Replacement for Tomorrowland Speedway?

[MisterPenguin]

[Fortune.com] One of the decisions you made was to change the approach to managing these big franchises.

Iger: ... I was recently asked whether "Ratatouille" was a franchise. I said no: "Ratatouille" is an extremely good animated film and will be a classic unto itself, but it is not a franchise. You are not going to see "Ratatouille" attractions in parks.
​

On a lighter note, I must point out that Bob Iger (the ultimate insider) explicitly stated we are not going to see a Ratatouille attraction in the parks. He's lost all credibility now!

That's just clickbait Bob for 'ya. Remember when he said DHS was getting a new name? He's totally out of the loop!!!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Rocket Raccoon's Great Escape (using SGE theaters but with footage from Mission Breakout). Wreck-it Ralph's Tech World (Something else probable for TW, but a ride into video games). 220 (221, whatever it takes). World of Wonder (like World of Color). Water Cooler (replacement for Club Cool when Coke pulls out, sponsored by mother nature).

I see what you did there.

 

[Bairstow]

It is surprising to see which franchises Disney decides to turn into attractions. Sometimes it seems like the best fit really does win. Tron fits in Tomorrowland, even if only for its aesthetic.

I use the word "franchise" intentionally. I'm surprised to hear that Ratatouille is going into Epcot. I believe Iger himself said that is a great movie, but not a franchise. And it's now 10 years old, yet here we are.

Putting aside the race to add GotG to the parks as fast as possible, I think seeing support for Tron and Rat are an interesting turn of events.

Check out the quote from Iger (I actually remembered this interview, somehow):

http://archive.fortune.com/2008/04/...view.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008041110

[Fortune.com] One of the decisions you made was to change the approach to managing these big franchises.

Iger: That was the result of a belief that these great character franchises were all brands unto themselves. But nobody was really managing those brands, and decisions were being made in a vacuum. So if we determine that "Toy Story" is a real franchise for the company, then "Toy Story" should get made. Now, you still have to have a great story and great execution - and in the absence of that, you shouldn't make it. And not everything has to be a franchise. I was recently asked whether "Ratatouille" was a franchise. I said no: "Ratatouille" is an extremely good animated film and will be a classic unto itself, but it is not a franchise. You are not going to see "Ratatouille" attractions in parks.
​

On a lighter note, I must point out that Bob Iger (the ultimate insider) explicitly stated we are not going to see a Ratatouille attraction in the parks. He's lost all credibility now!

Someone must have showed him the numbers from the rat plush they move in Paris.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Could WoW be "Wonderland"? Maybe a new are like the Dumbo circus area for younger kids. I don't believe Alice has any presence in the parks outside of the Cheshire cafe or am I forgetting something.

 

[pmaljr]

Lol. If you think $1400 is the best you can do on a plane ticket to Shanghai from ANYWHERE in the states, therein lies your problem.

If it's just too expensive for you, that's fine... But you made it out to be much more than that.

And look... I don't care if you don't want to (or can't) travel outside your bubble. I get that. That's a fairly common viewpoint.

I'm simply saying it's not a big scary undertaking (which you clearly were implying by using things like "political" reasons, passport, language barrier, etc), and it can also be done for quite a bit less than most think. Especially for those that have to get on a plane to get to LA or Orlando anyway. Obviously if you can hop in the car and be at WDW by dinner time, you're one of the more lucky ones.

But were I you... I would be saving those pennies that I don't have to spend on plane tickets to WDW for a ticket to the Far East.

Look, you can believe what you want, there's no bubble here. I'm not trying to fly from ANYWHERE in the states, I'm flying from my airport, which is like what most people would do. I've priced it and told the results. I've priced Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo, simply because of their glowing reviews on here. Like I said originally, it IS more than just cost. Cost plus all of the other reasons I already mentioned makes it not easy at all. We have experienced this, although in a much smaller context, call it a warm-up, from our trip to Disneyland. That avatar I have is from me in Toad Hall in 2010 at DL. We flew from SC to CA for a 5 day, 6 night trip and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, it was a short trip because of the cost and we didn't get to go to any of the other sites in CA that I've always wanted to go to, simply because of time and money. We thought that we would be able to return by now to do more, but it hasn't happened due to various unforeseen personal reasons. If we do make a trip to Shanghai or Paris, we know it will be our only chance at it. The kind of trip to do it right is a once in a lifetime type trip. We'd have to give up vacations for 5-10 years to do it. I love Disney, but let's be real here. Not every one has piles of money lying around to burn.

The original question was why would I like a clone. I don't always. But if the experience is excellent and is a franchise that I really love like Tron, then by all means, I would want it. If people had just sat around when WDW opened and weren't vocal about wanting POTC, we'd had never had that in Florida either.

