Favourite Disneyland/Californian Adventure thrill ride?

[Richard]

Obviously it's not difficult to get a cursory feel for the story from the attraction, especially given that it is as Nev said, formulaic Disney storytelling. My point was that as far as attraction storytelling go, Disneyland's Splash Mountain is far from Disney's best work. By comparison the storyline on the WDW Splash Mountain is immediately recognisable and, despite being debatably the lesser ride of the two, really highlights the Disneyland version's shortcomings. The feeling I had coming off WDW's was an overwhelming "Ohhh, so THAT'S what they were getting at with Disneyland's". Looking through the lyrics you posted, I can kind of remember where the problems were for Disneyland's. Yeah the lyrics tell a story, but it's not the whole story, obviously intended to accompany a more in-depth visual story. Granted it's been several years since I rode it, but I recall that a lot of the vague turning points in the story told by the lyrics were simply unexplained visually. For instance I seem to remember there being no explanation for Brer Rabbit's capture, among other things.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I have only ever ridden it once, and I guess I was just taking it all in.

Such a shame Gazza, that you didn't give it another few goes. Last time I went we had a 5 day pass (this was before DCA), and so every day was spent half-discovering new things, and half-reriding our favourites. I guess Everything in Disneyland needs more than one go to really enjoy it to the fullest.

Yeah the lyrics tell a story, but it's not the whole story, obviously intended to accompany a more in-depth visual story. Granted it's been several years since I rode it, but I recall that a lot of the vague turning points in the story told by the lyrics were simply unexplained visually. For instance I seem to remember there being no explanation for Brer Rabbit's capture, among other things.

Which as I said is why you have to LISTEN as well as LOOK. From my recollection, there was no immediate explaination for Brer Rabbit's capture - but, if you know the stories well, Brer Bear and Brer Fox were always after Brer Rabbit, and it didn't matter how he was caught, he was always caught. It was the getting away that told the story, and gave the moral. After all, the disney stories are about the good triumphing, not the evil, so to celebrate the success of the villain is really something unnecessary to the story itself - just a simple "oh no, Brer Fox has captured Brer Rabbit again" is all that is ever needed. Think about it this way - while WB quite often showed Sylvester capturing Tweety Bird, how often was that part of the cartoon the same?

1. Tweety sings happily in his cage
2. Sylvester (or his shadow) can be seen sneaking up on the cage
3. Tweety spots him, followed by an innocuous "I tawt I taw a Puddy Tat"
4. Sylvester appears again
5. "I did, I did, I did taw a puddy tat"
6. Sylvester opens the cage, snatches the bird, and runs off
7. the rest of the cartoon is the escape, and while the first points took all of 30 seconds, the remainder of the cartoon is devoted to rescuing tweety, or tweety escaping on his own.

The fact that WB show it EVERY SINGLE TIME is, I suppose, because they change some small snippet of the setting, sometimes we see granny in the opening scene, sometimes, the bulldog, sometimes, something else, but the point is that the capture is not what is important, it is the escape. The only exception to this in all of cartoonery is the time when Wile E. actually DOES capture Road Runner, when the capture happens for the first (and only) time. Road Runner, however, STILL escapes, and it is once again good triumphing over evil that we barrack for. So seeing Brer Rabbit captured (if you know the stories) is irrelevant, as that is not what the story and the moral is about (unless you're trying ot teach kids that it's bad to play where you shouldn't... but let's leave that out of a childhood fantasyland.) Oh, and the reason I think WDW's storyline is much more immediately recognisable by comparison is probably because WDW is a park that overall was designed for a much more modern time - when the audience was a little thicker. (no offense to you Richard), but the multitudes obviously needed a tiny little SLAM in the right direction to "get it" Edited February 1, 2009 by AlexB

[Gazza]

CAPITALS are great for EMPHASIS.

[Gold Coaster]

The only exception to this in all of cartoonery is the time when Wile E. actually DOES capture Road Runner, when the capture happens for the first (and only) time. Road Runner, however, STILL escapes, and it is once again good triumphing over evil that we barrack for.

Hey, wow, thank you, didn't know that had ever happened. Great moment:

[Richard]

Which as I said is why you have to LISTEN as well as LOOK.

What I said was that many specific elements of the storyline were left out of both the soundtrack as well as the visual aspects of the ride. It just jumps ahead at various points without explanation. Obviously if it were explained in either the song or visual elements then everything would be fine, as is the case at WDW.

[joz]

If the average guest doesn't understand the story, then its too hard to follow. Off the top of my head every other attraction in the park tells the story without knowledge of the movie being required. As it is, Space Mountain as a stand alone experience makes no bloody sense. Personally, I had no idea there was a story going on until I read about it online years later. Still thought it was a good ride but didn't understand what was going on at all. More on topic: I wouldn't call it a thrill ride though, so I say Indy.

[JD_bunnies_supporter]

I think a revamp of Looney Tunes River Ride or WWF at some point to reach a similar level of excellence should be on the agenda.

I agree with u about wild west falls ride, compared to splash mountain, it really lacks excitment.

What do you think DL/DCA should add next?

i dunt think disneyland could add many more rides, maybe more for CA, which they r expanding anyway with new lands. i havent been back to CA for awhile so i aint sure the amount of room they have left, i think there building on an old car park, maybe another rollercoaster? CA a more thrill ride/adult park. thats just my opinion.

[rappa]

SPACE MOUNTAIN HAS A STORY? What on earth is it?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

^^^ I was wondering the same thing.

[joz]

Its not on Earth, its in SPACE! In all truth, I was meant to write Splash Mountain, but it was 12:48am when I was writing. It should read: As it is, Splash Mountain as a stand alone experience makes no bloody sense. Personally, I had no idea there was a story going on until I read about it online years later. Still thought it was a good ride but didn't understand what was going on at all.

[Gazza]

Isn't Grizzly River Run supposed to have a couple of back stories that run through it, abouy native Americans or something?

Edited February 2, 2009 by Gazza

[downunder]

Indiana Jones for me, with California Screaming, Space Mountain, and Matterhorn bring up the rear. A little fave of mine is Mr Toad's Wild Ride, also I haven't been on Tower of Terror so I can't consider that one.