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

[SpectreJordan]

I was surprised because merch is such a profit driver for them. I figured a property like Toy Story they would especially want to capitalize on.

It's probably some immersion reason, even though that land isn't particularly immersive. Why would toys be selling merch?

I’m actually a little surprised with Indy 5 bombing at the box office that they are still moving forward with bringing Indy to AK. When Star Wars was brought to the parks, the brand hadn’t yet endured a shellacking and it brought absolutely massive crowds.

I kind of thought they would want to replicate the boost in attendance numbers that Pandora and Galaxys edge brought with putting in popular IP. But after looking at how all of their movies have been performing, not sure what they consider to be a popular IP lol

Maybe they actually did some self-reflection & realized that their own stupid decisions (many of them with that movie) is why it bombed. It'd be stupid to throw that franchise away because Disney personally screwed up. Realistically, I doubt they'd do some self-reflection, but they seriously need to after their box office performances this year.

The other 4 movies were usually some of the top grossing movies of their release years; Raiders & Crusade were the highest grossing of their years & two of the biggest movies ever at the time. Even Crystal Skull was number 2 behind The Dark Knight back in 2008. The fact that this one bombed is a result of a ton of poor decisions Disney made with it.

 

[SteveAZee]

I feel the same way.
Granted, Indiana Jones (the first two) are films for the ages.
But... To announce in 2023 "Hey, we're getting rid of Dinosaurs in Animal Kingdom and replacing them with an Indiana Jones ride!" when the current film was a disaster strikes me wrong.

Swapping one dinosaur for another?

Personally, I liked the latest IJ movie... certainly more than the previous one. I would guess that since it's a known brand and the character is so well recognized, the last movie's success/failure doesn't weigh as much as one think it should. I'm guessing that if/when the Indy attraction is built and exists for 20 or so years, it's about the brand and the character, not the box office performance of the last (one assumes) Harrison Ford film.

 

[MR.Dis]

I feel the same way.
Granted, Indiana Jones (the first two) are films for the ages.
But... To announce in 2023 "Hey, we're getting rid of Dinosaurs in Animal Kingdom and replacing them with an Indiana Jones ride!" when the current film was a disaster strikes me wrong.

The switching is due to the existing ride system in the Indy ride in Disneyland is the same ride system used on Dinosaur in AK. So it is a lot CHEAPER than designing a whole new ride based on whatever else they decide to bring to AK. By the way, I have been on the Indy ride (way back around 2005) and it was terrific so not a bad change if it happens.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The switching is due to the existing ride system in the Indy ride in Disneyland is the same ride system used on Dinosaur in AK. So it is a lot CHEAPER than designing a whole new ride based on whatever else they decide to bring to AK. By the way, I have been on the Indy ride (way back around 2005) and it was terrific so not a bad change if it happens.

Plus it is guaranteed to be popular. The company is not about to take any big risks in the parks. But a relatively-cheap update to a ride that needs to be refurbished anyway and can be marketed as a “new ride” even though it’s been around for 30 years and is quite popular? Easy sell.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I’m actually a little surprised with Indy 5 bombing at the box office that they are still moving forward with bringing Indy to AK. When Star Wars was brought to the parks, the brand hadn’t yet endured a shellacking and it brought absolutely massive crowds.

I kind of thought they would want to replicate the boost in attendance numbers that Pandora and Galaxys edge brought with putting in popular IP. But after looking at how all of their movies have been performing, not sure what they consider to be a popular IP lol

Galaxy's Edge boosted DHS attendance? Must be some fuzzy math going on there because 2022 DHS numbers (10.9 million) are still below 2019 (11.48 million), when GE was still just a Bob Iger tweet away from being announced as open.

 

[celluloid]

It is a sad state when one of the biggest attraction situation for WDW is a rethemed ride of one that is 30 years old.

If you like Indy better, fine, many do. But that is quite the statement that it is what is coming to big a big change to the park.

That I feel is the crux. It is not like Tokyo Disney Sea where in less than ten years later from the ground up in a new setting to compliment a theme park's other many E Tickets.

This is a retheme.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Plus it is guaranteed to be popular. The company is not about to take any big risks in the parks. But a relatively-cheap update to a ride that needs to be refurbished anyway and can be marketed as a “new ride” even though it’s been around for 30 years and is quite popular? Easy sell.

Very sad yet spot-on.

"New ride capacity? We don't need no stinking new ride capacity!"

 

[celluloid]

Also, I don't think the current Disney budgeting and upkeep could be trusted to create or operate most of DL's or TDL's effects.

As mentioned earlier, capacity will be even worse for a long time if this and Tree of Life are closed for awhile. It won't even be worth the sum of the result for all the downtime and neglect to new venues the park will face for years.

