DAK “Zootopia” is being created for the Tree of Life theater

[UNCgolf]

Posted wait times are one thing. We have around 30,000 actual wait times from just this one ride.

Those wait times can be grouped into to clusters, essentially saying there are two "crowd levels" for the ride. Here's a Monte Carlo simulation of what a typical day's actual waits look like, for those two crowd levels:

View attachment 892574

View attachment 892575
The red line is the raw data; the blue line uses Lowess smoothing to make it pretty.

So on most days you can say the peak actual wait at Mermaid is between 10 and 25 minutes. That's relatively low. It helps that it's a C-Ticket omnimover, in the back of the park.

Thanks!

I'm guessing that when Mermaid does get to something like a 30 minute actual wait, it tends to be on days when many other rides in the park have significantly higher actual waits.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

If you care about the parks that used to have actual themes continuing to have actual themes and not just being a random mishmash of crap, there's a reason not to use them.

Opening day Disneyland was mostly a mishmash of IP "crap".

The fact that that made it past the green light is genuinely amazing to me.

The experience wasn't inherently bad. Simply that Disney marketed it poorly and publicized it as simply a multi-thousand dollar hotel when it was way more than just that.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Opening day Disneyland was mostly a mishmash of IP "crap".

That's nice. Opening day Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom weren't.

 

[HMF]

Opening day Disneyland was mostly a mishmash of IP "crap".

Uh, on opening day Tomorrowland was barely finished and basically a glorified commercial. Fantasyland indeed had IP but the designers of the Dark Rides assumed people were smart enough to realize they were standing in for the characters which is why Snow White, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad did not appear in their respective attractions. Jungle Cruise was much less camp and more serious, Frontierland was mostly undeveloped land with some minor promotion for Davy Crockett as it was popular at the time but the ENTIRE land was not based on him like it would have been under Iger. The construction was mostly rushed to meet a deadline and famously the first day the majority of the park had major operating difficulty so the facts don't really support the idea that opening day Disneyland was "a random mishmash of IP"

 

[HMF]

The experience wasn't inherently bad. Simply that Disney marketed it poorly and publicized it as simply a multi-thousand dollar hotel when it was way more than just that.

Whether it was bad is subjective but no one in their right mind would pay that kind of money to do it even if it was the greatest experience in the world. It's Economics 101.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Opening day Disneyland was mostly a mishmash of IP "crap".

With some really quality non-Ip attractions like the steam train, riverboat, jungle cruise (which was loosely IP), the Horseshoe, Main Street USA (which even now is incredible and much more alive than the others… and that’s after lots of budget cuts just since the 50th).

There’s different kinds of IP use - and there is ideally a balance of IP and non-Ip.

 

[flynnibus]

So... you're just ignoring the actual data to declare yourself correct?

No, I'm using the data I provided the first time - I dunno why you jumped to some other site, and then provided a chart that lists Meet & Greets, even seasonal M&Gs along side omnimovers when the discussion already covered how raw wait times wasn't a good measure across different types of attractions.. as well as ignoring the conversation isn't just about the MK. In additional Len labeled it 'relatively low' for wait times.. not 'least popular rides in the park'. By len's own site, by ratings the ride is 12 out of 56 entries at DCA.

Listen, I'm not calling it the top attraction anywhere.. but when people dismiss this stuff as basically failures.. while they truck along every day doing their part in the park to the tune of thousands of repeat riders. Well, I don't agree with that at all.

 

[lentesta]

Thanks!

I'm guessing that when Mermaid does get to something like a 30 minute actual wait, it tends to be on days when many other rides in the park have significantly higher actual waits.

That would be a good assumption.

 

[UNCgolf]

No, I'm using the data I provided the first time - I dunno why you jumped to some other site, and then provided a chart that lists Meet & Greets, even seasonal M&Gs along side omnimovers when the discussion already covered how raw wait times wasn't a good measure across different types of attractions.. as well as ignoring the conversation isn't just about the MK. In additional Len labeled it 'relatively low' for wait times.. not 'least popular rides in the park'. By len's own site, by ratings the ride is 12 out of 56 entries at DCA.

Listen, I'm not calling it the top attraction anywhere.. but when people dismiss this stuff as basically failures.. while they truck along every day doing their part in the park to the tune of thousands of repeat riders. Well, I don't agree with that at all.

You need the context of other attractions for the data to hold weight (not meet and greets, but other rides). If a ride has a 50 minute wait, without context that would suggest it's pretty popular -- if nearly every other ride in the park has a 90 minute wait, though, then suddenly that 50 minute wait suggests something else entirely.

Len has confirmed it's among the least popular attractions at the Magic Kingdom and rarely has a wait longer than 15-20 minutes, and when it does most other rides in the park have even longer waits.

