MK Stitch's Great Escape Replacement— Don’t Hold Your Breath

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t know, I think I started posting here around Covid and I don’t remember people talking about it as something that was likely to happen. I might have missed that part of the rumor mill though.

Disneylanders have been talking/begging for Tomorrowland since forums existed

 

[HMF]

Disneylanders have been talking/begging for Tomorrowland since forums existed

DL's Tomorrowland being ruined and the widespread public availability of the internet basically happened at the same time.

 

[LittleBuford]

Not anymore, You could argue that they were in the past. Things like Alien Encounter, The original Snow Whites Adventures at The Magic Kingdom , The original POTC Dead Mans Cove and the original Attic Scene of the Haunted Mansion. None of these still exist of course.

That’s why I said that their few attempts at true scariness did not stick. Their current approach has been the dominant one for decades.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That’s why I said that their few attempts at true scariness did not stick. Their current approach has been the dominant one for decades.

Curious….

The Disney parks have never been associated with intense scariness. The few times they’ve tried it, it hasn’t gone well. I’d prefer Villains Land to stay true to the spirit of their existing approach.

Curiouser and curiouser

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

You would think the most creative Theme park company in the world could come up with something to fit the size and scale of the building.....

While I suspect "this IP" is ultimately destined for another area and it doesn’t quite align with the current themes of Tomorrowland, it’s still fun to imagine what an Inside Out overlay might look like. The theater‑in‑the‑round repurposed as Headquarters, with screens behind the audience serving as windows into the Islands of Personality. Center stage, animatronic Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust man the Control Panel, while harness-based effects play into their emotionally-charged personalities and immerse guests in the unfolding chaos.

 

[DisneyHead123]

The Disney parks have never been associated with intense scariness. The few times they’ve tried it, it hasn’t gone well. I’d prefer Villains Land to stay true to the spirit of their existing approach.

I think in a way it will be a nice balance. There is “kid appropriate scary” and then there is “horror”. The latter I think has no place at Disney, that’s just not their thing. The former I think has a healthy place in the parks - I remember as a kid having this Haunted Mansion storybook read aloud, and I remember finding the b side very spooky and strangely unsettling, although not terrifying. It was something I was just quite intrigued with as a kid. (Out of curiosity I Googled it and I think I found it… it’s not this one, implying you are murdered by ghosts, lol, apparently that didn’t make an impression on me, but this one, a random track of dogs howling.) I do think some of that kid appropriate scariness has been removed from the parks for a variety of reasons - in some ways I think the world is kinder and so seeing Snow White terrorized felt strange (like today you’d want her to be able to report stalking and bullying and not just run around screaming); in some ways it’s crueler so having a shooting arcade in a world where real shootings are an ongoing national trauma felt wildly inappropriate - it’s just a hard balance these days, but I do think that a sense of apprehension and the danger that comes with adventure is a natural part of childhood. I hope they find that delicate balance for Villains.

 

[LittleBuford]

Curious….

Curiouser and curiouser

What do you find curious?

 

[HMF]

That’s why I said that their few attempts at true scariness did not stick. Their current approach has been the dominant one for decades.

The original Snow White closed in 1994, Alien Encounter closed in 2003 The Pirates refurb was in 2006 and the Mansion refurb was in 2007. that's not even 20 years. Also Stitch which closed in 2016 was still considered too scary for young children and was at the same time too juvenile for most teens and adults. Disney has in recent years become afraid to risk anything being too scary for young children and as Walt Disney himself said "You're dead if you only aim for kids.".

 

[HMF]

While I suspect "this IP" is ultimately destined for another area and it doesn’t quite align with the current themes of Tomorrowland, it’s still fun to imagine what an Inside Out overlay might look like. The theater‑in‑the‑round repurposed as Headquarters, with screens behind the audience serving as windows into the Islands of Personality. Center stage, animatronic Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust man the Control Panel, while harness-based effects play into their emotionally-charged personalities and immerse guests in the unfolding chaos.

There is a much more appropriate and obvious place for that IP.

