kidcoaster 2 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) Idlewild just announced the closure to their Facebook page. Idlewild & SoakZone and The Fred Rogers Company would like to welcome Daniel Tiger to our Neighborhood! The two companies previously partnered in 1989, developing a life-size trolley ride that took visitors to the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe." The trolley ride concluded its 25-year operation at the end of the 2013 season. In 2014, this area will serve as the location for daily Daniel Tiger "Meet and Greets" and photo opportunities. A new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood-themed attraction is being planned for 2015 at this same location, along with a new, live-action show featuring Daniel Tiger and other characters from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Be sure to stop in and welcome Daniel to the neighborhood! https://www.facebook.com/idlewildpark?hc_location=timeline http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_B3FSvYem4 Though during an event in Pittsburgh last week Idlewild's PR person said that the Trolley ride is just closed for the 2014 season to allow enough time to make the conversion. http://www.post-gazette.com/local/westmoreland/2014/03/12/Idlewild-and-SoakZone-to-replace-Mister-Rogers-Neighborhood-of-Make-Believe-ride/stories/201403120160 By Rob Owen / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe ride at Idlewild and SoakZone has ended its run and will be revamped for 2015 with the new theme of “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” PBS’s successor program to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The old Neighborhood of Make-Believe ride, which opened in 1989 and featured animatronic versions of King Friday XIII, X the Owl, the Platypus family and Daniel Striped Tiger, concluded its 25-year run at the end of the 2013 season. For 2014, a costumed version of the Daniel Tiger character will appear at Idlewild daily, noon-7 p.m., in the area of the old ride. In conjunction with the South Side-based Fred Rogers Company, Idlewild plans a new “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”-themed attraction for 2015 in the same location along with a live-action show featuring Daniel and other characters from the PBS Kids series. Jeff Croushore, Idlewild public relations manager, said the common thread between the late Fred Rogers’ show and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” is the trolley. So the new attraction will retain the trolley ride while changing the rest of the existing attraction to represent the new series. “The Fred Rogers Company has moved forward with the new series and kids really identify with the new series,” Mr. Croushore said. “Of course everyone in the region loves ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ but we wanted to reach out to the kids of today. They know and they love Daniel and we wanted to make an update and move forward with Daniel.” Some consideration was given to keeping the old ride open during the transition year. “We thought maybe we could include Daniel this year and still have the old ride,” Mr. Croushore said, “but it was a mutual decision between the Fred Rogers Company and Idlewild that we didn’t want to mix the brands when making the switch. So we ultimately decided to move forward with Daniel.” The move at Idlewild mirrors the fate of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS where it was downgraded from daily airings to weekends in 2009 with some stations not carrying the show at all. Meanwhile, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” an animated series featuring the children of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe characters, has become a popular PBS Kids program that already has spawned books, toys and music albums. Idlewild and SoakZone opens May 22 for its 137th season. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/westmoreland/2014/03/12/Idlewild-and-SoakZone-to-replace-Mister-Rogers-Neighborhood-of-Make-Believe-ride/stories/201403120160#ixzz2vmkAwwjg Edited March 12, 2014 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightypotato Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Aw man! I'm making my first trip to Idlewild this summer and was really looking forward to the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood section. I'm actually really sad about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Who the hell is Daniel the tiger, and the bigger question is....WHY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 That's too bad. I've seen some hilarious video of that ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrlittle Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Wow, I'm so glad I got to do this last summer then. I would of hated to miss it. I thought it was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Cow Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? My thoughts exactly. It's like when BGW had that Captain Kangaroo show; I was about six at the time, and it was the first and only time I had ever heard of Captain Kangaroo as a child. Sometimes it's best to let things go. What's really worth noting is that Daniel the Tiger is a PBS show produced by the Fred Rogers Company. I don't know how popular it is, but seeing as it's based on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood it seems like the logical thing to do. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tiger's_Neighborhood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Who the hell is Daniel the tiger, and the bigger question is....WHY? Daniel Tiger was one the characters in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe on Mr. Rogers and they made an animated series based upon "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" starring Daniel Striped Tiger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? True. I thought the same thing when they stripped out the Hanna-Barbera stuff at Kings Dominion. Yes, this is sad, but how many kids care about "Touche Turtle" and "Quick-Draw McGraw"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? That is sad that kids today don't know who Mr. Rogers was. I could think of a couple of now obscure characters that today's kids might might not know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 What's really worth noting is that Daniel the Tiger is a PBS show produced by the Fred Rogers Company. I don't know how popular it is, but seeing as it's based on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood it seems like the logical thing to do. