Are Guests now tired of "Shows" and only want "Rides"?

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Shows and rides are the same - some you just gotta do again and again, others you experience the once and then forget about.

IMO - Disney shows not to be missed are Festival Of The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Fantasmic. On the Other hand Cinderelabration I could leave alone all day.

 

[Lucky]

I think some people are hesitant to try shows becasue you're less sure what you're getting. You have a pretty good idea what a ride will be like before doing it. With shows you don't know. Some shows are aimed at kids, others mostly at adults; some tell a story, some are informational, and some are more singing and dancing, etc. People's tastes vary.

But having said that, many of the shows seem as popular as a lot of the rides. Little Mermaid, 3Ds, parades, Fantasmic, etc.

 

[Gorjus]

Some people come to Disney for thrill rides. Some come to immerse themselves in Disney. Some come to relive movies.

If you are a thrill ride/adrenaline junkie, then the shows are things you will skip and by the same token, those are the people who think MGM is a half day park, for the most part.

If you are not a thrill ride person, the tamer rides and the shows may be your thing.

I've often thought that people should qualify any opinions posted on these boards by saying "I tend to visit at this time of year and my opinion of crowds and lines is based on this reality." Also, "I tend to go for the following attractions and skip the following attractions and my opinion of any attraction is based on this reality."

So, to follow my own example, I tend to visit during non-peak times and 30 minutes is waaay tooo looong a wait for me for a ride. I can not do simulators and only one or two rollercoasters a day. I go to WDW for the immersion factor and my favorite things about WDW are the architecture and the background music and the themeing.

I am a non-peak, immersion factor, WDW freak.

Nice to meet you:wave:

Gorjus

 

[tracyandalex]

for us, it depends on the show. when a new show comes out we will see, but if we don't like it enough we will not go back. there are of course some shows that we always see - muppets, philharmagic, tough to be a bug, indiana jones (alex's pic) and of course the parades and the fireowrks

tracy & alex

p.s. we go any time except the summer and will not usually wait morethen 30 mins for anything

 

[Christi22222]

rides vs. shows

I think it has something to do with the intimacy/personal-ness factor for rider lovers as well. Going to a show, you experience the attraction "en masse." That makes you feel much more like you are on the outside looking in, but not an acutal part of it. On most of the rides, you really feel like you are participating. On pirates, don't you kind of think of yourself as one of the pirates right in there? I mean, heck, the battle goes on over your head! And on Mr. Toad, you are (supposedly) driving the car as you navigate through "The Wind in the Willows." On Splash Mountain, Brer Rabbit "interacts" with you as he tells/acts out his story. Even on the tea cups, you are actually making it go! And I think this explains the lack of love for the Universe of Energy, while not being bypassed completely by riders. You get a kind of half-way involvement. The big group factor takes away a bit of your ability to imagine this is YOUR adventure. That's how I feel, at least! But there are certainly many great shows. It just isn't as easy to immerse yourself in your fantasy. Which is exactly why I go to Disney and not Six Flags.

 

[Glasgow]

For me, dark rides = shows. Long live the dark ride!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

The reason I prefer rides over shows is that I can go on a ride at anytime. For a show, I have to plan in advance to be there at a certain time. I'm not a big fan of planning my time. I want to walk along, enjoy the scenery, and just relax. If I want to stop and look through a store, I will.

I enjoy the shows. I just hate the time constraint. I LOVE the Country Bear Jamboree, because, it is always just about to start for me! :animwink:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

The reason I prefer rides over shows is that I can go on a ride at anytime. For a show, I have to plan in advance to be there at a certain time. I'm not a big fan of planning my time. I want to walk along, enjoy the scenery, and just relax. If I want to stop and look through a store, I will.

I enjoy the shows. I just hate the time constraint. I LOVE the Country Bear Jamboree, because, it is always just about to start for me! :animwink:

That's how I am, too. I tend to skip parades for the same reason.

 

[jim1051]

My wife and I enjoy some shows and some rides. Some in each category we will experience more than once. Some in each category we experience at each visit, almost annually since 1999.

 

[CelticRose]

My family and I love the shows, FOTLK, is our favorite, we saw it twice last time we were there. We also sit in a different section of the audience so we can be a different animal. We go find a show and sit down and take a break, ans soak up a little more of the Disney Magic. Our other favorites are Indiana Jones, Fantasmic, CBJ (it brings out our inner 7 yr old), Beauty and the Beast (I just love that Beast), Muppets (Statler and Waldorf crack me up) and I can hardly wait to see Philharmagic with the grandson.

So I pray they never get rid of the shows or the street performers.

Can I go now???? :sohappy:


225 days

 

[DDuckFan130]

I guess you can say I prefer rides, but there are major exceptions to this. I always have to see Philarmagic and Fantasmic. BaTB and VoTLM I've started to see again in the past two trips. Indiana Jones and LMA: never again unless I really am bored. Nevertheless, I do prefer to do rides over and over again while shows can be seen once and that's it.

