Predictions! Secret WDC Project — August 22 @ D23

[UNCgolf]

Okay, now *this* is something I can get excited for. I think The Black Cauldron and Oliver and Co. are the two most underrated/undervalued films in the Disney catalogue.

If all you know is the animated film I wouldn't get TOO excited. It was a mashup of plot threads mostly from the first two books of the Chronicles (The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron) but wasn't very faithful to either, or to the characters therein. Lloyd Alexander (the author of the novels) had this quote about the movie: "First, I have to say, there is no resemblance between the movie and the book. Having said that, the movie in itself, purely as a movie, I found to be very enjoyable. I had fun watching it. What I would hope is that anyone who sees the movie would certainly enjoy it, but I'd also hope that they'd actually read the book. The book is quite different. It's a very powerful, very moving story, and I think people would find a lot more depth in the book."

I assume they plan on developing a more faithful adaptation since they picked up rights to the full pentalogy. They really are fantastic books, though, and they're not very long so a faithful adaptation shouldn't require a ton of edits. If they do go with just a live action remake of The Black Cauldron film, they'll be missing an opportunity for what could be a highly successful series.

 

[Villains0501]

Now see that's one live-action treatment I'd LIKE to see! Stuff more obscure that has a chance at redemption.

Exactly! This is the right approach to these remakes - revisit and revise the imperfect ones, not the prestige films. You can't improve upon Beauty, Aladdin, Lion King without risking narrative bloat, so don't try. Remake Hunchback, Mulan, Black Cauldron - all films well suited to the live action medium. I'm still angry about them green lighting a Snow White remake. That was Walt's masterpiece, please don't touch that one...

 

[bubbles1812]

Okay, now *this* is something I can get excited for. I think The Black Cauldron and Oliver and Co. are the two most underrated/undervalued films in the Disney catalogue.

The Black Cauldron is ironically the one movie in the Disney canon I truly loath. The Horned King made for an awesome villain but Taran was a whiny selfish awful protagonist. And ohhh Gurgie... even as a kid, I wished he’d stayed dead. Every time he was on screen, I wanted to kick him, haha. It’s still a joke in my family to say munchies and crunchies when we want to annoy each other. Eilonwy was the only ok character.

If they were actually faithful to the books... that’s something I might actually be willing to watch. I feel like it might be a better streaming/tv show than a movie series, given its relative obscurity nowadays.

 

[larryz]

I'll drink to that!

 

[chimchimcheree]

The Black Cauldron is ironically the one movie in the Disney canon I truly loath. The Horned King made for an awesome villain but Taran was a whiny selfish awful protagonist. And ohhh Gurgie... even as a kid, I wished he’d stayed dead. Every time he was on screen, I wanted to kick him, haha. It’s still a joke in my family to say munchies and crunchies when we want to annoy each other. Eilonwy was the only ok character.

If they were actually faithful to the books... that’s something I might actually be willing to watch. I feel like it might be a better streaming/tv show than a movie series, given its relative obscurity nowadays.

I would sell a limb for a faithful adaptation of the book series, like the mini-series for The Golden Compass. Sometimes these books just aren't meant to be condensed into a movie. (See also: Eragon)

 

[WDWbuff2001]

Probably something to blow Universal out of the way, with the "fourth park" as Universal claims..

 

[bcoachable]

A bit late to the party on this response, but had to share!!
My family would take in a couple
Of the “Up with People” performers when they would swing through town every year or so and house them, feed them, entertain them when they weren’t performing, drive em around... I think we did this through our church or something. Very fun to hang out with them and listen to their experiences. Hadn’t heard about them in years! Thanks for the flash back, @lentesta!

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Probably something to blow Universal out of the way, with the "fourth park" as Universal claims..

I know that people feel that Volcano Bay isn't a true 3rd gate because it's a waterpark and I do agree to an extent but, to me, it's more of a true gate than Typhoon or Blizzard.

I don't know why, but when I go to WDW, it's primarily for the 4 theme parks and if we can slide in a day at a waterpark we will...but if we don't, we don't feel as if we missed anything. When I go and do a UOR only trip, I find myself at Volcano Bay more than the other two parks (and definitely more than USF).

I'm actually heading down there early tomorrow morning and planning on heading right over to VB... maybe because it's so close to Cabana Bay and it's easier to just pop in?

 

[tl77]

"EVEN MORE DVCs AROUND SEVEN SEAS LAGOON!"

 

[DDLand]

I wonder if it’s something environmental, like going carbon neutral by a certain year. I don’t know if that’s possible with the cruise ships, but maybe they could offset that somehow.

This is a underrated comment. I could totally see them taking an hour to talk about their corporate values. They could recap all their initiatives related to the environment, educating cast members, and inclusion. Then pivoting towards the future with updates in all key areas. Announcing things related to diversity and environmental targets would be right on point for them.

Using the D23 buzz to get this message carried out would be smart, especially with some of the negative headlines that have come out related to Disneyland salaries...