 

[Incomudro]

It is a sad state when one of the biggest attraction situation for WDW is a rethemed ride of one that is 30 years old.

If you like Indy better, fine, many do. But that is quite the statement that it is what is coming to big a big change to the park.

That I feel is the crux. It is not like Tokyo Disney Sea where in less than ten years later from the ground up in a new setting to compliment a theme park's other many E Tickets.

This is a retheme.

And the lazyness of this irritates me.
I just know it went - "Well... Indiana Jones is on the same ride system as Dinosaur."
"So... We can retheme Dinosaur to Indy, and it'll work because the crumbly looking buildings are similar to other crumbly looking buildings in Animal Kingdom!"
"The park goers will accept that, and we've already got the ride in California."

 

[celluloid]

And the lazyness of this irritates me.
I just know it went - "Well... Indiana Jones is on the same ride system as Dinosaur."
"So... We can retheme Dinosaur to Indy, and it'll work because the crumbly looking buildings are similar to other crumbly looking buildings in Animal Kingdom!"
"The park goers will accept that, and we've already got the ride in California."

Exactly what is happening.

 

[J4546]

imo Indy is one of the best rides ever made and Im glad to see it (hopefully) coming to AK as part of a south american continent transformation. I would like to see another one off ride added to the land, a flume or something water based to go along with the indy, encanto darkride, and smaller spinner. But I really do like the concept art of this new area. If I could, Id still like to have DInosaur exhibits in each continent with fossils and stuff.

 

[KDM31091]

It's kind of crazy that the best they can come up with is a retheme based on a 30 year old ride. Yes, it's most likely cost effective, but is it really going to be that huge of a draw as compared to Dinosaur? Dinosaur still gets plenty of guests. Why not just put the money in and fix Dinosaur up?

 

[TheIceBaron]

Galaxy's Edge boosted DHS attendance? Must be some fuzzy math going on there because 2022 DHS numbers (10.9 million) are still below 2019 (11.48 million), when GE was still just a Bob Iger tweet away from being announced as open.

Seeing as how GE opened at least partially for a good chunk of 2019 (with Toy Story land also being recently opened) explains perfectly why it had better attendance than 2022. By 2022 GE was no longer new. I also imagine if you looked at Jan and Feb 2020 those monthly numbers were probably better than previous years. Pandora also clearly increased AK attendance.

 

[Fox&Hound]

Indy is MUCH better ride than Dinosaur in every way. I think it will bring the crowds and people will be excited to ride it.

 

[Incomudro]

Indy is MUCH better ride than Dinosaur in every way. I think it will bring the crowds and people will be excited to ride it.

It does seem to be a better ride than Dinosaur, even though it's on the same track.
Still doesn't belong in AK.
Dinosaurs do belong in Animal Kingdom.
Disney doesn't care anymore, and as you said - neither do you and a large portion of park goers.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Seeing as how GE opened at least partially for a good chunk of 2019 (with Toy Story land also being recently opened) explains perfectly why it had better attendance than 2022. By 2022 GE was no longer new. I also imagine if you looked at Jan and Feb 2020 those monthly numbers were probably better than previous years. Pandora also clearly increased AK attendance.

Even going back to 2018 attendance was only up 500k. Not even close to what Pandora did for AK. GE was basically a dud for attendance, because the location was completely made up (zero connection for 99.9% of guests), the lack of other things to do that aren’t shopping when it opened (remember that Rise was VQ-only, so if you didn’t get one it was MF and done), and lack of overall kinetics. Yeah, it looks good, especially at night, but once you’ve done Rise… what else is there?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Even going back to 2018 attendance was only up 500k. Not even close to what Pandora did for AK. GE was basically a dud for attendance, because the location was completely made up (zero connection for 99.9% of guests), the lack of other things to do that aren’t shopping when it opened (remember that Rise was VQ-only, so if you didn’t get one it was MF and done), and lack of overall kinetics. Yeah, it looks good, especially at night, but once you’ve done Rise… what else is there?

Even if Galaxy’s Edge was the expected draw it still would have been a dud for attendance because, despite spending billions on it, the park can’t really handle many more people.

 

[erasure fan1]

It's kind of crazy that the best they can come up with is a retheme based on a 30 year old ride.

I don't know, it seems fairly right on the money for Iger and crew.

 

[rle4lunch]

You guys clamoring that Dinosaur should stay are probably the ones who thought that Maelstrom was a good attraction as well. While I hate the cheapness that Disney uses on some things, the Indy overlay is smart. I can only hope that it has upgraded effects and a different storyline than DLs

 

[LSLS]

Even if Galaxy’s Edge was the expected draw it still would have been a dud for attendance because, despite spending billions on it, the park can’t really handle many more people.

THIS. This is why I never bought the idea that it was going to be this giant increase in attendance people predicted.