Indiana Jones Land?

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Ok could be a good movie. But if it's about a magical "galaxy stone" or "jungle stone" talisman that kills people, brings them back to life and saves the jungle and/or universe, I'm gonna puke.

I've been catching up on a lot of films with Disney+ and I've had it up to here with plots that need Magical McGuffins to provide danger and interest.
I just read on wikipedia the McGuffin is the Tree of Life that could have healing powers.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Ok could be a good movie. But if it's about a magical "galaxy stone" or "jungle stone" talisman that kills people, brings them back to life and saves the jungle and/or universe, I'm gonna puke.

I've been catching up on a lot of films with Disney+ and I've had it up to here with plots that need Magical McGuffins to provide danger and interest.

For your sake, I hope the Indiana Jones movies continue to be not available on Disney+!
 

Josh Hendy

Well-Known Member
For your sake, I hope the Indiana Jones movies continue to be not available on Disney+!
It's the cumulative effect ... really noticed after watching all the Indiana Jones movies, Moana, Jumanji (?), Tangled, Frozen (?), Princess and the Frog (?), Aladdin and Guardians of the Galaxy in fairly rapid succession. One McGuffin to Bind Them Aĺl (with apologies for the films I am misremembering.)

"That magical thing ... or we're all gonna die! Or live! Or something! Oops the bad guy has it! Ohhh how funny the comic sidekick got it!" Big explosion. Swirling ashes from the disintegrated bad guy. Dead good guy is reanimated. Roll credits.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
It's the cumulative effect ... really noticed after watching all the Indiana Jones movies, Moana, Jumanji (?), Tangled, Frozen (?), Princess and the Frog (?), Aladdin and Guardians of the Galaxy in fairly rapid succession. One McGuffin to Bind Them Aĺl (with apologies for the films I am misremembering.)

"That magical thing ... or we're all gonna die! Or live! Or something! Oops the bad guy has it! Ohhh how funny the comic sidekick got it!" Big explosion. Swirling ashes from the disintegrated bad guy. Dead good guy is reanimated. Roll credits.

That is the monomyth or Hero's Journey template though. Every single action film has used it because 99.99 % of films are based on that template that could be drugs, magic, person, land, technological object.

i.e. Hobbes and Shaw the virus is that very McGuffin as you state.
 

Josh Hendy

Well-Known Member
That is the monomyth or Hero's Journey template though. Every single action film has used it because 99.99 % of films are based on that template that could be drugs, magic, person, land, technological object.
No doubt that is the big picture of folklore type stories. My complaint is more specific though. I'm getting tired of football type scrambles complete with flea-flickers, laterals, Hail Mary's, fakes, fumbles, recoveries over objects such as magic fish hooks, pebbles, skulls, lamps, rings etc. The action gets repetitive. The way the directors and animators make things light up, explode, etc. has been pretty stale since maybe ... Raiders.

Don't look now but I'm planning to watch the Mummy (1999) series. May I expect more of the same? Lol
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
No doubt that is the big picture of folklore type stories. My complaint is more specific though. I'm getting tired of football type scrambles complete with flea-flickers, laterals, Hail Mary's, fakes, fumbles, recoveries over objects such as magic fish hooks, pebbles, skulls, lamps, rings etc. The action gets repetitive. The way the directors and animators make things light up, explode, etc. has been pretty stale since maybe ... Raiders.

Don't look now but I'm planning to watch the Mummy (1999) series. May I expect more of the same? Lol

It is easier to name what Action films don't have it in: none. Its in all the Mission Impossible films for example
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
No doubt that is the big picture of folklore type stories. My complaint is more specific though. I'm getting tired of football type scrambles complete with flea-flickers, laterals, Hail Mary's, fakes, fumbles, recoveries over objects such as magic fish hooks, pebbles, skulls, lamps, rings etc. The action gets repetitive. The way the directors and animators make things light up, explode, etc. has been pretty stale since maybe ... Raiders.

Don't look now but I'm planning to watch the Mummy (1999) series. May I expect more of the same? Lol

You may want to take a break from binge watching a lot of movies from the same genre.

Try watching some RomComs for diversity!!
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Is there even room for another ride in Adventureland? Where would it go?

I guess there may be a spot between Splash Mountain and Pirates, but they'd have to reroute the railroad again and I'm not sure how easy that would be since it runs under Splash.
I've long suggested that MK needs high capacity rides that doesn't necessarily cause a spike at the front gates. Something like Little Mermaid is what I'm talking about, a high capacity D ticket.

