Pirates Adventureland???

[JoeRhode4ever]

Ive been hearing a ton of rumors lately... here are some...

(6/1/07) We all know Disney doesn't like to lose... and frankly Universal has been pulling out all the stops so far this year with the opening of the Blue Man Group show, the upcoming Simpsons ride, that 10 year exclusive deal to use Kuka robot arm technology in theme parks and now they beat Disney to signing a deal to bring the Harry Potter characters to their parks.
It kind of got me thinking... other than Toy Story Mania things have been very quiet at Disney lately when it comes to talk about new attractions in the pipe. Certainly you would thnk the news about Harry Potter would have been enough to make Walt Disney World management start planning their own blockbuster attractions.
Time to look in the idea closet and see what’s in the biggest box... oh look, the old plans for Beastly Kingdom at Animal Kingdom. With a second Narnia film in the works as well, certainly merging those two ideas would be a match made in theme park heaven. However.... Narnia is still unproved on the scale of Harry Potter and in this case perhaps Disney could really be thinking about bringing out the BIG GUNS.
I’m talking about Indiana Jones and Star Wars of course. Hollywood rumors claim that work will begin any week now on the 4th and final Indiana Jones film, meanwhile Star Wars just had a big 30th anniversary celebration last week where they talked about the all new computer animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series coming in 2008. Perhaps Disney should go for the One-Two Punch here... finally bring the long delayed Star Tours 2 project to life, tie it into the new Clone Wars era and start work on a new revolutionary Indiana Jones attraction of some kind to replace the old stunt show. It would be nice... but today we’ve got nothing. No rumors, no developments... nothing. For now Disney’s focus seems locked on the California parks and repairing all the damage done under the Pressler era. Bet the Potter announcement got their attention though...

And lookey at this...

(6/6/07) Along with their own look at the Harry Potter madness going on at Universal, Jim Hill Media also has a good little bit of info about a proposal to have Pirates take over of Adventureland. Seems like the Tortuga restaurant is just one of many ideas that would see the the Pirates theme begin at the Adventureland gates and carry through all the way to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride itself. Nothing has been approved of course and shakeups within Imagineering may see these plans being shelved forever, but it including the replacing of the Swiss Treehouse with a new Black Pearl ship guests could explore, a new Pirate version of the Tiki Bird show and even a new outdoor coaster ride that would tie into the proposed storyline for a 4th Pirates film where they quest to find the Fountain of Youth. (Jim compared it to a Pirate themed version of the Raging Spirits coaster installed at Tokyo DisneySea in concept.)

What do you guys think about this? Is it believable?

 

[head mouse]

and now they beat Disney to signing a deal to bring the Harry Potter characters to their parks.

Thank GOD!!!! Disney is no place for HP. Mark my words it'll be big for a little while and then Universal will be left with the mess to clean up.

 

[patsfan24]

How does this pertain to Pirates/Adventureland??

 

[JoeRhode4ever]

Reread the first post... u didnt read the second quote... :animwink:

 

[sbkline]

Ive been hearing a ton of rumors lately... here are some...

And lookey at this...

What do you guys think about this? Is it believable?

I think it's stupid.

I think Disney and Universal need to stop seeing themselves as competitors. They both need to open their eyes to the fact that Universal is not threat to Disney and probably never will be.

Now I'm not a Universal basher by any means. I visited once and enjoyed it and I'm not such a WDW fanboy geek that I have to bash Universal in order to prove to myself and everyone else that I am a true WDW fanatic.

I'm simply observing the fact that Universal is in a totaly seperate ballpark from Disney. Disney has 4 parks, two water parks, two mini-golf courses, I don't know how many resort hotels, over a hundred restaraunts and plenty of activities at their resorts, such as parasailing, camping, boating, etc. and Downtown Disney. There is plenty to do at WDW for a whole week without needing to leave property, but the same cannot be said for Universal.

Universal has two enjoyable theme parks, a nightime entertainment area similar to Downtown Disney and a couple hotels. That's it. Why Disney keeps feeling the need to compete with that, I have no idea. Until Universal acquires 40 square miles of land and begins building a comparable "World" of their own, Disney has nothing to worry about. Universal needs to accept the fact that it is more on the lines of Sea World than Disney. And Disney needs to get a grip and realize that Universal will have to do much, much more than this to be any kind of threat to them.

It's almost like the big stud quarterback of the high school football team feeling threatened by the scrawney captain of the chess team and trying to compete with him for the hottest cheerleader. There's just no competition necessary there.

Maybe that comparison is a little unfair, since I do think Universal is a good place and all. Just not even close to rivaling Disney. And the sooner they both figure that out, the better.

 

[jmmc]

This rumor has popped up before. I really hope Disney does not devote so much to this current Pirate fad that could quite possibly prove to not be interesting to people a few years from now. I'm just not so sure the excitement over the Pirates films will carry very far.

I understand the idea of using the parks to promote films and films to promote the parks, but making major changes based on a series of movies all ready over worries me.

 

[nemobruce]

I could be wrong, and most likely am. There are pictures floating around the internet of Harrison Ford on set of the 4th film from like 3 or 4 months ago.

 

[JoeRhode4ever]

I like the coaster idea with the fountain of youth and all, but i think too much of anything is bad. They already have a Pirates ride and with the new Tortuga restaraunt coming it would be overkill to have more than one more Pirates Attraction.

