Hey, friends. Sometimes, when things get a little quiet, I like to get a little personal with our DIS community. Sometimes it’s Five People You Don’t Want to Be in Disney Parks, other times it’s A Brief History of Disney. Today, we are venturing back to something we haven’t done in a whole year, A Series of Unpopular Opinions, and I’ve got five more popular opinions of my own that I am willing to share with you. Get those pitchforks ready, some of these might have a few of you prepared to share your disagreeing point of view in the comments.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Needs More Luke & Leia
When I first heard about the Star Wars expansion to Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, my brain immediately went back to the Star Wars I grew up with: Luke, Leia, Darth Vader, and the rest. But years after its opening, it would seem that the version of Star Wars we ended up with is a much more modern take on the enterprise, featuring the likes of Kylo Ren, Ahsoka Tano, and a whole bunch of Stormtroopers. Now, I will keep the Stormtroopers, because they set the scene, and let’s face it, some of them are pretty funny too, though I can’t help but wish there were more of the original characters that started the whole franchise. I know the focus of Star Wars is currently shifting toward the modern stories that have been created until this Disney collaboration, but this girl wishes we could see more of the originals, with guests helping the resistance as they skulk around Batuu.
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run Is Super Disappointing
I promise this won’t all be Star Wars related, though after a recent visit to Disneyland, I couldn’t help but walk away with a few more feelings than usual. Maybe you need to be a Star Wars super fan for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run to hit home, but for me, I just can’t get there. The queuing area is fantastic, really engaging and fun to walk through, but the ride itself always leaves me conscious that I won’t get that 15 minutes of park time back again. Every time I ride this attraction, I keep expecting the next time to be better, as though I didn’t fully understand it the first time. Alas, there seems to be no such improvement, and if you aren’t a guest fully committed to a role-play experience (that’s a no for me), it seems to be better left to the super fans.
Character Dining Is Best Suited To Arrival or Exit Day
When asked about Character Dining, I am always in two minds. On one hand, I think they are a wonderful way for families to interact with the characters they love. On the other hand, it’s a huge chunk of time that isn’t worth taking out of your limited Disney days, unless you’re lucky enough to visit often. So, over the years I’ve realized that for us, if we are looking for a Character Dining experience, I tend to recommend it for arrival night to set the scene for the trip, or as a breakfast on your exit day, adding a little extra magic to your last day before you head home. I know most people prefer to incorporate it into the middle of the trip somewhere, but I am far too focused on park time for that!
The Monorail Isn’t Awesome
I love the idea of a monorail. There is something so futuristic about it and how it moves through the air above our eyes. Even so, on my last few Disney trips, when I’ve been using its transportation benefits, I’ve found myself somewhat repelled. I’ve been looking for another way to achieve the same goal (getting from point A to point B) while also avoiding it whenever possible. The last few times, the monorail has been dirty, smelly, and slow, often requiring you to wait at the station for up to 10 minutes after boarding. While I would always ride the Disney Railroad for fun, enjoying the journey more than the convenience of where it takes me, the monorail is useful only in function, and even then, most days I would rather walk. Granted, I am primarily a Disneyland girlie, so consider me less experienced, though not of a vastly different opinion, when it comes to the Walt Disney World monorail.
Mr Toad’s Wild Ride Is Over
This one is going to hurt some people, and while I understand the importance of the story and the nostalgia, yadda, yadda, I will stand on this hill anyway. Mr Toad’s Wild Ride in Disneyland’s Fantasyland has always been weird. The whole, going to hell scene never really did it for me, and like some of its fellow dark rides, without a strong sense of the original story, the ride doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. While Disney is in the midst of making a lot of changes in the limited space of the original Disneyland Resort, I am waiting for this ride to find its replacement in a re-purposing extravaganza. I loved the stories as a youngster, but today’s audience seems to struggle to connect with this tale. It doesn’t look like there will be a streamlined re-imagining of the ride anytime soon, as we saw with the close-by Snow White attraction, which took it from a bit of a mess to a gorgeous, must-do attraction. With these things in mind, I would wholeheartedly vote for this ride to be a fond memory, with a new attraction to replace it.
Ahh… that uneasy feeling of both relief at getting things off my chest and a sinking stomach when I’m unsure exactly how unpopular my thoughts will ultimately be. If you disagree, add your well-crafted rebuttal to the comments below. I’ve been known to be convinced by a good argument!
