News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[TrainsOfDisney]

I'm in a group chat with Mike Carlson from Podcast: The Ride, who pointed out that the 5 Alvin and The Chipmunks films have out-earned all 10 Muppets movies. I made a spreadsheet and adjusted for inflation:

View attachment 809381

Your earlier post put Muppets close to the middle of Disneys Top-grossing ip’s -

Here are the top-grossing Disney IP from that list above, and their approximate revenue. I'm not sure how up to date it is for any particular franchise:

• Mickey Mouse ($61.2B)
• Winnie the Pooh ($48.5B)
• Star Wars ($46.7B)
• Disney Princesses ($45.4B)
• The Marvel MCU ($32.9B)
• Spider-Man ($25.5B)
• Cars ($21.5B)
• The Lion King ($15.2B)
• Toy Story ($14.8B)
• Avengers ($14.3B)
• Frozen ($13.9B)
• Pirates of the Caribbean ($7.9B)
• Muppets/Sesame Street ($7.7B)
• X-Men ($7B)
• Ice Age ($6.4B)
• Avatar ($5.78B)
• Beauty and the Beast ($3.52B)
• Iron Man ($2.9B)
• Guardians of the Galaxy ($2.71B)
• Indiana Jones ($2.6B)

 

[Sneaky]

I totally get the doubt, and I kinda doubt that Muppets is safe too. If the Rivers of America aren't safe, what makes the Muppets safe? Tom just really believes they are, and I hope he's right.

I'm not sure why Disney isn't saying anything. Maybe the plan was to demolish Muppets but they're second guessing themselves because of public backlash. It's going to get a LOT worse for Disney if they actually do decide to demolish Muppets, so they're better off redoing the plans in quiet and then pretend Muppets was never an option.

Too bad the same can't be said for what's going on at Magic Kingdom... at least we'll have Villains?

People are saying it can change. I hope to god Tom is right. He’s like the only one staying steadfast. I wonder how he is reacting to all the extra press, including the article. Like, so many people are saying it. I hope Disney second guesses themselves enoguh.

 

[SoFloMagic]

So there’s a chance MV3D closes and the muppets are just GONE from wdw?

The optics of "hey there's a female president, let's close this attraction rather than let her headline it" aren't great.

 

[Andrew C]

Disneyland’s Frontierland has a better Big Thunder Mountain, the explorer canoes, the Columbia, Farasmic!, and a lot less dead space.

Frontierland is a nightmare on Fantasmic nights. It turns into one giant cluster well before show time. They should tear it all down.

 

[Andy Whitfield]

Big Thunder isn't in any danger. Whether or not we like any enhancements remains to be seen, but the coaster stays.

I wonder if they are considering a repaint to match the rock work of piston peak?

 

[Disstevefan1]

I'm in a group chat with Mike Carlson from Podcast: The Ride, who pointed out that the 5 Alvin and The Chipmunks films have out-earned all 10 Muppets movies. I made a spreadsheet and adjusted for inflation:

View attachment 809381

You make my point, it sure seems Disney does not care about making money.

Also, COP does not make any money for Disney either, and all the cr@p content Disney made for Disney+ lost truckloads of money, and the keep doing it.

Yes, I know, its only a matter of time before COP is closed and destroyed....

Len, YOU ARE RIGHT, but I don't have to like it.

That did it! - I miss the Osborne lights!!

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Frontierland is a nightmare on Fantasmic nights. It turns into one giant cluster well before show time. They should tear it all down.

To be fair, a “giant cluster” is practically all of Disneyland.

 

[larryz]

To be fair, a “giant cluster” is practically all of Disneyland.

It's actually pretty nice on Tuesday mornings in October for about the first 3 hours...

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

People are saying it can change. I hope to god Tom is right. He’s like the only one staying steadfast. I wonder how he is reacting to all the extra press, including the article. Like, so many people are saying it. I hope Disney second guesses themselves enoguh.

I haven't asked him specifically about it but when I was shocked about the rivers he said I shouldn't have been (and the night before he had accurately predicted what the concept art revealed during his post-parks panel livestream), so I think he's getting information from somewhere. I personally have no inside connections, I just make thumbnails lol.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It's actually pretty nice on Tuesday mornings in October for about the first 3 hours...

And the last 90 minutes after the fireworks crowd clears. Close to perfect.

 

[Sneaky]

I haven't asked him specifically about it but when I was shocked about the rivers he said I shouldn't have been (and the night before he had accurately predicted what the concept art revealed during his post-parks panel livestream), so I think he's getting information from somewhere. I personally have no inside connections, I just make thumbnails lol.

Honestly I hope he’s right. It’s already kinda funny that out of everyone BRAYDEN was right, when we’d been kidna ting on him subtly before.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

Honestly I hope he’s right. It’s already kinda funny that out of everyone BRAYDEN was right, when we’d been kidna ting on him subtly before.

When I first found Brayden's channel he had just accurately predicted something (can't remember what) so I thought he had a good track record. When he was talking about Cars, I was really hoping he was wrong... but it was even worse than that. He didn't know the rivers were completely gone!