 

[thepirateking]

I don't mind clones either. I don't see attractions as popular tourist destinations as someone suggested (i.e., cloning the Eiffel tower...). I see attractions as entertainment. Suggesting that attractions should live one place and one place only is like suggesting that films should only be viewed in the country where they are created. Just like films enjoy wide global success today, I think attractions should be shared with a wide audience.

I think another reason why cloning comes up again and again is because we know it is low hanging fruit. We know TDO can be cheap. We know these attractions have already been designed and built once. Everyone wants shiny new things, but I think it is practical to settle for really awesome attractions that are more likely to get approved since they don't require the sunk cost of additional R&D.

 

[hokielutz]

Like a concrete jungle.

There's not enough trees & bio-greens in that space today to suck up all the Methane, Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, etc coming off each of those cars.

 

[pmaljr]

Even if traveling to the international Disney Parks is too expensive... doesn't it seem a little selfish to want clones of all of their rides in WDW? It doesn't necessarily make your experience better, but for the people who DO travel internationally to those parks, it must be kind of lame to see the same stuff across the globe. It would be like saying "I can't afford to travel to Paris so they should duplicate the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in New York." Just my two cents.

POTC is the perfect example of a great experience that people had to lobby for in order for it to be built in Florida. Were those folks selfish too? I don't think so. Besides, you can make the argument that Tron belonged here in the first place. Folks have been wanting a Tron ride here for ages and then they go and build it overseas. We can all go on and on about this. I'm glad it's coming.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Look, you can believe what you want, there's no bubble here. I'm not trying to fly from ANYWHERE in the states, I'm flying from my airport, which is like what most people would do. I've priced it and told the results. I've priced Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo, simply because of their glowing reviews on here. Like I said originally, it IS more than just cost. Cost plus all of the other reasons I already mentioned makes it not easy at all. We have experienced this, although in a much smaller context, call it a warm-up, from our trip to Disneyland. That avatar I have is from me in Toad Hall in 2010 at DL. We flew from SC to CA for a 5 day, 6 night trip and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, it was a short trip because of the cost and we didn't get to go to any of the other sites in CA that I've always wanted to go to, simply because of time and money. We thought that we would be able to return by now to do more, but it hasn't happened due to various unforeseen personal reasons. If we do make a trip to Shanghai or Paris, we know it will be our only chance at it. The kind of trip to do it right is a once in a lifetime type trip. We'd have to give up vacations for 5-10 years to do it. I love Disney, but let's be real here. Not every one has piles of money lying around to burn.

The original question was why would I like a clone. I don't always. But if the experience is excellent and is a franchise that I really love like Tron, then by all means, I would want it. If people had just sat around when WDW opened and weren't vocal about wanting POTC, we'd had never had that in Florida either.

I'm not sure why you're so angry. "your bubble" isn't some sort of put down. And I don't care what airport you're flying from, you can get a better price than $1400. That's the point.

Do as you like. I couldn't care less. You made a post about how hard international travel was (both monetarily and... politically? I guess?) and I simply replied to encourage you that it wasn't as difficult as people think. Dismiss what I say if you like.

 

[Princess Leia]

I'm a huge fan of the Tron flicks and would love to see an attraction based on the films. Make the queue go through Flynn's Arcade (with 80s music playing in the background) and I'm in.

80s music in the arcade queue, Daft Punk when you're in the grid

 

[flynnibus]

Lol. If you think $1400 is the best you can do on a plane ticket to Shanghai from ANYWHERE in the states, therein lies your problem.

First stab from DC area... 1300+ per person. Same dates to MCO.. about $330. Same dates to LA.. about $470.

Now let's compute what an additional 2.5 days of travel overhead costs too.. Leave on a saturday and not have a free day until Monday. Where as both MCO and LA I can leave in the morning and still have half a day or more.

I've traveled all over the world. It's nothing to do with 'fear' of why taking my family of 5 to Florida is in a different league than taking them overseas. For just the cost of airfare alone.. I get a week cruise on Disney.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

First stab from DC area... 1300+ per person. Same dates to MCO.. about $330. Same dates to LA.. about $470.

Now let's compute what an additional 2.5 days of travel overhead costs too.. Leave on a saturday and not have a free day until Monday. Where as both MCO and LA I can leave in the morning and still have half a day or more.

I've traveled all over the world. It's nothing to do with 'fear' of why taking my family of 5 to Florida is in a different league than taking them overseas. For just the cost of airfare alone.. I get a week cruise on Disney.

You have to have some flexibility with when you go, times, etc. If you've traveled globally, you know how to play the airfare game.

Again, I leave from the midwest, and my airfare was less than half of that. It was less than $100 more than what you just found to LA.

Travel days can be a factor. I don't personally have to worry too much about that. obviously traveling across the globe will be a bit more work.

