Fantasyland's Future Fixin's?

[dsnyfnatic]

Hi all, first time poster here, long time reader though. I was thinking the other day about some possible changes to Disneyland. Now, I know that there is TONS to do before any of the ideas discussed on this board would happen, I know that there is a lot of open space, TL needs to be fixed, etc. But let's imagine (it is Disneyland we're talking about here) that none of these problems existed, or were already fixed. There is no more room for expansion in DL, unless something is removed, OR.......

We expand UP!

Imagine TDA realizes this, and decides to add an extra story above each of the 4 dark rides/cottages within Sleeping Beauty Castle (Snow White, Pinnoccio, Peter Pan, and Toad). You can get to these second stories via entering SB Castle (ala the SB walk through that was closed down after 9/11) and proceed to enter the queues of four brand spankin new dark rides! My question to all of you is: which four dark rides would you like to see here in this expanded section of fantasyland, and do you think this would ever become a reality sometime in the future? Thanks all!

P.S.
If this thread gets enough interest, I may start similar threads for other lands..............

[Bass Shakers]

Aww, when I read the "fixin's" in the title I thought I was going to hear about a new restaurant opening in Fantasyland. I must be hungry. :lol:

Well, my stomach has led me this far so I might as well think about something else to take my mind off it. I'm always in favor of more rides. And for opening the castle walk-through for one purpose or another! I'm sure WDI has had lots of ideas for Fantasyland dark rides over the years revolving around some of the classics that don't already have attractions to their names, and so I'd probably go with some of those for the Fantasyland vertical expansion...as opposed to rides based around newer Disney movies or shows, which would invariably involve Pixar (and those movies are pretty much spoken for in rides elsewhere) or something else that I plum just don't care for as much. I'd heard mumblings about a Little Mermaid ride way back when...and then there was that Dick Tracy idea that was supposed to go in the area between Main Street and Space Mountain, right? I wouldn't use that particular concept now but I'm sure they've had many ideas for that space that could maybe better find a suitable home in Fantasyland. I'd definitely appreciate rides themed to the movies that, when they were out in theaters, I really hoped would be made into rides but sadly never were. The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King, if I had to choose four.

One disclaimer, which I'm sure many others will mention, is that I'd only support the expansion if it could somehow be done without drastically adding to the height of the castle building surrounding the castle itself -- the main draw. I'd be concerned with dwarfing the size of the castle or otherwise robbing it of its impact. I'd also want the buildings not to lose their smallish, quaint, cute, inviting European village look and feel. To me, they should not grow so much as to be daunting to children. Maybe, to avoid affecting the vista of the castle from Main Street, I would settle for only adding two upstairs rides, situated further back and away from the center -- like closer to Mr. Toad and Pinocchio, and not over Snow White and Peter Pan.

Now to find some vittles with all the fixin's.

[ModHatter]

Love the idea of opening the SB walkthrough again.

Have been an advocate of multi-story show buildings for a long time.

Not sure if I would start anything near the castle like this. Try it out in Frontierland, or in northern Tomorrowland first.

Meanwhile, I think you could also tackle Fantasyland Theater. Make a modular "wall" design that can be closed in cold weather, fully open in mild weather, and closed only on the sunny side to keep temps down in summer. But in the process, build a second story that features a dark ride, maybe featuring the neglected Princesses, each of which contributes her unique gift to help you reach the Royal Ball in time.

The only other issue with this idea is accessibility. But again, a gently sloping queue and an elevator would go a long way.

[dsnyfnatic]

One disclaimer, which I'm sure many others will mention, is that I'd only support the expansion if it could somehow be done without drastically adding to the height of the castle building surrounding the castle itself -- the main draw. I'd be concerned with dwarfing the size of the castle or otherwise robbing it of its impact. I'd also want the buildings not to lose their smallish, quaint, cute, inviting European village look and feel. To me, they should not grow so much as to be daunting to children.

Well, and please correct me if I'm wrong, aren't some of the cottages already two-storied? Or is it the false perspective like what is used on Main Street. Because the Queen opens the drapes of the windows in what appears to be the second story above Snow White, doesn't she? Yes the Queen is there, but when the drapes are closed, children aren't daunted by it, even if they are just one story buildings made to look as if they are two stories. Also, I think that the castle is tall enough to block out even a second story in Fantasyland.

[Bass Shakers]

Heh, nope! You're not wrong at all. Some are definitely two stories, and the rest are probably more like 1.5 as opposed to single, strictly speaking. If they could just fill out the second story, maybe raise the roof a bit...I'm sure it could be done, if done right. I'm just saying they darn well better do it right. It's probably fine, I'm just cautious and fear change. Haha. I don't want to poo poo your idea, I like it very much. What I don't like are some of the high arched ceilings of the sound stage buildings of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot that can be seen from the esplenade and almost everywhere else. They dress up these high walls with movie posters and stuff but it's always kind of bothered me.

Thinking about it more, if you go around the back between it and the Matterhorn, behind Alice, where the bathrooms are -- it's pretty dang tall!

