Marvel coming to WDW?!?!

[Mike S]

I work in a business where we AB test. We do that so we can see what makes us more money. A or B? I just don't blame Disney for the IP situation on NEW attractions. An IP based something will undoubtedly make them more money. That doesn't excuse cheap IP overlays of existing attractions. That is actual laziness. But to deny that this culture will accept a new theme park introduced ride IP and make it into a new phenomenon that makes millions in merch and tv and movies and comics and video games... is... less than right. That is a bygone era. The best you could do is make a ride like Mystic Manor which has a cute character that inspires all the merch and then hope for its entire lifespan they don't figure out a way to put a movie into it or derive a movie out of it.
I think most would say that the greatest rides are all originals and don't rely on synergy. Pirates mansion Matterhorn big thunder. True. But I'm saying that era is gone. That society is gone. That consumer is gone. Those rides are beloved from their history and lots of nostalgia and they are still great attractions, but to do that in this climate would be very difficult when you're talking about an A B test. Mystic Manor for as great as it is cannot be as profitable as say, radiator springs racers selling all those cars toys and shirts and hats and mugs and bumper stickers.

Expedition Everest didn't become movies, tv, games, etc. but I'd say it's done pretty well for itself. Show quality notwithstanding.

 

[NearTheEars]

Expedition Everest didn't become movies, tv, games, etc. but I'd say it's done pretty well for itself. Show quality notwithstanding.

If they ever do get the Yeti functional again, a movie based on the attraction could be pretty awesome.

 

[zooey]

Expedition Everest didn't become movies, tv, games, etc. but I'd say it's done pretty well for itself. Show quality notwithstanding.

Ehh, it really hasn't though. It's joke status around here. They make and I would guess sell very little yeti merch. It's a good E ticket headliner. There are going to be exceptions. Mystic Manor is one too. Those are strong artistic / thematic / creative decisions I applaud. I'm just saying I can understand a business finding more security in a synergistic strategy.

 

[No Name]

It wasn't synergy at all. Many of the included films were box office duds, which is nowhere near the same as only making park decisions based on box office performance and merchandise sales. Similar subjects like winter sports aren't synergy either and the progression of Walt's years was less and less inclusion of prior Studio work.

It was very much synergy. Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, etc were all based around movies, with the intention of the ride promoting the movie and the movie promoting the ride. Just because some were "flops" does not mean no synergy was intended. Also, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes were cross-promoted with multiple, very successful TV specials on Davy Crockett. Synergy was high and in all forms.

Perhaps the biggest example is the park icon and centerpiece, Sleeping Beauty Castle. It opened with the park four years before that movie came out. In fact, the castle was supposed to originally be Snow White's, until Walt decided that he would make the movie Sleeping Beauty, and so he made a last minute change to promote his future movie. That is true, undeniable synergy right there.

Walt was a big of a synergy guy too, he was just smart about it. And he realized that synergy can come from a variety of places, not just movies.

 

[Mike S]

If they ever do get the Yeti functional again, a movie based on the attraction could be pretty awesome.

Make it found footage style of a lost expedition where no one came back.

Disney would never have the backbone to do it though.

 

[NearTheEars]

Make it found footage style of a lost expedition where no one came back.

Disney would never have the backbone to do it though.

That would be very cool!

 

[Wikkler]

They should do a Daredevil overlay of The Land at Epcot...totally makes sense. You can turn Circle of Life in a musical show filled with singing. Seasons can be called Hells Kitchen and Sorian can become a flyover of the city. Makes logical sense.

That's absurd. Daredevil can't see, so most of these are awful.
Put Daredevil in Sounds Dangerous.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I work in a business where we AB test. We do that so we can see what makes us more money. A or B? I just don't blame Disney for the IP situation on NEW attractions. An IP based something will undoubtedly make them more money. That doesn't excuse cheap IP overlays of existing attractions. That is actual laziness. But to deny that this culture will accept a new theme park introduced ride IP and make it into a new phenomenon that makes millions in merch and tv and movies and comics and video games... is... less than right. That is a bygone era. The best you could do is make a ride like Mystic Manor which has a cute character that inspires all the merch and then hope for its entire lifespan they don't figure out a way to put a movie into it or derive a movie out of it.
I think most would say that the greatest rides are all originals and don't rely on synergy. Pirates mansion Matterhorn big thunder. True. But I'm saying that era is gone. That society is gone. That consumer is gone. Those rides are beloved from their history and lots of nostalgia and they are still great attractions, but to do that in this climate would be very difficult when you're talking about an A B test. Mystic Manor for as great as it is cannot be as profitable as say, radiator springs racers selling all those cars toys and shirts and hats and mugs and bumper stickers.

This is nothing more than the idea that 'our day' is different and uniquely special. It is not. Good storytelling is still good storytelling. An A B test is useless to mention because people are always going to be more comfortable choosing what they know over what they do not know.

