Star Wars survey from Disney

[BryceM]

Dumbo - Repurposed ride
Goofini - Repurposed ride
Little Mermaid - New D-ticket
Seven Dwarves - TBD D or E ticket
Various merch and dining options

Hippogriff - Repurposed ride
Dragons - Repurposed ride
Forbidden Journey - E-ticket
Various merch and dining options

Basically the only reason that WWoHP is perceived to be so superior to New Fantasyland is because Harry Potter is stronger intellectual property than the stuff in FLE. Plus, there's just general negativity about Disney with some of you. When Disney makes "Be Our Guest," the response is "ugh great another overpriced sit down where I'll never get a reservation." If Universal made the EXACT SAME experience but called it "Hogwarts Great Hall," y'all would do headstands about the "new and innovative experiences that Universal is using to beat Disney at its own game." WWoHP has wild success with butterbeer. Gaston's has wild success with Lafou's Brew. People b*tch and moan that Lafou's is a "ripoff" of butterbeer. If we're going to use that standard then we might as well say every park everywhere sucks because it's basically a ripoff of Disneyland. If Forbidden Journey technology were used at a Disney Park, people would still find a way to complain because of its heavy use of screens, which is sacrilege to the AA fan club..

Oh good lord.

 

[Yankee Mouse]

Oops sorry, I must have the wrong thread. I thought I was posting in the star wars survey one.
My computer must be broken.

 

[Tim_4]

I couldn't care less about Harry Potter. WWoHP is superior because it's a better product. And no, Seven Dwarves won't be an E-ticket. New Fantasyland lacks an anchor attraction, which is the biggest of several problems.

I wouldn't say "old" Fantasyland had an "anchor attraction" but it was the most popular land anywhere.

 

[Tim_4]

Are you insane? Can you be realistic for just a moment. Think about what you are saying for just a moment. What you said is that Harry Potter has STRONGER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY than combined Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rapunzel, Cinderella and Mickey Mouse? Do you have any idea how much merchandise Winnie the Pooh generates alone compared to Harry Potter? You have just lost all credibility.

You are taking this way too personal. Let me guess. You love Disney. You have fond memories of Disney. You probably work for Disney and you get a little protective when people give their opinion about a company that has created so many fond memories for you. The fact is this is no longer the Disney you grew up with. Am I hitting a little too close to home? It is ok for people to like other brands. Next time you decide to go on vacation try a National Park or a REAL deluxe resort in Paris (NOT DISNEYLAND!) or New York City. Explore real life and real culture and you will see there is so much more out there than what Disney offers.

I laugh so much when people make comments like "Universal has awoken the sleeping giant (Disney). Some "on here" see it as a war between companies. For just a moment...what would it take for one of them to "win" this war? Putting the other out of business? What does that do for anyone? Now mind you there are people who are Universal fans that hate Disney. 10 times out of 10 the reason why people hate the other company is NOT due to content in the parks, resorts or movies but because they felt they were wronged in some way or another. Disney is going to beat Universal? Universal is going to beat Disney?

TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS: Disney and Universal are MUCH more concerned about Las Vegas, Europe and other travel destinations more so than who is building the biggest, fastest, coolest attraction in Orlando. Harry Potter helps Disney. New Fantasyland helps Universal.

The same way you are giving reasons why people "on here" are down on Disney are the same reason you are so high on Disney. No one is keeping tally.

Lots of personal insults in there but I'll let those slide. To be clear, I don't like Fantasyland at all. Old or new. I much prefer WWoHP. My points were about why Fantasyland was *expensive,* not that Fantasyland is super duper awesome rah rah Disney. A point was made about the BUDGET of Fantasyland versus the BUDGET for WWoHP, and that's the point I was responding to.

What the hell do National Parks or Paris or New York City have to do with anything? You accuse me of being one dimensional but THIS WEBSITE IS CALLED WDW MAGIC. Yes, I'm going to focus on WALT DISNEY WORLD in my posts here. Weird. I must be so uncultured and ignorant.

