News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close

[HMF]

/\
Anyway if it does close it's long overdue. I like the building and queue but the ride is kind of a joke.

It wasn't before Jason Surrell got his hands on the script.

 

[FigmentForver96]

/\ Considering people can book Fastpasses so far in advance that's not really an option anymore.

Anyway if it does close it's long overdue. I like the building and queue but the ride is kind of a joke.

You know what the real joke is?

It took Disney to get another sponsor before they even touched the ride and gave it proper upkeep. It took a sponsor to freakin paint the outside and touch it up. The joke is rather than give real updates they have let it do the same thing Horizons did. It runs and runs until it dies and they just gut it. The joke is a multi billion dollar company would want to close a ride in a park that has few to begin with and rather then add, simply replace. The joke is they no longer rely on creative ideas like Great Movie Ride but instead use singular IPs to be thrown in wherever they can. Is Mickey a great IP for a ride! Of course! But they have room to add, but like every short sighted choice by this company, they save a buck and just replace. The joke is a park that needs more rides won't get any more in count. Capacity will be a joke, the park and its whatever theme they throw together will be a joke.


That's the joke...not the ride

 

[Mike S]

You know what the real joke is?

It took Disney to get another sponsor before they even touched the ride and gave it proper upkeep. It took a sponsor to freakin paint the outside and touch it up. The joke is rather than give real updates they have let it do the same thing Horizons did. It runs and runs until it dies and they just gut it. The joke is a multi billion dollar company would want to close a ride in a park that has few to begin with and rather then add, simply replace. The joke is they no longer rely on creative ideas like Great Movie Ride but instead use singular IPs to be thrown in wherever they can. Is Mickey a great IP for a ride! Of course! But they have room to add, but like every short sighted choice by this company, they save a buck and just replace. The joke is a park that needs more rides won't get any more in count. Capacity will be a joke, the park and its whatever theme they throw together will be a joke.


That's the joke...not the ride

It actually is getting more rides. We started with 6 before BLT closed and once SWL opens it'll have 9.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Glad to have 9 rides there, but it is still a pretty pathetic count after 25 years or so.

 

[Jones14]

Glad to have 9 rides there, but it is still a pretty pathetic count after 25 years or so.

What's worse is that Animal Kingdom beat 'em to it with Pandora, and the park is 9 years younger.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Glad to have 9 rides there, but it is still a pretty pathetic count after 25 years or so.

What are the total numbers of attractions now and when those are done. Theme Parks are more then just rides, shows are also part of it. There's Indy, Muppets, Beauty and the Beast, Fantastic, Mermaid, Jedi Training, Restaurants, shops, street entertainment and I'm sure there are others that I am not remembering. Star Tours, at least for the moment and GMR.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Shows are WAY secondary in my book, but you're right.

 

[Herbie]

Well, when they're 30 years old with little repeat value... Those should've been the first to be updated. Would've helped soothe the transition. Any insiders suppose we'll hear any updates regarding those soon? Last I heard, Beauty was getting updated and Mermaid would be replaced with Tangled? Not really fond of either of those ideas but..

 

[aladdin2007]

You know what the real joke is?

It took Disney to get another sponsor before they even touched the ride and gave it proper upkeep. It took a sponsor to freakin paint the outside and touch it up. The joke is rather than give real updates they have let it do the same thing Horizons did. It runs and runs until it dies and they just gut it. The joke is a multi billion dollar company would want to close a ride in a park that has few to begin with and rather then add, simply replace. The joke is they no longer rely on creative ideas like Great Movie Ride but instead use singular IPs to be thrown in wherever they can. Is Mickey a great IP for a ride! Of course! But they have room to add, but like every short sighted choice by this company, they save a buck and just replace. The joke is a park that needs more rides won't get any more in count. Capacity will be a joke, the park and its whatever theme they throw together will be a joke.


That's the joke...not the ride

spot on!!!! Couldn't agree more. I would gladly hand you an oscar for that post if I could.

 

[Kman101]

How does the attraction count increase? We lost Lights Motors, jack sparrow, backlot tour. We're gaining one. But people count it differently I guess. Either way it's still a poor amount. You could say the two SW rides replace Motors and Backlot and one of the TSL rides replaced Jack. An attraction is an attraction to me regardless of whether you rode it or sat for it or walked through it.

 

[FigmentForver96]

It actually is getting more rides. We started with 6 before BLT closed and once SWL opens it'll have 9.

I wasn't arguing that the ride count would not go up, I was simply saying that it could have went up MORE if they added Mickey and not replaced Mickey ride. The park is a mess and even with Star Wars it will still have no real identity beyond HEY BIG THRILLS AND BIG MOVIES HERE!

 

[Lets Respect]

DHS even today is a full day park if you do everything there

 

[Biff215]

DHS even today is a full day park if you do everything there

True, but shouldn't the goal be to make it more than a one day park after all these years? SWL will certainly help that, but it's hard to dispute the capacity issues DHS will have. It needs every attraction/show it can get.

 

[ToTBellHop]

DHS even today is a full day park if you do everything there

You can argue that all you want, but the actual data regarding how long actual guests spend in the actual park are deeply concerning to the company. Further, Epcot is declining. Thus the company's priorities. DAK is getting closer to where they'd like it. I honestly feel that if it had one more "continent," especially if it included about four modest Fantasyland-style dark rides from the critter films, it'd be set.

 

[aladdin2007]

You can argue that all you want, but the actual data regarding how long actual guests spend in the actual park are deeply concerning to the company. Further, Epcot is declining. Thus the company's priorities. DAK is getting closer to where they'd like it. I honestly feel that if it had one more "continent," especially if it included about four modest Fantasyland-style dark rides from the critter films, it'd be set.

