ChrisH9339 said:
I agree that Stitch is a mediocre attraction at best, but I blame the Disney hype machine for the so-called failures of this attraction. I always considered AE a middle of the road attraction, and that's what I was expecting of Stitch. And that's what it is. It's one of those attractions that gets grouped in the rides/attractions I won't wait in long lines for, but I will do with an extra fastpass or a short wait in the standby queue.
The problem is, Disney turned an animated character that isn't as popular as they think he is into something he's not. Lilo and Stitch isn't Aladdin. It isn't the Little Mermaid. It isn't the Lion King. Heck, it's not Toy Story. Face it, the moneymakers are Pixar these days (and what FOOLS they are for letting them go away). But, when I see Stitch all over the place in pin form, all over the Osbourne display at MGM, and (worst of all) as a part of the new monorail spiel, you get the sense that Disney is trying to artifically generate a classic character; sort of a shoving down one's throat.
With all the hype Disney has affixed to Stitch, how can you not think the ride will be great? That's where I think the big letdown is. Plus, I think another failure is how I'm supposed to feel at the end. We failed in our mission of protecting the prisoner, and Stitch didn't do anything to win us over and want him to escape. I think the story is fine leading up into the chamber-- and even during it, until the end. I left the attraction feeling confused, but was entertained up to that point.
I don't think it's fair to slam WDI, as they have turned out Mission Space and Philharmagic recently... as well as three new rides on the horizon (have you SEEN Everest? that's going to be insane!), even though two are re-treads. A more creative ending would probably suffice to make a complete experience. But, the blame has to squarely go to the marketing "geniuses" who's number one goal is to peddle t-shirts and pins of Stitch, in a contrived effort to make him a classic character. But, if their target audience is either crying after it or calling this attraction "stupid", they have obviously failed.
Erm...if you think Stitch isn't a popular character and that he's only around because Disney is trying to force the public to accept him as a classic character, you've got another thing coming.
Let's not forget how many times management tried to torpedo the movie itself with budget and promotion cuts. And how uncle Mike is still sore at that movie for stealing the audience and box office meant for Treasure Planet (according to reports).
Fact is, the public likes Stitch, disney responded by putting more Stitch stuff out, and it did so slowly. It was a full year after the release of the movie before the first adult-sized Stitch T-shirts came out.
The problem now seems to be that disney may be OVER-responding to that demand, saturating the market, which could lead to a public burn-out with Stitch.
I hope that doesn't happen and that someone at disney eases off the gas pedal for a bit. I love Stitch and I'd hate to see him go the way of a fad. I desperately want to see him continue the longevity he has enjoyed so far.
The overall letdown of SGE does nothing to help deflect ideas such as yours though...that the attraction was built to push merchandise, and nothing more.
If you'll notice, all of Disney's e-tickets empty into themed gift shops. Tower of Terror, Pirates, etc...all of them, have a gift shop at the end to try and take your money from you. Disney is a business afterall. SGE is no different. It empties into a gift shop.
there's nothing sinister or sneaky about that, there's no "conspiracy". That is, no moreso than any other disney e-ticket. They all, hopefully, will push sales of merchandise in the gift shops.
The problem here is that those other e-tickets thoroughly impress people. The merch thing is just part of the exit. SGE is not impressing people as much as I'd hope for, and disney would hope for...so people are reading into things way too much here.
If SGE was a slam-dunk awesome attraction with a huge re-rideability factor, I seriously, seriously doubt many people here would be saying stuff like "It's just there to push merchandise."
Don't let your disappointment cloud the realities. All the e-tickets have gift shops.
