If you were an Imagineer for a day...

[SD33]

So, I recently started a thread asking people if Innoventions was worth a visit. I have never been before and the consensus was that it somewhere on the spectrum between "a total waste of space" and just "OK if the weather isn't optimal". Then the thread went beautifully sideways as people discussed what they would do differently with the space. Someone mentioned getting rid of everything inside Innoventions and starting a mini-EPCOT that served food from around the world. Brilliant, I think!

Anyway, it got me thinking...

If you were an all powerful Imagineer for a day, what would you change about the parks? What would you get rid of and what would you replace it with?

Me, I'd start with the obvious canvas of DCA and get rid of any attractions you could find in another run-of-the-mill amusement park. I'd scrap two or three of them if I could (Mulholland Madness, Golden Zephyr, etc.), and replace them with just one amazing E-ticket attraction which I would affectionately call "The Cave of Wonders". Needless to say, it would be a high-speed indoor roller coaster based on Aladdin. And of course you would fly on a magic carpet avoiding many amazing and awe-inspiring obstacles. I'd also put the breaks on the Little Mermaid ride and reconfigure it to be a boat ride with plenty of exciting waterfalls and drops (think SM meets POTC). I just think this would "plus" it.

And if I still had time on my hands before the sorcerer took the cap back from his apprentice, I would smooth out the track of the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Bit bumpy I think.

What would you do?

 

[spacemermaid]

Love your idea for making the Little Mermaid ride a boat ride!

If I were "in charge" for a day, I'd...

...dig up (pun intended ) the original plans for the "haunted" restaurant that was to be part of/adjacent to the Haunted Mansion, and have them built/put to use.

...reopen the Tahitian Terrace in Frontierland. I loved, loved, LOVED that place! And I'm guessing that others did too, as anything Tahitian Terrace related on Ebay sells for astronomical sums.

...fix Tomorrowland. Get rid of the giant concrete "french fries" that create such a bottleneck at the entrance. Make the Astro Orbitor look like a spaceship again, and put it up high & in the center of Tomorrowland, where it belongs. Get rid of Starcade (in a world where one can play videogames even on one's cellphone, a brick-and-mortar arcade is hardly futuristic, IMO). Put something else in the space...I'm thinking either an updated Adventure Thru Inner Space, or a "futuristic" table service restaurant. Put something up on the Peoplemover tracks. It wouldn't have to be a recreation of the original, but it'd be nice to have the movement that it added to TL's landscape back again, plus a nice place to take a break whilst still moving/seeing what's around. Get rid of the muted/steampunk/1998 color scheme...it works for Discoveryland, but not for Tomorrowland. (I'm glad that they realized that Space Mountain didn't look good painted that rusty brown color! ) Get rid of the Rotating Hunk O' Junk where the Rocket Jets used to be...it's sad to see the skeleton of a ride I loved as a kid/teenager oscillating randomly to the soundtrack to a pretty much forgotten early 90s sci-fi movie (the Rocketeer). If I sound overly critical of Tomorrowland, it's because Tomorrowland is my favorite land, and has the potential to be great once again (I'm very much looking forward to the new Star Tours!)

...put Land-specific merchandise back into the Lands. I loved the Villains shop that was there about 10 years ago, and the Gourmet shop in NOS. I also loved that you could get Astronaut Ice Cream and various space-related items in Tomorrowland. I really miss the shop in Adventureland that had souvenirs from various parts of the world; it really added to the theming of that Land.

...that's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll be back

 

[SD33]

Love your idea for making the Little Mermaid ride a boat ride!

If I were "in charge" for a day, I'd...

...dig up (pun intended ) the original plans for the "haunted" restaurant that was to be part of/adjacent to the Haunted Mansion, and have them built/put to use.

...reopen the Tahitian Terrace in Frontierland. I loved, loved, LOVED that place! And I'm guessing that others did too, as anything Tahitian Terrace related on Ebay sells for astronomical sums.

