Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
That’s not really why they chose Rat. It was the better option and BatB had some scheduling issues (that, at the end of the day, would not have actually impacted this project).

As for TRON, the east side of the park needs an addition more than the west. Saving money is just convenient here. They could have saved money by giving us Mission Breakout and instead went with a novel $450 million coaster. I grant you, the only reason it got that budget is because Guardians are en vogue.
I don’t know why you’re so intent on running cover here…a clone is a clone.

and since they came from Paris and Shanghai…”technically” TWDC didn’t pay all the development costs (Paris at the time was a black hole on the French stock exchange)

now…it was convenient and they didn’t have to use those…they aren’t 101% IP heavy…so that’s something?

but as far as Epcot goes…you might want to consider that they may have wanted a more “meh” trackless in the showcase? In a few years…they want people mobbing a ride or do they want them at POS points in perma-booths?

maybe “middling” would be by design. Just enough…not too much.

and just to Clarify: tower of terror is in MGM….so it would have been hard to truck it to universe of energy.

maybe they could borrow the space shuttle crawlers? They’re available…
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I don’t know why you’re so intent on running cover here…a clone is a clone.

and since they came from Paris and Shanghai…”technically” TWDC didn’t pay all the development costs (Paris at the time was a black hole on the French stock exchange)

now…it was convenient and they didn’t have to use those…they aren’t 101% IP heavy…so that’s something?

but as far as Epcot goes…you might want to consider that they may have wanted a more “meh” trackless in the showcase? In a few years…they want people mobbing a ride or do they want them at POS points in perma-booths?

maybe “middling” would be by design. Just enough…not too much.

and just to Clarify: tower of terror is in MGM….so it would have been hard to truck it to universe of energy.

maybe they could borrow the space shuttle crawlers? They’re available…
Epcot would not have gotten a Guardians ride…

And it seems to me that Rat is better than BatB, so there’s that. Tokyo can keep it.

I’m actively trying to not be overly negative and view a project through the lens if “will my family and I enjoy this?” I’d rather wait to see if something is truly terrible, like the interior design of the creperie…
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Epcot would not have gotten a Guardians ride…

And it seems to me that Rat is better than BatB, so there’s that. Tokyo can keep it.
Epcot is a rotting mess and they were intent on shoehorning “something” marvel…somewhere…is the easy take (which is most often correct)

not like they did it in that park prior under similar conditions…right?
 

pdude81

Well-Known Member
I can’t imagine MK without HM. I’m sure the 10 people in MK who have already ridden TRON will be happy to ride again ;)

The vast majority of Walt Disney World guests will never even visit Disneyland, let alone international parks. I have no beef at all about clones.

I don't actually have beef with them copying rides. My take was just in the context of MansionButler84's comment earlier that they are giving us new stuff that isn't directly marketable. This is surely an improvement over the nothing they've been giving us in MK and Epcot for years, but I'm hesitant to give extra credit.

Certainly few will have ever ridden Tron before, but to spend all that money digging up the area and shutting down the train while pinching pennies on the Speedway overhaul is insane. It could have totally transformed the area. Then with Epcot I think the new section of France looks well done and a great addition. On it's own a nice project and it fits fine, but they announced 5 new attractions, (Rat, Play, Guardians, JoW, Poppins) and at this point we just have one of them, and that's a clone that they mothballed for 6 months. I'm thankful that we still get Cosmic Rewind as a new exciting attraction for sure, but JoW seems like an even trade for a lot of money and the other two new attractions are doing nothing. I can't give too much flak on Play as the pandemic kind of shut that down.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I don't actually have beef with them copying rides. My take was just in the context of MansionButler84's comment earlier that they are giving us new stuff that isn't directly marketable. This is surely an improvement over the nothing they've been giving us in MK and Epcot for years, but I'm hesitant to give extra credit.