[dsnyfnatic]

Love the idea of opening the SB walkthrough again.
...
Not sure if I would start anything near the castle like this. Try it out in Frontierland, or in northern Tomorrowland first.
....
Meanwhile, I think you could also tackle Fantasyland Theater. Make a modular "wall" design that can be closed in cold weather, fully open in mild weather, and closed only on the sunny side to keep temps down in summer. But in the process, build a second story that features a dark ride, maybe featuring the neglected Princesses, each of which contributes her unique gift to help you reach the Royal Ball in time.

1) I am all for opening SB walkthrough again too, all the more so if it was reopening as access to a whole new set of dark rides. Think of that attraction as a queue that branches off into four separate queues for the respective dark rides.

2) I agree that there are other places where expansion upwards could and should be done, and as I said in my original post if there is enough response generated from this one, I'll create some more threads for other lands

3) I like the idea of the Princess themed dark ride. BUT, let's not forget about the little boys out there too...What if after exiting the SB walkway, which as we all know tells the story of Sleeping Beauty, you get to enter the queue of a SB dark ride, but set around Prince Phillip's perspective of the story. Perhaps we get to see what Prince Phillip was doing while he was off camera (ala Lion King 1 1/2), and finish the ride with him battling a GINORMOUS Malificent as the Dragon. Boys may not enjoy the dark ride over fantasyland theater themed to Princesses as much as girls will, but give them the boys this one, and I bet they wouldn't complain very much.


OK, now that I've given one idea that I have for a dark ride, might as well give my others for this Fantasyland expansion....

1) So we have Prince Phillip/Sleeping Beauty already.
2) How about givin some love to Cinderella? We could do it either as a traditional dark ride, just retelling her story, follow her along, etc. Much like Peter Pan (w/o the flying of course), OR, we could follow her along from the mice's perspective, passing through mouseholes for scene transitions, entering mouse cars, passing by massively oversized objects, needles, spindles, even "Cinderelly" herself, having to break away from the story because we're getting chased by Lucifer, etc.
3) I know I asked you all for four dark rides here, but I would absolutely LOVE to see a super sized dark ride based on Beauty and the Beast. Twice the size of any of the current dark rides, covering the entire area over Snow White/Pinnoccio or PP/Toad. We could pass through the dining hall in a massively immersing rendition of "Be Our Guest", watch as the castle's servants (Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, etc.) battle Gaston and his gang, and most incredibly, a PERFECT recreation of the beautiful ballroom scene with the sounds of "Beauty and the Beast" being sung and seeing the two characters dance all around you as you pass through, oblivious to you as they begin to fall in love. We could possibly end the whole performance with Jump 5's upbeat version of the song "beauty and the beast" and the whole cast (AAs of course) singing and dancing to the beat. This final scene, this final room, would have the greatest number of AAs every assembled together in one room, even more than IASW's end scene.
Thoughts?
o, and sorry for the length lol, once I start talking about Disney, I just can't stop

[ModHatter]

Well, I've posted before about multi-level attractions, including a rethink on Thunder Mesa, and another rethink based on Horizons' Sea Castle that would provide a home for a new Subs ride, Autopia, Aquatopia, PM and Monorail tracks, and a new E ticket in the middle of it all. So, I'm all for seeing these other lands in their respective threads :devil: Besides, like Bass, I fear change, which is why I didn't want SBC to be the guine pig.

But yeah... while I was thinking of the Princess rides as a Cinderella POV, it occurred to me that you could tell the same story of the Princesses (or just stick with the fairies) giving their gifts to Phillip.

And of course, anyone who knows me knows that I could devote an entire building to Mary Poppins rides. Man, can you imagine Toon Town turned into Cherry Tree Lane? And Mary Poppins, having a major segment devoted to the Rooftops of London, is perfect for the two-story idea too.

[dsnyfnatic]

And Mary Poppins, having a major segment devoted to the Rooftops of London, is perfect for the two-story idea too.

OK, forget what I said about a massive Beauty and the Beast ride, massive Mary Poppins all the way!!!! Your rooftops idea could be played out along the same ideas as Alice's dark ride, with some outdoor segments. This would also let people know that rides exist up on top now. OOOOO man, the possibilities could be endless! I am so down for Mary Poppins owning a dark ride. The thing I'm hoping CM Matt works on is timing new ride releases that are themed to movies to coincide with their DVD release (or re-release). Hint: Think Little Mermaid Special Edition being released to Disney DVD in 2008, Paradise Pier, an ocean themed area, needing a dark ride........... hmmmm, if this happens, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen more often with movies coming out of the vault. It is too late for this to happen to Mary Poppins, but that doesn't mean my favorite nanny couldn't have her own special massive dark ride in a second story of FL!!!!

[Michelle]

Aladdin! There's so much going on in that movie that would work for a ride, I don't know why they haven't already.

