I am currently spending an extended weekend at Walt Disney World and I thought I’d throw up a post or two while buying into 24 hours of Internet access. For all its troubled development and decidedly mixed reviews, I have to say that I enjoyed the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor much more than I expected to. Closer to cute and corny than to hip and hilarious, it certainly satisfied the crowd I saw it with. The little kids in the audience seemed to be especially taken with it.
That said, it is still very disappointing in other ways. It is totally disconnected from its Tomorrowland location, and no effort whatsoever was made to make it fit even on an aesthetic level. The queue and preshow areas are sparse, clearly betraying the attraction’s very short creative gestation period. As novel as the whole Living Character Initiative is, the attractions employing this technology are going to need to expand beyond the very simple screen-to-audience interaction that both Laugh Floor and Turtle Talk currently present.
If you can look past its obvious flaws (and likely many will not), it’s a mildly entertaining D-Ticket and a solid child-pleaser.
Actually, they DID make an effort ot make MILF fit into Tomorrowland and connect it to the area.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because the doors you go through when you enter into the Monsters Inc. factory magically teleport you into the monster world (just like in the movie). And when you exit, you go through doors similar to what teleported you there in the first place, thus teleporting you out of the monster world and back into Tomorrowland.
That's a futuristic technology in its own right.
And the fact that the monsters are using more environmentally-friendly methods of obtaining energy to power their world just screams "the world of the future" as well.
Also, monsters are basically weird and unearthly creatures anyway.
So, the next time you go there, take note.
I was just there, and put this one off till late in the day, given the early press. I too was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it; so did the rest of the audience. But you're right: the content is decidedly lo-tech given the back end. And it does sort of just sit there, vis-a-vis the Tomorrowland theming. (I can't imagine where it would fit, to tell you the truth. Pleasure Island for Kids?) It is a great technology, though. I'd love to see them really push it.
ReplyDeleteWe like the show.It was fun,and a change of pace.Plus we got picked on too.
ReplyDeleteOkay, this is the editor in me popping up, so please take this in the good-nature vein it is intended. In your entry you write, "...and no effort whatsoever was made to make it fit even on an atheistic level..."
ReplyDeleteEr, "atheistic", as in "rejecting any belief in gods"?
Perhaps you meant "aesthetic", as in "aesthetically pleasing?"
Yes, it's a nitpick, and yes, we know what you meant. But it gave me a chuckle and I just wanted to pass it along, as you might want to edit it...or not. Maybe that's what you meant. If so, amen brother. ;)
Mark
OMG--I never caught that! Thanks, Mark!
ReplyDeleteI think I must have misspelled it and the spell checker suggested "atheistic" and I didn't look too close when I did the correction.
Thanks again for pointing it out!