New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

[MsSarah]

New Orleans Square is sure popular these days! Why is it so special and why do you like to so much?


-Pretzel

[Werner]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

I think New Orleans Square is so popular because it is one the most evocative, warm and romantic areas of the park. It really makes you feel like you are back in "N'awlins", back in the past. It's a very "cozy" place, and it is so rich in detail that it really takes you out of the present and transports you to another place and time. Plus it's got Pirates and Mansion, two of the most popular attractions ever!

[aashee]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Pirates and Haunted Mansion. Both thought of by the man himself, Walt Disney.

Both rides are thrilling, fun and have songs that will stand the test of time forever.

Royal street is fantastic and the area is just so well themed.

A+ Mr. Disney, thank you.

[Kritter]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Also can't forget the great seats for Fantasmic!

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Oh goodness.

If you don't get why New Orleans Square is so wonderful, then as a whole it's hard to see why Disneyland is so special.

Details, my friend. Details. Theme.

Not to mention the most timeless attractions in the Disney legacy...

It's romantic, it's beautiful...it's the last land Walt had a personal touch in.

What's not so special about it?

(Not to mention the presence of Jack Sparrow and Jack Skellington...)

Have you ever gone to the park during the holiday season? Visit New Orleans Square at night...it's beautiful.

[TwilitWings]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

It's absolutely gorgeous--a sense of quiet pervades it, even if you're surrounded by people. It's shady and there are small areas to duck into for a nice quiet seat. Plus the fact that there are a lot of nice shops that are just great to look at. During the holidays, it's even more gorgeous!

The rides don't hurt either. ;]

[Datameister]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

NOS has many beautiful and fun elements that all work together to create a perfect Disneyland atmosphere. It does, in fact, embody everything Disney parks should be, IMO. The great things about NOS are:

1. Architecture. The buildings are beautiful, detailed, semi-authentic, purposeful, intricate, and thematically consistent. Compare River Belle Terrace, all the buildings around Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion facade--they all have varieties, but they fit within the same beautiful framework.
2. Trees. So many of them. Lovely shade. They create layers through which you glimpse other areas. The air feels nicer and you don't feel like you're stuck in a concrete jungle. ::cough:: Tomorrowland ::cough::
3. Quality attractions. Pirates and the Haunted Mansion are two of the most richly themed and best loved original Disney rides, both of which Walt had a hand in. They're big and ambitious, but still thoroughly charming, with some of the best Disney use of animatronics and special effects to date.
4. Rivers of America. There's something magical about having a woodsy waterway crawling past a land, especially at night.
5. Entertainment. NOS has got great performers on the "streets" and in the--
6. --restaurants. Blue Bayou alone is practically enough to elevate NOS above every other locale in Disneyland on the face of the earth.

I love the other lands, too. But if I had to pick one to spend all day in without being able to ride anything, I'd pick NOS in an instant.

EDIT: By the way, NOS' popularity isn't a new thing. I've seen it win at least two "Favorite Land" polls on this forum, and it was popular in the recent thread about lands. Actually, NOS hasn't changed all that much in forty years--I mean, the trees have grown, Johnny Depp has taken up residence, the HM attic has changed its OS a few times, Fantasmic! has created evening congestion, and Pirates' lower courtyard was created in the outdoor queue...but fundamentally, NOS hasn't changed. It's still the same place, albeit with improved atmosphere thanks to the wonderful trees' growth.

[hobbitfeet]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Pretty.
I miss New Orleans.
Favorite DL food, vegetarian gumbo in a bread bowl.

[bloodnswash]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

I have loved New Orleans Square for 35+ years (since I was 4 years old). Not exactly sure why, though. Maybe because it housed the mysterious looking House? Had the original POTC that was awesome? What's funny is when I lived in Louisiana for a few years back in the late '80's, and we went to New Orleans, my first reaction of the city was, "This looks just like Disneyland!" These days I have an exceptional fondness for DL's New Orleans Square cuz it brings back so many wonderful memories of my visits to the place it was built after. In a weird way, it feels like home to me.

[ssturgeo]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

We lived in Lousiana for five years...NOS...the smells wafting from the restaurants!! The food....Blue Bayou...Club 33. Listening to the VooDoo lady! Courtyard of the Angels for pictures. The music. And the holiday decorations are incredible...it is even more magical when decorated for Christmas...the big "over the top" ornaments! The view out over the Rivers of America.

