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

[sedati]

Most of the mistakes in WDW have been EPCOT in my opinion.

Looking at "If You Had Wings" both in structure and financing and thinking "what if half our new park was just this" was maybe an error.

Looking at New Orleans Square and thinking "What if the other half of our new park was just this minus Pirates and Mansion but keeping the overpriced merch and dining" was also maybe an error.

(Yes this is absurdly reductive but so are 90% of the arguments here)

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

If we must use IP, I wonder why they don’t just make a Lion King dark ride. It’s still an extremely popular IP for the company with another film incoming and it is actually about animals doing animal things. FotLK doesn’t really tell the story so they’d complement each other well.

And Bob approved the remake and new prequel so it’d be a win for him!

Or Jungle Book in Asia. I don't get it either..

 

[HauntedPirate]

If we must use IP, I wonder why they don’t just make a Lion King dark ride. It’s still an extremely popular IP for the company with another film incoming and it is actually about animals doing animal things. FotLK doesn’t really tell the story so they’d complement each other well.

And Bob approved the remake and new prequel so it’d be a win for him!

Wait. Did Bob approve a remake of the remake, or another remake of the original? And what happens to the original sequel and the original in-between-original-and-sequal half-sequel? Where will the live-action remake fit into the timeline? Will the prequel be based on the original, the remake, or the remake of the remake?

 

[HauntedPirate]

Still have no idea what Encanto, Coco, Indiana Jones, or anything else suggested has to do with the theme of Animal Kingdom. But neither do Bob or Josh, so it's full-steam ahead with anything they decide on, because ... money. And stuff.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Wait. Did Bob approve a remake of the remake, or another remake of the original? And what happens to the original sequel and the original in-between-original-and-sequal half-sequel? Where will the live-action remake fit into the timeline? Will the prequel be based on the original, the remake, or the remake of the remake?

It’s a remake of the prequel to the sequel’s remake. Don’t be daft.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Looking at "If You Had Wings" both in structure and financing and thinking "what if half our new park was just this" was maybe an error.

Looking at New Orleans Square and thinking "What if the other half of our new park was just this minus Pirates and Mansion but keeping the overpriced merch and dining" was also maybe an error.

(Yes this is absurdly reductive but so are 90% of the arguments here)

And yet the park was more successful in its first 15 years than it has been any of the time that followed. Which is (coincidentally, I'm sure) when they started to deviate from the original approach.

 

[UNCgolf]

And yet the park was more successful in its first 15 years than it has been any of the time that followed. Which is (coincidentally, I'm sure) when they started to deviate from the original approach.

The original EPCOT also engendered more lasting love than any other theme park, absent maybe Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom (but they haven't changed nearly as much).

 

[sedati]

The original EPCOT also engendered more lasting love than any other theme park, absent maybe Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom (but they haven't changed nearly as much).

Yes, nostalgia oddly does coincide with the age of a thing.

 

[UNCgolf]

Yes, nostalgia oddly does coincide with the age of a thing.

If it was nostalgia, every single theme park would fall into this category -- both Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios Florida, e.g., are very different parks than they were when they opened and neither gets anything close to the reverence EPCOT receives.

It could just be possible that original EPCOT actually was great and people truly did love it, and that's why it gets so much more discussion, call backs, etc. than any other park.

 

[Rich Brownn]

If it was nostalgia, every single theme park would fall into this category -- both Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios Florida, e.g., are very different parks than they were when they opened and neither gets anything close to the reverence EPCOT receives.

It could just be possible that original EPCOT actually was great and people truly did love it, and that's why it gets so much more discussion, call backs, etc. than any other park.

It was unique because literally every ride in Future World was a 15-minute epic extravaganza, filled with animatronics and each was its own little "world". Now they have been replaced with 5-minute thrill rides or IP-filled nonsense.

 

[LittleBuford]

And yet the park was more successful in its first 15 years than it has been any of the time that followed. Which is (coincidentally, I'm sure) when they started to deviate from the original approach.

Perhaps attendance isn’t what you’re referring to, but the numbers complicate your claim a bit:

Your numbers are a bit too high across the board but it peaked in 1987 and didn’t approach the same number again until the last few years.

 

[UNCgolf]

Perhaps attendance isn’t what you’re referring to, but the numbers complicate your claim a bit:

If I remember the data correctly (for whatever it's worth, considering it's not like Disney officially released numbers), while EPCOT did peak in 1987, it drew essentially the same amount of guests as Magic Kingdom in 1988 and actually outdrew the Magic Kingdom in 1989, so the fact that the peak was in 1987 doesn't necessarily say much -- e.g., I think Magic Kingdom's attendance peaked in the late 1970s and didn't hit that number again until the mid-late 90s.

