Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Daily Figment 135: Poll Results 04

Poll Results 04: And The Winner Is......

Adventureland

In a squeaker of a vote, Adventureland is the final poll winner for 2007! Edging out Fantasyland by a few votes, Adventureland literally crushes the other lands by a 2 to 1 ratio. Mickey's Toontown Fair rides caboose with less that 1 vote (let it sink in.....that's right- zero votes! Maybe we don't have a lot of under 10 year-olds reading our blog!).

Adventureland9129%

Fantasyland8628%

Tomorrowland4214%

Frontierland4113%

Liberty Square299%

Main Street USA217%

Mickey's Toontown Fair0 0%



Adventureland is one of our favorite areas in the Magic Kingdom. Not only is it the home to the ubiquitous Dole Whip, but you can experience the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. It is also the one land where you can completely separate yourself from the rest of the park.

For more reading about Adventureland, check out the litany of amazing posts over at Passport to Dreams Old & New.


The next time you are at the Magic Kingdom, take a look at how you cross into each land from the hub. You do cross a bridge to get into Tomorrowland and Liberty Square, but the Adventureland bridge has a rise to it. You are forced to walk up to get into and out of Adventureland. Not only does this hide the destination from view, it also adds a sense of mystery to your journey. We know that the Imagineers change the pavement and the texture of the ground cover when you go from one area to another. Is the hill simply to help hide the hub from Adventureland?

8 comments:

FoxxFur said...

Jeez, I hate to butt in here since that's a really good observation, but I have to play devil's advocate here for a moment. All the hub bridges except those leading to the Tea Party and Tomorrowland arch; Liberty Square's is longer so the arch is much more gradual, and let's not forget how far up you go from hub level through the castle into Fantasyland!

But yeah, Adventureland's bridge is the shortest and has the most extreme arch, as well as leading most immediately downhill of all of the bridges. You go up into Liberty Square and Fantasyland; down into Adventureland and straight across into Tomorrowland.

The answer is pragmatic but probably the best: you go down into Adventureland because the jungle cruise river is he lowest elevation in the park accessable to guests. You go up into Liberty Square so you can board on the second level of the riverboat. You go up even more into Fantasyland because...

because..

...OK, you may have something. ;)

eaf said...

I've always been partial to Adventureland as well. And I agree that it's because it seems more secluded and set off than the rest of the lands. Never thought about the whole "sea level" aspect of it though. Interesting!

Ryan P. Wilson said...

I knew I should of voted for Mickey's Toontown Fair. It may not be Disneyland's Toontown, but it definitely has some real character, or characters, and some fabulous details. I feel bad that it didn't even get one vote!

Greg said...

I went with Frontierland, knowing that it really didn't stand a chance against Adventureland. But hey, you can't blame a guy for staying loyal to his ride. Splash Mountain is in Frontierland, so I voted for Frontierland.

Unknown said...

DOC--yeah...Splash is in Frontierland, but the Haunted Mansion and the Columbia Harbour house are in Liberty Square. Tough for me, but I was pulling for Adventureland.

eaf...there used to be a ride that started in Tomorrowland (near the Rose Garden) that wound its way to the Jungle Cruise...imagine that!

Ryan--you gotta represent the under 10 crowd next time!

Foxx--wow...was that a compliment? ;)

Jeffrey Pepper said...

Ironically, Toontown Fair is probably one of the most densely-themed areas within MK. It also is probably the only land within MK void of thematic contradictions.

However, the very best combination of theming and storytelling in MK would have to go to the pre-Stitch/Buzz/Monsters incarnation of retro Tomorrowland. My favorite land by far, but quickly being whittled away a piece at a time . . .

Unknown said...

Jeff--it is more than being whittled; I would say that they took a hatchet to it. They didn't quite achieve the steam-punk-ish vision of DLP and the half-hearted attempt at Tomorrowland 2055. When I saw it in 1994, it was just before Alien Encounter, so there was the original look. Delta was there but it was right before Timekeeper.

Andy and I spent a good hour in Tomorrowland taking pictures and just soaking it all in.

Do you like it because it ties into a vision of the future? Like Future World? Or is it something tied to your first experiences?

Ryan P. Wilson said...

Yeah, the Under 10 crowd is my primary audience in my day to day life. I suppose I should represent the little guys, and gals, from now on, huh?