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[davewasbaloo]

Here is a balanced article that I think sums up the problem I and some old school folk have with it. No doubt it will also fuel the debate in favour of characters, but as I can be a polarising figure on here, I thought it would be useful to share another's perspective:

http://gregmaletic.wordpress.com/2005/1 ... isneyland/

[ed-uk]

A lot of things seem different even Disney theme parks when we are aged ten, and we look back years later as adults. Today parents even buy costumes and dress their children up to look like Buzz Lightyear,Stitch and Snow White and other  Disney characters. I've seen them wondering round Disneyland or being pushed in brams. The parents probably get as much fun out of it as the kids do. Some of the children are probably too young to know any better. I've tried reading the article. I feel like I've heard it all before, how much better Disneyland used to be. I might try again later. I mean it's all still there Frontierland, Main Street USA etc. Disneyland Paris still says more about American culture and "the hard facts that created America" than French culture and the hard facts that created France.

[davewasbaloo]

Instead of characters, why don't they turn their attention to proper maintenance, check this out:

http://http://micechat.com/forums/disne ... pdate.html

[ed-uk]

It's a balance. Most people want characters and maintenance. They can't get rid of the characters and just concentrate on the paint work and some AA's. How to DLP advertise that. Come and stay with us and see our new paint work on Main Street? Great video though. Seriously, they can't get rid of the characters.

[davewasbaloo]

Sorry, wrong link. Please check out the new link. If they reintroed things like the Barbershop quartet and Merlin's Sword in the Stone etc. they could market it as living the legacy or some other marketing BS. It would be an improvement.

[MissTinkerbell]

It's a balance. Most people want characters and maintenance. They can't get rid of the characters and just concentrate on the paint work and some AA's. How to DLP advertise that. Come and stay with us and see our new paint work on Main Street? Great video though. Seriously, they can't get rid of the characters.

I agree! Would you really get repet visitors at disney parks with not a character in sight? There has to be a balance, people won't come to see the characters if the park and hotels are falling apart either, but to cut out the caracters would not be good.

I love Disney movies, old and new, and for me going to Disneyland is seeing characters. Now, I also love the classic rides ad DLP, my favourite is BTM, but I also really enjoy laser blast  Mr.Disneys vision is a really good one, and I very much support it, but times change, and there are new generations. People grow up with the movies and the characters and love seeing them. For me going to Disneyland meens stepping in to a whole different world and the characters are a part of that. And when seeing the faces of little kids when they see the characters, is priceless! And wasn't Walt about the kids and keeping the child withing you? And when you see adults taking pictures with characters you can absolutely see the child within them  

When it comes to the hotels, for us they've always been a place to sleep at night and get ready in the morning. Most of our time is spent in the parks or village, and I sleep just as well with a picture of Cars on the wall as a picture of a rock formation. As long as the decor isn't overpowering (and that goes for any decor), I really don't mind. But when you're 5 and the hotel is the first thing you see when you arrive, I can see that a room with slight Disney decor would be a great way to start off
And most parents probably care more about the cleanlyness than the caracter decor  

But we all have different reasons for loving Disney, and maybe characters aren't for everyone, but can you really have a Disney park without them?

[ed-uk]

It all started with a Mouse, Mickey Mouse.  He's an iconic fiqure all around the world. If it hadn't been for the success of Disney cartoon films like Snow White and Cinderella, Disneyland would probably never have been built. Disneys films and characters are very important to the company. So we shouldn't be surprised to find them in the theme parks and hotels. Even I've stopped to have my picture taken with them. Disney has more characters to choose from now, maybe that's why we see more.

[DopeyDad]

Very well worded article, thanks Davewasbaloo. Who is the author? I suspect he would not feel reassured by the past few years across all the parks. While I think a couple of assumptions he makes are flawed the central point about what is the message of the park is very well made. Now, I think the message at Paris should be different to a US, Japan or other park, but I do believe that message needs to be clear as I suspect that has already been key to the parks (worldwide that is) success. As for characters, my family love seeing characters around the parks although we're unlikely to join a scrum (sorry, queue) to get an autograph. For me I think the crucial difference it that characters inhabit the parks, but the parks are not defined by the characters. So its great to discover a character while exploring the park, and the rides can feel like somewhere where one of your favorite movie/literature figures might be, but this world we are visited has not been made around the characters. The same applies for a corner of main street, the castle or a ride. The attraction may or may not be based on the world of a character but it is not essential for the character to be there, because you are. That's the magic and the story telling. Perhaps if the parks environment and attractions become too contrived for the characters sake it will become harder to imagine anything else, so the story and experience has been lessened which I think would be a shame.
I can see the business arguments for using branding and market research results, but I fear it may backfire and result in fewer return visits.

[MissTinkerbell]

Well, so far I don't think the characters take over the park. You mainly see them in the Mainstreet and Fantasyland area, Toon Studio area and at sertain times during the day. Not counting shows and parades. I think the current level of "live" characters is a good one. I've hardly ever seen a character in Discoveryland, Adventureland or Frontierland just walking around (again not counting shows or the now and then, meet and greet of Aladdin and Captain Jack...)

For me, so far so good :thumbs:

[MissTinkerbell]

Here is a balanced article that I think sums up the problem I and some old school folk have with it. No doubt it will also fuel the debate in favour of characters, but as I can be a polarising figure on here, I thought it would be useful to share another's perspective:

http://gregmaletic.wordpress.com/2005/1 ... isneyland/

To me it seemes the author may have lost his inner child. The ideals of the 50 years ago however well they were ment and great they were, are to me a bit unrealistic now. Times change and the world change. Offcourse a park built about 20 years later than the first one (and in Europe) will naturally have a different decleration, but to queation wether it sould have been built or not, well I don't know. Walt brougth stories from all over the world to America (a country of European immigrants) so why shouldn't the parks come to the rest of the world?

For someone who have kept her inner child, I always leave the park feeling inpired and happy, and in the current state of t6eh world, isn't the idea of wanting to bring happiness and toghetherness into peoples lives a great thing?

[ed-uk]

well I steeled myself and read the article. I can't say I enjoyed it. I don't know what the author was trying to say. All I can say is the theme park is called Disneyland. The man who gave his name to the park is no longer here to move the park forward and adapt it to the 21st century. So it's left to a new generatioon of imagineers and busnessmen to take the Walt Disney Company forward. I do know that the company is highly successful, Walt Disney's name is still above the door, and it's still an independently owned company. Unlike Universal Studios which lost it's independence years ago and is now owned by I'm not sure who. Obviously who ever runs the company with have to take interest in market trends and ever changing fads and keep it profitable. He will have to keep a keen eye on the competition.

[RiverRogue]

I think the big difference is that the Disney of old didn't so much follow trends as to create them...

[ed-uk]

And other theme park operaters have copied Disneys trends and come up with some ideas of their own, which isn't really surprising.

[davewasbaloo]

Very well worded article, thanks Davewasbaloo. Who is the author?

His name is Greg Maletic - he is a professional software and entertainment journalist.

[dagobert]

I think the big difference is that the Disney of old didn't so much follow trends as to create them...

Isn't it sad that they don't do it anymore. Disney was always proud and I'm sure Disney still is of creating something new, especially in the themepark business. I can't wait to see the first concept arts about Shanghai Disneyland and maybe we see something new that Disney hasn't done before.