Extinct Attractions Club
MSN catches a contributor in a nostalgic mood: 10 Things I Miss About Disneyland. A good article, although I think a lot of this second-hand nostalgia tends to gloss over the fact that some of those old rides may have not been all that. Sure, the Monsanto House of the Future looks way cool in photographs, but when I queried my mom (who visited D’land for the first time in the mid-’60s), she said it didn’t make much of an impression on her. I can remember doing Mission to Mars in 1987, being underwhelmed by an outdated and dull experience. Times change and they can’t keep it a museum.
That said, I truly hate how the current Disneyland is becoming less about the low-key and educational and more about the blatant selling of crap. I’m still pissed about them making the treehouse into a Tarzan shill, and Jack Sparrow invading the pirate ride and Tom Sawyer Island seems wrong. Something like Adventure Thru Inner Space could make you learn about molecules and have a good ‘ol campy time — why can’t they recapture that sort of magic any more?
August 29th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
The BF and I are headed to Disney World in 2 weeks for a getaway and I’m lamenting some of the rides that will be closed for repairs like Spaceship Earth and Rock N Rollercoaster.
Though I’m not really one of those people who curses Disney everytime they shut down a ride, it really sucks seeing what they did to The Enchanted Tiki Room. It’s not even the same attraction and the new one mocks the original.
Some of the newer attractions really get me excited like Soarin’, Mickey’s Philharmagic, and Expedition Everest.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Good point on the camp+education. It will be interesting to see IF Disney continues with their plans to remake Swiss Family Robinson whether or not they will retheme the Treehouse again. As for House of the Future - I also asked my mom about it, and she really had no memory of it, and she’s got a memory like a steeltrap. Great post!