What characters need more presence in the parks?

[CampbellzSoup]

THE LION KING I never see any real Lion King areas/themes outside of that show in Animal Kingdom. The Lion King before it was frozen, was Disneys biggest selling franchise why no love?

Hercules: Zilch - I think with Kingdom Hearts being released and a huge focus on it being Hercules areas why not have something in the park for this wonderful film?

Mulan: Character Meet and Greet in Epcot but thats where it ends...why not explore her more her movie was fantastic.

The mid 90's movies outside of Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast don't seem to harbor any kind of themeing or rides in the parks...I wonder why? They were all great movies, and I'm sure people would love to experience them, or perhaps having an area would allow people TO experience them for the first time.

 

[OZMom]

I agree with Lion King, there needs to be more! Also, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see any of The Incredibles or the Monsters Inc crew

 

[g8torphan]

Rafiki is at AK, but I agree.

Lion King is one of their greatest movies and it seems under represented

Incredibles and Monsters are at HS

 

[tjevans]

THE LION KING I never see any real Lion King areas/themes outside of that show in Animal Kingdom. The Lion King before it was frozen, was Disneys biggest selling franchise why no love?

The mid 90's movies outside of Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast don't seem to harbor any kind of themeing or rides in the parks...I wonder why? They were all great movies, and I'm sure people would love to experience them, or perhaps having an area would allow people TO experience them for the first time.

The Lion King did have a show where Philharmagic is now. Not sure the reason it was removed. It was very different from Festival of the Lion King.

Regarding the mid 90's movies... I'm not sure your opinion is shared very widely. Pocahontas, Hercules, Hunchback . . . They were ok, but I don't think they are considered part of the "Second Disney Golden Age" like Mermaid, Beauty, and Lion King.

 

[DWillowBay]

Hercules and Tarzan...love those hunky guys! But seriously, these were very well-written movies with great music...no love.
Pinocchio... a QS that serves flatbreads.... that's it. JIMINY!! Blue Fairy!! Stromboli! Gideon! Love these characters.
Bambi ...and all things Bambi.... There's NOTHING!
Bolt... great movie, no love
Three Little Pigs...CLASSIC!
PETE! PETE! PETE! ... Used to be nasty...Converted to the Good Side. PETE!
All this just for starters

 

[tjevans]

Rafiki is at AK, but I agree.

Lion King is one of their greatest movies and it seems under represented

Incredibles and Monsters are at HS

I think some movies, even though they were great, just don't translate well to theme parks. For example, in Lion King, do you have a character of young Simba, or adult Simba? While I think I've seen a Timon, I'm having a hard time picturing a Puumba costume.

Oh, and just another "way back when..." In 2005, I took my son to WDW for the first time. Raffia was in Adventureland at a meet and greet back then.

 

[adrienne21snow]

WALL-E. Where is he? What about Eve? Surely they could could fit in somewhere like Futureworld, Tomorrowland, or even Pixar Place.

 

[tjevans]

WALL-E. Where is he? What about Eve? Surely they could could fit in somewhere like Futureworld, Tomorrowland, or even Pixar Place.

How would you do a character of Eve, a floating robot? Wall-E, to me, would be like Olaf. Done to the scale where a person could be in the costume, it just doesn't look right. I also think a rusty robot with pincers as hands might be kind of scary at that size.

 

[mesaboy2]

Some of the characters mentioned, including 4-legged realistically-depicted characters and floating robots, are kind of hard to pull off well for a M&G--I don't care how much money Disney has.

 

[adrienne21snow]

How would you do a character of Eve, a floating robot? Wall-E, to me, would be like Olaf. Done to the scale where a person could be in the costume, it just doesn't look right. I also think a rusty robot with pincers as hands might be kind of scary at that size.

I guess I wasn't looking at it purely from and M&G standpoint. There don't seem to be any attractions, parades, or shows that feature these characters (that I'm aware of). They do have a walking talking trashcan in Tomorrowland-maybe he could be given something of a Wall-E overlay. There are several attractions that involve projectors and other visual trickery. Floating madame heads, ghosts, flying pixies, and a magical mirrors guests can walk through have not eluded imagineers to this point , they can probably handle a floating robot.

You are absolutely right that a college student in a costume would be disappointing though.

 

[tjevans]

I guess I wasn't looking at it purely from and M&G standpoint. There don't seem to be any attractions, parades, or shows that feature these characters (that I'm aware of). They do have a walking talking trashcan in Tomorrowland-maybe he could be given something of a Wall-E overlay. There are several attractions that involve projectors and other visual trickery. Floating madame heads, ghosts, flying pixies, and a magical mirrors guests can walk through have not eluded imagineers to this point , they can probably handle a floating robot.

