why is everything in WDW much cooler than in DL?. while i was looking at the new fantasyland concepts, the little mermaid attraction came up.

SO much cooler in WDW, and it's not like they could not do that in DCA, i mean they built the building for the new attraction from scratch, it wasnt a re-imagined ride or anything, not that the building isn't beautiful, but it is missing the disney flare. Then there is the Space Mountain Line Cue. In WDW it is pretty awesome with a little story to go with the ride, in DL it is just some person on a speaker, when you finally get to the ride it is MUCH better in DL than in WDW, but the cue is missing the flare. Then there is the toy story midway mania, in WDW the line cue is awesome with all the toys and such

, in DCA, lame, just a regular boring line. And what about DL Star Tours, where is our Giant At-At, granted they finally moved the Tie Fighter into star traders, but still NO

, is it a size thing, or do they just save the imagination for the world, even DLP has a better star tours cue than DL.

Dont get me wrong, i love Disneyland, and all the detail they put into the parks is really amazing, i just saw the new look for the new fantasyland in WDW, and was wishing DL would have done a little better. What do you guys think?

 

[MAH4546]

I assure you, it's not cooler. Rides are not kept in good shape and the entire resort is a complete mess. A lot of the "cool" stuff you pointed out is just decorative, and that can be done due to space.

You know what's not cool? Space Mountain is a rickety mess with no soundtrack. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed in 1997, and Snow White is closing soon. Pirate of the Caribbean is half the length. There is no Toontown, no Alice in Wonderland ride, no Matterhorn, no Indiana Jones, no submarines, no Pinnochio, and no Fantasmic! on the Rivers of America, either. And no New Orleans Square.

Your argument for the Little Mermaid building makes little sense. First of all, the WDW version would never fit at DCA. Secondly, the Little Mermaid at WDW is in Fantasyland, where the elaborate castle design works. At DCA, it would look beyond ridiculous in an area that is designed to mimic a California seaside park. The beautiful Mermaid building in California is actually based off an actual old roller coaster structure from Santa Cruz, California.

I'll trade WDW's cooler decorations for Disneyland's better attractions and more well-kept premises any day of the week.

 

[closetmickey]

So i was just looking at concept designs for the new fantasyland in WDW.

and it started me thinking...WHY? Why is everything in WDW much cooler than in DL?. while i was looking at the new fantasyland concepts, the little mermaid attraction came up.

SO much cooler in WDW, and it's not like they could not do that in DCA, i mean they built the building for the new attraction from scratch, it wasnt a re-imagined ride or anything, not that the building isn't beautiful, but it is missing the disney flare. Then there is the Space Mountain Line Cue. In WDW it is pretty awesome with a little story to go with the ride, in DL it is just some person on a speaker, when you finally get to the ride it is MUCH better in DL than in WDW, but the cue is missing the flare. Then there is the toy story midway mania, in WDW the line cue is awesome with all the toys and such

, in DCA, lame, just a regular boring line. And what about DL Star Tours, where is our Giant At-At, granted they finally moved the Tie Fighter into star traders, but still NO

, is it a size thing, or do they just save the imagination for the world, even DLP has a better star tours cue than DL.

Dont get me wrong, i love Disneyland, and all the detail they put into the parks is really amazing, i just saw the new look for the new fantasyland in WDW, and was wishing DL would have done a little better. What do you guys think?

I look at the stated differences as a great reason to visit both! Though you probably do too.

 

[Eeee-va]

I ADORE the new Little Mermaid building; it looks very very much like an attraction building from the 1900s. And I think it looks very Disney, with King Triton and the mermaids on the facade and signage.

WDW's will be cool too, but if the grassy tops on the cliffs are just painted on, then they'll probably start looking a lot less cool after a few years (like our Toontown when it's suffering from lack of upkeep).

IMO WDW's whole Fantasyland is finally being upgraded to a "new" Fantasyland. If I recall correctly, we got ours upgraded in 1983! Actually, the picture you posted looks a lot like Storybook Land to me. So we have a lot of that...but like most things in DL, just a bit smaller than WDW.

