News 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[MisterPenguin]

What synergy looks like. Movie to attraction to stream to merch. More money.

It's what Walt wanted...

 

[MagicHappens1971]

But what happens when the studios fall flat, and feed the synergy machine gunk that fails to resonate with audiences, guests, or consumers?

For the larger part of Disney Parks 69 year history, they have been feeding the synergy machine, like in the early 2000s when they had bomb after bomb (Atlantis, Chicken Little, Treasure Planet) the studios recovered, and they will again soon.

Also at the end of the day, sequels also feed the synergy machine as it's new content to develop into park experiences.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

What synergy looks like. Movie to attraction to stream to merch. More money.

Disney basically invented the merchandising game. I don't see why any of this is a surprise to anyone, it's just people complaining because the content created for the audiences of today is not resonating with you.

 

[osian]

Disney basically invented the merchandising game. I don't see why any of this is a surprise to anyone, it's just people complaining because the content created for the audiences of today is not resonating with you.

Who is surprised that merchandising is part of the parks? I think you're putting words into peoples' mouths. Did you mean, specifically, creating parks for the purpose of marketing movies?

 

[Timothy_Q]

I do think for better or for worse the themes of DAK should be broadened a bit so the park can adapt and grow while still having a unique point of view, without having to completely throw its identity out the window like EPCOT and DHS have been doing over the past couple decades

If a Lion King ride can't fit DAK, then its themes are too specific for its own good IMO

DisneySea is pretty much universally considered the best theme park in the world, and it has a very broad theme of exploration, which makes it easy for new attractions to fit, as long as they follow the visual language and quality of the park

 

[Andrew25]

I do think for better or for worse the themes of DAK should be broadened a bit so the park can adapt and grow while still having a unique point of view, without having to completely throw its identity out the window like EPCOT and DHS have been doing over the past couple decades

If a Lion King ride can't fit DAK, then its themes are too specific for its own good IMO

DisneySea is pretty much universally considered the best theme park in the world, and it has a very broad theme of exploration, which makes it easy for new attractions to fit, as long as they follow the visual language and quality of the park

I agree - DAK also has a solid foundation when it comes to its core message. No harm in expanding offerings outside of the core themes of conservation, etc.

 

[UNCgolf]

If a Lion King ride can't fit DAK, then its themes are too specific for its own good IMO

I don't think anyone is saying that any Lion King ride is automatically not a fit -- just that a Lion King Fantasyland style ride would feel wildly out of place compared to essentially everything else that currently exists at the park.

That could change once the Tropical Americas area opens, though, depending on what the Encanto ride actually is.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I've noticed that pretty much every single thing I post in this thread is met with hostility.

What a moronic comment!

 

[Mike S]

I'll say this - I've spent years arguing that Indy isn't a good fit for Animal Kingdom. Then a few weeks ago I saw some *stuff*, and now I'm excited for it to happen.

I still think the property overall is a better fit for Studios, and would prefer Dinosaur! be updated rather than removed, but what they're planning for Indy is better than people are expecting. In multiple ways.

I'd recommend you pull quotes for this sort of thing in the future rather than just allowing yourself to misremember, because I haven't said that.

Based on what I was being told was to be done, I was open to the possibility of The Hatbox Ghost in the Endless Hall, execution pending - and unfortunately the execution let me down, as it has many of us. I do understand the reasons for the placement, but I don't ultimately like it.

Indy's inclusion in Animal Kingdom is nothing like that. Their treatment is Rohde-esque and the transformation will be thorough, with notable impressive elements along the way. I wouldn't be shocked to hear Joe Rohde was involved in the development, but at the very least it's surely gotten his approval since he's been back as a consultant to WDI. It's a good take.

You risk damaging others' reputations by suggesting they've said things they haven't, and I'd recommend you not do that in the future.

Or they do a secret 4th thing.

It's not that crazy difficult to find an adventure for Indy that makes sense for both him and the park.

Or if it is, lucky us because it seems like they've found one.

At the moment I’m not sure.

The treatment they’re giving Indiana Jones makes me think they’ve got to be doing *something* to make more sense of Encanto in the park, if only because it’d be odd to make the effort for one attraction and not the other. So if I had to guess, probably? But that is just a guess.

