it’s all a matter of merchandising. People aren’t as likely to buy a generic dinosaur sweatshirt/t-shirt when they can get one with the Jurassic Park Logo on the next day of their vacation. People don’t care about the Carnatorus or Iguanadon as much as the T-Rex or Velociraptor.
True. But they would be willing to buy a, insert awesome dinosaur land name, shirt. That's where Disney fails. People buy merch for adventure land, or tomorrow land. How about space mountain or thunder... If the land is great and the ride is great, I guarantee it can move merch. The problem is, you have to work for it. Something Disney doesn't seem all that willing to do. It's all, path of least resistance now.
Dinosaur isn’t based on a movie the company deemed too problematic to release. If Splash didn’t have that baggage, it probably would still be around.
You’re putting words in my mouth. I’m saying that Disney’s main appeal is their IP. It’s what gets people through the door. It’s what guests expect to see. Mickey Mouse, Princesses, Toy Story, Star Wars, etc. These characters are what bring guests and sell merchandise. It’s why kids clamor to visit Disney over another theme park. People don’t hate attractions that don’t feature these characters, but those attractions also aren’t why millions of first-time guests flock to Orlando every year. The characters get them through the door, the quality of attractions (both original and IP) and service should keep them coming back.
I understand that Dinosaur is leaving because of a combination of low GSATs, significant detractors, poor merch sales, and high maintenance costs but I don't think Disney believes Dinosaurs as a narrative element are cursed or something for any future attractions. They could make an amazing dinosaur-based attraction with mass market appeal if management wanted it, but the primary reason they don't want it is because they don't have a hot Dinosaur IP to tie it to.
Maybe to an extent. But I'd venture a guess that Haunted Mansion merch sells towards the top as well. Further, basing exclusively on an IP has the potential to limit things. Do things stay popular when that IP isn't the new thing anymore? What about if people don't like the IP? Personally, I can't stand Encanto, and the rest of my family is meh on it, so a mini-land and ride about it already starts on the outs, and needs to show it's an insanely good ride to get us caring at all. And of course the other question that is just impossible to answer, is the IP why a ride is popular, or is the ride itself the reason? If Guardians was themed as a journey to explore space instead of some battle, would it be the same popularity? Or could it make it more timeless? I've said many times, but I love riding that thing, and I still have no idea what the story is or how we win.
Guardians could easily be re-themed without IP and still be a wildly popular ride... It is so much fun! Story in my eyes doesn't quite carry...like you said, I have no idea what I am doing or how we win, but it's a fun, thrilling experience....
Uh yeah, that's kind of how that work. If people had seen it, it would have done better...
Cars is 18 years old, and it still pushes merch to this day. You can go to Target right now and get a Franchesco Bernulli toy from Cars 2 (widely hated by people over 8).
On my last viist I would have loved a Test Track t-shirt, but they were all plastered with Mickey Mouse ears or other cutesy characters. Maybe that sells to the children, but there's a proportion of the visitors to whom that wouldn't sell and there's an untapped market for attractions and park related stuff. They used to do this. I've got a lovely character-free Soarin t-shirt. I'm really atfer loads of EPCOT merch that promotes the park that I'd be proud to wear or display, not Disney characters.
It's always a good time!
What does she do now? Missed her window to be the rumored replacement for Aerosmith at RnRC, I think.
Haven't listened to anything, but she's still making music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loveliest_Time