Certainly few will have ever ridden Tron before, but to spend all that money digging up the area and shutting down the train while pinching pennies on the Speedway overhaul is insane. It could have totally transformed the area. Then with Epcot I think the new section of France looks well done and a great addition. On it's own a nice project and it fits fine, but they announced 5 new attractions, (Rat, Play, Guardians, JoW, Poppins) and at this point we just have one of them, and that's a clone that they mothballed for 6 months. I'm thankful that we still get Cosmic Rewind as a new exciting attraction for sure, but JoW seems like an even trade for a lot of money and the other two new attractions are doing nothing. I can't give too much flak on Play as the pandemic kind of shut that down.
I’m with you…I don’t have a “clone problem”…if it’s worth cloning. But it can’t be just that. It also cannot build long term draw to a theme park if it’s 5-10-12-15+ years between significant reinvestment.

and that’s the thing.

when’s the last addition to DAK?

is it 5 years in may? Anything under construction?

boom…you just got 9 years of gap.(minimum)

…six flags and Bobs amusement pier doesn’t do that…And they have smaller substantially market caps and lines of credit
 
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ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I don't actually have beef with them copying rides. My take was just in the context of MansionButler84's comment earlier that they are giving us new stuff that isn't directly marketable. This is surely an improvement over the nothing they've been giving us in MK and Epcot for years, but I'm hesitant to give extra credit.

Certainly few will have ever ridden Tron before, but to spend all that money digging up the area and shutting down the train while pinching pennies on the Speedway overhaul is insane. It could have totally transformed the area. Then with Epcot I think the new section of France looks well done and a great addition. On it's own a nice project and it fits fine, but they announced 5 new attractions, (Rat, Play, Guardians, JoW, Poppins) and at this point we just have one of them, and that's a clone that they mothballed for 6 months. I'm thankful that we still get Cosmic Rewind as a new exciting attraction for sure, but JoW seems like an even trade for a lot of money and the other two new attractions are doing nothing. I can't give too much flak on Play as the pandemic kind of shut that down.
Given that this company sometimes builds Rocket Rods or Journey Into Your Imagination, I can’t fault them for cloning the successes.
 

Hawg G

Well-Known Member
I don’t know…they are opening a new ride in 3 weeks that is not based upon a particularly-relevant IP. And I think they just made a perfectly-acceptable update to Jungle Cruise that respects the original concept.

And TRON isn’t terribly relevant, even if they are making a 3rd movie.

And Tron is really just Tron Lightcycles. There isn’t a single bit of theming from the movies beyond the lightcycles. And the ride begins by flying outside in the sun. Huh?
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
And Tron is really just Tron Lightcycles. There isn’t a single bit of theming from the movies beyond the lightcycles. And the ride begins by flying outside in the sun. Huh?
Tron is an admission Disney will never make publicly:

parks just need rides. Period. It will never change.

they try to avoid it…explain it away…and have had success getting around it somewhat cleverly like RNRC, dopey train and slinky…

…but they don’t control the world to make things that are so “not so”.

tron is a straight up draw ride in a park where they haven’t built one in 10 years…20 if you want to point to a really good one.
 

Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member
The vast majority of Walt Disney World guests will never even visit Disneyland, let alone international parks. I have no beef at all about clones.

Exactly. If a ride is good, why not let people ride it here instead of having to travel internationally for a chance to ride it? Most of their recent additions haven't been clones (Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash, Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler's Run, MMRR) so it's not like the only bring in cloned rides from other parks. People see certain attractions at Disney Parks in other countries and say, "Oh, I wish they had that at WDW," but then people complain when those attractions actually get brought over here.
 

Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member
I’m with you…I don’t have a “clone problem”…if it’s worth cloning. But it can’t be just that. It also cannot build long term draw to a theme park if it’s 5-10-12-15+ years between significant reinvestment.

and that’s the thing.

when’s the last addition to DAK?

is it 5 years in may? Anything under construction?

boom…you just got 9 years of gap.(minimum)

…six flags and Bobs amusement pier doesn’t do that…And they have smaller substantially market caps and lines of credit


To be fair, Six Flags needs to add a new ride every 1-2 years because they don't have much else going on for them to maintain attendance. Theming isn't their strong suit, but thrill rides are. The thing about thrill rides, however, is that eventually the thrill wears off and their customers are looking for another new fix to get their adrenaline pumping.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
There is no way to run a park that is only headliners.

I know where you are coming from here, and I know that historically that was the convention, but again I just don't see that being the reality anymore.

We all know that the MK is not at 100% capacity, every hour of every day. We know there are attractions that aren't pulling their weight, that sit unused and mostly empty. We keep hearing that MK needs more attractions and more capacity, but let's be honest: people aren't asking for more walk-thrus and peak-ins. They aren't asking for more sit-down theater experiences or museum exhibits.

