So, IASW has been out for a while now....

[club33az]

but either way it seemed to me that for a lot of people the ride is now more of a "find the character" exercise than anything else. I'm not sure whether that is good in that it will make it more interesting for riders and thus drive attendence, or bad because it takes away from the original idea of the thing.

How is that different than hidden Mickey's?

[refurbmike]

How is that different than hidden Mickey's?

I think Hidden Mickeys are still a very unknown thing. Plus, they don't have spotlights and songs directing your attention to them.

[dlfreak]

One thing I did notice is that people were indeed going through the ride trying to find the characters and pointing them out to one another the couple of times I was on it. Perhaps that was because it was relatively new, but either way it seemed to me that for a lot of people the ride is now more of a "find the character" exercise than anything else. I'm not sure whether that is good in that it will make it more interesting for riders and thus drive attendence, or bad because it takes away from the original idea of the thing.

Noticed the same thing when I went after it first opened. Been on it a few times since then though and none of the boats I was on had any of that going on. On one boat there was one guest who got very excited when she noticed Aladdin and Jasmine but that was it.

That's the thing is that most people don't know the ride was closed much less that characters were added. It was a phenomenon among the Disney circles but most guests have no idea any of this ever happened and even more probably don't even realize that characters were added and those that do, I'm willing to bet, probably thought they've been there all along.

[club33az]

I think Hidden Mickeys are still a very unknown thing. Plus, they don't have spotlights and songs directing your attention to them.

Hidden Mickey's are pretty well known. There are books and websites out there for them. I know families in my office that that's part of their fun activity for their kids is spotting the hidden Mickey's and going to the attractions that have them.

[refurbmike]

Hidden Mickey's are pretty well known. There are books and websites out there for them. I know families in my office that that's part of their fun activity for their kids is spotting the hidden Mickey's and going to the attractions that have them.

Yes and no. They are known, but let me put it this way:

99% of the time, you have to know about HMs beforehand. Yes, sometimes, somebody *might* spot one and say, "Hey, that looks like Mickey!" And thus, by the large population, they may get missed. Or even those that know about them, don't go looking for them.

However, w/ "small world", you're introduced to them in to the attraction. I'd be willing to bet that a large majority of people notice them throughout the attraction, starting with Alice (I believe that's the first). You could go into the attraction having no knowledge whatsoever of them, and now you've got yourself a "find-it" game going on.

[club33az]

If you have no knowledge of them, how can you play "find it?" You just come across them. Just like hidden Mickey's.

[refurbmike]

If you have no knowledge of them, how can you play "find it?" You just come across them. Just like hidden Mickey's.

Um... Hidden Mickeys are very difficult to spot. Who really looks behind them during Indy while the jeep is zooming through the skeleton room, only to spot some Mickey Ears?

Comparatively, who spots Alice in Wonderland on the side of the flume in "small world"?

You could put 1,000 people on each attraction. Even if you told them what to look for and where to find it, I can guarantee you that 99.9% of the people will find it on "small world" and a significant lesser amount of people would spot the same on Indy - prolly closer to 5-10%.

[1FoolishMortal]

Noticed the same thing when I went after it first opened. Been on it a few times since then though and none of the boats I was on had any of that going on. On one boat there was one guest who got very excited when she noticed Aladdin and Jasmine but that was it.

That's the thing is that most people don't know the ride was closed much less that characters were added. It was a phenomenon among the Disney circles but most guests have no idea any of this ever happened and even more probably don't even realize that characters were added and those that do, I'm willing to bet, probably thought they've been there all along.

The same thing happened with Pirates. After the ride first reopened, everybody was gawking at the new Jack Sparrow AA's and that was basically where the entire boat's attention was directed each time he appeared. Now, though, that doesn't happen nearly as often. He's still going to attract attention, yes, but not nearly on the scale that he did right after the ride reopened.

[refurbmike]

The same thing happened with Pirates. After the ride first reopened, everybody was gawking at the new Jack Sparrow AA's and that was basically where the entire boat's attention was directed each time he appeared. Now, though, that doesn't happen nearly as often. He's still going to attract attention, yes, but not nearly on the scale that he did right after the ride reopened.

I think the Pirate's changes were much more drastic, though. This becomes more noticeable as Pirates as a story-line that "small world" lacks. That story-line has now changed to revolve about Jack. And with that comes dialog changes and scene re-design.

[benihodge]

I cant wait to see this ride this weekend.