Push, the trash can, hasn't been there for a couple of years, just FYI. Disney wasn't able to work out the details of a contract between the person that owned the rights to him.

What mirrors that you walk through are you referring? Thought I've done it all at WDW, but that doesn't sound familiar.

 

[FLchick415]

Push, the trash can, hasn't been there for a couple of years, just FYI. Disney wasn't able to work out the details of a contract between the person that owned the rights to him.

What mirrors that you walk through are you referring? Thought I've done it all at WDW, but that doesn't sound familiar.

Enchanted Tales With Belle. At the beginning of the attraction, you walk through the magic mirror from Maurice's cottage to the Beast's castle.

 

[adrienne21snow]

Push, the trash can, hasn't been there for a couple of years, just FYI. Disney wasn't able to work out the details of a contract between the person that owned the rights to him.

What mirrors that you walk through are you referring? Thought I've done it all at WDW, but that doesn't sound familiar.

Enchanted Tales with Belle has a walk through mirror. It's a pretty convincing illusion, but it's not exactly walking through your reflection.

Whoops-already answered

 

[RenaissanceBabe]

THE LION KING I never see any real Lion King areas/themes outside of that show in Animal Kingdom. The Lion King before it was frozen, was Disneys biggest selling franchise why no love?

Hercules: Zilch - I think with Kingdom Hearts being released and a huge focus on it being Hercules areas why not have something in the park for this wonderful film?

Mulan: Character Meet and Greet in Epcot but thats where it ends...why not explore her more her movie was fantastic.

The mid 90's movies outside of Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast don't seem to harbor any kind of themeing or rides in the parks...I wonder why? They were all great movies, and I'm sure people would love to experience them, or perhaps having an area would allow people TO experience them for the first time.

See I still wonder why Disney as a park ignores the smash hit that Kingdom Hearts was. You could easily do Sora, Riku, Kairi, and donald and Goofy in their KH get ups. I know there would be concern for those who have no idea what it is but put it somewhere off the beaten path. I think that would be amazing.

And Hunchback. I want to hug Quasimodo.

 

[tjevans]

Enchanted Tales With Belle. At the beginning of the attraction, you walk through the magic mirror from Maurice's cottage to the Beast's castle.

Ah, I haven't experienced ETWB yet. I've only been once since that opened and no one in my party, including DD8, wanted to see it.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Ah, I haven't experienced ETWB yet. I've only been once since that opened and no one in my party, including DD8, wanted to see it.

You should go at least once. It offers some of the best of Disney Imagineering. Their use of technology in that attraction is outstanding. I've done it several times and I'm still intrigued by Wardrobe every single time.

As far as characters go...we did see Timon out at the Dinoland dance party in AK in December, but it would be nice if he was out on the regular. Captain Hook and Smee should be out, IMO. Actually, all Disney villains are under-represented in the parks in general. I'm totally bummed that they took away the non-Tink fairies, too.

 

[Newsies]

The problem with the lion king is that it seems to only fit into the theming of Animal Kingdom- unless Disney brought more of it into Future World, which could probably be done at some point somehow. I also can't imagine Simba and Nala walking around on two legs for a meet and greet (Although I guess you can argue that Marie and Pluto walk around on two).

Personally I think Rapunzel and Flynn need their own regular meet and greet in the Tangled area. Then not only can we meet the demand for more princes in the park, but another princess like Aurora or Snow can go into the Fairytale Hall with Cindy.

 

[Newsies]

I'm totally bummed that they took away the non-Tink fairies, too.

AGREED! I love the non-tink fairies! So bummed that they were gone by the time I revisited WDW this summer!

 

[mindygirl5238]

They could do a Wall-E kinda thing like they have going on with Cars in DHS. Put the little guy somewhere, he's so cute I just want to hug him! And it wouldn't necessarily have to be a M&G, something in TomorrowLand would be cute. A kiosk, I don't care. (Can you tell I love that movie?)

And I agree about Herc & Meg. My oldest would LOVE to meet Meg. Yes, I know Meg is out for special occasions, but it would be nice to see them more. Poor Meg, always getting thrown in with the villains, she's not a villain.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I guess I wasn't looking at it purely from and M&G standpoint. There don't seem to be any attractions, parades, or shows that feature these characters (that I'm aware of).

In the past there have been shows and/or parades featuring Lion King, Mulan, Hunchback of Notre Dame. They are gone now. New things have taken their place. Flynn used to meet with Rapunzel but he was eventually withdrawn. Merida meets in that spot now, and Rapunzel is at Fairytale Hall.

The talking trashcan is gone, and it didn't belong to Disney, it was operated by a contractor.

Monsters Inc. has an attraction at MK. Sully and Mike meet at DHS. The Incredibles have a dance party at MK.