...fix Tomorrowland. Get rid of the giant concrete "french fries" that create such a bottleneck at the entrance. Make the Astro Orbitor look like a spaceship again, and put it up high & in the center of Tomorrowland, where it belongs. Get rid of Starcade (in a world where one can play videogames even on one's cellphone, a brick-and-mortar arcade is hardly futuristic, IMO). Put something else in the space...I'm thinking either an updated Adventure Thru Inner Space, or a "futuristic" table service restaurant. Put something up on the Peoplemover tracks. It wouldn't have to be a recreation of the original, but it'd be nice to have the movement that it added to TL's landscape back again, plus a nice place to take a break whilst still moving/seeing what's around. Get rid of the muted/steampunk/1998 color scheme...it works for Discoveryland, but not for Tomorrowland. (I'm glad that they realized that Space Mountain didn't look good painted that rusty brown color! ) Get rid of the Rotating Hunk O' Junk where the Rocket Jets used to be...it's sad to see the skeleton of a ride I loved as a kid/teenager oscillating randomly to the soundtrack to a pretty much forgotten early 90s sci-fi movie (the Rocketeer). If I sound overly critical of Tomorrowland, it's because Tomorrowland is my favorite land, and has the potential to be great once again (I'm very much looking forward to the new Star Tours!)

...put Land-specific merchandise back into the Lands. I loved the Villains shop that was there about 10 years ago, and the Gourmet shop in NOS. I also loved that you could get Astronaut Ice Cream and various space-related items in Tomorrowland. I really miss the shop in Adventureland that had souvenirs from various parts of the world; it really added to the theming of that Land.

...that's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll be back

A haunted restaurant sounds beyond awesome!

It is definitely time to replace the Starcade too. Excellent point!

I knew I wasn't the only one out there who had spent an excessive amount of time thinking about how I would do things differently if I was in charge

 

[spacemermaid]

That's what I thought when I read about it in the Haunted Mansion book...it would be SO. COOL.! Especially if the food were themed, as well!

Nope; you are most certainly not the only one who thinks about what they'd do if the Park were theirs!

 

[Funball]

I would make a western themed restaurant and have BTM go through it!!!

 

[spacemermaid]

I would make a western themed restaurant and have BTM go through it!!!

That's a good idea! They could go all-out themewise, it'd be great!

 

[Funball]

That's a good idea! They could go all-out themewise, it'd be great!

Yeah. I ‘d love sit right near the tracks of BTM, like literally right near it, I don’t’ care if it comes screamin by! It be cool!

 

[skiingfast]

I'd agree more sit down restaurants like POTC with tables rideside. Even intergrating some more tracks into stores would be fun. Somthing like the peoplemover that visited different attractions.

But a rollercoaster going through a dining room. Fun for people who can see it, a noisy headache for eveyone else.

 

[SD33]

But a rollercoaster going through a dining room. Fun for people who can see it, a noisy headache for eveyone else.

Yeah, theming could be cool but it would be deafening unless there was some kind of soundproof glass or something keeping it back. Still, I'm sure Disney could come up with something awesome.

I also agree that we need more sit-down dining options at Disneyland. That's one thing WDW is simply way better at.

 

[lcasa]

Your distinct merchandise idea hit home with me - back in the 80s I swear I could spend a whole day just going through the stores, since they mostly carried different merchandise. That's coming back a bit it seems, but I really miss it.

And yes - let's get something on that Peoplemover track!! And don't forget the upstairs in the Starcade - there's lots of wasted space there for something cool.

But leave the Little Mermaid alone - it will be great- I got a sneak peak at some of the animatronics - VERY nice.

 

[pixiewings71]

Spacemermaid, which HM book do you have? i was thinking of getting DD14 something like that for Christmas, she's a HUGE HM fan.

