As you all know, the D23 Expo announced this massive expansion being done to Walt Disney World, that not only eliminates the poorly-visited Toontown Fair, but pretty much doubles the size of Fantasyland. The different themed lands WITHIN the themed land include places from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, the Tinkerbell movies, and Little Mermaid. From the sounds of it there will be one major attraction addition (Little Mermaid), many more interactions with the princesses, and a larger version of Dumbo’s popular ride. All of this is exclusive to the Magic Kingdom, after all, Disneyland has bested us so many times before (They got Nemo, Star Tours, Innoventions, new Space Mountain, etc.) so finally the Florida folks have something to be excited about. Of course, this news comes to counter the Harry Potter land that’s fast-approaching in Universal Studios. Will all this expanding strip away from the potential audience rushing to Harry Potter? The potential is definitely there, as this is the biggest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom and easily the biggest addition to any Disney World since the inclusion of Animal Kingdom back in 1998.
The rumors had been around for a long time, but the fact that it’s actually true is ringing good news into the hearts of the die-hard Disney fans that were so sure that the higher-ups had forgotten how to try to improve what’s already there. So, to recap, Walt Disney World has Space Mountain II coming out, Star Tours II (Year 2011ish), and an entirely new Fantasyland. It’s been a good month for Disney fanatics. However, with all this good news, one has to wonder: what about the boys?
Fantasyland has all these princesses, and then a Tinkerbell section, and then a Little Mermaid ride. What to the boys get? Star Tours II. And Marvel---which doesn’t do any good since we have to respect the partnership they have with Universal. The poor young and teenage boys have definitely gotten the short straw since the expansion is highly appealing to only one of the genders, leaving the boys with an updated Space Mountain and that’s about it. No news to expand Frontierland, no news to improve the underrated Tom Sawyer’s Island. No news to actually provide more pirate stuff (that doesn’t involve dress-up and only dress-up) to appeal to the boys. Why not make Frontierland a bit manlier? Why not provide an equal amount of attention to appeal to the male species? And why on earth has Epcot not received a facelift of this magnitude? Wait, that’s off topic.
The point is, the expansion is nice and all, but the appeal isn’t mainstream and widespread, it’s limited to the female gender. From an economic standpoint, it makes sense, after all the gals spend more than the guys (this isn’t sexist, this is true, look it up yourself and look at the failure of the Pirate and Princess Party as proof). Yet, its still bad news for Little Timmy, whom has to accompany his sister Little Suzie for about three hours as she wants to visit every princess out there. Yes, the boys do like the princesses (boys will be boys after all), but the feministic appeal in Fantasyland will begin to dwell and bother the kids. And what about the dads? They’ll be dead-tired too. The girls should be giddy with absolute excitement; but the boys have little to cheer about.
Bottom Line: A much-needed and long-overdue Magic Kingdom expansion is finally underway, but not all will be absolutely happy. The expansion looks amazing, looks very detailed, and definitely looks like it will improve one of the best overall theme parks in the entire planet. But while the girls in the world will have their wildest dreams coming true, the boys don’t have necessarily much to cheer about; unless they love the princesses as well. Adding salt to the wound is how the only section in this new Fantasyland that was even geared towards the boys is the Gaston section. Check that, the only thing for the guys is the villains. Way to reinforce the stereotypical cliché of boys being boys and always doing harm to the girls. I say, Disney, please focus on the boys too, there are indeed male Disney fans; even if it does pale in comparison to the amount of females that heart Disney to the core.
Make Epcot or Hollywood Studios a bit more for the boys. Or, introduce a theme park that will appeal more to the boys. Magic Kingdom has been conquered by the gals, so let’s make something for the guys too.
You already took away Pleasure Island an------I’ll stop.
(Credit of this Image belongs to: http://www.subsonicradio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5722 )
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