[emz84]

Hmm thought the Beauty and the Beast idea would be cool - am envisioning a 'Be Our Guest' sequence for my version of the ride. Would be fantastically chaotic and almost Alice-esque. You could even include the woods scene with the wolves and wow to see a 3D version of the ballroom scene could be spectacular.
Cinderella def deserves a place in DL, dsnyfnatic - would it be poss to have themed cars like the carriage or even the pumpkin. Ok so I know it may be a bit too obvious like the cars for the Pooh ride but still - would be amusing to imagineer.
Loving the Little Mermaid idea as it was my favourite film as a child - altho the possible placing of it in DCA as said previously might help the ailing sister park.

[ModHatter]

Aladdin! There's so much going on in that movie that would work for a ride, I don't know why they haven't already.

Yeah... unlike some of the recent movies, I think it's safe to say Aladdin will stand the test of time. Great songs, great plot... if they had a separate Oscars category for best long-form animated movie back then, it would have won for sure.

But Disney has a weird track record with this movie in its parks. It does show up a LOT in Storybookland. There was the show at DCA, which I thought was pretty good all things considered. Then there was that odd experiment in WDW's Tiki Room... That aside, there does seem to be a trend to put Aladdin in Adventureland, which makes sense. Adventure doesn't have to be limited to jungles of the first half of the 20th Century. Makes more sense than DSP, anyway.

I don't see why they coldn't just use the Flying Carpets vehicle design and adapt it to an Omniover-style undercarriage and use that to create a dark ride.

[XterraceEmp]

I think if any double deckering should be done, it should be done in DCA. Stacking rides just makes it seem too Carny like, confined and not very immersive. I dont think people are going to want to walk all over the park then up and down stairs to get to four new attractions and handicap parties have to wait for an elevator. It just doesn't seem to fit quite right with what Walt invisioned. I'm all for new rides, I just don't think going verticle is the answer at least for any of the lands but TL or in DCA where nobody pays much attention.

[aralechn]

Aladdin! There's so much going on in that movie that would work for a ride, I don't know why they haven't already.

Yea that'll be a cool idea! Especially if they have animatronics like the ones in TDS Aladdin ride.

[ModHatter]

I think if any double deckering should be done, it should be done in DCA. Stacking rides just makes it seem too Carny like, confined and not very immersive. I dont think people are going to want to walk all over the park then up and down stairs to get to four new attractions and handicap parties have to wait for an elevator. It just doesn't seem to fit quite right with what Walt invisioned. I'm all for new rides, I just don't think going verticle is the answer at least for any of the lands but TL or in DCA where nobody pays much attention.

Well, Walt actually pushed for the Submarines, Disneyland's first E ticket, which has Autopia stacked on top of it. And CoP was a stacked attraction. Designed using the same principles as, say, Main St., I think the stacked buildings would look no more out of place than the Disney Gallery.

[dsnyfnatic]

Wow, I would have thought there would have been more response to the idea of getting to choose four new Fantasyland dark rides....... guess I was wrong :confused:

But...... If anyone has any more ideas, please please pretty please post. Till then, I move on to the next land (look for the next alliteration lol).

[ModHatter]

Well, I think the title was a little confusing. But it was a fun topic, and I for one am looking forward to seeing the next installments!

[dsnyfnatic]

I know the title was a little confusing, and for that I appologize, but I was feeling like making these all alliterations, and "F" was pretty hard (not as hard as some of the others will be though lol). However, I just created "adventureland's awsome additions" we'll see how that one fares I suppose....

[Jspider]

what's with all the topics about stacking attractions @[email protected]

I don't think it would work well at all (you'd still have the same trails to deal with)

but when people talk about Disneyland being at capacity well, I don't think that filling in a few blank spots would do it but saying they should build more park ontop of what they already have is a bit crazy

not many of those buildings have upper stories that would be usefull for an attraction, If I'm not mistaken Mainstreet has offices in the upstares anyways

I could see it "sort of" working for Tomorrowland but even that is very questionable

ontop of that I can't see anybody wanting to visit a five day park or whatever it'd be a nightmare

as far as multistory in DCA goes, I think you'd get the same results and it would mishmesh with the theme unless you do a few multilayered rides in the LA expansion or something (I can't see it working for a nature themed area) even then you'd only be looking at a relationship like Alice and toad

[DisneySavor]

Capacity... no one likes crowded walkways, and part of capacity is the queues and waiting times(which no one likes either). The solution is to slightly increase capacity by adding many more rides.

And people love rides(most). Having been to 3 of the 'Disneyland' parks now, I'd say that Disneyland is clearly the best of them. It has more layers, more attractions more in general, and in less space. But there could be more, lots more...

[ka119]

I too like the idea of an Aladdin themed dark ride, where you could be in the Magic Carpets and have them rise up on hydraulic lifts so that your flying above the ride, and sometimes the direction of your car might change or your carpet might fly out over a set or something. And if they could figure out a way to have the Cave of Wonders to come up from the ground and enter the tigers mouth I think that would be awesome. And then to have a flight over Agraba similar to Peter Pan. I think that would be awesome.