 

[duncedoof]

At any rate, this really just has me feeling that maybe the Disney parks are just big, tacky tourist traps as their critics always argued. In the past, there seemed to be enough idiosyncrasy, ambition, and creativity to make them interesting (at least to me) in how, for example, the Magic Kingdom mapped out a very American mythology and view of the world as filtered through the mind of Walt Disney or with EPCOT Center they attempted to create a World's Fair-style vision of optimism driven by technology and innovation. Even the evocation of different times and places in the resorts was at least fun. Once they start replacing the legacy lands of Magic Kingdom with lands based on films that currently make them a lot of revenue in merchandise sales, that version of the parks seems even further in the past than it was. That's also true at the resorts where you're now going to bed looking at Moana or The Incredibles.

And you want to know why that is? Because the new executives believe that themselves. Eisner had misfires, but he was able to identify why the Parks were special. Bob Iger just seems them as a revenue vehicle for other cynical ventures for the company (Which are also declining artistically).

It especially upsets me when I see blockbusters compared to theme park rides, knowing how much artistry and care can go into an actual theme park ride over a $200 million dollar superhero movie. People have forgotten what that looks like, Disney has allowed them to forget. They used to be able to impress even the most skeptic with their offerings. Now they just want to be like Universal.

“The tat and kitschy quality that comes across in flat pictures dissolves when you go through those turnstiles. The lath and plaster is solid, the cardboard is so tough you never see it wobble. The paint is fresh, the flags flutter, the bands play, the people laugh and cry out for more, more security, more nostalgia, more happiness, more memories of a world better than our own. […] Is this bad? Is this, as critics say, like a drug, an escapist immature fantasy generated by an immature showman for cash? Or is it a work of art, as The Wizard of Oz or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Singin’ in the Rain are works of art, commercially manufactured products that transcend their age and have a meaning to themselves as all great works of art should have?”
pg. 321, Robin Allan, Walt Disney and Europe. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 1999.

The "kitschy quality" will win out, it seems.

 

[Disstevefan1]

@lentesta , has presented evidence about these terrible changes. He may be right.

BUT, Disney COULD change their mind, cancel projects, delay work, shift resources and money to other things like DVCs or just maintenance. WE HAVE SEEN them start and stop project like the Play Pavilion.

As Yogi said, it ain't over till its over.

 

[Dear Prudence]

If they do replace HoP for The Muppets - their will be backlash not from park fans so much but from the the press with headlines like "Disney hates Liberty", "Disney's unAmerica", etc. Disney has just got over the bad press from their controversial takes and then to take another punch of their own making is foolishness though.

HOP is a dusty, dated, creepy attraction that should have left the parks before certain other changes. The Moments with Mr. Lincoln isn't...really my thing, either, but it's vastly more impressive to me and way less creepy than HOP.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

Let me just say here that sometimes ips in the parks work out well. For one thing, they’re still Disney stories, just like the stories that Disney makes in its theme parks. Just remember you can reverse your ideology of this entire thing by going to the land, then watching the movie. Without these ip lands, I wouldn’t have discovered Marvel, Avengers, or Avatar…

 

[psherman42]

Because there will be water, water features, and waterfalls.

There will be.

Exactly what water features have been promised and not delivered? Aside from a fountain at Epcot.

Just continuing to state this without any actual proof doesn’t make it true. You also can’t discount the most recent example of Disney promising a water feature and cutting it to try to prove your point.

Honesrly, ca you really compare waterfalls (maybe) and whatever you mean by “water features” to the river? It will never be the same and that’s the problem. This new area could be great if they weren’t paving over the most scenic spot in the park to make it happen. Water “features” is not going to cut it and I have a hard time believing the imagineers couldn’t find a way to preserve at least the portion along the walkway.

I wonder if they are considering a repaint to match the rock work of piston peak?

That’ll be hideous but it wouldn’t surprise me. The difference in colors on the concept art is horrible.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

HOP is a dusty, dated, creepy attraction that should have left the parks before certain other changes. The Moments with Mr. Lincoln isn't...really my thing, either, but it's vastly more impressive to me and way less creepy than HOP.

What makes it creepy? I think it's respectful without playing politics on one side or the other. Is it just all the figures?

 

[peter11435]

Just continuing to state this without any actual proof doesn’t make it true. You also can’t discount the most recent example of Disney promising a water feature and cutting it to try to prove your point.

Honesrly, ca you really compare waterfalls (maybe) and whatever you mean by “water features” to the river? It will never be the same and that’s the problem. This new area could be great if they weren’t paving over the most scenic spot in the park to make it happen. Water “features” is not going to cut it and I have a hard time believing the imagineers couldn’t find a way to preserve at least the portion along the walkway.


That’ll be hideous but it wouldn’t surprise me. The difference in colors on the concept art is horrible.

I’m not trying to provide proof. I’m simply telling you that there will be water and water features.

So you didn’t answer. What water features has Disney promised that didn’t materialize?

 

[Quietmouse]

if there are imagineers here and listening:

please add water play features for kids and adults. maybe a stream that’s designed for kids to dip their toes in.

please add trails like hiking trails that are off the beaten path with nooks and crannies for guests to explore.

make the land interactive. If the theme is the great outdoors, make it where you feel like your actually a part of the land, and exploring rather than just trying to find the ride and go from point a to point b.