Armchair Imagineering, Disney Movies, Disney Parks, Reviews, Walt Disney World

Armchair Imagineering and Disney’s Mary Poppins

Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns is quietly becoming a success at the box office. Poppins had a $50 million budget and has already grossed over $200 million dollars. To ignore PL Travers’ original vision of Mary Poppins would’ve been a big mistake. Mary Poppins Returns kept the spirit and energy of Mary Poppins by tastefully drawing parallels to the original movie. It featured fantastic musical numbers ‘Can you Imagine That?,’ ‘A Cover is Not a Book,’ and ‘Nowhere to Go But Up.’ Overall, I really enjoyed the movie.

After writing a review for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I decided to instead take up Armchair Imagineering. Marvel’s Black Panther was my first attempt. First off, it’s a bunch of bullshit that Mary Poppins is so underutilized at Disney. Here’s my idea of how the hell Disney can use Mary Poppins in a kickass way in Disney Parks.

Cherry Tree Lane

We can all agree Mary Poppins belongs in the Disney Parks. There has been rumors of a Poppins attraction for some time and for good reason. It’s a great piece of history and classic intellectual property. Everyone knows the queue is ever important to telling the damn story of a Disney attraction. Without a doubt, the Banks house would be perfect. Who the hell wouldn’t want to walk through the Banks’ house? They could even have the rooms shake every time Admiral Boom and Mr. Binnacle shoot off that damn cannon. How cool would that be?

There is no doubt in my mind this could be a classic dark ride of some kind. For example, they could use the same badass technology as Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure in Shanghai. Use of this ride has been thrown around the Dis rumor mill for other IP’s for awhile. Why not for Mary Poppins? Of course, with the tech used on this attraction, they could take folks in and out of the worlds of Mary Poppins. Specifically the chalk drawing scene from the original movie, the Royal Doulton Bowl from the new movie, and the beloved chimneysweep scene from the original. We all know they have enough music to fill both the queue and the attraction.

Hopefully the success of Mary Poppins Returns makes Disney rethink this IP. Epcot’s United Kingdom Pavillion is a practically perfect location for this attraction. This would be a huge addition to the World Showcase, which desperately needs more stuff for kids to do while the adults are touring. Disney wake the hell up and announce this shit already!

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