Friday, June 1, 2012

The Loss of a Childhood Memory in the Magic Kingdom - Orlando Florida

Just as the post says, the loss of a childhood memory for many people that have come to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando Florida. It's with a sad face that I have to announce that Disney World has closed Snow White's Scary Adventure for good. Theme parks have always changed and gotten rid of rides and shows to update and make sure that they stay the most popular (or at least try to stay the most popular), however from time to time theme parks will make decisions that take away a favorite or a classic in a massive "miss". For instance when Universal Studios replaced Back to the Future with The Simpsons it was almost enough to make me never go there again. But then again Universal has a habit of getting rid of rides instead of adding on.

However Disney is usually pretty good about making sure that all the classics are maintained and new areas are simply added instead of getting rid of a classic. While Disney has done some things in the past that I was not in favor of they usually make me happy. For instance I was not a fan of changing Pirates of the Caribbean to have characters from the movie in it, and change the dialogue  to appear more like the movie (to all you that thought the ride was based off the movie, no that's not true). The changes to the Haunted Mansion are kind of good, but at least they didn't get rid of any of the classic parts. The got rid of Mr. Toad's Wilde Ride to replace it with Winnie the Pooh, but they do have Mr. Toad at Disneyland, and Winnie the Pooh has become a classic on its own. This new development however has made mad.

The first thing that Disney decided to do was expand Fantasyland by way to getting rid of everything that was in Toon Town except the Barnstormer, okay, I can get on board with that. Two new rides, two new castles and the seven dwarf's mine. However, the first stupid thing they did was move and update Dumbo. At least they are keeping it, but there was something special about riding Dumbo and being over Fantasyland and seeing Cinderella's Castle while you were riding. Now you see the back of trees, the Tomorrowland Speedway and the Barnstormer, and it looks like a circus. I still love Dumbo, but it took away some the magic.

But not only did they do this, they also decided that since they were building a seven dwarf's mine ride they no longer need Snow White's Scary Adventure. This is one of the orginial rides in Fantasyland and classic. They logic, so I was told that was Walt Disney said that they would always be updating and adding, but what they left out was that Walt Disney also said that he wanted a park for an entire family to enjoy. Snow White's Scary Adventure, aside from being a classic, was one that there were no limits as to who could ride, any size, and age. The new seven dwarf's mine ride has a height requirement. Not only are they closing Snow White, because they are adding a ride that not everyone can ride, but they are adding a meet and greet for princesses in it's place. I was told this was because they never fit in toon town, well duh! I think everyone can go with that. However given that they are building two castle and have a lot construction going on, wouldn't it seem a better fit to place them there instead of next to Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh? And will you be moving the Fairie meet and greet out of Adventureland, I'm sorry but that doesn't make sense either. And by doing that they could keep a classic that all ages can ride. I mean you have the ride, why not just keep it? I'm sorry Disney I look forward to your update, but you missed on these two.

The good news is that most people never know the different or miss the magic of the orginal Dumbo or miss Snow White, but for those that have childhood memories of these, it's a sad day.