I am much older! Aerosmith was the music blasting in the bus during our school’s 9th grade trip to DC in ‘76. I was around for that 90s revival but also in the 80s when Steven Tyler used to come into the coffee shop I worked in (the band was trying to create new music and was working with someone nearby).
I always connect the muppets with the introduction of Sesame Street, but I was already 8 and helping my younger siblings.
I will fight for WDW being the superior HM anyday.
But here is the thing. The older Disney rides have a realness and a charm to them that still hits. I absolutely adore Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway but even if you replaced these “duplicate” rides with something of that caliber we would still be missing something. There is a reason my colleague was blown away by the details on HM and why PoTC is still one of DD’s favorites.
I realize that, but I’m just pointing out that the viewpoint for those on the West Coast is skewed because WDW is viewed as a backup, so there is less concern about making changes.
But its my favorite spinner ride!
Okay, this is a problem
And I am all for updating it so @janamelia can ride.
I got myself distracted, but wanted to make this same kind of point at the start of the discussion. When DD was 5 the rides that saved the trip were Barnstormer, IASW, Dumbo (including the playground) and Teacups. We rode them so many times. Add in a Tiana meet ans greet and Anna and Elsa, plus rhe MSEP and those are the for a four day trip!
Wait, a splash pad in Disney Springs near or hotel, the Boneyard, and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground are the others.
So nothing E ticket and nothing needing LL but now more than a decade of return trips.
It was not at MK when we first visited in 1974. But I knew it was open on our next visit in 1979 and was excited to see the roofline from the ferry. Even more excited that I could actually ride the thing, as I’m so not a coaster (drops/speed) kind of person. Space Mtn remained my favorite for many years. RnRC’s mag-lev fairly eclipsed Space Mtn.
Given the extensive footprint available a better question might be, what makes something disposable. We’ve been discussing MK tho when I think of Epcot, especially the front part, not much is original. Even Spaceship Earth is a shadow of its original self nowadays.
DL Space Mountain cam second, but then it was updated whereas the MK one wasn’t really. For example, the trains being replaced by side by side seats
The Kid’s first trip at 2 yo included a first stop at Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. Just the right amount of thrill. For the next 15 years, the first ride at MK had to be Aladdin. Tradition.
Those rides are key.
This is a very interesting test case, because by my rudimentary criteria, The Great Movie Ride should have been untouchable. It was one-of-a-kind, unique, opening day MGM Studios attraction. It was almost 30 years old in 2017 when it closed.
And yet, Disney decided to replace it. Presumably, they chose to do so because the original attraction was not popular enough to justify its size and cost in that location. Almost nothing is sacred to Disney, apparently. I think the list of what they would never demolish is very small, and probably only includes attractions in Disneyland, and a handful of landmarks at WDW.
Just my conjecture based on this fact pattern.
Related: my Jungle Cruise skipper at Jungle Cruise when it broke down last month told us that Disney is not allowed to touch any of the plant growth at Jungle Cruise without the permission of the U.S. government as it is a protected biosphere. Many of the plants are exotic and were placed there illegally in the first place, but now are irreplaceable.
I thought it was closed because of the licensing ending. Why renegotiate when you have your own IP?
I could be wrong, though.
Oh yeah that is probably a huge factor. But they could have redone some of the IP I guess. Ultimately if it was popular enough they likely would have found a way.
The great thing about the Great Movie Ride was the driver being taken over and then saving the day later. When that went away, so did some of the fun.
A company that will replace imagination with office spaces probably hasn’t much that’s untouchable.
I think the IP issue got them there. For me the criteria is more related to whether it still “hits” for new generations and new fans (which Pirates and HM definitely do) and if it is substantially different than what you would get at any other theme park other than modern Universal.
For example, they could get rid of COP under my criteria.
My family would cry. Ha ha
But seriously, I hope they would move it somewhere if that happens.
(Actually they at one point announced a refurb - not sure if that stalled out, but Jim and Len talked about it a few weeks ago.)
They did! And I am all for a refurb, especially when there is all of the Speedway and the Stitch building!
Please, please, please!!
CoP seems to have found a new fan source. Both Youngest Grandson (mid 30s) and the Kid (early 20s) have to see this every trip. I remember it from the New York World’s Fair tho of course that was a slightly different version. 
I didn’t insist everyone watch with me on our extended family trips. Possibly they like it as a byproduct of their interest in history.
Which means they should probably undo that one rather controversial scene. Trust me, a “hen for a ten” makes very little sense in the pre-USA days of The New World.
But they really can’t get rid MK’s Pirates at this point. Walt, and later Roy, tried to omit that ride because of their proximity to the actual Caribbean, but that was the first thing most of the Disneyland veterans asked, “where’s Pirates?” So with all the reasons it was put in later, I highly doubt they’d pull it at this point. Also opening Beak and Barrel means that theming around there will be pirate-themed for a while.
I agree with @ryan1 on IASW. My second trip to WDW was with my DH and a toddler in the mid 90s. IASW was suffering from lack of care — some areas and figures visibly coated with dust— I wrote a letter to Bob at the UG (it was printed in later editions) saying WDW could improve IASW by giving each rider a couple baseballs to throw at the figures. The big delights on that visit were Dumbo (rope dropped and rode 3-4 times before the line built up) and watching the live entertainment in World Showcase and the gardeners water the plants at Epcot.
My opinion on IASW started to change with our next visit, with our then 7 year old, who was interested in the mechanical movement of the different elements and thought IASW was terrific.
I’m 60 now and I genuinely enjoy IASW — ear worm tune and all. It’s colorful, cheerful and hopeful in a world of endless warfare, and most of the elements work now (or did on my last visit.) I would be sad if it was replaced.
A strategy to replace the kid- and old-people rides in the name of more e-tickets or IP-based screen attractions for adults is a bad strategy.
Thrill-based attractions are best suited for younger people who haven’t (yet) messed up their bodies. Why would WDW choose to rip out the rides the family can ride together and compete with Six Flags??
Hope WDW can see their way forward to devote space to delight the littles, and create immersive and amusing attractions for those of us whose necks and backs don’t need to be whipped around but want something to do other than sit on a bench and snack. (Because let’s face it, they’ve canned a bunch of the live entertainment too.)