 

[larryz]

This is a underrated comment. I could totally see them taking an hour to talk about their corporate values. They could recap all their initiatives related to the environment, educating cast members, and inclusion. Then pivoting towards the future with updates in all key areas. Announcing things related to diversity and environmental targets would be right on point for them.

Using the D23 buzz to get this message carried out would be smart, especially with some of the negative headlines that have come out related to Disneyland salaries...

So you think they're going to tout their switch to paper straws, then...?

 

[solidyne]

This is a underrated comment. I could totally see them taking an hour to talk about their corporate values. They could recap all their initiatives related to the environment, educating cast members, and inclusion. Then pivoting towards the future with updates in all key areas. Announcing things related to diversity and environmental targets would be right on point for them.

Using the D23 buzz to get this message carried out would be smart, especially with some of the negative headlines that have come out related to Disneyland salaries...

Could be, especially given what @lentesta heard. But why would this require (a) a "secret" and (b) a separate announcement to reveal the topic? It easily could have been written into the schedule.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Disney is going to announce that like Universal they will now count their water parks as Theme Parks.

Which will mean there will now be a total of 6 Disney Theme Parks at WDW which is 50% more than the current 4 Theme Parks.

Therefore all tickets, passes, parties, snacks, hotel rooms, parking, souvenirs, etc will immediately increase in price by 50%.

Have a Magical day!

Don't forget Disney Springs and the 2 mini-golf courses.

 

[Progress.City]

It's already been said that there will be EPCOT announcements. So, I'm expecting maybe Imagination, maybe new countries (such as Brazil), maybe an e-ticket in an existing country (such as Mary Poppins in the UK), but we were expecting this any way. So, it has to be a fifth park, considering the timing with Uni.

 

[SirLink]

Disney is going to announce that like Universal they will now count their water parks as Theme Parks.

Which will mean there will now be a total of 6 Disney Theme Parks at WDW which is 50% more than the current 4 Theme Parks.

Therefore all tickets, passes, parties, snacks, hotel rooms, parking, souvenirs, etc will immediately increase in price by 50%.

Have a Magical day!

They already do that for European/UK adverts since I believe January of this year

 

[Parker41056]

I just can't see this as 5th park announcement. Too many moving parts in the planning process for nothing to be leaked. Also can't see Disney announcing a buyout of other brand (EA/Activision, etc.) as Wall Street would have sniffed this out. Also of note, this presentation is planned for Stage 28.. Is this the smaller venue and Hall D23 is where the larger presentations would be? A 5th park conversation would be reserved for the larger hall. A few things behind the scene I think may be brewing and could be the announcement are:

1) Disney/Universal agreement on IP Swap.. Marvel for Alien/Predator/Apes type of thing.. Although, I can't see Universal not letting something like this slip so this would be highly unlikely
2) Fox property integration in the theme parks.
3) Major expansion/land at DAK
4) New Waterpark or significant upgrades. Ice Age re-skin
5) New stay/play/shop resort area.. Maybe like a mall with some attractions/hotel, first to market shops/restaurants and indoor/outdoor warter park
6) Large expansion to Magic Kingdom - Fire Mountain or Villains time!
7) Stove is getting hotter on an Indy Land at either DAK or DHS and whatever they announce for the future of Dino Land.

Also, it's totally possible that whatever they announce is actually on most of this group's radar and will be a let down as far as a 'secret'.. Could be a partial stunt to build a little hype given the poor earnings release earlier this week.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Is there even a slight possibility of them considering another international park??

 

[Ravenclaw78]

I suppose it's the nature of this board being WDW-focused, but a lot of folks here are being extremely myopic. It's unlikely to be anything Parks-related at all, much less an expansion or fifth gate at WDW. The Walt Disney Company is so vastly larger than the theme parks, and they've already got a huge slate of Parks announcements scheduled. There's simply no way anything with the budget of a fifth gate wouldn't have been mentioned in an SEC filing or earnings call by now, and leaked six ways from Sunday on Internet message boards. I've said before that my bet is on some new twist on AR/VR, either in the consumer space or retail experiences like the Void, but we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Is there even a slight possibility of them considering another international park??

After the Shanghai debacle? I'm no insider, but the chances of Iger green-lighting another international theme park are about as likely as Ellen's Energy Adventure being rebuilt.

 

[UNCgolf]

1) Disney/Universal agreement on IP Swap.. Marvel for Alien/Predator/Apes type of thing.. Although, I can't see Universal not letting something like this slip so this would be highly unlikely

I don't know why Universal would do this anyways. Their Spider-Man ride is considered one of the best at Universal (if not one of the better attractions at any park worldwide); why would they want to give that up and have to tear it down? Plus they'd have to retheme everything in the Marvel area, which would be a large expense. It would also allow Disney to start building Marvel properties at WDW, which would probably pull guests away from Universal and to WDW. I don't think IP like Alien and Predator are valuable enough for Universal to make that kind of swap; it just doesn't seem like it would make business sense to me.

Of course, I hope this never happens for selfish reasons -- although I enjoy the MCU, I don't really care about any Marvel rides, and I'm terrified what Disney would do if they had free rein to start shoving Marvel characters into every corner of the parks.