DHS Monster Inc Land Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

[HMF]

I don’t know why we’re pretending that original EPCOT (and original Disneyland for that matter) were not full of advertising attractions. Companies weren’t sponsoring attractions out of the good of their heart. UoE didn’t teach anything other than outdated log lines from Big Oil companies that they knew even then wasn’t true.

Who's pretending, why do you think Test Track is not Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, right now? On a more serious note, though, The fact that the Ellen version lasted as long as it did was ridiculous and I would reckon the Ellen version was more outdated when it closed in 2017 than the original was when it ended in 1996. The response should have been to update it again to bring it in line with current science not turn it into a comic book commercial/Roller Coaster.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Not every park has to appeal to every person at all times. Never mind the fact that the people who whined about EPCOT being "Boring" are a symptom of the larger problem of anti-intellectualism that is now arguably reaching its logical conclusion with catastrophic results.

Then why is it that some on here insist on throwing a fit whenever Disney builds an attraction they don’t like or closes an attraction they do like?

You can’t say a park shouldn’t have to appeal to all people at all times and then get upset when something doesn’t appeal to you.

It’s telling that the people quoting the message you’re responding to don’t want to engage on the subject of the behavior some people here like to get into whenever they come across someone who is pleased with something or finds that what Disney has done appeals to them.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Who's pretending, why do you think Test Track is not Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, right now?

Lots of people are pretending, actually. Every single time EPCOT comes up, people love to gloss over how the core business approach of the park hasn’t really changed in any way other than instead of advertising for other companies, Disney advertises for themselves.

We can go on and on all day about Edutainment and Imagineering intent in the park. That is an actual meaningful conversation. But to decry an attraction for being advertising is to decry EPCOT as a whole. It was from day one half shopping mall half corporate advertising space.

 

[HMF]

Then why is it that some on here insist on throwing a fit whenever Disney builds an attraction they don’t like or closes an attraction they do like?

You can’t say a park shouldn’t have to appeal to all people at all times and then get upset when something doesn’t appeal to you.

What I mean by that is that not everyone was going to "Get" EPCOT. However, those of us who did enjoy it and miss what it was have been collectively ignored by Disney as they destroy what many of us loved about EPCOT and turn it into the joke it is now. They are now literally turning every park into a Magic Kingdom knockoff at this point and are now virtually indistinguishable from Universal quality parks which is better than say a Six Flags level but still nowhere near the pedestal Disney used to occupy, they are literally lowering the quality of what made them great to "compete" with the inferior competition.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well no because WDI has wanted to do it for years, it was just never greenlit by the big bosses. It’s been confirmed multiple times by folks here that this almost happened back in 2008. Not even just almost, was on the very cusp of being announced and built. WDI’s always believed in the idea, upper management’s just never been willing to pay for it.

Walt Disney Imagineering is not a hive mind. Being on the cusp of being announced and built means it finished Concept Design, not unlike plenty of other projects that also didn’t proceed. It didn’t get to some unusually far point in the design process to die.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Walt Disney Imagineering is not a hive mind. Being on the cusp of being announced and built means it finished Concept Design, not unlike plenty of other projects that also didn’t proceed. It didn’t get to some unusually far point in the design process to die.

Unless I’m misunderstanding what folks mean, and I am absolutely open to being corrected on this, it was further along than that, but upper management changed course. No WDI isn’t a hive mind, but it got, to quote one of the people who talked about it, further than many want to admit.

All that to say, no, it has not been thought of as a bad idea by the creatives. It’s likely not been thought of as a bad idea by the suits either. They just didn’t wanna slap the cash down for it until this go around.

 

[UNCgolf]

They could have easily built over a dozen big coasters.

I knew 5 was likely underestimating but not by quite that much.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Unless I’m misunderstanding what folks mean, and I am absolutely open to being corrected on this, it was further along than that, but upper management changed course. No WDI isn’t a hive mind, but it got, to quote one of the people who talked about it, further than many want to admit.

All that to say, no, it has not been thought of as a bad idea by the creatives. It’s likely not been thought of as a bad idea by the suits either. They just didn’t wanna slap the cash down for it until this go around.

People talk about all sorts of proposed ideas but they don’t talk about the specifics of the phases of design. Random pitches during a meeting are often discussed the same as something that went through the about year of work that goes into taking something from Blue Sky pitch to completed Concept Design. Disney makes the decision to greenlight a project after Concept Design. They are also often announced shortly after. Going further into the design process would mean a project was green-lit and then lost the confidence to maintain official approval to build. That’s worse. That’s also not actually something that happens with regularity outside of a global pandemic.

The project didn’t die because of a lack of a desire to spend money. It lost to the third Toy Story Mania track which also took the space for which it was proposed.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Well no because WDI has wanted to do it for years, it was just never greenlit by the big bosses. It’s been confirmed multiple times by folks here that this almost happened back in 2008. Not even just almost, was on the very cusp of being announced and built. WDI’s always believed in the idea, upper management’s just never been willing to pay for it.

Yes, it wasn’t greenlit because management felt, correctly, that it was a bad fit for the park.

And you’re making a lot of assumptions about WDI “wanting” to do it. All we know is that it came close to a greenlight. We have no idea why it came close, and I suspect the answer to that is too complex to be fully knowable without a lot of research in corporate documents we can’t access.

 

[BrianLo]

The project didn’t die because of a lack of a desire to spend money. It lost to the third Toy Story Mania track which also took the space for which it was proposed.

I went back to remind myself of what happened in DCA. Al's take was that "NextGen's" underperformance of financial metrics caused a spending freeze that axed it there. I also forgot it was supposed to take out Muppet Vision, history sure rhymes.