And our Toy Story queue is pretty much unthemed, but our standby times are a lot shorter than WDW's!

 

[jdb in AZ]

What about the clock face on It's a Small World at DLR? The Small World Facade at WDW just doesn't compare. And the outside of Pirates of the Caribbean at DLR is much better themed too.

I'm glad they're not identical parks -- it's fun to visit both. Someday we'd like to compare the U.S. parks with Disneyland Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Don't know if we ever will, but it's fun to dream.

 

[JH87]

Both are great in their own ways

 

[MenchieMan87]

Where is that picture with the X-Wing from?

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

WDW has much more room than DLR has.

The lack of space was one of the things that bothered Walt the most with DLR, so when he started planning WDW he bought up a ton more land than he was able to do before. He had to do this on the sly and under fake names so the price of land wouldn't sky rocket (which it did once people found out who was buying all the land).

Theme also plays a huge roll in it. Unless they were to build an entire section of the park based on The Little Mermaid (which I would love by the way ) Eric's castle would look totally out of place in DCA. Doesn't matter how cool something looks, if it looks out of place then it is going to detract from the overall experience

And like others have said, I would take better attractions over better queues any day. Other than a few exceptions the actual rides at DLR kick WDW's butt IMO.

 

[GoofyDuck32]

The x-wing pic is from Disneyland Paris.

 

[HydroGuy]

I assure you, it's not cooler. Rides are not kept in good shape and the entire resort is a complete mess. A lot of the "cool" stuff you pointed out is just decorative, and that can be done due to space.

You know what's not cool? Space Mountain is a rickety mess with no soundtrack. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed in 1997, and Snow White is closing soon. Pirate of the Caribbean is half the length. There is no Toontown, no Alice in Wonderland ride, no Matterhorn, no Indiana Jones, no submarines, no Pinnochio, and no Fantasmic! on the Rivers of America, either. And no New Orleans Square.

Your argument for the Little Mermaid building makes little sense. First of all, the WDW version would never fit at DCA. Secondly, the Little Mermaid at WDW is in Fantasyland, where the elaborate castle design works. At DCA, it would look beyond ridiculous in an area that is designed to mimic a California seaside park. The beautiful Mermaid building in California is actually based off an actual old roller coaster structure from Santa Cruz, California.

I'll trade WDW's cooler decorations for Disneyland's better attractions and more well-kept premises any day of the week.

I agree. The OP cherry picked some specific issues to make a point which I just do not think is valid.

DL's FantasyLand rocks over MK's. Adding LMAUA to MK's is not going to change the fact that their large and expansive layout does not work.

Also, WDW has more room for inside queues like at TSMM and Space Mtn, etc., but it needs them much more because of the Florida heat and rain. I will take the SoCal weather and less themed queues over Orlando's humidity and rain any day!

Finally, DLR has lots more rides in its two parks and shorter wait times for rides. Again, I would take outdoor queues which are less themed at DLR in order to have twice as many rides per park and shorter wait times!

 

[ArchOwl]

Concept art is always tricky. We will see what Fantasyland in WDW actually looks like when completed. It has to be that big and flashy to fit in the larger space at WDW, it literally wouldn't fit in DL.

I think space is the reason for a lot of the complaints, where would we fit an AT-AT in DL?

 

[disneydreamer74]

I agree with the previous posters that WDW does NOT take care of the attractions. Their Fantasyland was in desperated need of a make-over. That being said, I do like the direction that WDW imagineers are going in making the queue lines more interactive. I would love to see DLR attractions do that as well, but honestly, we don't have to wait as long in lines at DLR so the need is not really there. If people maximize the fastpass system they should not have a long wait very often. Cool pics, thanks for sharing them!!

 

[jenpace]

The beautiful Mermaid building in California is actually based off an actual old roller coaster structure from Santa Cruz, California.

