My thoughts on Winnie the Pooh

[HBTiggerFan]

Ok, I went on TMAOWTP yesterday for the first time. I did not read any spoilers before hand, though I wasn't expecting a lot. Here are my thoughts.

It was so bad! The first words out of my mouth after it was over was "I'm so sad! That ride sucked!!"

I have no desire to go on it again, EVER! (though I know I will). And thats saying alot coming from me, the huge Tigger junkie. The Tiggers were scary, the only cool one was the psychedelic Tigger in the hefflumps and woozles scene. The ride was incredibly short for the space it occupied. I think most Fantasyland rides are longer.

COME ON DISNEY! Get with the program here! The special effects stage has been upped by OLC and Tokyo Pooh (that I have not seen any video for), you can do it!

And what is up with NO LEGROOM in the cars? Does Disney really think that all adults have short legs?? Disney really blew it on this ride!

I did want to give a special thanks to innerSpaceman for taking me on my first ride as promised and Zapppop, Cemeinke and Not Afraid for patiently waiting with me to go on this ride. Thanks for being good sports!

[MickeyD]

While I wasn't nearly as disappointed as you were, I was pretty underwhelmed. I would ride it again, though, if I were already on that side of the park, and if the wait were less that 15 minutes.

I agree about the legroom. My bad knee does not bend that far!!! I felt like I was taking up all your legroom too!

[HBTiggerFan]

OK, I would go on it again, if I was there and there was little to no line, and I was really bored.

Don't worry about the legroom Dether! I am glad we were in the front so you had a little more. Once I moved my leg it wouldn't go back to where it was anyways

[Tigertail777]

for video footage of the very awesome looking TDL pooh ride, once again go to: www.barrybedford.com
A very cool site with lots of TDL, and Disneyseas, and DLP footage! They even have a nice video of Journey to the center of the earth ride from Disneyseas (that looks spectacular!)

[HBTiggerFan]

Thanks Tigertail,
I will go look at it when I am not so sad about the DL ride.

[Not Afraid]

Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
Don't worry about the legroom Dether!

THE D IS SILENT!!!!!!!

[MickeyD]

Originally posted by Not Afraid
THE D IS SILENT!!!!!!!

:sigh: I gave up. Apparently, the H is silent!

[HBTiggerFan]

OK, now I am really sad!! I DLed the TDL video.

[CrayZforDisney]

I find it odd how some adults complain about a children's ride. Winnie the Pooh is targeted and marketed for children, its not ment for adults! Everyone expects every single new ride to be an E- ticket attraction, give Disney a break! Besides, in the 50's, when Walt himself was alive, an E ticket attraction was a great treat. People of the 50's were amazed by a C ticket attraction!

[Darkbeer]

But when the decor is better for the store next door, then what they put into the ride, well....

Now did folks expect an "E" ticket for Pooh, no, but it should have been designed for the entire family, nut "just" little kids. They have done it in the past with older Fantasyland rides, why couldn't they done it here???

[Kuzcotopia]

It's a long walk for a boring ride.

I actually liked some of the rain effects, though. Other than that, I don't know.

It seems a long distance from Fantasyland. I don't like it more than Country Bears, even though I know that show wasn't pulling enough folks in.

But given the two, I'd rather have Country Bears back. I think that show captivated kids better than this Pooh ride does.

Oh how I wish I lived in Tokyo! Or better yet, how I wish Tokyo executives lived in Anaheim!

[HBTiggerFan]

Originally posted by CrayZforDisney
I find it odd how some adults complain about a children's ride. Winnie the Pooh is targeted and marketed for children, its not ment for adults!

Disneyland is a family park with almost all rides designed for families to ride together. I love dark rides. I love Alice, Peter Pan and Snow White. Those are rides designed for children, yet don't insult adults intelligence. Their ride vehicles are also designed with adults in mind. The cars on Pooh are so cramped, even in the front seat, where there is a little more leg room there wasn't enough for 2 average adults to sit comfortably.

It is extremely poor marketing to design a ride strictly for children. This ride is aimed at really young children at that. Parents go on the rides with their children and would like to enjoy the ride and not have their intelligence insulted or knees bruised.

Everyone expects every single new ride to be an E- ticket attraction, give Disney a break! Besides, in the 50's, when Walt himself was alive, an E ticket attraction was a great treat. People of the 50's were amazed by a C ticket attraction!

Disneyland hasn't had a successful "E" ticket since Indy. Yes, I would like to see a new one eight years later. It would be nice. And no, I don't buy the "well we got a whole new park" excuse for us not getting a new "E" ticket in DL nor do I count the "E" tickets in DCA. I am talking strictly Disneyland.

