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

tirian

Well-Known Member
This post can be directed to anyone in the know, but specifically @marni1971:

I'm curious about the rate and ferocity that these rumors have been coming as of late. Overall, Disney is generally pretty tight lipped when it comes to things, but gosh, I have to wonder if they're really that upset about these rumors "leaking" like they seem to be.

I've been reading LOTS of articles that are signaling a decline in attendance at WDW and attributing it to the lack of new attractions. It seems as though even the pixie dusters are starting to get sore noses and realizing the state of the parks.

What I'm getting at is this - are these rumors being started, leaked, perpetuated, etc. as a form of damage control to steer the conversation towards what could be coming as opposed to what hasn't been?
If that's their intention, they should've had better plans than replacing attractions rather than adding onto the parks. Some people don't care if ToT is replaced at DCA, or if the GMR goes away. But judging from the outcry about both plans, the majority of pixie dusters have reached a point where they know the parks need more to do, not a break-even trade.
 

tirian

Well-Known Member
Disney does not consider meet-and-greets to gain attendance or add to the bottom line. It's the reason Photopass was folded into Entertainment: every division had to be profitable. By all means, Disney should create lovely, memorable, air-conditioned environments to meet the characters; but even the company acknowledges that rides drive attendance and character interactions don't.

I think shows are attractions as well. It is not a ride but it is certainly an attraction.

Princess Fairytale Hall is NOT an attraction...it is a diversion for those who like Meet & Greets, but certainly not an attraction... When they built Hong Kong Disneyland , they went out of their way to say how much the Chinese loved Meet And Greets, so they left out many of the classic attractions that should have been built with the park... The result? WRONG! they immediately had to start building attractions to fill in the park... I know people like meeting the characters, but it would be nice if we didn't have to choose between haiving character meeting opportunities and actual rides in the park... and when the ride count has decreased since 1979, it is hard to call a Princess Hug Zone an "attraction"...
 

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
:D:D:D You have a 1 in 12 shot of being correct.

My uninformed, but educated best guess is it doesn't close until at least a few months after Toy Story Land opens. They just cannot justify $100+ for a park with so little capacity if they close another ride.
I think it is actually more based on when the contract with TCM ends. What you are saying does make all kinds of sense, but if the contract expires before TSL, I don't think they have a choice but to close the attraction,. regardless of if they want to or not. @marni1971 @Lee do we have a date on this? Marie
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
I think it is actually more based on when the contract with TCM ends. What you are saying does make all kinds of sense, but if the contract expires before TSL, I don't think they have a choice but to close the attraction,. regardless of if they want to or not. @marni1971 @Lee do we have a date on this? Marie
It has run without a sponsor for a much longer time than with one. I don't think it would be a problem to remove the TCM stuff and keep it running for a while longer if they had to.
 

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
It has run without a sponsor for a much longer time than with one. I don't think it would be a problem to remove the TCM stuff and keep it running for a while longer if they had to.
That would definitely be a viable option. How much stuff, animatronics, clips etc. would need to be taken out though? It might come down to a question of if the work is too labor intensive versus just shutting the attraction. I'd like to see it stay open, as this park needs every attraction it can get!! Here is to hoping, Mike!!! Marie
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
That would definitely be a viable option. How much stuff, animatronics, clips etc. would need to be taken out though? It might come down to a question of if the work is too labor intensive versus just shutting the attraction. I'd like to see it stay open, as this park needs every attraction it can get!! Here is to hoping, Mike!!! Marie
Just a change of signage, clips, and voiceover since those are the only real changes TCM brought anyway.
 

dm11

Active Member
Princess Fairytale Hall is NOT an attraction...it is a diversion for those who like Meet & Greets, but certainly not an attraction...
I think you mixed me up with another poster. I was not referring to Princess Hall as an attraction but Enchanted Tales with Belle, and I would agree with you on M&Gs.

But I do consider shows as attractions. Things like Indiana Jones, BatB, Lion King, etc are certainly not just distractions. And Enchanted Tales is not (just) an M&G: it combines elements of both a show and an M&G into the same experience.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
I think it is actually more based on when the contract with TCM ends. What you are saying does make all kinds of sense, but if the contract expires before TSL, I don't think they have a choice but to close the attraction,. regardless of if they want to or not. @marni1971 @Lee do we have a date on this? Marie
No date but I'd wager first half of next year at the latest.
 

eeyoremum

Well-Known Member
Sorry didn't read all 63 pages so this question might have been answered. i am trying to go "tech" free most of the summer so only pop on occasionally.