And btw, I really REALLY dislike Festival of the Lion King. *runs*

:lookaroun

Sorry, but it never struck a chord with me. *shrug*

 

[head mouse]

I don't watch the shows anymore. I go the WDW for the rides. If I wanted a show, I would stay home and turn on the TV.

Now there are a few exceptions. I love LMX and cant wait to see Fantasmic.

But shows like Honey we shrunk the audience, and all thes in a theater and stuff. I find boaring.

 

[Dwarful]

we see some of the shows. We ALWAYS have to do Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, Fantasmic, the parades,
Then we do the attraction/shows: CBJ, Hall of Presidents, Philharmagic, etc.,
We've seen Lights, Motor, Action, Tarzan Rocks, Fest. of Lion King & INdiana Jones....
Would not go back to see LMA, and we only thought that Lion King was alright.

 

[campdisney]

For us, some shows are an every trip type of event. Others I feel can be skipped or don't need to be done every trip. Seriously, once you've seen the Canada and Norway films, is there any need to see them again & again? 3-D shows we see every trip, sometimes multiple times. Festival of the Lion King we see every trip. We saw Tarzan every trip too. But Indiana Jones? Well once was enough -- especially as my kids had no idea who Indy was and were too young to see any of the films. And I have boys -- so one Voyage of the Little Mermaid was enough for them. Same with Beauty & the Beast. We haven't done them since. Now, we'll plan to see LMA next trip as its new since our last visit. If we enjoy it, we'll at it to our annual list. Otherwise, it will be one of those things we skip next time out.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Nope. I think people like good entertainment. If its good they will watch it. If its boring or bad, they wont be back.

 

[barnum42]

And btw, I really REALLY dislike Festival of the Lion King. *runs*

Nobody's perfect :kiss:

 

[DDuckFan130]

Nobody's perfect :kiss:

I had a feeling you'd reply to that

 

[plutoismyhero]

now it depends on the family

my family which is me-19 my brother-29 and my mom and dad dont really have a reason to see a show more then once if we even see it once now my sister has 3 kids all below the age of ten and they love to see shows over and over and over even if it is the next day and there is one simple solution to what people have to say about show if you have kids you like them if you dont have kids 75% dont like shows. people want thrills its that:king:

 

[the-reason14]

There are some shows I must do like every trip like, the American Adventure, sometimes Philharmagic and the other 3d shows. I try to do most of them and enjoy them when I go on extended vacations. But Im truthfully an all ride type of guy.

Only 9 days. I was surprised, I though my 4 day weekend was about 2 to 3 weeks away.

 

[tinktwirler321]

Hi Folks...

Something i have been wanting to start a topic about since i returned home from my most recent trip to the World....

I have noicted lately that Guests don't seem to want to sit and expereince things other then a attraction with a ride. I have not really seen this as frequently until this past trip a couple of weeks ago. So many times i saw Guests actually walk out of a live show or film presentation. It got me to thinking....are today's Guests getting to a point where they only want rides and physical thrills? Has society reached a point where they can't sit still and enjoy a alternative medium to instant everything and constant stimulation?

I know there are millions of people who visit the Parks and love seeing the live offererings. I'm a big parade. stage show, and character performance person....and i also enjoy the films that are in the Parks too. I know i'm not alone, and i know of course there are many Guests who would rather spend there time riding the rides and such. It's just interesting that this past trip it seemed to stand out to me that people were leaving as soon as they figured out it was'nt something more then a stage show or "movie". It's a shame really, as i saw people leave Mickey's PhilharMagic theatre before the show started simply because "...it's just a movie.."!! Oh how they missed out!

So what do you guys think....and what are your thoughts?

It may be simply a case of people wanting to do as much as possible in the Park that day and not wanting to "sit" and "waste time" ( these were Guest commments on the matter i heard) at shows and film attracions. The Parade is the exception, and the Fireworks of course....but i saw it happen a lot this trip with folks leaving once they saw it was'nt a type of ride. I can understand someone maybe having time constraints and only having a few hours in the park to cover a lot of ground, but still....walk out 5 mins into a show?

With the new Nemo stage show coming out later this year, i don't think Disney feels there is any slump in popularity with live performances. I would certainly hope they never do either, as the heart and soul of the WDW experience is the LIVE PERFORMERS and the different ways they enhance the Guest Expereince. If WDW was just a Park with a bunch of rides and gift shops, it would not be the Magical place it is. It's the live performers, wether they be Main Street residents, Streetmosphere characters, Stage Show actors/actresses/ or Mickey himself that TRULY make WDW what it is.

Hopefully it will remain this way for a long time to come! I am a little concerned however at the recent observations, and worry that the numbers may be suggesting that today's Guest only wants rides and instant gratifying thrills-a-minute.

I'd enjoy hearing some thoughts on the matter.

I agree completley. I defenitley think that live preformers are a huge part of the magic of the Disney experience. And i especially agree that them not seein Philarmagic they really missed out one of my top ten Disney favorites. Not tryin to say that just cause I like it is a reason to see just in my oppinion it is something truly magical to see. But I hope they keep Disney the way it is. If they rebuild attractions then thats cool, but the amount of shows, thrill rides, calm rides, andd character appearences in my oppinion is great.