In regard to Beast, Mermaid, & Indiana

[Magicart87]

Mermaid is the most unique in terms of how the show is presented and designed. The theater space with a few cosmetic changes could still use the Black Art principles and blacklight illumination but set to a Pixar IP. Something like The Incredibles, Monster's Inc. (yas!) or even Up would work very well. Indy needs to either go or change. It's stale and the "Help Direct a Stunt Show" concept isn't befitting of a park that is getting away from the working studios image. The rumor of TotS being enclosed with the show replaced is well over 5 years old now, maybe older. Given it's location; It would almost make more sense for Disney to just close the BatB show and demolish the theater for something else. A mini Indy land?

Wasted space! Theater of the Stars needs a wrecking ball.

 

[Sam Magic]

Mermaid is the most unique in terms of how the show is presented and designed. The theater space with a few cosmetic changes could still use the Black Art principles and blacklight illumination but set to a Pixar IP. Something like The Incredibles, Monster's Inc. (yas!) or even Up would work very well. Indy needs to either go or change. It's stale and the "Help Direct a Stunt Show" concept isn't befitting of a park that is getting away from the working studios image. The rumor of TotS being enclosed with the show replaced is well over 5 years old now, maybe older. Given it's location; It would almost make more sense for Disney to just close the BatB show and demolish the theater for something else. A mini Indy land?

Wasted space! Theater of the Stars needs a wrecking ball.

It's a waste of space that can handle a ton of people. When SWGE and TSL open there will be a demand for things to do while people wait to enjoy the new expansions. A great new set of shows would certainly fill this need.

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

I think you have regular attractions at Disney World and then you have attractions that if Disney announced they were closing them down, people would book entire trips to experience them one last time. Haunted Mansion is in the latter category while the DHS attractions mentioned would be in the former. There's only a handful of attractions outside of the Magic Kingdom that would fall into the latter category.

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone here is booking a special trip in the next few weeks to see the Great Movie Ride or Ellen's Energy Adventure before they go dark for good. I have a feeling that there aren't that many people who are.

Count me among those few I guess. . We already had a trip planned for the week after labor day but with the chatter on GMR was worried it woukd be closed right before we got there. We ended up going the last week of june as a last minute short extra trip, not solely for GMR, wanted get splash mt in too since it will be down for refurb, pandora, and of course just WDW in general. But seeing GMR one last time played a big part on that choice. Glad we did that now that d23 happened.
Would be perfectly fine with BatB and mermaid going. I really think Indy still works though. They could definitely update the show to take out all of the casting/director bits and just make it a full on show as someone mentioned. That may just be the Indy fan in me talking though, or the hope by keeping and updating it they would pair the show with an attraction as well.

 

[tirian]

They don't seem like they were intended to stay as long as they did. They just didn't have anything to replace them in their particular venues so they stuck. It's not because of fan demand they stay- it's just, like with the Country Bears, they can't really plug anything into those spots. Frankly I think the only reason the American Idol Experience isn't still there in spite of AI ending is because they actually had Frozen to replace it with.

Except the Country Bears enjoy decent crowd levels and a fanbase, believe it or not.

Those shows are popular, but I question whether that's because there's not much else to do.

 

[Kman101]

Those shows not changing is likely just because of their decades long "if it's not broken and guests eat it up, why spend our money on it". On their own, Mermaid, Indy and BaTB are popular but I can't imagine Mermaid ranks high in guest satisfaction but I could be wrong. I think some of the popularity stems from lack of rides in the park. If we weren't getting a new theater in the MK I'd be more pushy of getting rid of BaTB but they could very easily upgrade the show visually and keep it going, I imagine that one is fairly popular on it's own.

Indy seems popular simply because it's Indy in a park that needs things to do but the show itself is fun and enjoyable. I'd again prefer the director part going away and having it be more of a show with stunts than showing us how stunts are done.

 

[discos]

I definitely think BATB shows its age more so than Voyage of the Little Mermaid. If BATB was in an enclosed theatre with proper lighting and effects it would be a plus to overall show experience

 

[clemmo]

So VOLM could close 2019 when Star Wars land opens. What does this mean for launch bay? I'm assuming they leave it until 2020ish to help deal with the SWL crowd but then what? Leave it empty?

