Is Stitch's Great Escape REALLY that bad?

[Figments Friend]

yeah the animatronics are superb but so are the sfx in the "transformers" movies. it's a glorified tech demo, with a poor storyline, bad voice acting, and no idea what audience it wants to draw in. it's just so weird that it's managed to stay open for over 10 years

My guess is because it's simply because a favorite character is involved.
Typical Guest Average will find immediate familiarity and likely be drawn into seeing a showing.
Keeps the Attraction turnstile clicks clicking enough to warrant it staying open, so....

It's not perfect and it could be better, but from a Animatronic standpoint it can be enjoyed.

 

[Michaelson]

I didn't care for it myself, but mainly because the seat and shoulder restraints didn't fit me or my family when it came down, as we're pretty tall and 'long waisted'. Most of the special effects actually hurt when they occurred, so we were so distracted due to the discomfort, we really didn't care about anything that was going on around and in front of us. We were just glad to be finally released from that restraint!

 

[Blackie Pueblo]

Just a tidbit of information and partly my opinion but I think the Imagineers were in a bit of a pickle too. If anyone remembers the main alien guy that was supposed to be sent through space in the original Alien Encounter is the same guy who was the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A lot of people don't realize that he was busted for child ography or something. Once that happened I'm sure the Imagineers said oh boy what do we do now. So they rushed out a stitch ride since it was the only thing that fit in perfectly in that spot. But I could be wrong and they could have thought that the stitch ride was more relevant in a fantastic idea

 

[Bairstow]

Just a tidbit of information and partly my opinion but I think the Imagineers were in a bit of a pickle too. If anyone remembers the main alien guy that was supposed to be sent through space in the original Alien Encounter is the same guy who was the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A lot of people don't realize that he was busted for child ****ography or something. Once that happened I'm sure the Imagineers said oh boy what do we do now. So they rushed out a stitch ride since it was the only thing that fit in perfectly in that spot. But I could be wrong and they could have thought that the stitch ride was more relevant in a fantastic idea

It shouldn't have been that difficult to shoot the live action components without Jeffrey Jones, or even to simply edit him out.
After all, the original version of Encounter had Phil Hartman before he was replaced with Tim Curry.

 

[Brer Panther]

And they replaced him in Stitch with Richard Kind. And they didn't even give him anything funny to do!

 

[Figments Friend]

I have doubts that was the reason the Attraction was changed from 'Alien Encounter' to 'Stitch's Great Escape'.
It had more to do with an attempt to try to 'tone down' a experience that was far too frightening for many Guests.

At the time when 'Alien Entounter' first opened, it was considered a Attraction that pushed the limits somewhat for some folks.
That can be interrupted as something good ( amazing show, great use of tech, etc. ) or something negative ( experience being far too scary for many Guests ).
I have often heard that it was one of the top Attractions for Guest complaints, mostly for the scare factor.
Some felt it was too intense.
Some did'nt think it belonged in the MK and should have been placed in Studios instead.
It ended up causing a lot of grief for Ops and Guest Relations....so there were plans put in motion to develop a similar 'sensory' experience but remove most of the 'intense' elements..
When the film 'Lilo & Stitch' was released and became a huge, surprise hit...the answer was right in front of them.
Replace the realistic, uber-frightening alien with a less threatening character.

In a twist of irony however, 'Stitch's Great Escape' ended up scaring lots of kids, freaking out some parents, and continuing the previous Attraction's tradition of regular Guest complaints!
So nothing has really changed there...when you think about it !

 

[Blackie Pueblo]

Oh I know I've heard that was the real reason the ride was eliminated, too scary and didn't fit in with the family atmosphere. I just think it was probably funny when he got busted the panic that streamed through the Disney World imagineers.

 

[DisneyJayL]

1996 I got on Alien Encounter and almost messed myself. That actually almost ruined my whole trip. 2011 I looked forward to getting back on that and Stitch was the worst thing in Tomorrowland, even worse than the racetrack. Sad!

 

[180º]

It shouldn't have been that difficult to shoot the live action components without Jeffrey Jones, or even to simply edit him out.
After all, the original version of Encounter had Phil Hartman before he was replaced with Tim Curry.

It's not impossible, but it would have been far more difficult than reprogramming an AA figure. Jeffrey Jones appeared in the main show in a very long, seamless take with other actors in a fairly elaborate set.

 

[tmthomas52]

After being there two weeks ago I can confirm it is in fact worse than I remember it. Coney dog smelled worse than I remember and it was darker than I remembered.

 

[EnergyKing]

At the end of the day, I think it's just not on the top of their priority list right now. It will remain there indefinitely. They tend to only get rid of classics.

 

[Clover Bailey]

Alien Encounter was awesomely terrifying and I loved it. It was one of my favorite experiences in the park. SGE is just...not any of those things. Part of me hates it because it WAS so cool. And now isn't. Part of me hates it because it's just not creative. They modified the scariness out of the attraction rather than creating something new and it just falls short.

 

[DisneyJayL]

View attachment 112640

Yeah, though I was scared out of my mind in 96, I would like it back.

 

[Matt_Black]

And they replaced him in Stitch with Richard Kind. And they didn't even give him anything funny to do!

That's a common recurrence. After all, they went through the trouble of getting Kevin MacDonald back to do Pleakley, and his lines are dry as toast. Seriously, you have one of the Kids in the Hall at your disposal, and you DON'T have him say anything funny?

 

[Matt_Black]

They did better with Flik in ITTBAB.

Well, in a manner of speaking. Flik is very much the straight man in that, and Dave Foley has a bit of experience with that, most notably from News Radio. So while not as funny as some of his Kids in the Hall stuff, I'll say they utilized his talents effectively there. MacDonald was just wasted.

 

[BiffyClyro]

No it's not that bad. Enjoyable enough. Just the chilli dog breath that does me.

 

[jpittore1]

Totally skipped it during our 7 day trip June 4-111...Miss Alien Encounter...need to repurpose this ride again.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

This ride would be better off in Tokyo Disneyland because Japan loves Stitch. The characters would have their voices from the Stitch anime and 90210 would be voiced by Ikuko Tani.

Umm...They did....The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha E Komo Mai!

 

[James122]

Like others have said, SGE isn't awful if you never knew what was there before it. Definitly not one of my favorites though, and certainly not one I would wait more than 10 minutes for. It's certainly a telling sign that every time I go there the wait never seems to be more than 5 or 10 minutes, no matter the crowd levels.

I still maintain that if Universal or any other theme park company had built Alien Encounter it would still be around today - and would be a premiere attraction to boot. Disney just isn't associated with intense thrill rides or attractions in the eyes of the general public.

 

[Matt_Black]

Like others have said, SGE isn't awful if you never knew what was there before it. Definitly not one of my favorites though, and certainly not one I would wait more than 10 minutes for. It's certainly a telling sign that every time I go there the wait never seems to be more than 5 or 10 minutes, no matter the crowd levels.

I still maintain that if Universal or any other theme park company had built Alien Encounter it would still be around today - and would be a premiere attraction to boot. Disney just isn't associated with intense thrill rides or attractions in the eyes of the general public.

I'd go so far as to say if it were in any WDW park beside MK, it would still be around. Let's face it- MK has a "safe" reputation. Even the thrill rides aren't scary. AE was SCARY, at least compared to everything else.