 

[LittleBuford]

The original Snow White closed in 1994, Alien Encounter closed in 2003 The Pirates refurb was in 2006 and the Mansion refurb was in 2007. that's not even 20 years. Also Stitch which closed in 2016 was still considered too scary for young children and was at the same time too juvenile for most teens and adults. Disney has in recent years become afraid to risk anything being too scary for young children and as Walt Disney himself said "You're dead if you only aim for kids.".

1994 was a long time ago. Even before then, intense scariness was never the norm in the parks—that just wasn’t and isn’t Disney’s brand.

 

[Brer Panther]

Anyone know the real reason why this building has say vacant & dormant in the worlds most recognized theme park for all this time with no end in sight?

Disney doesn't have any popular sci-fi IPs not already in use at other parks they can replace it with. Aside from Lilo and Stitch itself, but they already trashed the animatronics, so they can't just open it back up.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It’ll be disturbed eventually.

As we see, office space is a much higher priority to WDW then the theme parks in WDW.

 

[Tha Realest]

Even for an internet troll you are insufferable.

Despite what new branches the Disney tree has grown over the years it’s core was built off of children’s entertainment and the theme parks are in fact FAMILY theme parks.

Just accept that you haven’t been a part of the target audience since you were 12 and that what they do now isn’t your thing and move on without having to dump on every discussion that anyone has about the company. What do you get out of going on every thread and just posting “Iger is the devil and Disney is horrible at everything!!!!” I has to be exhausting and a waste of your time.

Over the last decade, Disney - with and “without” Iger - has shifted away from conventional villains in their stories. We’ve similarly seen them soften the edges in the parks as well. It is not unreasonable to point those things out in this thread.

 

[Tha Realest]

The only time you’ll hear from them in person will be during character experiences, and I don’t think there’s reason to believe those will be any different than they are elsewhere in the parks.

How can you be so sure of that? It is decidedly early in the design process. This is an awfully big assumption to make, particularly with how WDI has made it an imperative to have the guests be involved and interact with the story during the attraction experience.

The rest will be architecture, food, lighting, vibes and so on.

So, like a walkthrough area of Old Europe on the Universal Studios Hollywood Tram Tour?

I guess I could see it featuring a bit in the rides but even those tend to be more sensory based than exposition based. I think we’ll see the villains in the rides against some kind of very basic narrative about what’s happening, but I doubt it will go into a ton of detail about their state of mind.

That’s at odds with what Disney’s announced so far, but it won’t be the first time D23-promoted expectations do not align with the finished product:

Villains Cast a Spell Over Magic Kingdom with New Land - Disney Parks Blog

JUST ANNOUNCED: The Villains arrive at Magic Kingdom with new land.

disneyparksblog.com

 

[Splash4eva]

Disney doesn't have any popular sci-fi IPs not already in use at other parks they can replace it with. Aside from Lilo and Stitch itself, but they already trashed the animatronics, so they can't just open it back up.

I think the idea of total cohesiveness in a land went out the door and even if you wanna stick with a theme im pretty sure noone would be upset with another Stitch attraction. Whatever happened to the what everyone thought greenlit Wreck it Ralph attraction?

 

[Splash4eva]

Hard to tell for sure…but it’s mostly that mothballing became a new standard 25 years ago that wasn’t something they were willing to do before.

That one is 100% debatable

Regarding them being thebest? Definitelu debatable for sure

 

[marni1971]

Even for an internet troll you are insufferable.

Glass houses and all that…

 

[Disstevefan1]

Its Disney with supposedly the most creative imagineers ever. You cant tell me a total gut & something built is impossible…

Imagineering probably has multiple ideas for the space. The problem is, the theme parks are not run by the Imagineers, it’s run by the finance people. It’s all about money, not theme or creativity in todays Disney theme park Business.

Disney’s move business with its runaway budgets is another story.

 

[Incomudro]

1994 was a long time ago. Even before then, intense scariness was never the norm in the parks—that just wasn’t and isn’t Disney’s brand.

Intense scariness, no.
But how about as scary as your actual product?

 

[LittleBuford]

Intense scariness, no.
But how about as scary as your actual product?

I don’t understand. I think Disney has been largely consistent in its treatment of the villains over the decades and will remain so.