DHS Monster Inc Land Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

[JD80]

Past 5 years

In the last 5 years WDW has...

Replaced Country Bears with Country Bears.
Replaced Splash Mountain with Tiana (15 years old)
Replaced Universe of Energy (40ish years old?) with Guardians IP (10 years old)

They have announced...

Replacing Muppets (48ish years old) with Monsters (24 years old)
Replacing Aerosmith (52 years old) with Muppets (48ish years old)
Replacing Dinosaur/DLUSA (25ish years old) with Encanto (4 years old) and Indiana Jones (44 years old)

I guess you can add the Tree of Life show which with Encanto has that and Zootopia with the newest IPs? They've re-invested in the Little Mermaid show at DHS as well as replacing Cars with Villains which is a wash and goes against using the word "trend".

None of the replacements are "current popular IPs" or we'd be seeing more Moana, Frozen, Zombies/Decendents, Inside Out etc.

 

[EagleScout610]

Replacing Muppets (48ish years old) with Monsters (24 years old)

 

[HauntedPirate]

I would say TSL has at least attempted to break out of the 2 attraction land model. It has 3 attractions (yes 1 was already there but they were able to change the entrance to the other side of the building and it already being there probably helped allow the budget to include that parks only flat ride Alien Swirling Saucers). Since it opened in 2018, they added a store at the end of TSMM in 2022, and Roundup Rodeo BBQ in 2023. That's 3 attractions, a QS, a TS, and a shop. It's also recommend by many travel sites to visit TSL at night because of the lighting package they added with the fairy lights. I think it was a really good addition to the park, and there's more to do in TSL than SGE, despite it being the smaller land

 

[JD80]

If Stitch is a $1B movie this summer, I'd suspect you'll see a Stitch and Inside Out attraction in 10ish years after Villains is done.

Say Imagination Pavilion where you have Inside Out and Figment. Stitch in Tomorrowland again or in the defunct "Play Pavilion".

 

[aladdin2007]

This is why Disney's recent trend of removing classic attractions and replacing them with the current most popular thing worries me. The more they continue to focus on this trend the more I feel the parks will lose their identity and appeal.

we are already there sadly, all of them now are becoming a hodge podge of throwing whatever wherever and making up whatever to justify it.

 

[UNCgolf]

You’re one of the best posters on this board and I genuinely respect your fondness for Pandora but I can’t share it. Without going into the rides themselves, I feel it suffers from two of the cardinal sins of modern Disney lands: a lack of things to do and a poor layout. It’s a land with one quick-service, a food stand, and a ride-exit gift shop and very little more. It also feels like what it is - a very decorated warehouse and courtyard. There are no twists and turns, no variety in views and perspectives. It’s vastly superior to TSL but that superiority is one of degree, not kind - at a fundamental level, both fail in very similar ways.

This is partially why I caveated it with "in terms of what was actually built" -- I just think everything that exists there is relatively high quality, especially compared to so much else that's been built at WDW in the past couple of decades (New Fantasyland, Toy Story Land, the France addition). I definitely wasn't arguing that the overall layout and what it contains is ideal.

It's not a perfect land, and I absolutely agree that it should offer more than it does. It's just that what actually exists there doesn't really suffer from any major flaws the way other recent WDW lands/expansions do. There's not the variation between good and poor in terms of attractions, theming, etc. that's happened elsewhere.

Galaxy's Edge is the closest (and Galaxy's Edge is better than Pandora in certain aspects), but Smuggler's Run is a misfire, two of the non-attraction experiences require a significant upcharge, etc.

 

[James Alucobond]

This is partially why I caveated it with "in terms of what was actually built" -- I just think everything that exists there is relatively high quality, especially compared to so much else that's been built at WDW in the past couple of decades (New Fantasyland, Toy Story Land, the France addition). I definitely wasn't arguing that the overall layout and what it contains is ideal.

I certainly don't think it's a perfect land, and I absolutely agree that it should offer more than it does. It's just that what actually exists there doesn't really suffer from any major flaws the way almost every other recent WDW land/expansion does. There's not the variation between good and poor in terms of attractions, theming, etc. that's happened elsewhere.

Galaxy's Edge is the closest (and Galaxy's Edge is better than Pandora in certain aspects), but Smuggler's Run is such a misfire.

I think Pandora, while small, at least feels like it was built in such a way that it could be meaningfully expanded quite easily to address the concerns raised. Contrast that with Galaxy’s Edge (wherein there’s too much sprawl that’s unfixable without significant intervention) and Toy Story Land (which has equally claustrophobic walkable area but is essentially unexpandable as built).

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Stitch in Tomorrowland again or in the defunct "Play Pavilion".

Stitch in Epcot would be really stupid.

 

[Moth]

Stitch in Epcot would be really stupid.

I don't see Stitch any more stupid than Guardians. The bar is in hell.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I don't see Stitch any more stupid than Guardians. The bar is in hell.

