The Waltons vs. DLR: who would pay?

choirboy501

Yankee Racers - Founder
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
I have no idea who in the DIS forums is of any age, and would appreciate service from times gone by...

The Waltons is a little too old for me. As is anything from Little House on the Prairie. Or Bonanza. Or Davy Crockett.

My mother is old enough to remember the old Disney (and not Disney) shows of the late 50s-early 60s. Same as your parents.

I want to see the same spirit represented in the parks, somehow. How? How would you do it? What would you tell current Imagineers?

I think you know better than they do. Help out.
 
I honestly think that era is still somewhat represented, but in many ways it's past time. Today kids really don't know much about Davy Crockett. My 23yo son looks like Grizzly Adams (long hair, full beard) but when I told him that he had a blank stare, until I showed him a picture.

It would be next to impossible to bring back anything from the 70s like the Walton's or Little house and have it compete with the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy.

You still see things from the past (steamboat, trains) but many things like the Magic Shop and Arcade are gone.
 
Frontierland has slowly been shrank over the years. With the new Star Wars land, gone is our favorite Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, petting zoo etc. I love Star Wars, but thats not what I go to Disney for. The new direction completely miss the Disney magic that once was. Sure, old attractions need to go, and new ones created but the concept and feel of the Disney experience should stay. Sadly it is disappearing.
 
Unfortunately the times have moved on and I don't think you'll ever get that 'Waltons' feeling back. It represents a simpler, less 'technical' time and Disney isn't interested in pandering to those of us who remember them, their main demographic now is younger and more tech savvy. Do you really think GotG would have been successful if it had been a PP-style dark ride with cut-outs, static figures, and black lights?
 


I think the spirit of those shows is still alive in the parks, if not the actual reminders of the era. The basic spirit of those shows was human decency, kindness toward others, putting others ahead of yourself, helping people, doing things because they were the right thing to do, etc. -- all things Walt believed in strongly and things that are seen at DLR and that can be practiced by everyone, CM or guest, every day in the parks. We see a lot of this "old fashioned" spirit at the Royal Swing Ball every Saturday night. It's always the fashion there for guys to be gentlemen and for women to be ladies. Chivalry, from both men and women!, is never out of style or out of date. The OP wants to see "this same spirit represented in the parks" -- not hard to do, just something to do one step at a time, one person at a time, one day at a time. Walt believed that it didn't cost much to be kind to others ("tuppence a bag...") -- that's the spirit to put in to practice, not just in the parks, but everywhere.
 


I'm from that era. My first trip to DL was in the late 60's.
I think there's a little of that feeling left in the park. You have to seek out Walt's original attractions and details throughout the park to experience a feeling of Walt's time..
OTOH, what you don't realize is that you are sort of making your own "originality" when you visit. The things you enjoy and appreciate are etched in your mind and it's not until you go back decades later that your own nostalgia kicks in.

An example for me was when they brought back the subs. I was ecstatic because I had not rode them since 1968 when I was a 8 y/o child.
I also enjoy IASW and the Tiki room because my mom was so impressed by them back in the day and often spoke of them.
 
Just to add to my post up thread.

We don't really need imagineers to create that feeling though. We carry it around within us 24/7, it's just that at Disney we give it free rein.
 
......AND WOULD APPRECIATE SERVICE FROM Times gone by......

your not asking to bring back the theatrical elements, but the civility of the TV show?

There are two concepts to remember about the United States when Walton first aired on TV..... college students were being killed by US military forces and US military forces of 18 year olds were being killed in Vietnam. The Walton's success was a reminiscent view of what was lost and would never return to US social structure. Your observation is interesting, in that today, that TV offerings are about living today and not Yesterday and that perhaps you think that in the 1970s folks were living just like The Waltons or even your Happy Days. That is not true. All in the Family was perhaps the only drama true to 70s American life.

In the 1970s the rights of the individuals were beginning to be more important than the rights of society. Take high school for example in the 1970s. Strict dress codes, hair codes, body codes and even cafeteria food codes. I have come to understand that those codes protected us from James Dean, Marlon Brando, West Side story and yes, The Fonz, very scary images and best to keep that imagery at bay, by isolating their dress code, ethics and behavior. Legislate against their behavior to protect society. Hippies had not even been invented before the codes of education attire. But they became the target of the fight between students rights and school board rights

hence, customer service, crowd civility began its downward spiral...push button phones, credit cards, electric windows in cars, 8 track tapes , key board typewriters and McDonalds. Did you know that one time there was no waiting all at Mcdonalds. walk up to the counter, pay and your food was in your hand in less than 30 seconds.....fast food at its finest at peak dinning hours.

The one heart wrenching episode that sticks in my mind from the Waltons, was a drama about Nazi Germany and its relationship to US citizens that ate german, wore german and spoke german. Folks in the town begin to riot and tear apart a german libray and carry books to a huge bon-fire surround by all the citizens. John-Boy steps in and pulls out a book that was just beginning to burn and yelled that everyone stop to listen to the US german speaking woman, who was a target by the townsfolks to read a page from the book almost destroyed....she began in german and John-Boy said no, translate into English.....and verses from the Bible poured from her lips.