 

[Bacon]

Yes but that is obviously not the same thing. For one thing Big Hero 6 is under the Disney animation banner. Taking a big Marvel movie like Guardians of the Galaxy is a whole other ballgame....one I do not want tickets to.

They also have rights to use GOTG in there theme parks in orlando.

 

[Bacon]

They should do a Daredevil overlay of The Land at Epcot...totally makes sense. You can turn Circle of Life in a musical show filled with singing. Seasons can be called Hells Kitchen and Sorian can become a flyover of the city. Makes logical sense.

Big hero 6 and GOTG are what they can work with deadpan etc. they can't use

 

[Captain Neo]

You'd have to be on drugs to dream up that the Hollywood Tower Hotel could be rethemed into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

 

[Bacon]

You'd have to be on drugs to dream up that the Hollywood Tower Hotel could be rethemed into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

So they can change the outside to look like a walkman?

 

[Filby61]

...Also, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes were cross-promoted with multiple, very successful TV specials on Davy Crockett. Synergy was high and in all forms.

With apologies for historical nitpicking... Disneyland's canoes were the "Indian War Canoes" from their opening in 1956 until 1971, when they were renamed "Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes" -- long after the Davy Crockett craze had passed. The only Frontierland attraction that had any connection with Davy Crockett was the Mike Fink Keelboats.

There's no comparison between the style and amount of synergy Walt used and the relentless, in-your-face brand promotion of Eisner and Iger. Disneyland's original Frontierland is only one example. The Davy Crockett franchise was a monster hit in the mid-50s, a nationwide phenomenon, and yet the land was called "Frontierland." Today's Disney management would have made it "Davy Crockett Land." Check the lists of the original Frontierland's attractions, shops and restaurants -- Davy Crockett tie-ins were barely present. If today's Disney management had been in charge, there would have been no Mark Twain, no sailing ship Columbia, no Tom Sawyer Island, no Mule Pack, no Conestoga Wagons, no Mine Train, no Mexican restaurant, no quaint shops selling old Western Americana merchandise, no Golden Horseshoe Review -- nothing that didn't directly promote the Davy Crockett franchise.

Walt was a big of a synergy guy too, he was just smart about it. And he realized that synergy can come from a variety of places, not just movies.

Agreed. And therein lies the difference. In the first 30 years of Disneyland's existence, non-branded attractions 'way outnumbered the branded attractions. That all changed after Eisner arrived. Today's Disney Parks are run by the team Eisner built and their appointees, all of whom follow Michael's philosophy that Disney theme parks are "all about turning movies into rides." They long ago crossed the line from Walt's showmanship-style synergy to the blatant brand promotion of consumer product marketeers.

 

[MississippiBelle]

You'd have to be on drugs to dream up that the Hollywood Tower Hotel could be rethemed into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

I've heard that it will be themed towards the Collector's lair/house/storage container/whatever you call that place Howard the Duck is... If it even happens. I agree that the ride itself doesn't really make sense for anything other than a hotel elevator. In what scenario within the Guardians of the Galaxy universe would you free fall at random intervals? I guess that's why I'm not an Imagineer.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Itz all about ra money.......................

Trebles all round.

 

[marni1971]

who said they were considering GOTG in GMR? sounds more like another case of fanboi rumor mill.

I did, for what it's worth.

 

[AEfx]

It was very much synergy. Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, etc were all based around movies, with the intention of the ride promoting the movie and the movie promoting the ride. Just because some were "flops" does not mean no synergy was intended. Also, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes were cross-promoted with multiple, very successful TV specials on Davy Crockett. Synergy was high and in all forms.

Perhaps the biggest example is the park icon and centerpiece, Sleeping Beauty Castle. It opened with the park four years before that movie came out. In fact, the castle was supposed to originally be Snow White's, until Walt decided that he would make the movie Sleeping Beauty, and so he made a last minute change to promote his future movie. That is true, undeniable synergy right there.

Walt was a big of a synergy guy too, he was just smart about it. And he realized that synergy can come from a variety of places, not just movies.

I agree. Particularly since this was long before home video, and before Disney allowed the animated films on television, so the bread and butter of the Disney company was in re-releasing what we now consider "the Classics" in theaters every few years. While I see a later post corrected your Davy Crockett attraction name, it's no mystery that the -skin hats et al that were the big souvenirs of the day were driven by IP.

It's absurd for folks to argue against, as cross-promotion was one of the selling points of the parks since the inception of Disneyland. They practically invented the concept.

 

[Mike S]

You'd have to be on drugs to dream up that the Hollywood Tower Hotel could be rethemed into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

Pixie Dust. Lots and lots of Pixie Dust.

 

[Chef Kronk]

I did, for what it's worth.

Wasn't that plan cancelled? Or is it still plausible to happen at some point?

 

[ssreward]

This isn't a job and I am not being compensated. Not as much as a cupcake ...

I'll buy you one, if that's your thing - I want to check out that cupcake ATM when it opens anyway, lol...but your posts are at least chocolate strawberry level!