EPCOT finally dropped a bit behind the MK in 1990 (that was Splash Mountain's first full year of operation, which I imagine had an impact, as well as Disney-MGM's first full year of operation), but stayed solidly in second place and relatively close to the MK until the mid-late 90s.

 

[Henry Mystic]

DHS has the strongest attraction lineup behind MK for me personally, but simultaneously it's also the most thematically incoherent of any of the parks. They basically systematically destroyed the original theme of the park over 30 years until all that's left now is just the dressing of the facades with no actual substance behind it.

I've been saying for a while that their most sensible option to restore thematic integrity to DHS is to make it the "non-Disney IP park". Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Muppets, throw all of that in one park. It's actually not that far from that already, but they should be explicit about saying that's what the theme is.

While true, Hollywood's more pressing problem is a lack of depth of things to do and walkable areas.

Lines are all exceptionally long because it's a rides park save for a couple of shows, and unlike EPCOT, MK, and AK which all have many things to do between rides, HWS just doesn't so it has long lines for rides.

 

[Henry Mystic]

I think if Animal Kingdom wasn’t so bus dependent it would get more attention from guests. It’s kind of far from most things and doesn’t have any sort of skyliner, boat, or monorail access. The skyliner between Hollywood studios and Epcot makes parking hopping so easy that you can visit both in one day with minimal interruption. But trying to get out of Animal Kingdom or even to it just takes a lot of time.

And since that park closes so early there isn’t much of an incentive to head there after lunch. I think if AK was located closer to DHS and Epcot or even connected to the same skyliner it probably wouldn’t have as low crowd levels. I definitely think that park needs more rides but it should also be easier to get to for guests.

THIS. I imagine the Skyliner has also hurt Animal Kingdom the most.

Although I do remember hearing transit plans for AK at some point. I just don't know if they're still a thing.

It has also been a long time since Pandora opened, and Animal Kingdom has still needed another major ride and a great night show for years.

 

[Indy_UK]

The fact that Animal Kingdom Lodge only has buses too is a scandal. Skyliner needs sending to there and AK

 

[doctornick]

While true, Hollywood's more pressing problem is a lack of depth of things to do and walkable areas.

Lines are all exceptionally long because it's a rides park save for a couple of shows, and unlike EPCOT, MK, and AK which all have many things to do between rides, HWS just doesn't so it has long lines for rides.

This. There’s a lack of “lesser” rides in DHS to fill out the day. And the shows are largely scheduled at specific times so they aren’t really convenient to just pop in to them when you have time. Only Muppetvision and (I guess) the Mickey short in Sounds Dangerous are continuously showing.

The park has headliners, it needs C ticket rides and some additional continuously running AA or 3D shows (as opposed to live performances) to make touring the park easier and more enjoyable. It also could use a connection from Animation Courtyard to the RNR area to improve guest flow

 

[UNCgolf]

The fact that Animal Kingdom Lodge only has buses too is a scandal. Skyliner needs sending to there and AK

The Skyliner probably wouldn't be a good option there; it's too far away.

It could work to connect the AKL and Animal Kingdom, but it wouldn't make much sense to connect it over to the existing Skyliner. They'd be better off with a different option that doesn't have all the downsides of the Skyliner.

 

[JD80]

The Skyliner probably wouldn't be a good option there; it's too far away.

It could work to connect the AKL and Animal Kingdom, but it wouldn't make much sense to connect it over to the existing Skyliner. They'd be better off with a different option that doesn't have all the downsides of the Skyliner.

Current Skyliner run from POP/AOA to Epcot is 2.4mi

CBR to DHS is .8mi. I have no idea how you would route it, but if you go south about a half mile, the west to Blizzard Beach and the West again to AK it's only a total of 3.39mi from CBR.

Not drastically longer. Though I don't know how you can route it anyway so that could be problematic with World Dr. etc.

 

[doctornick]

The Skyliner probably wouldn't be a good option there; it's too far away.

It could work to connect the AKL and Animal Kingdom, but it wouldn't make much sense to connect it over to the existing Skyliner. They'd be better off with a different option that doesn't have all the downsides of the Skyliner.

Realistically, some sort of modern light rail going from the Crescent Lakes resorts/DHS and connecting to Blizzard Beach and then onto DAK and then AKL would probably make the most sense even though it wouldn't be as "magical". An elevated monorail would be cooler, but it doesn't seem like Disney is as interested in such things any more.

Could also have some sort of a spur to Coronado but as a moderate that seems less critical.

 

[JD80]

If you could convert the hub where you turn to EPCOT from Riviera to another hub and go from there to Coronado to AK it's only 2.26 mi. Though that way you're going over a big highway exchange.