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tiger's_Neighborhood Yup. It's the follow-up to Mister Rogers Neighborhood so this makes perfect sense. It's still in the "Mister Rogers" world, even. Watch these two short clips and you'll understand why it makes a bit of sense. For one, Fred Rodgers is dead. And two, because of that, they don't make new episodes, but now they make this show... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_B3FSvYem4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I've seen the Daniel Tiger show, it reminds me so much of Mr. Rogers. It seems to make sense for Idlewild to update the Mr. Rogers ride to reflect the newer show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 That sucks, but it's understandable. Funny that last week I was watching the video I took on the ride when we were there a few years ago. I was on the verge of tears I was laughing so hard! That ride was AWESOME...and we got the gay conductor which made it even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 And I suppose if people really want to hug each other, they still can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 ^ Come along, come along....to the Castle Hug-N-Song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) And I suppose if people really want to hug each other, they still can. And none of us know if the new Trolly ride won't still include that. They have said that they are keeping the Trolly ride and it will be re-themed to Daniel instead of Mister Rogers. Daniel lives in the same world Mister Rogers did with the same characters in the neighborhood and the same Trolly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_B3FSvYem4 How do we know it won't be really, really, really similar, just updated with the tiger? http://www.post-gazette.com/local/westmoreland/2014/03/12/Idlewild-and-SoakZone-to-replace-Mister-Rogers-Neighborhood-of-Make-Believe-ride/stories/201403120160 By Rob Owen / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe ride at Idlewild and SoakZone has ended its run and will be revamped for 2015 with the new theme of “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” PBS’s successor program to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The old Neighborhood of Make-Believe ride, which opened in 1989 and featured animatronic versions of King Friday XIII, X the Owl, the Platypus family and Daniel Striped Tiger, concluded its 25-year run at the end of the 2013 season. For 2014, a costumed version of the Daniel Tiger character will appear at Idlewild daily, noon-7 p.m., in the area of the old ride. In conjunction with the South Side-based Fred Rogers Company, Idlewild plans a new “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”-themed attraction for 2015 in the same location along with a live-action show featuring Daniel and other characters from the PBS Kids series. Jeff Croushore, Idlewild public relations manager, said the common thread between the late Fred Rogers’ show and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” is the trolley. So the new attraction will retain the trolley ride while changing the rest of the existing attraction to represent the new series. “The Fred Rogers Company has moved forward with the new series and kids really identify with the new series,” Mr. Croushore said. “Of course everyone in the region loves ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ but we wanted to reach out to the kids of today. They know and they love Daniel and we wanted to make an update and move forward with Daniel.” Some consideration was given to keeping the old ride open during the transition year. “We thought maybe we could include Daniel this year and still have the old ride,” Mr. Croushore said, “but it was a mutual decision between the Fred Rogers Company and Idlewild that we didn’t want to mix the brands when making the switch. So we ultimately decided to move forward with Daniel.” The move at Idlewild mirrors the fate of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS where it was downgraded from daily airings to weekends in 2009 with some stations not carrying the show at all. Meanwhile, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” an animated series featuring the children of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe characters, has become a popular PBS Kids program that already has spawned books, toys and music albums. Idlewild and SoakZone opens May 22 for its 137th season. Edited March 12, 2014 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Finn Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I am of course sad about this. It's the right move for them, though. I really hope there is a tribute/mention of Fred Rogers and his influence during this new ride. The man was just amazing in every way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Interesting randomness, that the name "Daniel" comes up here, and overseas... Bought this at Fuji-Q last summer. One of the few non-shirt souvenirs that had Fuji-Q's logo on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? True. I thought the same thing when they stripped out the Hanna-Barbera stuff at Kings Dominion. Yes, this is sad, but how many kids care about "Touche Turtle" and "Quick-Draw McGraw"? People who watch Boomerang? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 On one hand this is really sad, but on the other, how many 3-6 year olds today know Mr. Rogers anymore? True. I thought the same thing when they stripped out the Hanna-Barbera stuff at Kings Dominion. Yes, this is sad, but how many kids care about "Touche Turtle" and "Quick-Draw McGraw"? People who watch Boomerang? or watch old Hanna-Barbera cartoon on YouTube! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I miss Deputy Dawg. (or whatever his name is) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Daniel Tiger is certainly less creepy than Mister Rogers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Daniel Tiger is certainly less creepy than Mister Rogers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayzerqb11 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Sad day in the neighborhood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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