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

[UNCgolf]

Y'know what they should do? Make an animated film taking place in Australia, focusing on the wildlife. There aren't that many animated films about the outback fauna. Give it a smart release date and good promotion and if it's successful enough, they can use it as the anchor for an Australia land.

They already have one -- The Rescuers Down Under.

And not only does it feature multiple Australian animals, the plot revolves around poaching. It's close to being a perfect fit for Animal Kingdom.

Unfortunately, while the original Rescuers was a pretty big hit for Disney, the sequel was a box office failure despite being a critical success. Which means it may as well not exist to modern Disney, at least for anything major.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Yes, I really don't need to see North America animals on display at Animal Kingdom.

That’s why we have Walmart.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

They already have one -- The Rescuers Down Under.

And not only does it feature multiple Australian animals, the plot revolves around poaching. It's close to being a perfect fit for Animal Kingdom.

Unfortunately, despite the original Rescuers being a hit for Disney, the sequel was a box office failure even though it was pretty well-received critically. Which means it may as well not exist to modern Disney, at least for anything major.

Definitely not enough to have a "Rescuers Land" but I think if they did like an Oceana region that included Australia and the surrounding area you could have a fun area themed to Rescuer's Down Under - definitely feels like some merch opportunities

 

[HMF]

For a time, they had the Pocahontas show, with raccoons, porcupines and birds from North America, but it wasn't that popular and closed within AK's first 10 years, before any plans to close the now permanent Camp Minnie Mickey

I think it is because it was based on Pocahontas which arguably rivals Song of the South in terms of historical revisionism.
In other words given the mentality that closed Splash it is not surprising that AK's Pocahontas was closed, to put it lightly.

 

[HMF]

It would still be nice for DLP to get 1 unique ride now Epcot added Ratatouille. Disneyland Resort has: Matterhorn, the Submarines, Incredicoaster, Alice in Wonderland and Mr Toad. WDW has: Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Slinky Dog Dash, Cosmic Rewind & Mission Space. DLP only has Crush at the moment, and soon Lion King

Hope for the unlikely scenario in which DLP gets sold to a third party, then.

 

[HMF]

The IP mandate will continue. Even with a regime change, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll end up with anyone in charge with the vision to course correct. Maybe they’ll eventually back off at EPCOT, but not at the other three.

That being the case, this is probably the best possible outcome. You have an IP-free land consistent with the structure of the rest of the park with a broad regional theme that can easily accommodate future replacements or expansions already within the Disney canon. The IP selections aren’t “perfect”, but they almost never will be in this model. I’ll take this over the single-IP lands and/or IP facade conglomerations that seem to be the only real alternatives on offer.

At this point the only way to kill the IP mandate would be to sell the parks to a third party which I would not actually be opposed to, seeing as how Disney has failed on the parks front almost consistently for the past twenty years.

 

[Jedi14]

I think it is because it was based on Pocahontas which arguably rivals Song of the South in terms of historical revisionism.
In other words given the mentality that closed Splash it is not surprising that AK's Pocahontas was closed, to put it lightly.

Pocahontas still has a presence at the park.

 

[HMF]

Pocahontas still has a presence at the park.

Thank you for pointing that out. I am sure Disney will remove it soon.

 

[Brer Panther]

Iger has really done a lot of irreversable damage to the parks, hasn't he?

 

[HMF]

I love your thoughts, but I completely disagree that Tiana's was a disaster. When not comparing it to Splash and rating it on its own merits, I had a fantastic time.

It's probably more fair to compare it to Stitch's Great Escape in the sense that as with SGE, TBA was designed without an idea of what demographic the attraction is the target audience.

 

[HMF]

Iger has really done a lot of irreversable damage to the parks, hasn't he?

Obviously.

 

[Gusey]

Hope for the unlikely scenario in which DLP gets sold to a third party, then.

Or hope for the day that WDW fans will actually be happy with the multiple projects and significant investment they've been given that they don't need to constantly ask for the DLP's Lion King ride that is part of that resort's latest investment budget from 2018??

 

[JD80]

Crumbly old buildings shouldn't be the theme Disney uses to choose what fits.
Indiana Jones and Ecanto are examples of Disney forcing something to fit.

A time travelling dinosaur ride fits in AK just as much as an Indiana Jones adventure ride.

 

[Nautilus]

Rescuers Down Under was a good film and with the Animation Courtyard getting a new lift at HS, and a call for a return to 2D animation in general, it would be nice to see a theatrical re-release that could co-inside with an Australia section (even a little one) at Animal Kingdom. UNCgolf makes a good point about how it is an almost perfect fit for Animal Kingdom.

 

[jah4955]

They already have one -- The Rescuers Down Under.

And not only does it feature multiple Australian animals, the plot revolves around poaching. It's close to being a perfect fit for Animal Kingdom.

Unfortunately, despite the original Rescuers being a hit for Disney, the sequel was a box office failure despite being a critical success. Which means it may as well not exist to modern Disney, at least for anything major.

RDU was arguably killed by Katzenburg. He decided to pull the plug on further promotions right after its release, with the logic of "cutting one's losses." It is a unique film when contrasted to others of Disney Renaissance, but still visually stunning in its own right. I'm very glad I saw it in the theater.