A ride doesn't need to be a thrill ride to be an "E" ticket. Tokyo Pooh is an "E" ticket, and is in no way a thrill ride. It caters to both children and adults. I would gladly wait 2-3 hours for the TDL Pooh and unhappily wait 5-10 minutes MAX for the DL Pooh ride.

This isn't the 1950s and special effects are a part of our every day lives. Cardboard cut outs just don't cut it anymore on new attractions.

OLC has set a new standard for dark rides, and I think that the Disney company here in the states needs to start meeting and exceeding their standard. Disney used to be the best of the best, always setting new standards. It needs to start doing that again, and soon or the Disney name that brought so many will lose its creditability.

[mousketeer]

I think the ride is pretty good, considering the paltry budget. If you want a ride as sophisticated as Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland, then you need a $200 Million budget - on par with that of Epcot's Test Track.

[Tigertail777]

OK considering the TOTAL budget for pooh, yes its not bad....BUT well over HALF of that entire budget was spent on retrofitting/demolising (parts) of the country bear playhouse, would it have killed them to have the art budget equal the building budget? NO it wouldnt have.

I don't fault the poor Imagineers at all in this, or pretty much any new ride, its those penny pinching bean counting suits, that just cannot get it through their ultra thick heads that you have to spend money to make money. You don't make money by cutting corners, you make it by making a superior product.

And I think the comparisons to the dark rides in Fantasyland are totally laughable because to compare the two is to say we havnt advanced at all in the art of Imagineering for at least 15 years. Not to mention that it replaced an E ticket attraction (whether many people went or not it was still an E ticket becuase of the care and detail put into the show). And I still think a lot of the problem with CBJ was traffic flow- it was too tucked away, and I think this will be a problem for pooh as well. Still had they made ONE theater pooh ride, and kept one for CBJ I wouldn't be as dissappointed/angry, and for the space wasted below the attraction in the basement level this could have been easily done.

[HBTiggerFan]

Originally posted by mousketeer
I think the ride is pretty good, considering the paltry budget. If you want a ride as sophisticated as Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland, then you need a $200 Million budget - on par with that of Epcot's Test Track.

Yes, I want a ride as good as Pooh's Honey Hunt. Disney needs to start investing in its parks again. Word of mouth is rampant, and it will spread about Pooh. After summer I bet there will be no line for it. If Disney was to spend $200 million to create a new state of the art attraction I bet the attendance of one day guests would skyrocket. They would come to see the new awesome attraction.

Why is it a crime to expect nothing but the best from a company that built its fortune on providing quality family entertainment and state of the art attractions that were pushing the edge of technology? Why is it a crime to be disappointed in an attraction that doesn't even compare to a ride of similar quality (Pooh to a fantasyland dark ride here).

[mousketeer]

Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
Yes, I want a ride as good as Pooh's Honey Hunt. Disney needs to start investing in its parks again. Word of mouth is rampant, and it will spread about Pooh. After summer I bet there will be no line for it. If Disney was to spend $200 million to create a new state of the art attraction I bet the attendance of one day guests would skyrocket. They would come to see the new awesome attraction.

Why is it a crime to expect nothing but the best from a company that built its fortune on providing quality family entertainment and state of the art attractions that were pushing the edge of technology? Why is it a crime to be disappointed in an attraction that doesn't even compare to a ride of similar quality (Pooh to a fantasyland dark ride here).

I sure wish that Eisner would think like that. Then, Marty and Company could start churning out some amazing attractions again. Pressler's out, Rasulo's in, and these are steps in the right direction. Rasulo understands the needs of the park, whereas Pressler saw the parks as huge stores. I am finally excited about the future.

[HBTiggerFan]

Originally posted by mousketeer
I sure wish that Eisner would think like that. Then, Marty and Company could start churning out some amazing attractions again. Pressler's out, Rasulo's in, and these are steps in the right direction. Rasulo understands the needs of the park, whereas Pressler saw the parks as huge stores. I am finally excited about the future.

YES!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!


I hope Rasulo will stand up to Eisner and get us the attractions that will bring back the honor to the Disney name.

I wouldn't mind seeing Pooh re-gutted and re-done to the awesome level of the Tokyo Pooh!

[EandCDad]

I rode this for the first time on Tuesday. I'm about as big as anyone on this board, I think, and I didn't notice the ride vehicles being anymore cramped for me then on quite a few other rides. The ride was cute and had about as much interest for me as Mr. Toad or some of the other Fantasyland rides, but I understand that I'm in the minority on that one. My kids think its cool.

Since I've seen Country Bears (always with about 6 other people in the entire theater), I'm glad they have a new ride there. I'm not wowed by it like I was with, say, Soarin over California, but I'm not wowed by Snow White, frankly, so my being wowed is probably not a good indicator.

