Disney used to be the best at giving people what they didn’t know they wanted (feature-length animated films, multi-plane animation, a theme park, attractions like Tower of Terror etc.). Now all they do is give the masses what they think they want.
Doing the above is hard. Doing the above consistently is even harder, but it’s what made Disney, Disney. But I guess the risk of continuing that strategy is just too risky for the shareholders.
This is honestly a key point right now: Disney has been in a very
reactive stance for a long, long time now with regards to the parks, rather than a
proactive one.
Upfront, let's acknowledge that this isn't the first time that's been the case! The late 80s saw the announcement of Universal Orlando, plus Eisner noticing thing like the success of the Church St. clubs in the city proper, which led to the pushes for MGM Studios and Pleasure Island. It's part of business, sometimes you lead and sometimes you react to shifts in the marketplace.
But really, since Potter at Universal it's been a huge game of trying to do what "the other guys" are doing, and the rise of streaming services and the "content for content's sake" model has only contributed further to this need to force as many properties wherever they can possibly go, without much thought to whether it's something that's really upping the theme park industry overall. This has been the reality since the "IP mandate" went in place, and it's only becoming less thoughtful about placement, theme, and the other things that once made Disney theme parks feel transcendent.
Joe Rohde, I believe, once made an Instagram post where he talked about what separates truly great themed entertainment from something that's just "fun" - "fun" is a wonderful thing, but it's also something you can have anywhere; a simple plastic toy can be fun, after all, and you can get a yo-yo or something for a few bucks. But if you want me to spend
multiple thousands of dollars on a "themed experience", you need to offer more than that - if I can just have "fun" at home, then I need a deeper reason why I'd be willing to part with my hard-earned money to travel to muggy Florida and spend time in the environment you've created.
That impetus to spend the money and go to the theme parks is partly generated by the rides, yes, but the rides are more often the direct source of fun; what sets a great theme park apart is, though, is the attention to detail and the small, sometimes barely perceptible choices (sight lines, kinetics, color palettes, music, tactile choices for surfaces, layouts, costuming, construction materials, something as simple as period appropriate lighting fixtures, etc.) that transport you to a different place and a different frame of mind. Once you've got that, you can sell people on just about anything your park will offer, like original ride concepts or things that don't involve "just slap that character's face on it so it'll sell." I kind of point to something like the Guardians coaster for this: lots of fun, for sure, but not something particularly transportive.
I mean, I live in New Jersey: if all I want is just some fun involving theme park rides, I can drive a pretty short distance down to Six Flags. And that CAN be fun! Many people are coaster enthusiasts, after all! But Six Flags also isn't demanding nearly as much of my money as Disney does, which is why I hold Disney to a much,
much higher standard than I do a regional coaster park.
Like, I don't know; like I said before, I'm a 39 year old man, telling me "Get excited, it's Cars!" or "Get hyped, it's Zootopia!" means basically nothing to me - I like some of these films just fine, but they're films, I can watch them any time I want if I so choose without having to spend thousands to see animatronics of the characters, or even just drawings of them on some rides. If this announcement had been "we're going to shift what 'Frontierland' means, and change it to include the natural beauty of more of the American West, recreating a slice of the Rockies here in Florida", that'd be something evocative and transporting to me...and if a given IP suited that area, well, ok, I guess that could work, but that's clearly not what's being done, here. It's more "one day we'll crack the code Universal did with Potter, just watch us, investors!", and while there are times it can be fun, increasingly it's just
boring.
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