 

[Champion]

I could be wrong, and most likely am. There are pictures floating around the internet of Harrison Ford on set of the 4th film from like 3 or 4 months ago.

It wasn't 3 or 4 months ago. Filming started roughly a month ago.

This rumor is dated on screamscape (and in the quote) of 6/1/07.

 

[wickedfan07]

I kind of like the idea of Pirateland. :lookaroun However, I think that Jack Sparrow and company should NOT be all over Adventureland. Pirates were "cool" before these movies came out, and they'll probably still be "cool" long after. If Disney adds some generic (or Adventureland-exclusive) characters into the mix, he longevity of the attraction would be improved. It'd be an addition to the story, not just a retelling of it.

Right now, Adventureland is kind of disjointed. We have jungles, pirates and Agrbah all within feet of each other. It kind of makes no sense. So if "Pirateland" will be more immersive and tell a better story than what's currently there, I'd be pretty happy to have it.

 

[dave2822]

It would be nice... but today we’ve got nothing. No rumors, no developments... nothing.

Probably the most relevant quote in the entire article. WDW management is not going to make rash decisions regarding the "next big project." So sites such as screamscape or jim hill may have all these rumors circulating, like the Pirateland, the Pirate water park, Star Tours 2, Indy attraction ... and certainly management may be reviewing these options ... but for now these are just wild rumors to keep the discussion boards talking

 

[michaelcostella]

I really dont think they need to compete with eachother, people like universal for certain reasons and people like diney for certain reasons, neither are going to loose guests over certain attractions. If they are trying to compete with eachother i think they are wasting their time.

 

[Gastons Minion]

Definitely Competition

I really dont think they need to compete with eachother, people like universal for certain reasons and people like diney for certain reasons, neither are going to loose guests over certain attractions. If they are trying to compete with eachother i think they are wasting their time.

I could not disagree more. There is wihtout a doubt that the far inferior park of Universal does compete with Disney. Yes it does have appeal to teens and young adults but most teens are accompanied by adults thus drawing them away from Disney. Are they 2 completely different parks? Without a doubt but to say they are nto in competition is ludacris. Without Universal Disneys attendance, revenues, and name would all be stronger. I think as in most cases this competition is a healthy thing and with Universal pushing the envolope it forces Disney to get the newest and coolest attractions and I think this potential Pirates Adventure land is one small example of such a positive result. No one agrues like Gaston!!

 

[CoffeeJedi]

Too much of a good thing..........

I love the attraction, enjoyed the movies, but I don't need pirates crammed down my throat when I walk through Adventureland. The Alladin spinner already killed most of the atmosphere anyway though.

But still, Disney's midways were supposed be nice relaxing places free from the crass carnival games that Walt found so displeasing. Sure, something exciting might happen periodically, but overall, the excitement was found inside the attractions. I'm picturing pirates EVERYWHERE with this idea. Canons firing overhead, pirates yelling down at the crowd... I just want to get a Dole Whip and sit by those big tikis and listen to the drums.

If they want to sequester the pirates to Caribbean Square, that's fine I suppose, but the rest of Adventureland should keep their possibilities open. Making everything pirate-y would limit the kind of attractions they could build later. When you're at Epcot, in Futureworld, and step into Mousegear to get Epcot or futuristic-themed souvenirs, and there's a big ol' pirate skeleton at the entrance doors, you know they've hit the point of over-saturation.

 

[JimboJones123]

Is Star Tours 2 the longest running Refurb rumor in all of Disney Parks? It passed Westcot a few years after DCA was opened I'm sure.

 

[darthjohnny]

I can't see them doing everything Pirates in Adventureland. I can see them ding one or two of these rumors.

 

[Dukeblue1016]

Pirateland would absolutely be overkill...

Pirates of the Caribbean is a clasic ride, and the Tortuga restaurant will be a cool addition. But then if you took the Tiki Ride (which i don't like anyway...) and made it some kind of Pirate Ride, and got a Black Pearl, and a Pirates rollercoaster... it'd be cool for a little, but the longevity of that I don't think would last very long. Plus what do you do with the Aladdin Carpet ride? That ride is fairly no, and while no its not a great ride thats gonna be bringing people in... its still fairly new and they won't just get rid of that...

I would like it though if they kept it Adventureland and still added a rollercoaster... that'd be pretty sweet

 

[fyn]

I cringed at this topic when I initially saw it, but maybe an idea like this would work as a special event, a la Star Wars Weekends. Have decor and theming that can be put up between park close Friday, and park Open Saturday. That might be cool as a once a year month long weekend thing.

 

[CarlHS]

[I think as in most cases this competition is a healthy thing and with Universal pushing the envolope it forces Disney to get the newest and coolest attractions and I think this potential Pirates Adventure land is one small example of such a positive result. No one agrues like Gaston!!]

I agree. When IoA was announced, Disney planned Fire Mountain and Villian Mountain in case there was a decline in attendance and some say a 10% decline was the "go" figure. To bad IoA didn't draw away enough to cause these expansions to have happened... Well maybe Harry Potter has the might to draw away from the mouse! One can only hope.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

The Tortuga restaurant would be a nice addition but leave everything in Adventureland the way it is. Changing everything over to Pirates would be absolute OVERKILL!!!