There he goes again, blogging about the *sing-song* LOST Disney Attraction Petition. 🙂

Well when you get a reference from OC Weekly, Yahoo! Buzz, Perez Hilton and the Orange County Register, taking a cue from The Other McCain, you milk it for all it’s worth.  This blogging business is a rough and tumble world, and the only thing you can really do to generate traffic is to.. well, blog. 

So this is in response to Disney-O-Rama’s post: Should Tom Sawyer Island Be Turned Into LOST Island

Apparently a group of hardcore fans of the ABC show “Lost” have started a petition to persuade Disney to create a “Lost” island at Disneyland. The “Lost” attraction would replace “Tom Sawyer Island”, which is seen as being outdated, even with its newly created tie-in to “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series.

While I consider myself to be a hardcore fan of “Lost” as well, this is a bad idea in so many ways.

First, thanks for your support and linking to the petition, next time, try reading it, I’ll help you out, the short preamble says:

LOST is one of the best television series to ever be broadcast on television. Disney should give this awesome show it’s[sic] due and create a LOST Island attraction at one of it’s Disney theme parks. Just think of the locations that can be immortalized in a Disney location.

While it does say Island, it is not specific to Tom Sawyer Island.  It’s more a reference to the location that LOST is centered on “LOST Island”.  The petition isn’t trying to define where in the Magic Kingdom it should be placed, but that the idea be considered by the powers that be to include some LOST themed something.  Heck, most LOST fans would probably be thrilled at a Dharma snack bar, selling Dharma branded concessions.  Executive Producer Carlton Cuse thinks an E-Ticket ride is a better idea.

You may think turning Tom Sawyer Island into LOST island is a bad idea, and many agree with you, but that doesn’t discount the concept of a LOST attraction. I admit that my first impression was centered around using Tom Sawyer Island, and Damon Lindelof tweeted about putting a Polar Bear on the island, so I don’t think it’s a terrible idea.

I haven’t been to Disneyland in 15 years (give or take 9 months), so I’m not up to date on the layout of the park or changes that have been made.  My memories of going to Disneyland in my youth (30+ years ago) have very fond memories of exploring Tom Sawyer Island, hiking along the trails, going into caves, checking out the neat forts, pretending we had guns, and the sailing ship circling the island.  As a “hard core” LOST fan, all of those elements that I remember of the attraction of Tom Sawyer Island, are repeated concepts in the mystery of LOST island, and recurring themes in the plots of the show. 

Do kids need to know all the deep mysteries of LOST to have fun on an LOST themed island.  Just as kids don’t have to wade through or even be familiar with Mark Twain’s character to enjoy the current rendition of the Island.  My two boys (7 and 10) would LOVE it, maybe their friends down the street might be clueless about the theme, but they’d probably love the imaginary games they could play exploring the island.

Adults would come to the attraction, but that’s one of the things that Disney does extremely well, is create experiences where generations can share their enjoyment.  Examples: Every Pixar film made.  When Disney gets off it’s game and starts shooting solely at a younger generation, well I have two words for you: Miley Cyrus. (that’s a joke, Hoss).

I’m glad you do agree with the concept of the petition (I’ve shown it’s not TSI specific) and agree with the points you make here:

Don’t get me wrong – I think the idea of a “Lost” style attraction where fans can physically experience what they have watched for 5 plus seasons now is a great idea. I just don’t believe that Tom Sawyer Island should be sacrificed in the process.

If the Disney powers-that-be take this petition seriously, maybe more suitable locations would be “Disney’s Animal Kingdom” in Orlando or possibly the new Disney resort that is being developed in Kapolei, Hawaii.

The Hawaiian location would be a supreme location for such an attraction, so I do hope you’ve signed the petition.

Thanks for taking the time to form a well thought out response to a self-admittedly kinda silly idea.  Your post is proof that the silly ideas (like a theme park in Anaheim of all places) can generate some real ideas, and some awesome fun.