Do they actually wonder why?? They diluted the park, the place is a mess and one big giant dead end, right now anyway. They also uprooted the little things that made it interesting and themed like the old Hollywood shop at the entrance, replaced it with..... nothing.... the neat writers stop store and bakery etc knocked it down.....no more parades...etc..and yet it seems like they dont have any direction other than chuffing in ip in all four corners and the oh so important mobile stages..but beyond that?
thats really aimed as a questioning to the execs, your comments def got me to thinking . I walked out of there the other day feeling like where are they going with this place.

So true about Animal Kingdom, the park has been improving but a couple dark rides would not hurt there at all, but they dont seem to be making those from scratch anymore either (avatar yes but in terms of fantasyland style/size), something that Disney use to excel in.

 

[phillip9698]

How does the attraction count increase? We lost Lights Motors, jack sparrow, backlot tour. We're gaining one. But people count it differently I guess. Either way it's still a poor amount. You could say the two SW rides replace Motors and Backlot and one of the TSL rides replaced Jack. An attraction is an attraction to me regardless of whether you rode it or sat for it or walked through it.

Rides drive attendance to the parks not "attractions". At this point it's not enough to simply add rides for a lot of people. If it's not an E-ticket here comes the complaints.

 

[Kman101]

Rides drive attendance to the parks not "attractions". At this point it's not enough to simply add rides for a lot of people. If it's not an E-ticket here comes the complaints.

Oh I know that. Heaven forbid it's not an e-ticket! LOL

I was just saying we're basically swapping attractions so we're not really gaining anything. They're still replacing one thing for another without necessarily adding to the count.

 

[xstech25]

You know what the real joke is?

It took Disney to get another sponsor before they even touched the ride and gave it proper upkeep. It took a sponsor to freakin paint the outside and touch it up. The joke is rather than give real updates they have let it do the same thing Horizons did. It runs and runs until it dies and they just gut it. The joke is a multi billion dollar company would want to close a ride in a park that has few to begin with and rather then add, simply replace. The joke is they no longer rely on creative ideas like Great Movie Ride but instead use singular IPs to be thrown in wherever they can. Is Mickey a great IP for a ride! Of course! But they have room to add, but like every short sighted choice by this company, they save a buck and just replace. The joke is a park that needs more rides won't get any more in count. Capacity will be a joke, the park and its whatever theme they throw together will be a joke.


That's the joke...not the ride

Replacing rides instead of adding more is because of diminishing returns, not space. Obviously they have enough space to build whatever anyone could possibly want. That's a pretty important thing to consider when you run a business that employs literally tens of thousands of people. Obviously MK and DAK they thought adding large new areas was a good investment, but DHS and Epcot had/have all those old attractions that really have no business being there anymore.

Lets use Pandora as an example. All the new jobs created just to operate the area: operations (2.5 shifts), maintenance (3 shifts), custodial (3 shifts), wilderness explorer people (2 shifts), the people laundering the costumes, food service, management, administrative, etc. Lets say it adds 700 jobs operating jobs total and the average person makes $27,000. Then add benefits, healthcare, and taxes, and the average cost per person is like $33,000 (I feel slightly qualified to make these numbers up because this is the kind of thing I teach at the college I work at).

Anyway 700*33,000 is a little over 23 million dollars. And that doesn't include the actual price of maintenance or the parts for the rides etc. So Animal Kingdom needs to make not only $23 million a year more than it made the year before Pandora was built, but also make a return on the cost of designing and building it (estimated $500 million but went way over budget so i'm sure it was a lot more).

 

[Kman101]

Replacing rides instead of adding more is because of diminishing returns, not space. Obviously they have enough space to build whatever anyone could possibly want. That's a pretty important thing to consider when you run a business that employs literally tens of thousands of people. Obviously MK and DAK they thought adding large new areas was a good investment, but DHS and Epcot had/have all those old attractions that really have no business being there anymore.

Lets use Pandora as an example

The parks need ADDED capacity.

 

[FigmentForver96]

Replacing rides instead of adding more is because of diminishing returns, not space. Obviously they have enough space to build whatever anyone could possibly want. That's a pretty important thing to consider when you run a business that employs literally tens of thousands of people. Obviously MK and DAK they thought adding large new areas was a good investment, but DHS and Epcot had/have all those old attractions that really have no business being there anymore.

Lets use Pandora as an example. All the new jobs created just to operate the area: operations (2.5 shifts), maintenance (3 shifts), custodial (3 shifts), wilderness explorer people (2 shifts), the people laundering the costumes, food service, management, administrative, etc. Lets say it adds 700 jobs operating jobs total and the average person makes $27,000. Then add benefits, healthcare, and taxes, and the average cost per person is like $33,000 (I feel slightly qualified to make these numbers up because this is the kind of thing I teach at the college I work at).

Anyway 700*33,000 is a little over 23 million dollars. And that doesn't include the actual price of maintenance or the parts for the rides etc. So Animal Kingdom needs to make not only $23 million a year more than it made the year before Pandora was built, but also make a return on the cost of designing and building it (estimated $500 million but went way over budget so i'm sure it was a lot more).

Let's not humor for a minute that Disney somehow cannot afford to update the attraction and build a new ride? Half of the Animation building is there for use as well. The Great Movie Ride embodies the literal theme of the direction they are taking the park. Entering the movies. In fact it's even more relavent today then it was in 1989. And Disney can easily make up for 23,000,000 and that's just a random number and probably not even close but I don't argue numbers with people. Saying the ride is old is not an excuse, not at all