Disney World’s Jeff Vahle Reflects on Growth, Change, and Reinvestment in Parks

[jah4955]

It seems Figment is becoming more like Marie....people largely want to buy merch because it's cute (virtually no one has seen the Aristocats, and Marie is a minor player at that imo), not because it's a reminder of a particular attraction.

more "insult to injury" https://.com/2025/10/true-to-life-figment-shirt-arrives-epcot/

 

[MrPromey]

I’m a lot more cynical… Frozen is not an amazing ride but because the IP is popular, it’s a big draw. Nemo is a cute ride and the IP is even popular, if a bit dated, but that’s often a walk on. Newer dark rides don’t seem to be a big draw right now unless they’re for a super hot IP. Figment is loved but a bit niche.

I'm sure Nemo being a lame almost entirely screen based attraction shoehorned into a space that was previously not a traditional dark ride has nothing to do with it, right? Last time I was there a little over a month ago, the one of only two practical effects (the other being their weird jellyfish) and only animatronic-like feature - the angler fish - wasn't even operational.

At least when Frozen took a half-attraction over to redo it, they added some ride length and then spent good money on the actual ride elements.

With Nemo, they took what was never intended to be a standalone attraction and converted it into something less than the original sum of its parts.

I wonder how many people even know they're underwater in the middle of that giant tank during the EAC segment?

 

[Comped]

I wonder how many people even know they're underwater in the middle of that giant tank during the EAC segment?

Seriously? They need to gut the thing and make it into a LWTL type deal, with windows into the tank unobstructed by screens...

 

[montyz81]

You're mostly wrong about all this. Or at least your context in skewed.

Your opinion. But opinions are like.… well you get the phrase.

 

[MrPromey]

Seriously? They need to gut the thing and make it into a LWTL type deal, with windows into the tank unobstructed by screens...

Lol. That's sorta what it originally was.

The vehicles, you originally sat forward in and you could see in all directions instead of the seashells that act like a static doom buggy, only pointing to one side. Having said that, the space is pretty compact because most of the original ride was looking into the tank and was intended as the grand reveal of the tank (meant to be the ocean) and your arrival at Sea Base Alpha.

It was part of a larger experience that was all where the queue now sits.

Here's a video of the original complete experience after that initial "beach" room line area (as it looks today) you'd go into a movie and that's where it all started:



Looking back, the hydrolator effect was a little cheesy and the whole thing was due for a modernization when they changed it but you really can see how much harder they used to try when they were dealing with sponsor money in Epcot. It's basically another (though far less dramatic) Imagination-style cheap redo.

I mean, the transporting effect in Guardians is cool. It would have been better if the apparent animatronics from the concept art had made it... and if it had gone to Hollywood Studios but I'll give them credit for not completely cheapening out on that entirely IP-driven project. They clearly can still do things well in this park when they're motivated to.

As for The Living Seas, though, they literally replaced 80% of the complete attraction from that video with a giant never-full queue to accommodate a 3 minute ride of screens.

Even if they were to just gut the ride system and make it a walking path into the main attraction with the windows all visible, I'd count it as an upgrade to the pointless Nemo ride that's there, today.

... but then there'd hardly be any IP in the pavilion and they can't have that, now can they?

 

[Raineman]

Maybe the lines are better because - like you - many people are rediscovering that waiting in lines is not a burden to them but a plus.

If they can find a balance between those who don’t mind the queues and the ones who buy LLs the price of the LLs should stabilize.

I think the biggest factor in maintain the balance that you described is the percentage of park commandos in a park at any given time. The people that want to knock off as many attractions as possible in the shortest amount of time will always find LL attractive, regardless of the cost. Spending time in a standby queue, taking in the theming-not an option for park commandos. A standby wait time of max 30-40 minutes on every attraction would be great,imo-if that was the case, I don't think I would use LLs much at all.

 

[Comped]

Lol. That's sorta what it originally was.

The vehicles, you originally sat forward in and you could see in all directions instead of the seashells that act like a static doom buggy, only pointing to one side. Having said that, the space is pretty compact because most of the original ride was looking into the tank and was intended as the grand reveal of the tank (meant to be the ocean) and your arrival at Sea Base Alpha.

It was part of a larger experience that was all where the queue now sits.

Here's a video of the original complete experience after that initial "beach" room line area (as it looks today) you'd go into a movie and that's where it all started:



Looking back, the hydrolator effect was a little cheesy and the whole thing was due for a modernization when they changed it but you really can see how much harder they used to try when they were dealing with sponsor money in Epcot. It's basically another (though far less dramatic) Imagination-style cheap redo.

I mean, the transporting effect in Guardians is cool. It would have been better if the apparent animatronics from the concept art had made it... and if it had gone to Hollywood Studios.

As for The Living Seas, though, they literally replaced 80% of the complete attraction from that video with a giant never-full queue to accommodate a 3 minute ride of screens.

Even if they were to just gut the ride system and make it a walking path into the main attraction with the windows all visible, I'd count it as an upgrade to the pointless Nemo ride that's there, today.

... but then there'd hardly be any IP in the pavilion and they can't have that, now can they?

I only went on this version once when I was a kid (back in 04), given it had Nemo added by the time I returned in 2008. I just don't remember it well. I now remember more about it thanks to your post, and I must say that it was certainly better back then!

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I'm sure Nemo being a lame almost entirely screen based attraction shoehorned into a space that was previously not a traditional dark ride has nothing to do with it, right? Last time I was there a little over a month ago, the one of only two practical effects (the other being their weird jellyfish) and only animatronic-like feature - the angler fish - wasn't even operational.

At least when Frozen took a half-attraction over to redo it, they added some ride length and then spent good money on the actual ride elements.

With Nemo, they took what was never intended to be a standalone attraction and converted it into something less than the original sum of its parts.

I wonder how many people even know they're underwater in the middle of that giant tank during the EAC segment?

They added track to the ride in the old theater space. What was a 4 min ride through is about 7 now.

 

[MrPromey]

They added track to the ride in the old theater space. What was a 4 min ride through is about 7 now.

Did they really?

And we still ended up with that?

What a waste.