 

[virtualangel]

the big onee

 

[flyerjab]

Or hope for the day that WDW fans will actually be happy with the multiple projects and significant investment they've been given that they don't need to constantly ask for the DLP's Lion King ride that is part of that resort's latest investment budget from 2018??

I know it seems logical, but with the direction that this new wave of attractions is going I’d be surprised if that LK land gets copied for DAK.

The last wave of projects had cut and paste attractions and lands. That was a Chapek strategy: design one/build two and save money. This new round of projects are all unique. Piston Peak is using cars but it is original. Villians Land is original. Encanto is original. Indy is not an original IP in a Disney park but the attraction story is unique. Our version of the Walt animatronic is unique. Monsters Inc land is unique.

We are also getting actual plussing of standing attractions with BTMRR and Buzz. And with the case of BTMRR, it will help distinguish it a bit from the other versions. And the Animation Courtyard is a return to form for that location - big plus to me.

I guess within the firehose of negativity here, I see things differently. I like the duo of Josh and Bruce. If they add LK to DAK, great! It wouldn’t surprise me though if they continue what they are doing with adding new experiences. Even everything at Disneyland is new build, along with what Shanghai and Hong Kong are getting. I say keep that going.

 

[Mike S]

I know it seems logical, but with the direction that this new wave of attractions is going I’d be surprised if that LK land gets copied for DAK.

The last wave of projects had cut and paste attractions and lands. That was a Chapek strategy: design one/build two and save money. This new round of projects are all unique. Piston Peak is using cars but it is original. Villians Land is original. Encanto is original. Indy is not an original IP in a Disney park but the attraction story is unique. Our version of the Walt animatronic is unique. Monsters Inc land is unique.

We are also getting actual plussing of standing attractions with BTMRR and Buzz. And with the case of BTMRR, it will help distinguish it a bit from the other versions. And the Animation Courtyard is a return to form for that location - big plus to me.

I guess within the firehose of negativity here, I see things differently. I like the duo of Josh and Bruce. If they add LK to DAK, great! It wouldn’t surprise me if they continue what they are doing with adding new experiences. Even everything at Disneyland is new build, along with what Shanghai and Hong Kong are getting. I say keep that going.

I’ll see all of these eventually.

I don’t know if I’ll ever become a multi trip per year pass holder again though. The jury’s still out on that one.

 

[Smoky]

I know it seems logical, but with the direction that this new wave of attractions is going I’d be surprised if that LK land gets copied for DAK.

The last wave of projects had cut and paste attractions and lands. That was a Chapek strategy: design one/build two and save money. This new round of projects are all unique. Piston Peak is using cars but it is original. Villians Land is original. Encanto is original. Indy is not an original IP in a Disney park but the attraction story is unique. Our version of the Walt animatronic is unique. Monsters Inc land is unique.

We are also getting actual plussing of standing attractions with BTMRR and Buzz. And with the case of BTMRR, it will help distinguish it a bit from the other versions. And the Animation Courtyard is a return to form for that location - big plus to me.

I guess within the firehose of negativity here, I see things differently. I like the duo of Josh and Bruce. If they add LK to DAK, great! It wouldn’t surprise me though if they continue what they are doing with adding new experiences. Even everything at Disneyland is new build, along with what Shanghai and Hong Kong are getting. I say keep that going.

Josh is bad, sometimes really bad, but they could definitely do a lot worse than him if he's the next CEO (see Chapek or some of the other corporate goons that are in the running). He seems ""malleable"" enough that a strong willed Imagineer like Bruce or Joe could talk him into loosening some of the IP mandates or some of the cheapening of the parks that have been common under Iger.

Don't lose sight of the real villain though, Jeff Vahle. He's the soulless corporate penny pincher yes man that enables the absolute worst of Disney's ideas. If you've worked in high level business then you've probably met someone like him. An empty suit devoid of ideas, creativity, or originality. If Josh has the guts to fire him I'll get a tattoo of his face on both of my arms and buy a DVC package of his choosing.

 

[flyerjab]

Josh is bad, sometimes really bad, but they could definitely do a lot worse than him if he's the next CEO (see Chapek or some of the other corporate goons that are in the running). He seems ""malleable"" enough that a strong willed Imagineer like Bruce or Joe could talk him into loosening some of the IP mandates or some of the cheapening of the parks that have been common under Iger.

Don't lose sight of the real villain though, Jeff Vahle. He's the soulless corporate penny pincher yes man that enables the absolute worst of Disney's ideas. If you've worked in high level business then you've probably met someone like him. An empty suit devoid of ideas, creativity, or originality. If Josh has the guts to fire him I'll get a tattoo of his face on both of my arms and buy a DVC package of his choosing.

Oh, completely agree. Jeff is terrible at his job. I understand that in the corporate world, fiscal restraint is necessary. But in a theme park world, creativity and over the top experience are so needed. Jeff demonstrates none of that mindset. Penny pinching and non-creative in his approach, just like Paul Pressler. I couldn’t agree more about Josh moving him out of that role. Our cat is more creative than that guy.