 

[George]

The discussion has been great, but I feel a full fledged argument developing. Let us all be distracted for a few minutes by recalling that a Star Wars survey was the opening topic and watch this -

 

[danlb_2000]

Oops sorry, I must have the wrong thread. I thought I was posting in the star wars survey one.
My computer must be broken.

If you want to talk about Marvel, go to the Cars Land thread, if you want to talk about Harry Potter, go to the Star Wars thread. We need to start a Pixar thread so we can talk about Star Wars.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think people tend to ignore that Disney has always done this though. Just look at the other Fantasyland attractions - most are based on movies. The original attractions are nice, but they weren't what Disneyland was built on, and there was always a large presence of IP attractions at Disney.

Statements like this simply do not hold up to scrutiny. Look at the opening day attractions. Only something like 24% of them were based on films. They did not make up the big ticket items or a majority. The large presence of branding is a contemporary development.

 

[Funmeister]

Lots of personal insults in there but I'll let those slide. To be clear, I don't like Fantasyland at all. Old or new. I much prefer WWoHP. My points were about why Fantasyland was *expensive,* not that Fantasyland is super duper awesome rah rah Disney. A point was made about the BUDGET of Fantasyland versus the BUDGET for WWoHP, and that's the point I was responding to.

What the hell do National Parks or Paris or New York City have to do with anything? You accuse me of being one dimensional but THIS WEBSITE IS CALLED WDW MAGIC. Yes, I'm going to focus on WALT DISNEY WORLD in my posts here. Weird. I must be so uncultured and ignorant.

You said it! Nothing was meant as a personal attack but I have a feeling I really did hit too close to home for you!

 

[doctornick]

One of the other problems is the fact that the new fantasyland opened incomplete. I believe that if it opened with the mine car and everything else, the wow factor would have been a lot better. I know plans changed (and for the better) but because of that it lost impact in my opinion because of the staggered opening.

Agreed. And they've lost that ability to "wow" with a grand opening (with mine train) since everything else will be old hat by that time.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

The discussion has been great, but I feel a full fledged argument developing. Let us all be distracted for a few minutes by recalling that a Star Wars survey was the opening topic and watch this -

Lol, funny classic stuff there. I always value/appreciate your funny/humor/witty material @ASJHLJ. Geez, could you imagine a scenario playing out like this in the parks. Just like your message at the bottom says: "Never take life seriously. No one gets out alive anyway". Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you. Maybe they could use those ride vehicles from the video and make a ride out of it, idk.

 

[Yankee Mouse]

If you want to talk about Marvel, go to the Cars Land thread, if you want to talk about Harry Potter, go to the Star Wars thread. We need to start a Pixar thread so we can talk about Star Wars.

I know, it is one of the reasons I don't come to these boards much unfortunately. There is some really good info, especially in the news/rumors section but you have to sort through so much garbage that it almost isn't worth it.

BTW, that Cops parody is hilarious, I have never seen that before.

 

[JT3000]

Statements like this simply do not hold up to scrutiny. Look at the opening day attractions. Only something like 24% of them were based on films. They did not make up the big ticket items or a majority. The large presence of branding is a contemporary development.

I'm looking at the opening day attractions. I don't see very many big ticket, or even recognizable attractions that weren't IP based. Just Jungle Cruise and a bunch of small, mostly short-lived things. http://www.yesterland.com/dl1955.html

I wouldn't say "old" Fantasyland had an "anchor attraction" but it was the most popular land anywhere.

That has more to do with Fantasyland's target demographic, not the quality of its attractions. With that said, some of them were probably impressive when first built. Can't say the same for the new ones.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I know, it is one of the reasons I don't come to these boards much unfortunately. There is some really good info, especially in the news/rumors section but you have to sort through so much garbage that it almost isn't worth it.

BTW, that Cops parody is hilarious, I have never seen that before.

Yeah, I'm trying to be more active here, you just have to get through all of the complaining.

