A Terror-rific Spirited 13th (ToT fans have lots to fear)...

[DDLand]

According to Mr. Corless, Hong Kong is replacing Sleeping Beauty castle with one that's bigger and better as part of a second phase of expansion to that park.

Seems like a terrible direction for them. I suppose I see where they're coming from, but the Classic Sleeping Beauty Castle is charming and beautiful in its own right. In addition it also pays tribute to Disneyland and Walt Disney. The Castle is fine, and even excellent. If it's good enough for Walt's Park than it's good enough for Hong Kong. This also completely ignores that the scale and design of the Hong Kong Park was designed with the Castle in mind. By going back and rebuilding an existing show building, they'll totally blow the scale and art direction.

Also worth noting this will not come cheaply. They are going to have to destroy a major show piece and rebuild it within an operating park. The money they're going to spend on rebuilding this won't be spent on new rides or experiences. It won't be spent on TSMM or an Adventureland or Fantasyland Expansion. Instead they'll blow millions on something that was already just fine.

Though this admittedly does remind me of Hong Kong's original design idea of putting the castle in the back of the park. This ended up being rejected, but it's interesting nonetheless. It could actually still be pulled off, and it would give them significant real estate to build a bigger grander castle while keeping the old one in place for as long as possible. The demo of Sleeping Beauty could actually take place after the new castle was built; all while anchoring a new Fantasyland Expansion.

This actually sounds like the Al Lutz April Fools joke from two years ago.

So if Hong Kong Disneyland is getting a new castle with a new design, can Tokyo Disney get something new so each castle park has a unique icon?

(Or make MK's even bigger and more elaborate?)

I know neither would ever happen. Just a fanboy wish.

Bleh. Nah, Cinderella is my favorite castle design. Let's not mess with a classic.

Update: Disneyandmore says thumbs up.
https://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/11/is-hong-kong-disneyland-thinking-to.html?m=1

Also worth noting this would be part of a much bigger expansion with more attractions. This is good especially in light of losing phase 2 for the time being.

 

[Rteetz]

So if Hong Kong Disneyland is getting a new castle with a new design, can Tokyo Disney get something new so each castle park has a unique icon?

(Or make MK's even bigger and more elaborate?)

I know neither would ever happen. Just a fanboy wish.

If I'm not mistaken MK's castle is slightly taller. The Tokyo castle also has the darker gray "rock work" on the bottom turrets whereas the MK castle has the same gray color throughout the entire thing.

 

[csmat99]

What I am expecting is Wall St putting their foot down and forcing Disney to suspend SWL East construction until Wall St sees how successful SWL West is. I don't think Wall St objects to SWL but they do object to the simultaneous build in the money men's mind building only one halves the financial risk and puts more money in their pockets NOW.

So what name do you give you little bubble you live in? Wall street will have no say on the building and finishing of SWL in Orlando and if they did they would not be objecting to it because it will bring in money again and again. The issue Wall street has is with ESPN and other media problems Disney has. And more alarming than the loss of subscribers has been the reaction of Skipper to get rid of all the high paid talent and replace them with nobody's that will just help push more people to say I don't need ESPN. Only reason why I watched ESPN was the fact I liked to listen to the opinions of the on-air talent before, during and after games. Now I turn it on and watch people dress up in Halloween costumes and I turned it right off.

 

[ford91exploder]

So what name do you give you little bubble you live in? Wall street will have no say on the building and finishing of SWL in Orlando and if they did they would not be objecting to it because it will bring in money again and again. The issue Wall street has is with ESPN and other media problems Disney has. And more alarming than the loss of subscribers has been the reaction of Skipper to get rid of all the high paid talent and replace them with nobody's that will just help push more people to say I don't need ESPN. Only reason why I watched ESPN was the fact I liked to listen to the opinions of the on-air talent before, during and after games. Now I turn it on and watch people dress up in Halloween costumes and I turned it right off.