[CrayZforDisney]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan


"Disneyland is a family park with almost all rides designed for families to ride together. I love dark rides. I love Alice, Peter Pan and Snow White. Those are rides designed for children, yet don't insult adults intelligence. Their ride vehicles are also designed with adults in mind. The cars on Pooh are so cramped, even in the front seat, where there is a little more leg room there wasn't enough for 2 average adults to sit comfortably."

You should have seen the dark rides in the 50's - now those ride vehicles were two- seater- cramped- thingys. People had to sit on top of each- other's lap the vehicles were so small. With Winnie the Pooh, I think they spent all their money on themeing those ugly behive cars rather than designing for comfort.

"It is extremely poor marketing to design a ride strictly for children. This ride is aimed at really young children at that. Parents go on the rides with their children and would like to enjoy the ride and not have their intelligence insulted or knees bruised."

You are correct, I agree with you, Disneyland as described by Walt Disney himself is a place where parents and children can enjoy fun together. However, this Pooh has the same problem that Space Mountain did when it opened: children and adults couldn't ride them together. Space Mountain, in 1977, had a height requirement, which Walt Disney didn't want in his parks. He wanted families to ride together. Winnie the Pooh is aimed too much for younger children, and I agree, they should fix that.

I am so sorry if I've insulted you're intelligence in any way, and if I did, I really didn't mean it. I am very careful, I try to be nice and kind. If I have hurt you in any way, I am trully sorry.


"Disneyland hasn't had a successful "E" ticket since Indy. Yes, I would like to see a new one eight years later. It would be nice. And no, I don't buy the "well we got a whole new park" excuse for us not getting a new "E" ticket in DL nor do I count the "E" tickets in DCA. I am talking strictly Disneyland.

A ride doesn't need to be a thrill ride to be an "E" ticket. Tokyo Pooh is an "E" ticket, and is in no way a thrill ride. It caters to both children and adults. I would gladly wait 2-3 hours for the TDL Pooh and unhappily wait 5-10 minutes MAX for the DL Pooh ride.

This isn't the 1950s and special effects are a part of our every day lives. Cardboard cut outs just don't cut it anymore on new attractions.

OLC has set a new standard for dark rides, and I think that the Disney company here in the states needs to start meeting and exceeding their standard. Disney used to be the best of the best, always setting new standards. It needs to start doing that again, and soon or the Disney name that brought so many will lose its creditability."

[HBTiggerFan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CrayZforDisney

Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan

I am so sorry if I've insulted you're intelligence in any way, and if I did, I really didn't mean it. I am very careful, I try to be nice and kind. If I have hurt you in any way, I am trully sorry.

You didn't insult my intelligence. The Pooh ride did. You have some vaild points that we agree on and some that we don't, and thats ok

[Christiii]

I am really confused as to why there is a debate that people want a new ride to be the best that it can be. Why is that too much to ask?? If Disneyland is going to take the time and money to add a new attraction, why not make it as good as it can be?? I LOVE disneyland..its my favorite place on earth..but I was really shocked at the quality of the long awaited ride....the dream room is just painted wood..the whole thing!! it really looked like a high school stage set..the reain sequence is neat..but thats about it...why bother adding a new ride, if its just painted wood and store window characters?? I just dont get it.....I love Disneyland for its quality and attention to detail, and thats why I was so disappointed with this....when you see the tokyo ride, and what we could have had..who wouldnt be disappointed?? In my opinion, disneyland is the original, most historical park, and therefore deserves the BEST!!!!

[QueenofHearts]

My 2 and 4 year old girls liked it.. not LOVED it, but we rode it about twice a day (with Fast Pass - I would NEVER wait in the standby line for this ride). I liked having a ride with no scary parts for them, it truly is designed for the toddler set.
However, given that it is designed for little people, the walls on the cars were TOO HIGH for my 2 year old to see over, especially if she was in the back. So on top of it all, she couldn't really see! In my opinion, if they are aiming at the little kid audience, that is one place where it really fails.

[HBTiggerFan]

I went on it again tonight. It was worse! The ride is so cheap looking and has so much wasted space! This time we sat in the back and I couldn't see much other than what was off to my right (I was sitting on the right). I don't see how small kiddlets can see anything on the ride. The ride tells no story, isn't in any sort of order, is just a jumbled mix of cheap sets.

We went on Alice about 45 minutes later. A ride built at least 20 years before and is still so much better. The cars, while cramped, aren't nearly as bad as the ones on Pooh. The ride, while using simple cutouts also uses props to make the cutouts unique and not so cutoutish. It tells a story, follows a pattern, isn't insulting to adults intelligence.

Pooh doesn't even compare I am so sad!

[zapppop]

Pooh sucks.
You have to have the i.q. of a fern or on drugs to like it.

[Morrigoon]

If the ride is designed for little kids, then it needs to have enough leg room for the grownups who are required to accompany them.