DAK 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[mattpeto]

I'm always surprised about the amount of stubborn child like writing in these threads.

Moana is extremely popular as an IP. Just because it didn't happen in your childhood or it didn't connect with you doesn't mean it doesn't have a cultural impact. Are the bulk of you putting streaming in quotes or mocking journey of water not parents?

My children going through JOW or meeting Moana in person at AK love it with the magic that it brings.

Sorry you all want to be stuck in thr 20th century. My goodness.

It’s hard to quantify popularity without the stats, but I’ve heard some odd takes here nonetheless.

Moana is a powerhouse. Encanto still could be riding a honeymoon of sorts, only time will tell. But it doesn’t change the stats from last year.

 

[JD80]

I don't think Disney is pushing Encanto because of random reasons. They have data that includes toys, streaming, books, music downloads etc.

You don't see them pushing Wish.

 

[Bocabear]

I don't think Disney is pushing Encanto because of random reasons. They have data that includes toys, streaming, books, music downloads etc.

You don't see them pushing Wish.

I see lots of Wish merchandise on the shelves in stores...and have actually heard kids asking who those people are to their parents.... I had no idea either...lol

 

[ToTBellHop]

If anything, Disney underestimated Encanto’s success at release. They’ve done the exact opposite for Wish.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Moana is very popular. I'm not convinced Encanto is nearly as popular as its being pushed. Completely anecdotal evidence, but our area has a giant consignment sale for kids things every 6 months (like 15,000 square feet insanely packed in). Every one there will be 2-3 Moana costumes, and dozens of shirts and toys. I've never seen and Encanto costumes or even shirts or toys there.

Even if you think Encanto is popular, there's no way you are going to convince me it's on Moana or especially frozen level, and it's going to be at the same level of representation.

Encanto definitely peaked January of ‘22 with the whole Bruno song taking the internet by storm. Haven’t seen it mentioned nearly as much since.

If I were a decision maker at the company, my takeaway would be that we would need to get that song into shows asap (as soon as 2 years ago). Not “let’s build a whole land and attraction to capitalize on something 8 years later).

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If anything, Disney underestimated Encanto’s success at release. They’ve done the exact opposite for Wish.

The same thing happened with Frozen. They didn't expect much and were unprepared for the demand.

Disney's SOP for the last decade has been "wait and see" and then react accordingly, to be on the safe side, which can backfire in the case of Frozen or Encanto.

Disney was unusually confident with Wish. That it flopped as hard as it did makes me think Disney won't try that level of aggressive promotion/merchandising again anytime soon with an original story.

[This is all relative though. Nothing has come close to the manufactured hype of Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules etc in their original releases. Don't expect Disney to march the MSEP through NYC with a live TV broadcast again]

 

[ToTBellHop]

The same thing happened with Frozen. They didn't expect much and were unprepared for the demand.

Disney's SOP for the last decade has been "wait and see" and then react accordingly, to be on the safe side, which can backfire in the case of Frozen or Encanto.

Disney was unusually confident with Wish. That it flopped as hard as it did makes me think Disney won't try that level of aggressive promotion/merchandising again anytime soon with an original story.

[This is all relative though. Nothing has come close to the manufactured hype of Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules etc in their original releases. Don't expect Disney to march the MSEP through NYC with a live TV broadcast again]

Or approve a new parade for DHS that deals entirely with the latest release!

No idea why they were so confident about Wish. They honestly thought it was good? It was like one of those direct-to-vhs ‘90s movies…

 

[Bocabear]

I saw merchandise in stores before I ever even heard of the film...and then the characters look so much like other characters in Disney films I completely didn't care about it.... Maybe I should watch it and see what it is about....but truth is, nothing about it has grabbed me to make me want to watch it... They certainly seemed to jump the shark with the merchandise... Unless it is selling somewhere....

 

[mattpeto]

Or approve a new parade for DHS that deals entirely with the latest release!

No idea why they were so confident about Wish. They honestly thought it was good? It was like one of those direct-to-vhs ‘90s movies…

The musicals seem to hit the most. It celebrated the 100th etc. FWIW, I enjoyed the movie and looking forward to seeing it again. It’s still way better than Strange World, Lightyear for me.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The musicals seem to hit the most. It celebrated the 100th etc. FWIW, I enjoyed the movie and looking forward to seeing it again. It’s still way better than Strange World, Lightyear for me.

That feels a bit like saying, “it’s the best item on the Taco Bell menu” to me. This company needs animated features that make money. My favorite of recent releases was probably Elemental. High hopes for Inside Out 2 since I loved the first and the premise should make it easy to connect with people of all ages.