We'll see what happens after today's earnings call... Right now analysts are expecting a 3% decline in revenue year over year and well Disney will need to cut somewhere to get those numbers back up when the stock starts to slide - where can they cut why yes the WDW construction budget...

http://www.investors.com/news/walt-disney-reports-q4-earnings-late-what-to-watch/

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Seems like a terrible direction for them. I suppose I see where they're coming from, but the Classic Sleeping Beauty Castle is charming and beautiful in its own right. In addition it also pays tribute to Disneyland and Walt Disney. The Castle is fine, and even excellent. If it's good enough for Walt's Park than it's good enough for Hong Kong. This also completely ignores that the scale and design of the Hong Kong Park was designed with the Castle in mind. By going back and rebuilding an existing show building, they'll totally blow the scale and art direction.

I think it's a pretty good idea. They'd have to be careful about throwing the park's scale off, but building that small carbon copy of DL's castle was always a mistake driven by a desire to hold down costs. Replacing it would help give HKDL it's own identity and stop it from seeming kind of like a forgotten franchised version of Disneyland now that Shanghai is open and getting all this attention.

It probably isn't really all that expensive to do, either.

 

[ford91exploder]

Oopsie - not even 10 minutes into the earnings call and DIS already down 3% in after hours trading as ALL of their divisions missed estimates by a LARGE amount EPS is off 6 cents per share

 

[mickEblu]

Seems to me that whole park suffered from some really bad ideas... like a Theme Park with very few attractions because they decided the Chinese really like shopping experiences and M&Gs better than any actual attractions.... and that blew up in their face as soon as it opened.

Do any of the execs or whoever is making these decisions actually BELIEVE this? Or is it just code for "we were too cheap to put in more rides." I have a hard time understanding that anyone in the themed entertainment industry could think any human being, regardless of ethnicity or culture, is more into shopping and theme park restaurants (cuz I'm sure all of us are expecting Michelin Star quality dining at the parks) over rides and attractions. And if they do believe this, they need to quit their day job. Wasn't this apparently the same thought that went into DCA 1.0?

 

[Bocabear]

It is exactly the same thought that went into DCA 1.0....and most assuredly the same executive team....and yes, they actually said that as a justification for building a park with only a few attractions: Space Mountain, Tea Cups, Dumbo, Carousel, Jungle Cruise and the Festival Of The Lion King Show.... Seriously... NONE of the classic Disney Dark Rides... Small World, Buzz Lightyear, and Autopia came soon afterwards...probably when they realized they had made a grave error...and when that wasn't enough they began the park expansion with Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land.... But yeah... really horrible decisions. the end of the Eisner Era when Paul Pressler convinced them that people just wanted a shopping mall....

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I like the design of SDL's castle itself. The problem is the hub, for all the same reasons as the MK's hideous hub. A vast open expanse, interspersed with poles and turrets, with some hedges.

For one, it makes the castle of MK and SDL look like a weird fiberglass folly plonked down on the parking lot of a garden center.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I don't know if it's just me, but so many of the pictures of SDL make it look plain ugly. I haven't been to TDL or HKDL, but I have never had that same impression nor from the other castle parks that I have visited.

Whatever the pros and cons of the new MK hub, the overall effect is far nicer than the above picture.

 

[Speedy71]

I like the design of SDL's castle itself. The problem is the hub, for all the same reasons as the MK's hideous hub. A vast open expanse, interspersed with poles and turrets, with some hedges.

For one, it makes the castle of MK and SDL look like a weird fiberglass folly plonked down on the parking lot of a garden center.

I disagree MK's and DL's are better. SDL's castle looks like a giant sandcastle

 

[Bocabear]

It is too stout at the bottom...blocky looking and inelegant... It is a gigantic block with towers on top for decor....If they needed that much space inside they could have done the Disneyland Paris trick and built terraced hills and landscaping to help hide some of the bulk...and red brick? Just an odd choice for a fantasy castle...

 

[jpinkc]

LOL I just still think they will get screwed by the chinese government in the end. Having dealt with them on copyright matters where the rest of the world would crucify the offender and they just shrug and say there is no problem.