I would love to see a HM themed restaurant!! And I agree with more sit down dining choices, it does seem that WDW has the market on that end of things. Use the PM tracks, update (or refutureize LOL) TL...all really good ideas.

 

[spacemermaid]

lcasa: Me too! Shopping at Disneyland used to be an experience in & of itsself! It does seem to be changing for the better, though...for instance, all the LE Tiki mugs/bowls available at the store in Adventureland.

pixiewings71: It's the original version of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Mansi...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283302567&sr=1-1 . It's a GREAT book! Lots of pictures of proposed & actual concepts for the Haunted Mansion (including Rolly Crump's work, which is some of my favorite...seriously, this book is worth having just for the pictures alone, but besides the pictures it's also very informative & well-researched!)

 

[Tink91]

Ooohhh fun!!


I would make them start plans for an Australian Disney park!


Then.....update Tomorrowland a fair bit, maybe make AstroBlasters a rollercoaster instead of a game, TSMM is similair but kicks AB's butt!

I love the idea of the rollercoaster going through a restaurant!

But how cool would a Little Mermaid restaurant be in the ride!! Like an underwater seafood banquet or something.

 

[pixiewings71]

Thank You Spacemermaid! That book looks perfect for her!! She's going to love her HM themed Christmas. LOL

 

[skiingfast]

Maybe the should have Disney acquire more land and build a 3rd gate. No waterpark another real theme park.

 

[spacemermaid]

Thank You Spacemermaid! That book looks perfect for her!! She's going to love her HM themed Christmas. LOL

No problem! It is a great book; if she loves the HM, she'll love the book

 

[pixiewings71]

Oh she does.....she was Constance last year for Halloween. Luckily we were at DCA so everyone knew who she was.

 

[skiingfast]

I think I would Stretch the railroad so that more of the park could be inside the berm.

 

[MainStreet_U.S.A.]

Some really cool post, I never knew about the HM resturant, I would really like to see that come to life....or ummmmm death.

Inovetntions get rid of it, it reminds me of Fry's or Best Buy.....put a good themed ride there maybe somehow expand on SM to give it more room for track.
Yes please put the Astro Orbiter back where it belongs on top of PM, what were they thinking when they moved it?
Update Autopia with electric cars......it's supposed to be the future right, make them look like they hover too.
Get rid of Starcad, video games of the past in the future?
Update PM and bring it back!

I understood why the removed the Sky Buckets but that old loading and unloading area in Fantasyland is still there. IMO it would be great if they could turn that into an entrance for another ride that would expand into the where the BBQ Buffet is now. that place is for the most part not all that active so they could put a building with a dark ride there that you enter from the old Sky Buckets, I was thinking a Marry Poppins ride, never understood why that never got a ride in the first place. They could cover the outside of the building to look like rocks from BTM so it would keep the themming of the areas. Plus with all that room this could be a long dark ride not like the shot glass ones we currently have in Fantasyland.

I am sorry but I really don't care for the Poo ride and still dumbfounded how CBJ was replaced by that....however it is there now so they can at least try to make it like the one at WDW, much better animatronics and the car you ride doesn’t constantly make you feel like you’re on the rocky ocean so you get sea sick. Not like that happens....it is just kind of annoying throughout the whole ride.

 

[Teki]

I heard a story recently about Bob Gur saying that the bobsleds are bumpy because the newer bigger cars dont fit on the track the same way as the orginal cars and that the ride wouldn't be as bumpy if the original cars were still there so maybe youd just have to switch the cars lol

If I had the cap I would start by puting a big HAULT on the Star Tours Refurb. Id update it, but keep to the original three movies.
I would of course get rid of innovations and replace it with an actual ride, maybe a mission to mars style ride? I would also bring back the people mover, get rid of EO and put something relevant there perhaps something Wall E. Lastly Id throw Glo fest out the window permanently and I would get rid of booze in DCA. I know a lot of people like it, but IMHO I dont understand its need in a family theme park.

So mostly Id fix Tommrow land