 

[MisterPenguin]

From here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/rumor-and-upcoming-timeline-tracker.926402/

Shows:

• Fantasmic!
  • An update is constantly talked about internally, but is just at the 'possible' stage.
  • A "daytime Fantasmic" idea was being kicked around, but not so much anymore
• Indy is safe for now. [likely]
• Mermaid, Beauty... are all long running shows and plans were made for replacements but then delayed. Will they ever be updated with, e.g., the Aladdin show that was in Anaheim or the Tangled show that's on the cruise ships?
• The Theater of the Stars where Beauty and the Best plays is also talked about as being changed: demo'd for something new or possibly enclosed [and here]
• Little Mermaid could be replaced when TSL opens in 2018. Launch Bay changed in 2019 or even sooner. Disney Jr. is safe. [likely]
• Of these four: Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, Fantasmic, and Indiana Jones Stunt Show; expect 1 to be changed in 2018, another by 2019, and the other 2 refreshed by 2021. Also expect a new show in a new-ish location. [here]

 

[TrojanUSC]

Part of the issue here is that Disney was used to updating shows and parades on a pretty regular basis through the mid-90s. Every few years a new show or parade would replace an outdated one. Even occasionally a whole parade would debut based around one new feature film (i.e. Aladdin's Royal Caravan). This mentality largely came from Disneyland, where a new show or attraction could bring in hundreds of thousands of SoCal locals to see the new offering (hence why WDW also doesn't get the seasonal overlays DLR gets). This tradition continued at WDW, especially during the early Eisner era. However, in the mid-90s, as the Strategic Planning offices in Burbank took hold, it was discovered that most guests visited WDW so infrequently that such updates made little impact on their decision whether to return or not. Such corners could be cut and guest surveys were not impacted terribly.

Unfortunately, I think, with time this complacency really turned problematic as these shows have gotten stale and relatively outdated to modern day audiences. In an era where DVD bonus features offer staggering behind-the-scenes looks at the most modern of special effects, most guests aren't particularly interested in how effects were done in the 1980s.

 

[Princess Leia]

Little Mermaid has always bothered me, even as a kid. I think it's pretty innovative with the puppetry and blacklight tricks, but I always have disliked how the show cuts out a good half of the movie in favor of a quick video highlights reel of Ariel's adventures on land. The show is painfully short in comparison to Indy, BatB, and Frozen (a little over 15 minutes in comparison to 30, 25 and 31).

While BatB and Frozen cover all of the songs from their movies (albeit in condensed versions in some cases), VotLM only uses 'Under the Sea', 'Part of Your World' and 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' (like half the song). That's it. That's not even half of the soundtrack (if you include the reprise of World). Eric is essentially a cameo part, Max is the size of a direwolf (bless the CM who has to be in that costume), and Triton only shows up as a disembodied voice or in animated form.

Seriously, Disney, just put Moana in there. Reuse the mechanics of Ursula to create Krakatoa if you want. Make it a 30 minute long show, it would be gorgeous. I understand that Maui would be a difficult part to cast, but with the power of stage makeup, anything is possible.

Just get rid of VotLM since the ride covers the same parts (and includes Kiss the Girl).

 

[Razgriz]

Indiana Jones should stay imo until he gets some other representation in one of the Florida parks.
Honestly even the Paris ride would be acceptable somewhere imo.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

From here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/rumor-and-upcoming-timeline-tracker.926402/

Shows:

• Fantasmic!
  • An update is constantly talked about internally, but is just at the 'possible' stage.
  • A "daytime Fantasmic" idea was being kicked around, but not so much anymore
• Indy is safe for now. [likely]
• Mermaid, Beauty... are all long running shows and plans were made for replacements but then delayed. Will they ever be updated with, e.g., the Aladdin show that was in Anaheim or the Tangled show that's on the cruise ships?
• The Theater of the Stars where Beauty and the Best plays is also talked about as being changed: demo'd for something new or possibly enclosed [and here]
• Little Mermaid could be replaced when TSL opens in 2018. Launch Bay changed in 2019 or even sooner. Disney Jr. is safe. [likely]
• Of these four: Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, Fantasmic, and Indiana Jones Stunt Show; expect 1 to be changed in 2018, another by 2019, and the other 2 refreshed by 2021. Also expect a new show in a new-ish location. [here]

It would be nice if DHS would get a theatre like the MK is getting in a few years.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

It would be nice if DHS would get a theatre like the MK is getting in a few years.