 

[NewfieFan]

Oops sorry, I must have the wrong thread. I thought I was posting in the star wars survey one.
My computer must be broken.

That's the thread I started... I don't know what this is now!?!

 

[Sue_Vongello]

That's the thread I started... I don't know what this is now!?!

I'll get back on topic ... while I did make my little jokes and I stand behind my opinion that the survey should be common knowledge ...

It still excites and encourages me that maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'd also wager that the lack of attraction announcements and the timing of this survey are not merely coincidence. Me thinks there could be some shuffling of ideas on the table ...

 

[Funmeister]

I'm sorry but you're just wrong. They had to actually reroute utilidors during the process of building New Fantasyland. This had significant schedule and cost implications. I have actual knowledge of this far beyond "an MK CP told me so."

Tim...you are just wrong.

A little history lesson first...

Most of Fantasyland was built on top of the utilidor...MOST. Majority of 20,000 Leagues and it's a small world...were not. One of the reasons they closed 20k was not only the high cost of maintenance for the attraction itself, but the amount of work that went into maintaining the female Cast Member locker room which suffered from leaks from the 20k lagoon for years. This locker room was partially located under a small portion of the 20k lagoon. it's a small world Cast Members do indeed have to walk to their job location because there is no utilidor access under the attraction. Cast Members who were GOING to be assigned to the then planned Matterhorn (the footers are still behind the it's a small world show building and confirmed years ago by Dave Smith) would also have to walk to their location.

SIDE NOTE: The same goes for Splash, BTM and TSI Cast Members. The closest utilidor entryway is the gift shop called "Frontier Mercantile" in Frontierland.

Now I agree that there was a need to re-develop a small portion of the utilidor to support new construction and to fix problems of the past. When you say "reroute" you make it sound like they had to build brand new utilidors to reroute traffic. Whenever they "reroute" the utilidor for construction, as they have had to do in the past for various reasons, they block a portion off and you have to walk around the other way. No rebuilding...no extra costs.

I understand that there may have had some extra costs but if the costs were anywhere near what you make them out to be there would not have been an expansion. Most of the new Fantasyland is NOT located on top of a utilidor.

I am really sorry Tim that I may come across as attacking you but that is not my intention. I too have actual knowledge of this far beyond "an MK CP told me so" with 20+ years to back it up.

 

[Funmeister]

I think if they decide to add SW to DHS or DLR it will be more than just an attraction with room to spare. I don't see them building out any space to the max with new Star Wars properties in development.

THIS IS JUST AS EXAMPLE: (No truth or substance supporting this example) What if they built a speeder bike rollercoaster and then a pod race attraction utilizing all available space earmarked for SW. Then they release a new movie and there is a scene or scenes that would make an incredible E-ticket but have no room to build? If that is the case then maybe they build attractions, like the new Star Tours, that can be customized for various adventures?

I still think a stunt show like the old Ghostbusters show utilizing peppers ghost effect would be cool. Jedi vs. Sith or something to that affect?

 

[PeterAlt]

Star Wars Land may come 2015!

 

[Cliff Racer]

Then they release a new movie and there is a scene or scenes that would make an incredible E-ticket but have no room to build?

The new movies aren't going to have the cultural cache that the old ones do, not among the general public, not among die-hard fans. They just aren't no matter how good they are. The original trilogy is practically quotable from start to finished due to how worn into popular culture it is. Holding off on a full Avatarland until at least Avatar II is done is a decent idea, holding off on Star Wars is not.

 

[flavious27]

Here's a crazy thought: How about Disney NOT build things based on pre-existing franchises? I long for the days when they created an original, quality product like PotC or HM or EE. I don't really care if Universal uses movies and franchises because that's their bag. If that's what I'm in the mood for, that's where I'll go.

It matters what they are building. Minilands will be themed to existing franchises. Larger priced attractions are not going to be because they need to last awhile and will cost a huge amount to retheme.