Tim
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Air / Blue Fire
Florida,
the Theme Park Capital of the World!
It's an unusual feeling; to be a theme park enthusiast who has never visited Florida. I can rattle off obscure facts about almost any ride around the world and tell tales of parks most people have never even heard of. However those same people will turn to me with stories of Disney World and Universal, wondering why I've never seen the theme park capital of the world.
It's a feeling I'm sure some of you have also experienced. For as well visited as Florida is the logistics of organising a near month long trip in a continent you've never set foot in can take years... 10 if we are counting. So you can imagine my response when just over a year ago me and my girlfriend were invited to join 10 others on a guided trip of all Florida has to offer!
Let's stop the story there!
This isn't going to be a rambling review of all the Floridian parks. You can find plenty of those elsewhere. In this thread I want to discuss Florida. It's a fascinating place and I hope my thoughts can offer a new perspective. Let's start with the Magic Kingdom, and probably my most controversial opinion:
I think Parc Disneyland (Paris) is better than the Magic Kingdom!
As the most visited theme park in the world I expected a lot from the Magic Kingdom. I never expected it to be my favourite park (personally I'm more interested to visit Disneyland in California for its historic value) but I was expecting it to compare favourable to Disneyland in Paris. However of the two I found that Paris had a lot more character.
One of the problems is the Magic Kingdoms size. It is too big and yet to small at the same time. Big in the sense that wide paths and towering buildings made me feel like I was observing the park but not close enough to be part of it. Small because despite its grandeur there wasn't much to explore.
Say for example you left the hub and headed towards Adventureland. In Paris you are met with an entire island and hours of exploring ahead. At the Magic Kingdom Adventureland is a single path. Keep following this path and you enter Frontierland, followed by Liberty Square, Fantasyland and finally Tommorowland. The only off-shoots from this path are Tom Sawyer's Island and New Tomorrowland, after which you've seen the entire park!
The above problem wasn't helped by the ongoing renovation. The Swiss Family Treehouse, Big Thunder and even Cinderella's Castle were all closed, not dissimilar to the amount of work currently going on in Paris.
But there's one massive problem. Tommorowland is dire!
I knew going in the area had problems. Disney attempted to create a realistic look at the future, but forgot that "tomorrow is just a day away". This wouldn't have been a problem if they kept Tommorowland as the most technologically advance area or like Paris dipped into science fiction. What they've done is given up!
The rides are outdated, with better versions existing elsewhere:
If Disney are to solve this problem the only true solution is to level the land and start over. They can salvage one or two aspects. The People Mover could be put to great use in Epcot (which suffers exactly the same problem but I'll come back to Future World another day). Also The Carousel of Progress is a genuine classic in need of some love. Thankfully I have a solution.
If you've never heard of Edison's Square it was a Disneyland concept for the expansion of Main Street. At it's heart was a ride which told the story of a family living in Walt's lifetime and how Edison's inventions improved their lives. While Edison's Square never happened the ride did as the Carousel of Progress. If CoP could be moved to behind main street Edison's Square could finally be created. The current ending on CoP could revert back to how it original was but end with a twist. Passengers leave into New Tommorowland, a romanticised Sci-Fi world, like Paris but derived from great american thinkers such as Edison.
If the Tomorowland problem could be resolved I'd look much more favourable on the Magic Kingdom. Thankfully it's just one of the many parks Florida had on offer.
the Theme Park Capital of the World!
It's an unusual feeling; to be a theme park enthusiast who has never visited Florida. I can rattle off obscure facts about almost any ride around the world and tell tales of parks most people have never even heard of. However those same people will turn to me with stories of Disney World and Universal, wondering why I've never seen the theme park capital of the world.
It's a feeling I'm sure some of you have also experienced. For as well visited as Florida is the logistics of organising a near month long trip in a continent you've never set foot in can take years... 10 if we are counting. So you can imagine my response when just over a year ago me and my girlfriend were invited to join 10 others on a guided trip of all Florida has to offer!
Shiny new Hulk, glowing in the Florida sun
Let's stop the story there!
This isn't going to be a rambling review of all the Floridian parks. You can find plenty of those elsewhere. In this thread I want to discuss Florida. It's a fascinating place and I hope my thoughts can offer a new perspective. Let's start with the Magic Kingdom, and probably my most controversial opinion:
I think Parc Disneyland (Paris) is better than the Magic Kingdom!
As the most visited theme park in the world I expected a lot from the Magic Kingdom. I never expected it to be my favourite park (personally I'm more interested to visit Disneyland in California for its historic value) but I was expecting it to compare favourable to Disneyland in Paris. However of the two I found that Paris had a lot more character.
One of the problems is the Magic Kingdoms size. It is too big and yet to small at the same time. Big in the sense that wide paths and towering buildings made me feel like I was observing the park but not close enough to be part of it. Small because despite its grandeur there wasn't much to explore.
Say for example you left the hub and headed towards Adventureland. In Paris you are met with an entire island and hours of exploring ahead. At the Magic Kingdom Adventureland is a single path. Keep following this path and you enter Frontierland, followed by Liberty Square, Fantasyland and finally Tommorowland. The only off-shoots from this path are Tom Sawyer's Island and New Tomorrowland, after which you've seen the entire park!
The above problem wasn't helped by the ongoing renovation. The Swiss Family Treehouse, Big Thunder and even Cinderella's Castle were all closed, not dissimilar to the amount of work currently going on in Paris.
But there's one massive problem. Tommorowland is dire!
I knew going in the area had problems. Disney attempted to create a realistic look at the future, but forgot that "tomorrow is just a day away". This wouldn't have been a problem if they kept Tommorowland as the most technologically advance area or like Paris dipped into science fiction. What they've done is given up!
The rides are outdated, with better versions existing elsewhere:
- Buzz Lightyear is completely outclassed, ironically by another Toy Story shooting ride at Hollywood Studio. (and dare I say even the UK's equivalents are better?)
- Stitch's Great Escape is a lesser version of... itself.
- Space Mountain was summed up best by my girlfriend; "It was good, but Euro Sat is much better"
If Disney are to solve this problem the only true solution is to level the land and start over. They can salvage one or two aspects. The People Mover could be put to great use in Epcot (which suffers exactly the same problem but I'll come back to Future World another day). Also The Carousel of Progress is a genuine classic in need of some love. Thankfully I have a solution.
If you've never heard of Edison's Square it was a Disneyland concept for the expansion of Main Street. At it's heart was a ride which told the story of a family living in Walt's lifetime and how Edison's inventions improved their lives. While Edison's Square never happened the ride did as the Carousel of Progress. If CoP could be moved to behind main street Edison's Square could finally be created. The current ending on CoP could revert back to how it original was but end with a twist. Passengers leave into New Tommorowland, a romanticised Sci-Fi world, like Paris but derived from great american thinkers such as Edison.
If the Tomorowland problem could be resolved I'd look much more favourable on the Magic Kingdom. Thankfully it's just one of the many parks Florida had on offer.
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