I'd be happy with just a plussed Theater of the Stars. It should be at least as nice as the Theater in the Wild at DAK.

 

[Princess Leia]

Indiana Jones should stay imo until he gets some other representation in one of the Florida parks.
Honestly even the Paris ride would be acceptable somewhere imo.

I think a mini-land with a restaurant, Indy dark ride, and Indy coaster would be an acceptable replacement. Though I'd also be good with keeping the stunt show, just with a new plot, along with at least one ride. From what I've seen of Paris's coaster, there's really very little that ties it to IJ. Tokyo got a clone of it and didn't even bother calling it an Indy ride, that's how little themeing there was.

 

[Razgriz]

I think a mini-land with a restaurant, Indy dark ride, and Indy coaster would be an acceptable replacement. Though I'd also be good with keeping the stunt show, just with a new plot, along with at least one ride. From what I've seen of Paris's coaster, there's really very little that ties it to IJ. Tokyo got a clone of it and didn't even bother calling it an Indy ride, that's how little themeing there was.

Definitely true but I can see potential with the Paris ride with proper themeing and also wouldn't be something big and overly expensive.
Lean in to the Temple of Doom mine car theme and there are a lot of possibilities.

Honestly I could even see something like Primeval Whirl sized(with a bit more to it) completely inclosed within a pyramid or ruins actually being pretty cool.
Disregarding actual land requirements in this hypothetical situation that theme could even work in 3 of the Florida parks imo.
Stay in Hollywood Studios, flesh out the Indy theme a bit more.
Adventureland in Magic Kingdom*
Animal Kingdom

*with that you could even do something cool like at the end the cart quickly escapes the "structure" heading straight for the Jungle Cruise river then sharply tilting and turning away on the riverbank.

 

[wdrive]

Definitely true but I can see potential with the Paris ride with proper themeing and also wouldn't be something big and overly expensive.
Lean in to the Temple of Doom mine car theme and there are a lot of possibilities.

Honestly I could even see something like Primeval Whirl sized(with a bit more to it) completely inclosed within a pyramid or ruins actually being pretty cool.
Disregarding actual land requirements in this hypothetical situation that theme could even work in 3 of the Florida parks imo.
Stay in Hollywood Studios, flesh out the Indy theme a bit more.
Adventureland in Magic Kingdom*
Animal Kingdom

*with that you could even do something cool like at the end the cart quickly escapes the "structure" heading straight for the Jungle Cruise river then sharply tilting and turning away on the riverbank.

In what way does Indiana Jones link to the Animal Kingdom?

 

[Razgriz]

In what way does Indiana Jones link to the Animal Kingdom?

Depends how hard they go with the theme but even just the setting alone it would fit in very well, particularly in Asia.

Oh and I mean in a general/original way, not just slapping the Temple of Doom theme I mentioned into Animal Kingdom.

 

[Pumbaa1222]

Backlot Express could easily be rethemed to an Indy area. Would be great if they did something with Sounds Dangerous, and eventually a new idea for Star Tours. Personally I think a Labyrinth connection with LucasFilm and Jim Henson would be a natural connection for an attrraction

 

[asianway]

Beware the placeholder. Birthdayland, BatB Live, Sorcerer's Hat, World Showplace...

Duckburg > Circus

 

[Daveeeeed]

DHS is still a park worth visiting, but it would not be #2 for a WDW vacation. Walt Disney Studios in Paris now actually has a better attraction lineup, but aesthetically it sucks. To me, since the crowds at HWS will destroy the park's capacity, WDS is the better park until Toy Story Land opens. Never thought I would say that, but I am!!!