It is? Can you be more specific? We're in Santa Cruz and I can't figure out which rollercoaster structure at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk this might be. I'm not saying it isn't, just wondering if you could elaborate. We're going to ride the new LM ride next month and my kids (and I!) would get a kick out of knowing it was inspired by something in our hometown

 

[TeddiBarra]

Space, space, space! You can barely walk into and out of Tomorrowland right now, dear lord, where would we fit an At-At? We'd have to climb over it!

Alot of the things you point out are related to space- It would take up space to add alot of toys to the TSMM ride line- it's needed for bodies. Ariel's just would NOT fit if it looked like the castle- i agree it's not as cutesy as the planned WDW version but it fits with the Paradise Pier- and it's got a lot of love and attention put into the details.

Just the physical space to put very large queue's doesn't work well in DLR, because every square foot is needed for people. There's a downside to that for WDW- consider if they had the 12 more attractions (or whatever it is) that DLR has? Guess what that would mean, shorter wait lines! Personally, while I get what you are saying about themes and all, I'd rather have the more rides with shorter lines that aren't as cute.

 

[TinkBride]

Granted - I have never been to DL.........yet

But, after visiting WDW many many times, I can assure you that the update of Fantasyland is a much needed addition. I agree with another poster.....let's see what it actually looks like when completed. Concept art always is a glossier version of reality.

And.......don't be too upset. If it bothers you, take a trip to WDW and walk through Future World at Epcot. A lot of empty buildings in what was once a GREAT area of the WDW resort.

I personally think WDW has been off of their game for a while, and this is an attempt to "refresh" some things.

Lastly - I think a space issue is a big part of why WDW is able to expand outward and upward more than DL.

I think DLers are lucky because they get the experience of Walt's actual sweat and tears. Something WDW will never have. WDW will only ever have Walt's "concepts" for WDW.

Maybe the grass is green on both sides and DL is fortunate in ways WDW is not? All I can say, is I am prepared to be jealous in a couple of weeks because DL has many things WDW can not provide........

 

[MAH4546]

It is? Can you be more specific? We're in Santa Cruz and I can't figure out which rollercoaster structure at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk this might be. I'm not saying it isn't, just wondering if you could elaborate. We're going to ride the new LM ride next month and my kids (and I!) would get a kick out of knowing it was inspired by something in our hometown

It is, but the structure was torn down many, many many years ago.

 

[ssuriano]

I was just having this talk with a fellow Disney Dork (as we call ourselves) the other night. I brought up the fact that I think the exterior of the building at WDW will be more visually stunning, it just wouldn't fit DCA. The queue topic came up as well and he brought up a very good point about the weather in FL vs the weather in CA. Having myself been caught in Epcot in a December downpour and having to take refuse in a building I was glad to have the longer interior queues.

 

[nunzia]

It is? Can you be more specific? We're in Santa Cruz and I can't figure out which rollercoaster structure at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk this might be. I'm not saying it isn't, just wondering if you could elaborate. We're going to ride the new LM ride next month and my kids (and I!) would get a kick out of knowing it was inspired by something in our hometown

We used to go to the Santa Cruz boardwalk area in the'60s when I was a kid for family vacations..loved that place..and I was trying to place that also..I thought the original building, the round part that still remains, was based on something else?

 

[jenpace]

We used to go to the Santa Cruz boardwalk area in the'60s when I was a kid for family vacations..loved that place..and I was trying to place that also..I thought the original building, the round part that still remains, was based on something else?

I know that part was originally a copy of The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

I'm familiar with the history of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, before and after the fire that destroyed the original casino structure but I'm still not understanding the tie-in with the Little Mermaid building...

 

[skiingfast]

I know that part was originally a copy of The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

I'm familiar with the history of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, before and after the fire that destroyed the original casino structure but I'm still not understanding the tie-in with the Little Mermaid building...

While yes the rotunda is from SF.

I think the rest of the building is quite fitting for the peir area. If you look at design concepts for the LM building you will see a couple that look much like the picture below. It's from Coney Island.

As the design was refined it progressed to the current building that was built.