While something like Indiana Jones Adventure would help spread out crowds over in Adventureland, something like Sindbad's Storybook Voyage may be a better option. The counter argument to that would be a 3rd boat ride in a very tight area.
 

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
They were crazy to put the Tron roller coaster in that park. They could have demo’ed the Wonders pavilion and place it there.

everything they have done has been backwards with all of these it seems like. Like you said tron could have gone there, while guardians would be better at DHS. Its like they were desperate to quickly shoehorn it in. They always seem like they are in a hurried spur of the moment decision, instead of long term better planning and thinking for what could/should be a better fit for the particular park. Its a chapekworld afterall. And because of it everything is becoming hodge podge.
 

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
everything they have done has been backwards with all of these it seems like. Like you said tron could have gone there, while guardians would be better at DHS. Its like they were desperate to quickly shoehorn it in. They always seem like they are in a hurried spur of the moment decision, instead of long term better planning and thinking for what could/should be a better fit for the particular park. Its a chapekworld afterall. And because of it everything is becoming hodge podge.


It feels like they're always in a hurried spur, but I'm 99.9% sure they're not. The amount of planning that Disney does nowadays, along with elongating budgets over multiple FY to appease shareholders, along with 95,000,000 other Disney centric issues that they make for themselves as a corporation, makes 1 project turn into a 3-5 year endeavor.

We live in our little Disney nerd bubble in here where we hear a lot of the goings-on well before they're announced, which also makes things feel like they take forever to come to fruition.

I'm constantly in awe/amazement when on my bi-yearly visit to WDW I still hear many a conversation where people are talking about it being their first visit or have zero clue what is going on in the parks. It's great to know there are so many first timers still going, but it also brings me back into reality that our little micro-disney-verse we live in here on the boards is not, and never will be, the general consensus of the normal park-goer.
 

kpilcher

Well-Known Member
I've long suggested that MK needs high capacity rides that doesn't necessarily cause a spike at the front gates. Something like Little Mermaid is what I'm talking about, a high capacity D ticket.

While something like Indiana Jones Adventure would help spread out crowds over in Adventureland, something like Sindbad's Storybook Voyage may be a better option. The counter argument to that would be a 3rd boat ride in a very tight area.
I couldn’t agree more. MK needs 5 more quality-but-not headliner attractions. Solid Ds. Maybe a C or 2
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
I couldn’t agree more. MK needs 5 more quality-but-not headliner attractions. Solid Ds. Maybe a C or 2
I think in addition to that someone needs to relearn how to market those types of attractions. Remember when Little Mermaid was being pushed as an E-Ticket?

Media blitz is one thing, it's bound to happen for any new investment. But they've got to start getting real particular about whether the point of that investment is to bring in more people or if it's to help handle the people who are already there. These days I feel like they try to have it both ways - New Fantasyland can't be built to absorb existing guests AND get a nationwide marketing campaign to whip up a frenzy over 2 D-Tickets, a Restaurant and some Meet & Greets.

Stitch's Great Escape was similarly pushed like the biggest thing since sliced bread, and it was essentially a C-Ticket overlay on what was previously a D-Ticket experience.

In addition to this, I think they've got to get real serious about spreading the wealth within the other parks, too - 5 new D-Ticket Attractions each at Epcot, DHS, and Animal Kingdom would absolutely change gears for the guest experience of those parks and make it easier to justify time away from The Magic Kingdom.

It amazes me that anyone internally can wonder why Magic Kingdom continues to outperform the other three parks when it has basically as many attractions as the other 3 put together. DHS is like a meal where you get one of the best burgers you've ever had but only 3 french fries to go with it. What will you walk away saying? "That burger was AMAZING . . . but I can't get over how they shorted me on FRIES." The outsize performance of one element doesn't make a complete meal - and the Castle park up the road proves that people are more satisfied by a merely-very-good burger that comes with proper sides, a toppings bar, and choice of refreshing drink.

I get that E-Tickets are a shinier and more attractive proposition to build from a marketing standpoint, but they only do so much to solve what actually ills the parks, which can usually be summed up as "not enough to do". Meanwhile the one park that has always had plenty to do has literally never suffered the failings of the other three . . . in fact, its issue is that they need to add more things just to handle the amount of people who are already THERE. Can you imagine an Animal Kingdom with such problems?

2 D-Tickets would do more to "fix" any park in WDW than 1 E-Ticket for the same price . . . provided they don't hype them up as E-Tickets. But I seriously think the best way to handle attendance at the Magic Kingdom is to flesh out the other parks.
 