I wasn't arguing it was an outright failure -- just that it likely hasn't lived up to Disney's expectations considering the money they spent on it. I think it's an underperforming attraction at best, but I also don't think they have any plans to tear it out and replace it the way they would if it was a disaster along the lines of Superstar Limo.

 

[networkpro]

If you care about the parks that used to have actual themes continuing to have actual themes and not just being a random mishmash of crap, there's a reason not to use them.

Oh so you're not a Disney Starwars fan ?

 

[HMF]

I also don't think they have any plans to tear it out and replace it the way they would if it was a disaster along the lines of Superstar Limo.

That one was uniquely disastrous. probably the worst attraction ever at DLR. Judging by the reaction to this Zootopia show. It may set the record for worst attraction ever in WDW. (With the possible exception of JIYI.)

 

[Bocabear]

Rocket Rods has entered the chat.....lol

 

[WondersOfLife]

“I happen to think it is the height of arrogance to assert that other theoretical
"people" are not going to understand something that you yourself understand. Like you are better or something. That means your theoretical world of people is full of dumb people. Mine is full of smart, curious people.” - Joe Rohde

Zootopia Better Zoogether is neither smart nor the spark of curiosity.

 

[WondersOfLife]

"TV audiences don't want anything original. They wanna see the same thing they've seen a thousand times before."-Phillip J. Fry.

Thats a much simpler way of putting everything I said together. I like that one.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I feel like I need to clarify-- I dont have an issue with movie IP in the parks (even though I do think it is overused by what is supposed to be the king company of storytelling). I am not getting on that train.

My response was in response to the people defending attractions like Better Zoogether... And its the generic every day bloke doing that. I have lived my life as a childrens theatre director in the southern bible belt in the heart of 5 different states that prioritize sports and give a penny to arts programs. So yes. I firmly believe average people do not have an appreciation for art, quality, nor originality. Specifically in the United States. I'm not arrogant, I'm condescending. I'm sure yall can figure out the difference between the two.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Opening day Disneyland was mostly a mishmash of IP "crap".

It really wasn’t. Even then, a good chunk of the “IP” attractions that were built would not have been with today’s criteria. It’s not enough for an attraction to just be based on an IP, it more specifically has to be tied to a franchise. That means a property has to have the right box office and merchandising metrics to even be considered. Disneyland didn’t just open with rides based on its highest box officer performers. Alice in Wonderland got not only an opening day ride but also was one of the early additions. And then as time went on the focus very clearly began to be on content developed exclusively for the park.

 

[SamusAranX]

There was no reason they couldn’t have done a film and experience with the characters from Zootopia teaching or guiding the guests through the animal kingdom and educating about the Tree of Life. Still would have been odd having the IP but would have fit much better, similar to Mickey and Minnie being CM&M guides dressed in safari garb.

 

[lazyboy97o]

There was no reason they couldn’t have done a film and experience with the characters from Zootopia teaching or guiding the guests through the animal kingdom and educating about the Tree of Life. Still would have been odd having the IP but would have fit much better, similar to Mickey and Minnie being CM&M guides dressed in safari garb.

Despite what people tell themselves, the use of a franchise is to serve the franchise, not the themes of the park or land. That it would have been odd is exactly why it was not done, because the movie franchise is considered prime and take precedent.

 

[jah4955]

Whether it was bad is subjective but no one in their right mind would pay that kind of money to do it even if it was the greatest experience in the world. It's Economics 101.

I've been hoping that Disney "learned" from that cluster that they are wrong to just count on the ultra-wealthy to survive.

 

[MrPromey]

There was no reason they couldn’t have done a film and experience with the characters from Zootopia teaching or guiding the guests through the animal kingdom and educating about the Tree of Life. Still would have been odd having the IP but would have fit much better, similar to Mickey and Minnie being CM&M guides dressed in safari garb.

Sure there was. If they'd done that, they'd have been paying what I assume was Feature Animation to animate along with all the original voice actors to voice it and they'd only ever be able to use it in Animal Kingdom.

By having it have absolutely nothing to do with Animal Kingdom or the themes of nature at all, they can repurpose this in any castle park around the world. Haven't you noticed the trend with them doing this with nearly all of their new attractions?

Or you know, they could have if it didn't end up being crap.

I'm sure they already know which park will get the first clone of the Door Coaster and Encato ride.

It's hard not to imagine that the only reason we're getting improved Frozen animatronics is because Japan's already paid for the R&D on the new designs.

It's cheaper to turn Epoct, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom into extensions of the Magic Kingdom than to develop unique park-specific attractions for them that can't potentially be reused in every other location around the world and spread out the costs.