WDI had shopped the Monsters Inc. “Door Coaster” to Team Disney Orlando over five years ago, but got a cool reception from that executive team who is notoriously unenthusiastic about building new rides. But turning the rather homely and bland corner of DCA’s HollywoodLand area into a Monstropolis mini-land is now the goal of many TDA and WDI executives.

https://www.micechat.com/49401-my-magic-plus-failure/

Though it doesn't really seem to me like either decision was specifically because the proposed attraction was bad, there was some significant financial underplay both times. If Al was still accurate at least.

Do you know/remember if there was a real third kick at the can for the DHS redo funding? I remember some bugaboo on them trying to revive it for a Pixar land with the Ratatouille clone. I think from Spirit threads.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Sure, there are always people who dislike something but that is precisely why it’s important for parks to have the foresight curate a variety of experiences. A park with strong capacity and a strong attraction mix increases your ability to delivery a satisfying experience to a variety of tastes. That means at times ignoring what people say they want and why they came. Roller coasters are like the amusement park equivalent of a black hole in the unique way they suck up and focus attention. A roller coaster is most always the “best” investment any amusement part can make at a moment because of the outsized attention they receive. People will say they came for the roller coaster(s) and they’ highlight them more often as a part of their day. Despite all this, people stop showing up and lose their willingness to pay when parks shift their focus to coasters. Of course Disney sees demand for a coaster at Epcot an another at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, because there’s almost always stated demand for another roller coaster at any amusement park.

It’s been said many times, but an emphasis on coasters and other restrictive thrill rides quickly and dramatically limits the audience for a park. If a family of guests have a couple rides that they can’t all ride together, fine. You’re getting your money’s worth elsewhere. But if Grandpa and Grandma and Little Fauntleroy and Nauseous Uncle Randy have to spend half the day sitting on a bench waiting, suddenly a visit to the park looks a lot less enjoyable for the whole family. This has always been Universal’s problem and they’re idiots for not moving to correct it when they began to compete with Disney head on. It was never Disney’s problem… until about a decade or so ago, when a confluence of forces, particularly the rise of paid ride reservations, caused their philosophy to shift. So we get the brilliant idea of thrill coasters themed to family properties like Muppets and Monsters.

 

[Gusey]

What I do appreciate with 4/5 of Disney's last coasters is that they all tried to so something Disney hadn't done before: 7 Dwarfs (dark ride scene & "swinging" carts), Tron (bike style seating), Slinky (od one out as just another coaster but themed to Toy Story), Cosmic Rewind (OmniCoaster) and Monsters (Disney's First suspended coaster with lift load). Whilst an ideal world would add 1 new family ride for every new coaster, I can appreciate their coasters aren't normally what they've done before

 

[Casper Gutman]

What I do appreciate with 4/5 of Disney's last coasters is that they all tried to so something Disney hadn't done before: 7 Dwarfs (dark ride scene & "swinging" carts), Tron (bike style seating), Slinky (od one out as just another coaster but themed to Toy Story), Cosmic Rewind (OmniCoaster) and Monsters (Disney's First suspended coaster with lift load). Whilst an ideal world would add 1 new family ride for every new coaster, I can appreciate their coasters aren't normally what they've done before

You can say the exact same thing about your local Six Flags.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Who's pretending, why do you think Test Track is not Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, right now? On a more serious note, though, The fact that the Ellen version lasted as long as it did was ridiculous and I would reckon the Ellen version was more outdated when it closed in 2017 than the original was when it ended in 1996. The response should have been to update it again to bring it in line with current science not turn it into a comic book commercial/Roller Coaster.

Knowing now that they didn't follow through with Play pavilion and Wonders is still sitting empty makes the decision to scrap Energy entirely even worse in hindsight.

 

[Skibum1970]

Since they take about 5 years to build a land with breaks in between its more like 30 years.

I will be looking down (or up) from the afterlife by then...

Or not able to remember what I just rode.

 

[HMF]

Knowing now that they didn't follow through with Play pavilion and Wonders is still sitting empty makes the decision to scrap Energy entirely even worse in hindsight.

I will give them very minor credit for keeping the existing building rather than going the Horizons route but again very minor.

 

[HMF]

But if Grandpa and Grandma and Little Fauntleroy and Nauseous Uncle Randy have to spend half the day sitting on a bench waiting,

Where have I heard this before?

 

[bmr1591]

Who's pretending, why do you think Test Track is not Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, right now? On a more serious note, though, The fact that the Ellen version lasted as long as it did was ridiculous and I would reckon the Ellen version was more outdated when it closed in 2017 than the original was when it ended in 1996. The response should have been to update it again to bring it in line with current science not turn it into a comic book commercial/Roller Coaster.

Guardians is one of the most popular rides at the resort. Very few people would argue that it’s worse than an updated version of UoE. Most would highly prefer it.

 

[Skibum1970]

Knowing now that they didn't follow through with Play pavilion and Wonders is still sitting empty makes the decision to scrap Energy entirely even worse in hindsight.

Might be the wrong forum but not adding Play was probably the right call. Instead of locking the dome into a playground setting, it could be used in the future to hold an actual ride. Not that it will be but one can hope.

 

[HMF]

Guardians is one of the most popular rides at the resort. Very few people would argue that it’s worse than an updated version of UoE. Most would highly prefer it.

I don't trust the taste of a good chunk of the public especially considering the state of education in this country right now. The decline of WDW and EPCOT in particular is a reflection of the decline and anti-intellectualism that have severely handicapped our society.