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kpilcher

Well-Known Member
I think in addition to that someone needs to relearn how to market those types of attractions. Remember when Little Mermaid was being pushed as an E-Ticket
2 D-Tickets would do more to "fix" any park in WDW than 1 E-Ticket for the same price . . . provided they don't hype them up as E-Tickets. But I seriously think the best way to handle attendance at the Magic Kingdom is to flesh out the other parks.
I fully agree with your sentiments. All of the parks need additions, not just replacements, but only the Magic Kingdom is so glutted with people all of the time. To quite a lot of people that is “Going to Disney World” and nothing Disney can do will outdraw that park. So they might as well give it close to the number of attractions as Disneyland. No one is coming across the country to ride Alice or Storybookland but they are charming and eat crowds. Yes I believe FP and FP+ have made things worse. it should/will be modified but since it won’t go away let’s replace the Keel Boats and Skyway and Stitch and Galaxy Palace Theater. Even Diamond Horsehsoe if need be. I’d hate to lose the venue but It’s not an attraction anymore it’s a bad ”restaurant.”
Even tiny diversions like a Penny Arcade, Magic Shop and Firehouse exhibit could help.
Quick edit: those are examples from the past. I’m not advocating turning back the clock to 1971-74.
 
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yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
I fully agree with your sentiments. All of the parks need additions, not just replacements, but only the Magic Kingdom is so glutted with people all of the time. To quite a lot of people that is “Going to Disney World” and nothing Disney can do will outdraw that park. So they might as well give it close to the number of attractions as Disneyland. No one is coming across the country to ride Alice or Storybookland but they are charming and eat crowds. Yes I believe FP and FP+ have made things worse. it should/will be modified but since it won’t go away let’s replace the Keel Boats and Skyway and Stitch and Galaxy Palace Theater. Even Diamond Horsehsoe if need be. I’d hate to lose the venue but It’s not an attraction anymore it’s a bad ”restaurant.”
Even tiny diversions like a Penny Arcade, Magic Shop and Firehouse exhibit could help.
Quick edit: those are examples from the past. I’m not advocating turning back the clock to 1971-74.
I don't mind the idea of Magic Kingdom receiving new attractions, but I think the prescription of building out MK to match its demand doesn't bear out logically. If you walk that to the extreme, you'll end up with 100 attractions at Magic Kingdom while Epcot, Studios, and Animal Kingdom limp along in the 20's. That method ends up reinforcing the park's popularity because then it will always be the park that has more attractions on TOP of being the one you were already thinking about going to. Imagine, if Epcot had twice as many attractions as MK, and they were quality, don't you think the cultural perception might change about what the quintessential Walt Disney World experience is?

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel the need to demote MK from being the prototypical Disney Theme Park experience. But given that it has that status on the backs of its classics, the only way to achieve real balance is to make the other parks "outwork" it for guest's time. It feels like Disney has always managed their Second Gates (Or third and fourth, as it were) as second class; that none of them have ever offered anywhere near as much as their First at a given resort, and then they wonder why the First Gate stays so far ahead of the Second.

EPCOT Center was the exception to this back in its first decade in that it was more comparable to MK the number of offerings, and, would you believe it, it pulled numbers no other additional gate has ever pulled since. But until we see a Second Gate (or Third, or Fourth) that offers more than the First Gate - and we've never seen that, worldwide - I'm not willing to believe that an additional gate could never reasonably compete with a Magic Kingdom. They've never tried.

The closest these days is Tokyo Disney Sea, and that's still not in quantity of offerings, just in quality.

Where are the charming, crowd-eating diversions like Alice or Storybookland at Hollywood Studios? Or even, for that matter, at Shanghai Disneyland? Shanghai has Crystal Grotto, a relative of Storybook Land, but in the context of their Fantasyland it's no longer a diversion because it's one of only a handful of attractions. You could skip half the rides in Disneyland's Fantasyland and still be satisfied with how much you did there. Not so in Shanghai. Disney doesn't design the parks this way anymore. But that means that parks designed in the "olden days" like Disneyland, MK, TDL, and Disneyland Paris, which haven't been gutted like Epcot and DHS, have an unfair lead in the race.

If you've got a Billion Dollar Asset and a Million Dollar Asset, and you invest $1,000 in each of them every month, you can't be surprised that the Million Dollar Asset never catches up to the Billion Dollar one. You've got to work harder on the one (while still working on both of them) to get them to grow the way you want.

I'd LOVE to see Magic Kingdom with a number of attractions that rival that of Disneyland - but to have healthy balance in the resort, Epcot, DHS, and AK would have to at least come close to the same amount of offerings. Which I would ALSO love to see!!
 

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