And that very hatred from WW 2 was seen everyday on the streets and TV in the 1970s, hatred toward hippies, college students, migrant workers, racial minorities, women wearing pants and men wearing long hair.

Lucky rabbit post is very insightful in how we need to see civility at Disneyland. And we can all practice now...at our grocery store parking lots. Allow others to back out of spaces, park farther away from the front door if you are able minded and can walk, don't step out into moving traffic but wave the leaving shopper cars thru, return carts to proper holding areas and bring cloth handled bags from home and conserve on the use of plastic bags.....be in service for the person taking your position as the next shopper. The very reflection of our parking lot while shopping, is the same behavior displayed everywhere else we walk...so we need to become our own Disneyland visit imagineers
 
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My perspective, as a parent of two little kids and one who watched Little House on the Prairie growing up (the only one I could claim on your list, but still gulp!!), I would say the number one thing I love about Disneyland is all the "non-tech" still around waiting to be sought out and appreciated.

Our first stop in the morning is always to visit Esmeralda to get our fortunes for the day. We love the shooting gallery (my son would spend hours there, if he could). And we always finish the day at the penny arcade, topping off the night by making Pinocchio dance! Best pocket change spent and "attractions" my kids love every bit as much as the most immersive 4D techie rides. Maybe more so...for them, and I see this in their eyes...these non-tech attractions still hold the possibility for them to participate in and influence the outcomes, as opposed to be "handed" the entertainment in a prepackaged one-size-fits-all demonstration of explosive sensory experiences. Now don't get me wrong, we LOVE those too. But there's a reason my son closes his eyes waiting for his fortune - it's his way of participating in the magic. Helping to create it. Hoping for the best, most "awesome-ist" fortune that day! And why we did love Pirate Island (what my kids called it) until they re-themed it with all the pre-recorded pirate interactions and pop-up/out moments. It took away from the "play" of those incredible caves, and made it another walk-through attraction for us. And while we thought it was neat, we don't seem to include a stop to Pirate Island on the "must do" list these days. Gone for us is the fun of listening outside the cave entrances as my son ran through shouting "YO HO LIFE FOR ME...!" (all he could remember of that phrase. LOL) Now there are real pirates in there. His participation is not needed. The magical invitation is gone...

And while I fully appreciate that offering a lot of personal experience moments is not always possible because of large crowds and the need to move as many people around the park as possible, I would still argue the value of those moments. What that means from an Imagineer's perspective, I'm not sure. I guess I would say, try not to lose the "spirit" of imagination. Personal imagination. By offering invitations (spaces) for individual imagination to be used. And in an era of FB, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc...we "know" so much, about so much, and so many people. Finding an available space to unplug and make a human connection (even with your own family, at times) by freeing and finding that child-like imagination buried under mortgages, car payments, work schedules, school schedules, sports schedules, etc...is the greatest gift Disney can offer us. By reminding us to hold on to what's most important - who we are and how we conduct ourselves, and all the wonderful possibilities still left to uncover. But only if Imagineers help us preserve a space to be human. Where we can participate in Walt's messages of helping and kindness in the parks...outside of never-ending attraction wait lines and parade route line-ups! ha! ;)

Great discussion and I look forward to reading other perspectives.
 
And while I fully appreciate that offering a lot of personal experience moments is not always possible because of large crowds and the need to move as many people around the park as possible, I would still argue the value of those moments. What that means from an Imagineer's perspective, I'm not sure. I guess I would say, try not to lose the "spirit" of imagination. Personal imagination. By offering invitations (spaces) for individual imagination to be used. And in an era of FB, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc...we "know" so much, about so much, and so many people. Finding an available space to unplug and make a human connection (even with your own family, at times) by freeing and finding that child-like imagination buried under mortgages, car payments, work schedules, school schedules, sports schedules, etc...is the greatest gift Disney can offer us. By reminding us to hold on to what's most important - who we are and how we conduct ourselves, and all the wonderful possibilities still left to uncover. But only if Imagineers help us preserve a space to be human. Where we can participate in Walt's messages of helping and kindness in the parks...outside of never-ending attraction wait lines and parade route line-ups! ha! ;)

Great discussion and I look forward to reading other perspectives.[/QUOTE]


I like the IF ONLY IMAGINEERS HELP US PRESERVE A SPACE TO BE HUMAN. very insightful to the up coming SWGE....how are they going preserve the area to be human?
 
I am from that era gone by, now into my 70's, went on opening Day with Walt aand family when I was 9, and spent much time with them. Walt and Roy were extrodinary people in an extrodinary time. I served my country and put up with being spit on(he lost) and all the other things that happen to all military when they returned. The only person that I would even think that is even close to Walt and Roy is Joe Rhode. Rest is all coorporate and Bob Iger who I personally dislike emensely. Those times were good times, never to be had again.

We come down 2 times a year because I want it to continue with my kids, grandkids and so on.

Just my thoughts,

Jack
 

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