This week on the Disney Q&A I’m flipping things around.
Instead of answering a question you ask me, I’m going to ask YOU a question!
The Carousel of Progress.
It’s a classic!
Space Mountain.
Classic!
Stitch’s Great Escape.
Eh, not so much.
Rock n Roller Coaster.
Maybe?
What makes a Disney attraction “a classic?”
I’ll be honest, this is an unfair question.
There is no real objective answer, and the range of subjective answers is bound to be
so wide that we probably won’t even come to a consensus.
I don’t even know if I have a personal answer.
But I feel like it’s worth asking anyway.
After all, it’s the common argument made whenever Disney announces changes to an attraction.
Someone somewhere inevitably makes the claim that Disney is crossing the line by making
the change because that ride in question is a classic!
Well, what makes a Disney ride a classic?
Is it the theme?
It’s age?
History?
Fandom?
Is it a combination of all of those and if so, can a ride be a classic without some of them?
Are certain aspects more important than others?
Let’s look at some of the more common answers.
First up, Walt’s legacy.
This seems like an easy answer.
If Walt had a hand in the creation of a ride, it’s obviously a classic.
After-all he was the man behind it all.
But where does that line get drawn?
Take the Carousel of Progress for instance.
Walt was heavily involved in the creation of the attraction for the 1964 World’s Fair.
So much so, that the attraction was eventually renamed to “Walt Disney’s Carousel of
Progress”
Yet today the ride is very different from what Walt had built.
It’s moved locations multiple times, and has seen its name change.
More importantly, it’s had its entire script re-written in the past, it’s had its cast
replaced with new voice actors, and last but not least it’s seen the entire final scene change.
So is it still a classic, and if so, why?
Does the theme and history of the attraction overpower the significant changes it’s experienced
over the years?
If the answer is yes, then we really shouldn’t be that upset about changes to other classic
rides, such as the new auction scene in Pirates of the Caribbean.
I mean, if that’s ruining a classic like some say, then it’s also safe to say the
Carousel of Progress has been dead for decades now.
Speaking of decades, where does age factor into it, and is it relative?
A real eye opening moment for me came just a couple of years ago.
At that time my videos were mainly centered around Minecraft recreations of Disney World,
so understandably my audience leaned a bit younger.
Disney had just announced that they’d be getting rid of the Sorcerers Mickey hat in
Hollywood Studios.
For people my age and older, this was fantastic news.
Many of us saw it as an ugly and unneeded addition to a park that already had a perfectly
good centerpiece since day one.
Yet a lot of younger viewers were really bummed about the news.
For them, the hat had been there as long as they could remember and so for them, Disney
was about to remove an integral part of the park.
On that same note, some younger guests felt the removal of the Tower of Terror in California
Adventure was the removal of a classic.
To others, it’d be laughable to call anything in that park a classic because of how young
the park as a whole is.
Speaking of the Tower of Terror, is that a classic?
More specifically, does the fact that it’s based on an IP that itself is considered a
classic, make the ride one?
Perhaps that alone can’t push a ride into that category, but maybe it can help.
Journey of the Little Mermaid opened in Disney World in 2012, so it’s just about five years old.
The movie however is coming up on 28 years old.
Today the ride is new enough that we can make the delineation between the two, but is it
possible that in the near future, when the opening of the ride itself is pushed from
our minds, we’ll judge the ride based on the older IP it’s modeled after, allowing
it to become “a classic” decades sooner than if it was an original ride?
Lastly, what about fandom?
Does a ride need a cult following to be considered a classic?
Horizons is considered by many to be a classic Disney attraction, and when it closed in 1999
it was 16 years old.
There are fan pages, t-shirts, buttons, and so much more made in dedication to the ride.
As far as fan following for Disney attractions go, Horizons is up there on the list.
Just recently Rock n Roller Coaster celebrated it’s 18th anniversary, making it 2 years
older than Horizons.
So if it closed tomorrow, would the Disney World fandom classify Rock n Roller as a classic
Disney attraction in the same way as Horizons?
My guess is it’d be missed, but no, it wouldn’t be considered a classic.The ride has fans,
but it doesn’t have a fandom.
I’ll be honest.
I don’t have an answer for you all.
I don’t think anyone will have a definite answer.
Like I said at the top of the video, there are so many variables that go into how we
collectively look at an attraction that it’d be almost impossible to come up with one definition.
My hope wasn’t that someone would figure out the secret equation that makes a ride
a classic.
Instead it’s that we consider everything that goes into it, so that the next time Disney
replaces a scene in an old ride, or re-themes a relatively young ride and we’re tempted
to get on a soap box and decry the ruining of a classic, we stop for a moment to consider
what that even means.
Anyway I’d like to hear what you personally think makes a Disney attraction a classic.
There’s no right or wrong answer, and I’m hoping it starts a dialog that helps us think
about what we value in these rides.
Let me know in the comments below, and be sure to leave any questions you have for future
Q&A’s down there as well.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!