And not so coincidentally, Robert Iger became CEO a decade ago.
The fall of creativity didn't come from Potter, it came from corporate greed from both Disney and Comcast.
Uuugh. It really bothers me when people blame that on "corporate greed." Let me start by saying that companies like Disney exist to be successful. They're not going to do something that makes less money in the end while not making the majority of their customers happier. What you're basically saying is that "IP rides" are more successful for TWDC, and the bosses are somehow being morally wrong for not doing what brings the most success.
The huge flaw in Disney's thinking here is that IP-based attractions are actually more successful. They are often not. Think about Avatar for example. Do the majority of people love Avatar and have a large interest in it? No. It's a dead francise right now. In fact, some people may say "eew no I didn't like/ don't care about that movie" or "me/ my kids have never even see the movie" and be turned off because of the IP connection. On the other hand, do people like dragons and unicorns? Yes, those are very popular mythical creatures that people know and love and have always had a high level of interest in. Therefore, while any quality attraction in Orlando is poised to do well, I think Beastly Kingdom would've been more successful on all fronts than what they're building now. There are other examples as well but I don't want to make my post longer than it already is.
Additionally, movie IP attractions do not have as much of a long-term appeal and will eventually die out. And they do not always fit with the theme and message of the land/park. TWDC also undervalues those. A cohesive theme and message can make the experience unquantifiably better, which in return brings the company more money and more success.
Building only "IP rides" is not greedy, it's dumb. Making too many cuts is not just greedy, it's dumb. Replacing American IT people with foreign ones is not just greedy, it's dumb. Becuase in the end, these all hurt the company more than they help.
You can't play the moral card here because TWDC will laugh at that argument, and this one isn't really a moral issue anyway. When you say what you said above, you make it sound as if building original rides is like doing us a favor or giving us a free gift. In reality, building some would be best for the company as well. I'm glad they're doing that in Shanghai and did in Hong Kong, those were all good decisions. But they should also do it domestically.
Yes, the fall of orignal rides in the US started with Bob Iger. Because when it comes to theme parks, he's not just greedy, he's a bit dumb.