I do agree I like MK and DL castles better.

 

[cheezbat]

Seems like a terrible direction for them. I suppose I see where they're coming from, but the Classic Sleeping Beauty Castle is charming and beautiful in its own right. In addition it also pays tribute to Disneyland and Walt Disney. The Castle is fine, and even excellent. If it's good enough for Walt's Park than it's good enough for Hong Kong. This also completely ignores that the scale and design of the Hong Kong Park was designed with the Castle in mind. By going back and rebuilding an existing show building, they'll totally blow the scale and art direction.

Also worth noting this will not come cheaply. They are going to have to destroy a major show piece and rebuild it within an operating park. The money they're going to spend on rebuilding this won't be spent on new rides or experiences. It won't be spent on TSMM or an Adventureland or Fantasyland Expansion. Instead they'll blow millions on something that was already just fine.

Though this admittedly does remind me of Hong Kong's original design idea of putting the castle in the back of the park. This ended up being rejected, but it's interesting nonetheless. It could actually still be pulled off, and it would give them significant real estate to build a bigger grander castle while keeping the old one in place for as long as possible. The demo of Sleeping Beauty could actually take place after the new castle was built; all while anchoring a new Fantasyland Expansion.

This actually sounds like the Al Lutz April Fools joke from two years ago.


Bleh. Nah, Cinderella is my favorite castle design. Let's not mess with a classic.

Update: Disneyandmore says thumbs up.
https://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/11/is-hong-kong-disneyland-thinking-to.html?m=1

Also worth noting this would be part of a much bigger expansion with more attractions. This is good especially in light of losing phase 2 for the time being.

A phase 2 expansion is a must for this resort to survive. I'm curious if they'll actually allocate funds for a castle rebuild.

Oh, and I'd rather see Tokyo get a new castle instead of a redo of our Cinderella castle. Ours is original, iconic, and deserving of its own identity.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

It is too stout at the bottom...blocky looking and inelegant... It is a gigantic block with towers on top for decor....If they needed that much space inside they could have done the Disneyland Paris trick and built terraced hills and landscaping to help hide some of the bulk...and red brick? Just an odd choice for a fantasy castle...

Yes, they did such an elegant job of it in Paris.
Is there really any comparison?

 

[180º]

I loathe the design for the Enchanted Storybook Castle. The proportions are just all wrong.

The previous castles got it right. Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant is a bit too cartoony for my tastes, but I will say that in its own way it's absolutely goregeous.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I loathe the design for the Enchanted Storybook Castle. The proportions are just all wrong.

The previous castles got it right. Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant is a bit too cartoony for my tastes, but I will say that in its own way it's absolutely goregeous.

I can understand that. To me it does look like an illustration from a fairytale rather than a real castle, but I quite like that.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Shanghai Disney castle looks like a generic fancy mansion that had some castle pieces randomly glued to it with a giant, boring, mostly empty, city-park-wanna-be courtyard in front of it at the end of a group of tacky, mismatched group of buildings that have no coherent theme or color scheme.

Turn left at the castle to see Tomorrowland, and by "tomorrowland" I mean "a nice airport built to looks very modern in 2007"

Come see the half of Fantasyland that is built so far! Including a maze themes to Alice in Wonderland (no, not that one. the Tim Burton one you probably forgot existed)

Adventure Land and Treasure Cove are both pretty solid looking.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I loathe the design for the Enchanted Storybook Castle. The proportions are just all wrong.

The previous castles got it right. Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant is a bit too cartoony for my tastes, but I will say that in its own way it's absolutely goregeous.

They had to make it cartoony because there are so many real castles in Europe. They had to make it stand out.

 

[180º]

They had to make it cartoony because there are so many real castles in Europe. They had to make it stand out.

I'm well familiar with that piece of trivia. Like I said, I think the castle is beautiful! Stunning at first sight and then amazing design throughout. My personal tastes prefer the realistic look, though.

Shanghai on the other hand? That castle's a turkey.