And while YOU might not have fear of traveling globally (as you shouldn't), some do. It's daunting for those that haven't done it.

My post was to try to quell some of those fears and make the point it's not that far out of reach. I'm not sure what the big deal is with that.

 

[trainplane3]

None of which had any staying power. None of which have ever had much merchandising power.

Both movies have not been mediocre commercial successes. Let's keep perspective... the black hole which is widely panned and as a poster child for the failures of the studio in the era... grossed more than TRON. Legacy couldn't get the third movie secured even after multiple attempts.

The most successful part of the franchise has been the 1982 arcade title which really doesn't represent any notable fiscal gain for Disney.

I love TRON. I've used it in my online handle for nearly 30 years. I've read several books on it. I have tron merch proudly on my shelves to this day... but I acknowledge the reality that the story is more fan appreciated than commercially.

Electronica has been the recent success... but much of that has to do with it was a dance party in the park for the AP crowd. They replaced it with the Alice theme and kept none of the tron elements... not even the arcade.

I think Disney sees the marketing potential for the Chinese market. Look at the BayFormers movies. Pretty bad overall but due to China eating them up, they'll keep making them. I can see the same for Tron. Lots of pretty effects, throw a Chinese actor or city in there, bam!

I love Tron as well and completely agree it hasn't had any real staying power, but the Chinese movie market may give it that. I can see this as a minor step into a reboot of the franchise. Besides...I won't complain about having some ambient Daft Punk Tron music playing around the attraction itself.

 

[ChrisFL]

The good thing about TRON is that it's a very simple concept. You don't need to really know much about the plot to understand the attraction. It's just about getting transformed into a computer program and (in this case) racing against another program.

It has a very unique look that IMO ages well, great musical score, easy premise and a thrilling ride.

 

[pmaljr]

I'm not sure why you're so angry. "your bubble" isn't some sort of put down. And I don't care what airport you're flying from, you can get a better price than $1400. That's the point.

Do as you like. I couldn't care less. You made a post about how hard international travel was (both monetarily and... politically? I guess?) and I simply replied to encourage you that it wasn't as difficult as people think. Dismiss what I say if you like.

This is silly at this point. I'm not mad but you keep telling me what it costs to fly from my airport when you don't even know which one it is. I appreciate the encouragement part, but you're just wrong about this. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a way we could do it, but it's not happening without some big sacrifices. Sorry!

 

[flynnibus]

My post was to try to quell some of those fears and make the point it's not that far out of reach. I'm not sure what the big deal is with that.

Your post echos like bricker's in the past. Basically saying 'it can be done for not much more'. Which is true if you conform to certain attributes, freedoms, etc. but not all do. The response to your post (and Tom's) was because you both extrapolated your combination as feasible to everyone unilaterally and dismissed resistance as just not trying.

Sometimes people just don't want to jump through hoops to make something happen... because it may not be as important to them, as it was to you.

 

[EPICOT]

The inside portion of the Tron Coaster looks almost like TT 2.0. Kinda like TT meets SM. No necessarily a bad thing, but just something I noticed.

 

[Daveeeeed]

You have to have some flexibility with when you go, times, etc. If you've traveled globally, you know how to play the airfare game.

Again, I leave from the midwest, and my airfare was less than half of that. It was less than $100 more than what you just found to LA.

Travel days can be a factor. I don't personally have to worry too much about that. obviously traveling across the globe will be a bit more work.

And while YOU might not have fear of traveling globally (as you shouldn't), some do. It's daunting for those that haven't done it.

My post was to try to quell some of those fears and make the point it's not that far out of reach. I'm not sure what the big deal is with that.

I definitely agree with this, and we're actually using this advice to plan an Asia tour next year. Of course not everyone is in the right place, and things do happen, but almost anyone that can afford WDW can travel overseas a lot cheaper than they think. Airline rewards programs can also help, but never say it cannot happen as it is a lot easier than most think.

 

[MaximumEd]

Flexible travel dates is the key. Not everyone can do that. I can with my job, but my wife has patients that come in from considerable distances who made their appointments months in advance. She can't just leave when a discount pops up. It can be done, but not by everyone.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Your post echos like bricker's in the past. Basically saying 'it can be done for not much more'. Which is true if you conform to certain attributes, freedoms, etc. but not all do. The response to your post (and Tom's) was because you both extrapolated your combination as feasible to everyone unilaterally and dismissed resistance as just not trying.

Sometimes people just don't want to jump through hoops to make something happen... because it may not be as important to them, as it was to you.

Yeah, that's what's killing me with that discussion. It's awesome that some people can travel to Disney resorts all over the world, but you shouldn't put your circumstances onto other people. It's great that "only $200 more" is a small amount of money to some, but it's a car payment to somebody else, and most people don't have jobs that just let them travel the world at the drop of a hat.