Disney Quest to close in July 2017

tribbleorlfl

tribbleorlfl

Well-Known Member
Oddysey said:
I think Disney Quest really could have worked. The primary issue is that construction of the project was about a decade or more too late. It was constructed in 1998, and the golden age of arcades is generally known to be the early 80's. There was a bit of a rebirth in the early 1990's with specific genres of games becoming popular, and producing graphics and experiences that could not be created at home. Now that high powered interactive consoles and VR sets can now be purchased and used in the comfort of your own home, it is no surprise to me that Disney Quest will soon be a thing of the past. I would have loved a place like Disney Quest in the 80's / early 90's. Shame that the idea came so late.
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I disagree with you, for the most part DQ was ahead of the curve when it opened. Until the past 10 years or so, I wouldn't have even classified DQ as an arcade. It was full of interactive and immersive experiences that couldn't be found anywhere else (still does). Arcade/skill games were only a minor feature, and many of the ones they did have were custom-built for DQ.

The problem is, as @fngoofy and others have mentioned, DQ was envisioned to have multiple locations across the country as a means of capturing $'s from Disney fans in-between vacations by coming to where the gust s were. Development costs for new and upgraded attractions were to spread across the locations, and the games were intended to be modular and rotational to keep the experiences fresh.

When the Chicago location never experienced the numbers of the original unit's first years and was ultimately closed, any hopes of new attractions with updated technology were gone.
WDW took over operations, jacked-up the admission charge, filling the place with off-the-shelf arcade games set to free play to help justify the price and closed experiences that were too costly to run and maintain (Geenie elevators, treasure of the Incas, Ride the Comix). The typical WDW operational model. Then it did become essentially an overpriced arcade.

It's really a bummer, my dad was the first maintenance employee hired and lived out in CA for 18 months before it opened, learning all of the systems and equipment from various vendors. He told me they had some awesome things planned that never came to fruition.
 
ChrisFL

ChrisFL

Premium Member
tribbleorlfl said:
The problem is, as @fngoofy and others have mentioned, DQ was envisioned to have multiple locations across the country as a means of capturing $'s from Disney fans in-between vacations by coming to where the gust s were. Development costs for new and upgraded attractions were to spread across the locations, and the games were intended to be modular and rotational to keep the experiences fresh.

When the Chicago location never experienced the numbers of the original unit's first years and was ultimately closed, any hopes of new attractions with updated technology were gone.
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How long was Chicago's open before it closed? It seemed like a really short time from what I remember. Then I think Philadelphia was partially built before it was abandoned.

It just seems like they pulled the plug on the whole concept before it even had a chance to take off and the WDW version was left mostly stagnant.
 
Biff215

Biff215

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
How long was Chicago's open before it closed? It seemed like a really short time from what I remember. Then I think Philadelphia was partially built before it was abandoned.

It just seems like they pulled the plug on the whole concept before it even had a chance to take off and the WDW version was left mostly stagnant.
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I don't think Philly ever got any further than clearing the lot IIRC.

ETA: http://www.citylab.com/work/2012/05/great-moments-boondoggle/2105/
 
fngoofy

fngoofy

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
I am not to optimistic about how this will turn out either, but you really can't compare ESPN Zone to this since they sound like to very different things.
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The NBA Experience here in KC is very fun according to my wife. Her company had an event there and had trouble getting everyone to leave at the end of the night they were having so much fun.
 
Thebolt

Thebolt

Active Member
ChrisFL said:
It just seems like they pulled the plug on the whole concept before it even had a chance to take off and the WDW version was left mostly stagnant.
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The Disney Quest idea seems very similar to the Legoland Discovery Centre, an indoor taste of their theme parks. That formula has already rolled out to 12 cities goobally, and there are at least 9 more in the works.

The scale of the LDCs is much less ambitious, meaning they can fit them into existing buildings with regular flows of visitors: typically malls. All the attractions are off the shelf things, with custom Lego models used for theming.
The investment required is much lower than DQ, the overheads less, but clearly it is working.

It makes me wonder if the main issue with DQ was being too ambitious. A simpler, cheaper, concept might have worked. I would love a local attraction that was more than the Disney Store to go to between WDW vacations...
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
Thebolt said:
It makes me wonder if the main issue with DQ was being too ambitious. A simpler, cheaper, concept might have worked
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I also think it was the cheap part of DQ that killed it too. The standard arcade cabinets weren't anything special and then home console improvements started killing off arcade gaming anyway.
If DQ only had the new innovative games plus a dark ride and a 4D cinema it would have been a more unique product.
I think this is why Merlin have had more success with the Lego discovery centres, they have full theme park style attractions (4D cinema, laser shooter or similar dark ride) plus the mini land models that are unique to Legoland parks. The attractions might be off the shelf but they are theme park off the shelf, not standard arcade gaming.
 
CJR

CJR

Well-Known Member
I don't really see DQ as a failure (in WDW). Considering the lack of investment since it opened, it lived a pretty solid life, probably longer than a lot of regular arcades. For what it became, it had a pretty good run.

The idea was great, the execution of building them outside of Disney's main tourist areas was the problem, IMO. Eisner was so focused on Disney's world domination that he overlooked most areas Disney was already doing very well in. Had a DQ been constructed in WDW, DL, Tokyo, Paris, etc, before going outwards to places like Chicago, I think it would have panned out better. Opening anything in a new market is risky and because DQ was relatively unfamiliar, few people wanted it outside of WDW.
 
Bill Cipher

Bill Cipher

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
CJR said:
I don't really see DQ as a failure (in WDW). Considering the lack of investment since it opened, it lived a pretty solid life, probably longer than a lot of regular arcades. For what it became, it had a pretty good run.

The idea was great, the execution of building them outside of Disney's main tourist areas was the problem, IMO. Eisner was so focused on Disney's world domination that he overlooked most areas Disney was already doing very well in. Had a DQ been constructed in WDW, DL, Tokyo, Paris, etc, before going outwards to places like Chicago, I think it would have panned out better. Opening anything in a new market is risky and because DQ was relatively unfamiliar, few people wanted it outside of WDW.
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It was on WDW property though...
 

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