I really like this ride but it hasn't changed since I was 19 years old, which trust me is a fairly long time. No chance they will just referb and change it up?

It seems they are getting rid of the rides that eat a large amount of people at once (Ellen's, GMR) think of what the line up are going to be like. Yikes.
 

Siren

Well-Known Member
Wow. I totally have mixed feeling about this. I love The Great Movie Ride so much but I am very excited about the new Mickey Mouse attraction, too!

At this point, Disney should just tear everything down and build a brand new state of the art attraction from scratch. Mickey deserves a brand new home and DHS deserves a worthy icon like the other parks.
 

No Name

Well-Known Member
I'm really in the middle on this. Whether I'm in favor of it or not depends on how good the Mickey ride is.

If The GMR had to go, I'd be in favor of this Mickey ride in the center of the park. But I'd like to see a tram ride somewhere else, one that's more movie-oriented and more like The GMR than the backlot tour was. Could be human-driven, could have vehicles like Kong. I know it sounds like I'm asking for an old concept to be resurrected, and to an extent I am, but not because of nostalgia or memories. Because it's one of the few ride ideas that could start within the park boundaries and then kind of venture out, making good use of expansion space that would otherwise be awkard to use (like the opposite side of a major road). Oh, and with that, I'd like to see a path that gets rid of the dead end at RnRC. I do enjoy having to walk down Sunset Blvd. but I think a path or paths connecting the right side park would do more good than bad.

Usually if I can come up with some unlikely but neat starting plan for the future, I can be open to an idea. So I'm open to the Mickey ride. I hope it feels natural in the center of the park and hope it's an even better attraction than what it replaced.
 

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
No date but I'd wager first half of next year at the latest.
So this attraction is closing in, let's call it mid 2017. IIRC, the TSL is looking at 2018/2019 at earliest. That is still a huge chunk of time to do without a pretty major attraction that is family friendly and does move a large number of people. I am not against a ride featuring Mickey, and I think it can be a great addition, but again the timing is all wrong on this. If this ride can continue to be run temporarily until TSL opens, I think that would be a better idea, as this park just cant afford to lose any attractions at this point. If TSL was open, rock on and go ahead with the closure, as different areas of the park could pick up the slack. Marie
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
So this attraction is closing in, let's call it mid 2017. IIRC, the TSL is looking at 2018/2019 at earliest. That is still a huge chunk of time to do without a pretty major attraction that is family friendly and does move a large number of people. I am not against a ride featuring Mickey, and I think it can be a great addition, but again the timing is all wrong on this. If this ride can continue to be run temporarily until TSL opens, I think that would be a better idea, as this park just cant afford to lose any attractions at this point. If TSL was open, rock on and go ahead with the closure, as different areas of the park could pick up the slack. Marie
Which is another reason this ride should be going where the Animation building currently is, or say the Sunset Market Ranch expansion pad.
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
So this attraction is closing in, let's call it mid 2017. IIRC, the TSL is looking at 2018/2019 at earliest. That is still a huge chunk of time to do without a pretty major attraction that is family friendly and does move a large number of people. I am not against a ride featuring Mickey, and I think it can be a great addition, but again the timing is all wrong on this. If this ride can continue to be run temporarily until TSL opens, I think that would be a better idea, as this park just cant afford to lose any attractions at this point. If TSL was open, rock on and go ahead with the closure, as different areas of the park could pick up the slack. Marie
It's true... this 5 Ride Park cannot afford to lose another until something else opens... Not sure why they are taking their time with the oh-so-unambitious Toy Story Land... I wish it was because they have scrapped the idea and will be doing something much grander... Even a completely reimagined and expanded Pixar Place, where all of the Pixar Characters have representation would be better... A Monsters Inc. Ride AND Laugh Floor, Luigi's and something else from Carsland, Add the toy coaster with the TOy Story Mania, then maybe something from Wall-E or Up...It could be more expansive than just Toy Story Land...
 

dizneycrazy09

Well-Known Member
They've really backed themselves into a corner with this park. With how long ago that BLT closed, TS could be nearing completion at this point. Instead, we're left with stagnant, out-dated shows, rides, and attractions while construction continues at snail's pace at best.

This is why, with so little to do already and many glaring issues, I am still completely incapable of wrapping my head around the suggestion of the ToTs morph into GotG and the repurposing of the GMR. All decisions that have been made and/or suggested since they announced SW and TS concerning this park have truly left me baffled. None of it makes any sense, and I'm honestly just speechless at this point that this is the behavior of this company.

Think if somebody were to tell you what the future of WDW would be like back in 1995... I'd say you were crazy if you suggested it would be like it is today.
 

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