 

[doctornick]

I don't think Disney is pushing Encanto because of random reasons. They have data that includes toys, streaming, books, music downloads etc.

You don't see them pushing Wish.

This is my take. I can agree with the point that Encanto isn’t as popular as Moana (or Frozen) but it seems to me that it had at least a certain level of cultural relevance that puts it at a reasonable point to warrant a ride. As you point out, it’s not like other recent films (eg Raya, Turning Red, Luca [which I loved], Strange World, etc) are getting the same attention - because Disney knows what has “hit”.

And people are exaggerating the amount of push Encanto is getting anyway. What are we seeing? A M&G right now (no biggie) then a temporary sing a long for a few months then a single ride. That’s not really excessive and the M&G is in a spot that in the past changes intermittently so that very well may not be “permanent” (admittedly Brave was there for a while).

 

[ToTBellHop]

This is my take. I can agree with the point that Encanto isn’t as popular as Moana (or Frozen) but it seems to me that it had at least a certain level of cultural relevance that puts it at a reasonable point to warrant a ride. As you point out, it’s not like other recent films (eg Raya, Turning Red, Luca [which I loved], Strange World, etc) are getting the same attention - because Disney knows what has “hit”.

And people are exaggerating the amount of push Encanto is getting anyway. What are we seeing? A M&G right now (no biggie) then a temporary sing a long for a few months then a single ride. That’s not really excessive and the M&G is in a spot that in the past changes intermittently so that very well may not be “permanent” (admittedly Brave was there for a while).

Plus they seem to have moved from it having a whole land at MK to half a land at DAK. I think one ride is appropriate. I would guess the M&G would move to DAK when the ride opens, too. Then they can have someone else near the Castle if they ever make another movie people want to see. I understand Bob is looking for a hit from the animation studio like

 

[Ghost93]

[This is all relative though. Nothing has come close to the manufactured hype of Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules etc in their original releases. Don't expect Disney to march the MSEP through NYC with a live TV broadcast again]

Pocahontas was the 5th highest grossing movie worldwide of 1995 and The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the 5th highest grossing movie worldwide of 1996. While both movies were seen as disappointments following Aladdin and The Lion King (which were THE top movies in the years of their release), they still made a decent amount of money and were nowhere near the flop that Wish was.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Pocahontas was the 5th highest grossing movie worldwide of 1995 and The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the 5th highest grossing movie worldwide of 1996. While both movies were seen as disappointing following Aladdin and The Lion King (which were THE top movies in the years of their release), they still made a decent amount of money and were nowhere near the flop that Wish was.

It wasn't comparing box office success, just noting that those all had enormous pre-release promotional campaigns on a scale that Disney will never do again.

 

[sedati]

Based on the amount of Stitch merch I see on random passersby everyday, everywhere, that character has the staying power to justify his own mini-land

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Based on the amount of Stitch merch I see on random passersby everyday, everywhere, that character has the staying power to justify his own mini-land

I wouldn’t bat an eye if I saw data that said stitch moved the most merch of any Disney character (aside from Mickey). It’s crazy that they haven’t tried to bring him back to Tomorrowland in some capacity

 

[MadderAdder]

Based on the amount of Stitch merch I see on random passersby everyday, everywhere, that character has the staying power to justify his own mini-land

It’s honestly amazing. Disney stores, Target, Walmart, CVS!, everywhere…

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I wouldn’t bat an eye if I saw data that said stitch moved the most merch of any Disney character (aside from Mickey). It’s crazy that they haven’t tried to bring him back to Tomorrowland in some capacity

I believe that at least at one point that was genuinely the case - Stitch actually outpaced both Mickey and Winnie the Pooh in terms of merch sales somewhere in the last 20 years.

I wouldn't assume that's necessarily still the case, but that's a big part of why he was suddenly everywhere back around 2006. He was bigger than hula hoops.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I wouldn’t bat an eye if I saw data that said stitch moved the most merch of any Disney character (aside from Mickey). It’s crazy that they haven’t tried to bring him back to Tomorrowland in some capacity

Yeah, I don’t get it. He wasn’t the problem with SGE. SGE was just awful. I’m assuming the remake is still chugging along.

 

[DisneyRoy]

I believe that at least at one point that was genuinely the case - Stitch actually outpaced both Mickey and Winnie the Pooh in terms of merch sales somewhere in the last 20 years.

I wouldn't assume that's necessarily still the case, but that's a big part of why he was suddenly everywhere back around 2006. He was bigger than hula hoops.

He is HUUUUGE right now in grade school aged kids. You cannot take a step in a school without seeing him on some type of product.