You could even argue now, that since they have removed so much of the park like atmosphere, and the audience keeps coming, that the audience has rejected any notion of having downtime in the parks.


Parks need variety especially when you want to appeal to a wide audience.

You can still have a variety of attractions that are headliners... Flight of Passage and Frozen Ever After are good examples of that.



Disney leans on their IP because one guy didn’t understand the appeal of Expedition Everest and why it was such a big success. Such a success that it remains a better return on investment than anything he approved for Walt Disney World.

Expedition Everest is a bad example, because it is first and foremost a thrill ride. You could take that coaster and dress it up as anything and it would still be considered a good ride. Outer Space? An Abandoned Mine? Aerosmith? Dinosaurs? Ugly Shark Things? The theme of the ride isn't really integral to the success of the experience when it leans so much on thrills.



Disney isn’t building things that competitors can’t build. The next new ride is Ratatouille...

No other company has the rights to Ratatouille. Only Disney can build it. That is the point. If you liked Ratatouille and want to experience it again, you have to go to a Disney Park. Every other theme park company could build a dark ride, or a roller coaster or even a hang gliding simulator... but they can't use Disney IP.
 

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
Oh once the Holidays get into gear the Mobs will be in full swing!!! And Genie will be there to Magically take away more of your money. I would not be surprised if we dont get Revenge travel 2.0 during the Holidays.
I don't necessarily believe this to be true....Look at the Christmas event or whatever they are calling it....Not one date sold out yet......the Halloween event had multiple dates sold out by this point......


I think people are pushing back on the price gauging
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
To be fair, Six Flags needs to add a new ride every 1-2 years because they don't have much else going on for them to maintain attendance. Theming isn't their strong suit, but thrill rides are. The thing about thrill rides, however, is that eventually the thrill wears off and their customers are looking for another new fix to get their adrenaline pumping.
Your comment brings to mind this Dave Barry commentary on theme parks in Orlando...

Also, an excerpt from his hilarious Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need* discusses the ever-increasing demand for higher thrills on rides...
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*posted under Fair Use provisions of copyright law as commentary on the absurdity of theme park ride design
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
I know where you are coming from here, and I know that historically that was the convention, but again I just don't see that being the reality anymore.
Dude, there are still big parks being built today that show you are absolutely wrong. Universal Studios Beijing opens this month. Epic Universe’s content is pretty well known at this point. Three of the four lands to have theater shows. Small rides like Yoshi and even a walkthrough. You can take classes at IAPPA about how you’ll be better served doing a tik tok or even tik tok tok investment pattern to draw visitation and then maintain visitation.

We all know that the MK is not at 100% capacity, every hour of every day. We know there are attractions that aren't pulling their weight, that sit unused and mostly empty. We keep hearing that MK needs more attractions and more capacity, but let's be honest: people aren't asking for more walk-thrus and peak-ins. They aren't asking for more sit-down theater experiences or museum exhibits.
The Magic Kingdom was designed for half as many people and has barely increased its capacity. In the case of dining, capacity is less than 30 years ago. Stuff like Stitch’s Great Escape, which does now sit abandoned, was a lousy experience.

Expedition Everest is a bad example, because it is first and foremost a thrill ride. You could take that coaster and dress it up as anything and it would still be considered a good ride. Outer Space? An Abandoned Mine? Aerosmith? Dinosaurs? Ugly Shark Things? The theme of the ride isn't really integral to the success of the experience when it leans so much on thrills.
It’s THE example Iger gave. Almost all of the hype for the attraction was centered on its show design.

No other company has the rights to Ratatouille. Only Disney can build it. That is the point. If you liked Ratatouille and want to experience it again, you have to go to a Disney Park. Every other theme park company could build a dark ride, or a roller coaster or even a hang gliding simulator... but they can't use Disney IP.
What other park has something quite like The Haunted Mansion? Even when it opened spook houses weren’t new or unique but The Haunted Mansion is uniquely Disney.
 

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
Can we get back to how bad Genie+ is? (kind of half kidding, kind of not kidding)


Is there any insider knowledge or published feedback of how hotel sales have been going for the fall? I am expecting October to be somewhat busy with the 50th kicking off, but what about the other normal busier weeks like Thanksgiving, Christmas etc.?

I guess I am really hoping this becomes a colossal failure and management has egg on their face from trying to take advantage of their most loyal customers
 

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