And I’d support removal of the Jungle Cruise, too. So long as what replaces it is state of the art, immersive, and amazing - something that will please 90%+ for decades to come.
These parks aren’t museums. They are businesses. Always have been.
That’s an incredibly shallow understanding of the Disney parks, but in your defense, it’s one I suspect the company’s executives share.
The parks ARE businesses. But they are businesses whose success is based on public perception of a very complicated brand, a brand historically linked to a complex combination of nostalgia, a coherent, optimistic worldview, unparelleld artistry, and other elements the vast majority of companies don’t need to worry about. Disney isn’t making widgets, as much as they might like to be.
The parks are businesses. But they are also works of art. Deeply significant elements of both American and international pop culture. In the case of DL and, to a much lesser extent, WDW, historic landmarks. Disney management seems to wish they weren’t those things, but they are, and that is a part of their huge success.
But you’re right in that despite all that they shouldn’t be museums. But glibly inviting replacement attractions at WDW ignores the key facts that 1) all the parks desperately need more capacity and 2) Disney’s track record with replacement attractions is horrendously bad. Embarrassments like Imagination and Mission: Space are monuments to this. Since ToT 25 years ago, Disney has managed to construct a total of two classic rides - RSR and AKs Safari, and the latter has gone through more then its share of growing pains.
I look forward to MMRR, but the fact remains that we lost an AA-driven masterpiece in favor of an entirely screen based attraction. Screens seem to be “state-of-the-art” right now - witness Rat, Falcon, and MMRR - but that doesn’t necessarily make them better then what went before. And I very much doubt that screen-based rides will please crowds for “decades” - I’d be willing to bet that much of what WDW is currently building will look archaic in less then 15 years.
