Disney Quest to close in July 2017

SirLink

Well-Known Member
The theatre is the best idea in this thread. Disney should use this as a draw to Disney Springs to take the heat from the Magic Kingdom. Have a one year run of shows like: Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Joseph, Les Miserables, and a selection from Disney. Just keep rotating them so people want to come and use the venue each yearly trip. Have Disney act as middle manager to create Theatre + Dinner packages. Profit!

Also get Andrew Lloyd Webber the chance to write a musical about Noah, so he is preoccupied - to keep him out of the HoL.
 

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
Have a one year run of shows like: Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Joseph, Les Miserables,

... I just threw up in my mouth a little. In high school, on the bus trip either to or from band camp, the color guard decided to loudly sing the soundtrack to Les Mis. You think you know Hell? Hell is listening to two dozen teenage girls warble their way through "Master of the House".
 

DVCOwner

A Long Time DVC Member
The theatre is the best idea in this thread. Disney should use this as a draw to Disney Springs to take the heat from the Magic Kingdom. Have a one year run of shows like: Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Joseph, Les Miserables, and a selection from Disney. Just keep rotating them so people want to come and use the venue each yearly trip. Have Disney act as middle manager to create Theatre + Dinner packages. Profit!

A dinner and a show is exactly what I was thinking of. If they rotate the show every year, I know my wife would have be getting tickets there for every new show. It is not like they have to create shows just for Walt Disney World, there are always traveling show of many Broadway hits.
 

Adam N

Well-Known Member
The biggest problem for them would be finding shows that wouldn't offend anyone. There are so many mommy bloggers that would lose their minds about many touring shows setting up camp in Walt Disney World.
 

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
Now THIS is something I can get on board with! ALW's shows are my favorite :inlove: Disney will definitely suck every last time out of me if they go this route, and I wouldn't even care.
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Allow me to offer a rebuttal.

 

indyumd

Well-Known Member
The going entry point for these kinds of shows is about $100 or so. Have you not seen what Disney charges for it's upsell events like Desert Parties, fireworks showings, etc. Heck, the aquacars at Disney springs cost $100 for 20/mins.

Disney already popped that cherry long long ago when it comes to sticker shock. (and Disney's ticket prices for Lion King touring.. just to have a comparison.. Feb in Durham.. $39-$109)

I had similar thoughts when I recently saw the Mythbusters on tour.. at $80/seat it wasn't cheap and I only took one of my kids because of it. I was floored when I got there when probably 1/3 of the audience was under 8yrs old.. and it was quite common to see a mom towing around 3-4 kids. That's some serious cash drop on something that kids relate to simply from TV and isn't even aimed at juniors.

What people will spend will surprise you.. (which is bad at the same time.. for tightwads like me :) )

Of course there are people who would pay it. And at first, I'm sure there are a lot of people who would pay it. What I question is would enough people pay it long enough for Disney to be willing to invest millions and millions of dollars into building the type of theater they would need.

I'd also add that I'd love to see it happen, I just don't think it will, based on what we know about how Disney spends the money. Now, if they could find another partner like Cirque who would be willing to pay for the construction costs? There'd be a new show announced tomorrow.

A "lesser" theater (and I don't mean that negatively) would be great as well. My skepticism is about drawing a true Broadway quality show there.

The other thing, if they had a real Broadway show at Disney Springs, how could they tell people with a straight face they are seeing Broadway-quality shows in the Parks? Who wouldn't see through that exaggeration?;)
 

RobOttawa

Member
To get back to the main topic, I have a question of ignorance for you.
All the times I've been to WDW, I have never been to Disney Quest. In my mind, it was just an arcade. We have arcades here and I don't care to go, so I never went there. So is there something I am missing? Is it more than an arcade? In my mind I am picturing a glorified Chuck E Cheese.

And on a side note, at DLP when you come out of Star Tours, you have to walk through an arcade to get out. And its a really bad/tacky one. It's just a bunch of run of the mill arcade games and a couple air hockey tables, with no theming or draw, like at a campground. I have to admit it really bugged me. It's very un-Disney and felt so out of place. I hope that is something they get rid of ASAP.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
To get back to the main topic, I have a question of ignorance for you.
All the times I've been to WDW, I have never been to Disney Quest. In my mind, it was just an arcade. We have arcades here and I don't care to go, so I never went there. So is there something I am missing? Is it more than an arcade? In my mind I am picturing a glorified Chuck E Cheese.

Back when it opened.. yes it was much more. A true Disney take on the arcade experience. Great environment, one of a kind attractions that brought scale and immersion, and leading edge stuff. The problem was then the concept failed as a National project, and the Orlando one was left as the only one and left to rot for ever. So all the cool, 'new', stuff became old and dated.. and no longer cool. Older stuff became less reliable.. show effects were shutdown.. etc.
 

FigmentForver96

Well-Known Member
... I just threw up in my mouth a little. In high school, on the bus trip either to or from band camp, the color guard decided to loudly sing the soundtrack to Les Mis. You think you know Hell? Hell is listening to two dozen teenage girls warble their way through "Master of the House".
Oh man I'm so sorry lol.

I really enjoyed the movie and of course the play is fantastic as well. I would drop big bucks to see it at Disney
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
As much as I support the theatre idea, I seriously doubt it would ever happen. The whole point of DS is to get someone else to pay for everything. Unless a third party is going to put up the money to gut the interior and basically rebuild it from scratch, I don't think you'll be seeing any shows there any time soon.

We're far more likely to get something like the NYC M&M store in that space. Or a sports bar. Or even multiple tenants on different levels.

Or maybe just another parking lot.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
To get back to the main topic, I have a question of ignorance for you.
All the times I've been to WDW, I have never been to Disney Quest. In my mind, it was just an arcade. We have arcades here and I don't care to go, so I never went there. So is there something I am missing? Is it more than an arcade? In my mind I am picturing a glorified Chuck E Cheese.

There are a number of video games, but the main draw is the virtual reality attractions. They are decent attractions, but now somewhat outdated. Sadly, they were designed to be modular and replaced periodically over time, but the cost to do so was not considered viable once the national concept of Disneyquest failed to take hold. They also had a few other non-game options, like Animation Academy and Sid's create a toy
 

LSUxStitch

Well-Known Member
If this is true it's good news as I have no idea how they could maintain interest in a single sport that's not really a big deal outside of the USA. Now I could see a an ESPN sports bar with immersive themed levels and weekly events (autograph signings and the like) fitting in well in that building but realistically I don't know how that would hold up long term either.

I know this is an older post, but I had to comment because it's the furthest from the truth. Basketball is one of the biggest global sport, with only Soccer (football), being bigger worldwide.

I was excited about an NBA themed area and a bit bummed that has changed.
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
Yep the main attraction as the VR and interactive games, but the tech is 20 years old now so they aren't so impressive as they didn't update them. Cyberspace mountain is okay, but Sum of All Thrills is a little better. The Buzz Lightyear blaster ride is entirely physical rather than VR and has therefore stood the test of time best.
 

indyumd

Well-Known Member
Yep the main attraction as the VR and interactive games, but the tech is 20 years old now so they aren't so impressive as they didn't update them. Cyberspace mountain is okay, but Sum of All Thrills is a little better. The Buzz Lightyear blaster ride is entirely physical rather than VR and has therefore stood the test of time best.

I think Disney Quest also suffered by launching at the same time arcades began their slide into irrelevance and home gaming took such leaps that there was no reason to go to an arcade. Has anyone under the age of 30 ever considered an arcade as a place to hang out?

Ironically, they are going to close the place just as VR and immersive experiences are starting to make a leap forward and a big comeback
 

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