It's all stupid at this point, but if I'm going to have Walt in my name and avatar, I have to stand up for some principles.

 

[Moth]

It's all stupid at this point, but if I'm going to have Walt in my name and avatar, I have to stand up for some principles.

I think it's easier to make the jump in logic using a classic Disney character to convey a concept (space travel? maybe stitch teaches people how to be active through dance in a rebuilt WOL? they wouldn't go this route but Stitch can be easier to use for edutainment purposes without straying too far from what makes Stitch Stitch) than having Guardians of the Galaxy must stop Big Robot from Destroying the Universe inside of EPCOT.

If this was WALL-E in EPCOT, I'd just let it happen because I strongly feel he belongs in EPCOT. Stitch is 50/50, and I wish Guardians, or any Marvel, never touched EPCOT barring "Tony Stark's Innoventions".

 

[WorldExplorer]

This is only vaguely on topic, but this thread is for the land replacing it so I'm putting it here...so this place was supposed to be California this whole time? Not New York?

They had the New Yorker character running a pizza place with trash cans saying "youse guys" and "forgettaboutit" and right next to an Italian restaurant...in California?

It has a Statue of Liberty in the middle...

Edit: It has a shop named after a movie that takes place in New York.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think Pandora, while small, at least feels like it was built in such a way that it could be meaningfully expanded quite easily to address the concerns raised. Contrast that with Galaxy’s Edge (wherein there’s too much sprawl that’s unfixable without significant intervention) and Toy Story Land (which has equally claustrophobic walkable area but is essentially unexpandable as built).

I think Toy Story Land is also 25-30% larger than Pandora in terms of overall footprint (including show buildings).

 

[MisterPenguin]

This is only vaguely on topic, but this thread is for the land replacing it so I'm putting it here...so this place was supposed to be California this whole time? Not New York?

They had the New Yorker character running a pizza place with trash cans saying "youse guys" and "forgettaboutit" and right next to an Italian restaurant...in California?

It has a Statue of Liberty in the middle...

Edit: It has a shop named after a movie that takes place in New York.

The statue is of Miss Piggy.

The newspaper articles posted in the pizzeria talk about bringing NY pizza to LA.

There are indeed Italian Restaurants in LA.

Las Vegas also has a New York themed casino, and it's not actually in NYC.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

This is only vaguely on topic, but this thread is for the land replacing it so I'm putting it here...so this place was supposed to be California this whole time? Not New York?

They had the New Yorker character running a pizza place with trash cans saying "youse guys" and "forgettaboutit" and right next to an Italian restaurant...in California?

It has a Statue of Liberty in the middle...

Edit: It has a shop named after a movie that takes place in New York.

At least Mama Melrose def was - supposed to be someone from the East Coast moved out and opened an Italian restaurant for the stars of Hollywood (thus all the actor photos hung up). was supposed to be Italian with California influences

 

[MisterPenguin]

I think Toy Story Land is also 25-30% larger than Pandora in terms of overall footprint (including show buildings).

That is true. Midway takes up a lot of horizontal acreage. While FoP is three stories (or more) and thus is more built up than out.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That is true. Midway takes up a lot of horizontal acreage. While FoP is three stories (or more) and thus is more built up than out.

google mapping it quick, looks like TSL is about 500k sq ft (about 11 acres)

Pandora is about 400k sq ft (about 9 acres) - though could extend it a little more with some of the pathways into the land

 

[Agent H]

This is only vaguely on topic, but this thread is for the land replacing it so I'm putting it here...so this place was supposed to be California this whole time? Not New York?

They had the New Yorker character running a pizza place with trash cans saying "youse guys" and "forgettaboutit" and right next to an Italian restaurant...in California?

It has a Statue of Liberty in the middle...

Edit: It has a shop named after a movie that takes place in New York.

A. All of the above. Edit. Never mind. @MisterPenguin is correct.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Nothing is sacred in my eyes. I have my own personal favorites that would get me riled up but ultimately could say good bye to anything.

If I were in charge of the Parks and I had bonuses tied to operations and P&L the only way I keep things going 30+ years is if I make money off of merch/LL and the IP and the attractions maintains a high percentage of its theoretical capacity consistently over time and the cost of maintaining it is reasonable.

And nothing SHOULD be sacred. Disney, and any theme park really, is not in the museum business.

Yes, there’s many classic attractions I think they should throw piles of money at to keep around for as long as humanly possible, but eventually it will all have to meet their ends.

Attractions eventually reach the end of their lifespan be it in popularity or physical capability. It’s just the way things are in the amusement industry; there’s no such thing as permanence. Every single one of these attracrions will one day meet their end. It sucks and it’s painful, but that’s part of being a theme park fan.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will write as I like... great comeback.

…grammar is always the “I got nothing…” tool of last resort