[Junthor]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Good gravy.. the only thing I can say now is DITTO

[EmeralineDragon]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Well said, Datameister, well said.

[MollyTrolly]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

What Datameister said...

[SnowflakeSparks]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

I want to go to Disneyland someday. I'm VERY close to New Orleans, and seeing NOS would remind me of home probaly. I'd love to see what its like.

[scrappydawg]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

The theming and architecture, not to mention the great old-school rides, Pirates and HM. The best restaurants in DL are also in that area.

[Goofy Daddy]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

NOS has many beautiful and fun elements that all work together to create a perfect Disneyland atmosphere. It does, in fact, embody everything Disney parks should be, IMO. The great things about NOS are:

1. Architecture. The buildings are beautiful, detailed, semi-authentic, purposeful, intricate, and thematically consistent. Compare River Belle Terrace, all the buildings around Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion facade--they all have varieties, but they fit within the same beautiful framework.
2. Trees. So many of them. Lovely shade. They create layers through which you glimpse other areas. The air feels nicer and you don't feel like you're stuck in a concrete jungle. ::cough:: Tomorrowland ::cough::
3. Quality attractions. Pirates and the Haunted Mansion are two of the most richly themed and best loved original Disney rides, both of which Walt had a hand in. They're big and ambitious, but still thoroughly charming, with some of the best Disney use of animatronics and special effects to date.
4. Rivers of America. There's something magical about having a woodsy waterway crawling past a land, especially at night.
5. Entertainment. NOS has got great performers on the "streets" and in the--
6. --restaurants. Blue Bayou alone is practically enough to elevate NOS above every other locale in Disneyland on the face of the earth.

I love the other lands, too. But if I had to pick one to spend all day in without being able to ride anything, I'd pick NOS in an instant.

EDIT: By the way, NOS' popularity isn't a new thing. I've seen it win at least two "Favorite Land" polls on this forum, and it was popular in the recent thread about lands. Actually, NOS hasn't changed all that much in forty years--I mean, the trees have grown, Johnny Depp has taken up residence, the HM attic has changed its OS a few times, Fantasmic! has created evening congestion, and Pirates' lower courtyard was created in the outdoor queue...but fundamentally, NOS hasn't changed. It's still the same place, albeit with improved atmosphere thanks to the wonderful trees' growth.

That sums it up.

[Opus1guy]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Great points all...and now another one.

For the purposes of this post I am referring mainly to the French Quarter section of New Orleans Square.

To me, New Orleans Square always represented a new dimension in "Lands" for Disney.

First...it wasn't just a general theme...it was the first Land to actually represent a real place. Wasn't just like Main Street was "like" your typical mid-western main street...or that Frontierland was a very broad representation of various styles of the old west. New Orleans Square represented a real place you could find on a map.

It didn't feel like the rest of Disneyland in that much of the rest of the park was more of a Hollywood stage set. New Orleans Square felt different from its very opening. Like you weren't participating in some movie....but instead were "visiting" a representation of a very real place.

As such, I've always opinioned it was the precursor to a design and storytelling style that was more like what would eventually be the World Showcase countries at EPCOT. I think New Orleans Square is more related to that, than the typical other Lands at Disneyland.

And I think that's one of the things that makes it special. Almost as if at the end of Walt's life...he was just starting to take the Land concept to a slightly different level. Whether he consciously recognized it or not.

[Datameister]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Interesting point, Opus1guy, although I don't totally agree with it. NOS is still a generalization that doesn't literally represent any one location in the French Quarter. And I do think that Main Street et al. are intended to transport you to the other places, not drop you into movie sets that depict them. NOS just does a more convincing job of it in many ways.

[Opus1guy]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Interesting point, Opus1guy, although I don't totally agree with it. NOS is still a generalization that doesn't literally represent any one location in the French Quarter.

Oh I agree and didn't mean to imply otherwise. Yes it's a generalization. But it's a generalization of a real place on a map. The France area at EPCOT is a generalization too. But it's a generalization of a real place. That's what I meant.

The other lands transport you more to a place of mind. New Orleans Square is meant to transport you more to a real place...the French Quarter of the real city of New Orleans.

[Datameister]

Re: New Orleans Square - What's So Special About It?

Mmmm, I see what you're saying. Agreed!