Missed these posts before since I mostly skip to the newest pages these days when I get behind but I hope you’re right. Even if you are I’ll still miss my Dinosaurs. Extinct in the real world, and extinct at Disney World…

 

[Timothy_Q]

I get the feeling the Encanto ride will be a standard book report with no specific ties to DAK, so it can be easily cloned to other resorts (like FEA)

While Indy will get a setting/storyline that feels very connected to the park/land, considering how maleable the IP is, all you really need is a couple Indy appearances and the theme song, and everything else can be original (and it won't be cloned)

 

[britain]

I get the feeling the Encanto ride will be a standard book report with no specific ties to DAK, so it can be easily cloned to other resorts (like FEA)

While Indy will get a setting/storyline that feels very connected to the park/land, considering how maleable the IP is, all you really need is a couple Indy appearances and the theme song, and everything else can be original (and it won't be cloned)

And a boulder!

 

[BrianLo]

Have we had any insider-y commentary on the Zootopia Tree of Life conversion?

That thing felt weirdly 'announced' and was not posited as a maybe. Are we to assume it was cancelled?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Have we had any insider-y commentary on the Zootopia Tree of Life conversion?

That thing felt weirdly 'announced' and was not posited as a maybe. Are we to assume it was cancelled?

It made @Henry Mystic's list.

But with Disney failing to mention it again, either things changed, or, they're not going to change it until after at least Indy is in place.

 

[BrianLo]

Oh I also forgot to swing back around with this from Tom Bricker in response to my query on whether they showed Coco or not at the WDI thing:

"There were a few pieces of art from the non-Indiana Jones and Encanto area of the land. Granted, they only flashed briefly, but they were not just the vague/impressionistic concept art WDI sometimes does to conceal details, and I could not clearly clock Coco in any of them.

It’s always curious to me when Disney flashes concept art on screen but doesn’t release it (same thing happened with EPCOT Central Spine 1.0 in 2017, Reflections in 2019, and more that I’m probably forgetting). I assume it’s because the exact plans for that front section haven’t fully firmed up.

That’s why I equivocated on the Coco part of this post with the line that it “seems to maybe” be part of the reimagining."


I'm still siding on the hoping they saved it entirely for Magic Kingdom, which is an incredibly biased positioning wanting this to not be part of Tropical Americas, no doubt.

 

[Henry Mystic]

It made @Henry Mystic's list.

But with Disney failing to mention it again, either things changed, or, they're not going to change it until after at least Indy is in place.

Unless it was just recently cancelled the show is still changing. I assume it’s still Zootopia but I don’t know the IP for sure. Going off of what I most recently heard.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Unless it was just recently cancelled the show is still changing. I assume it’s still Zootopia but I don’t know the IP for sure. Going off of what I most recently heard.

If they are going to change it, could you let them know I vote for Darby O'Gill and the Little People?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

If they are going to change it, could you let them know I vote for Darby O'Gill and the Little People?

I appreciate that.

 

[doctornick]

Unless it was just recently cancelled the show is still changing. I assume it’s still Zootopia but I don’t know the IP for sure. Going off of what I most recently heard.

I don't really have a problem with it, but I think ITTBAB is a great show and doesn't need to be changed. Just some upkeep is all that is needed. So, to me, this idea always seemed like a waste of money that could be better used elsewhere.

I'd rather, for example, add a Zootopia film to Rafiki's and keep the Bugs as is.

 

[ednamodedarling]

I get the feeling the Encanto ride will be a standard book report with no specific ties to DAK, so it can be easily cloned to other resorts (like FEA)

While Indy will get a setting/storyline that feels very connected to the park/land, considering how maleable the IP is, all you really need is a couple Indy appearances and the theme song, and everything else can be original (and it won't be cloned)

I would like to believe they are developing some kind of Dinosaur adjacent ride experience with the ENCANTO property ... storyline being the animals have escaped and we have to help antonio bring them back. With appearances from the other characters throughout.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I would like to believe they are developing some kind of Dinosaur adjacent ride experience with the ENCANTO property ... storyline being the animals have escaped and we have to help antonio bring them back. With appearances from the other characters throughout.

Development on this ride started well before Encanto was suggested as a property going to BBTM. It’s unclear how long after D23 2022 Disney shifted to the Tropical Americas concept for Dinoland, but it’s safe to say that WDI was deep into development of the Encanto ride.

So the question is, to what extend were they willing to go back and change things about the ride to better fit the themes of DAK? Small things like the dialog are simple to change. If this ride does in fact use the LPS ride system as rumored, it would be relatively easy to make tweaks to the ride path. But I doubt they would want to reconfigure the entire layout of the show building, for example, to support a total rewrite of the story.