Rumor Stitch's Great Escape Replacement— Don’t Hold Your Breath

[WDWTank]

Did the restraints push hard on Alien Encounter? Maybe that’s how it was perceived as “too scary”.

 

[WDWTank]

Disney needs to hire you as an Imagineer.

Thanks! That’s what I want to do for a career, becoming a themed entertainment designer and making sure all guests can have their dreams come true.

 

[WDWTank]

Here’s a concept image of what a fully realized Sci-fi themed land could look like. There are plenty of odds and ends missing, but it still provides a vague experience as to what an environment could look like.

 

[TwilightZone]

Did the restraints push hard on Alien Encounter? Maybe that’s how it was perceived as “too scary”.

I don't know if they did, since I wasn't around for it, but judging by video alone, I think it was more than just that that made it too scary.
But personally, the original, opening day version was worse.

 

[WDWTank]

I don't know if they did, since I wasn't around for it, but judging by video alone, I think it was more than just that that made it too scary.
But personally, the original, opening day version was worse.

I wasn’t around either

 

[TwilightZone]

I blame alien encounter's failure on a lot of things, but I think the ultimate nail in the coffin was the poor advertising. First of all, there doesn't seem to be a lot of ads for the ride, and the ones that do exist either don't go into full detail about how scary the ride is or are kind of misleading.
Example of kind of misleading: regis

 

[JEANYLASER]

I would like to see the Incredibles ride in Tomorrowland to replace Stitch's greatest Escape. I hope

 

[WDWTank]

I blame alien encounter's failure on a lot of things, but I think the ultimate nail in the coffin was the poor advertising. First of all, there doesn't seem to be a lot of ads for the ride, and the ones that do exist either don't go into full detail about how scary the ride is or are kind of misleading.
Example of kind of misleading: regis

If only I could experience Alien Encounter.... I was just too young at the time, not even conceived at first.

 

[whiterhino42]

False report from the Site of Falsehoodity.

It is, as far as Disney official statements go, still in seasonal mode, even if that may not actually be the case since they didn't open it this Easter.

Good to know, thanx. I didn't understand how nothing was better than Stitch...I mean I know it's not loved but still.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Good to know, thanx. I didn't understand how nothing was better than Stitch...I mean I know it's not loved but still.

From what insiders were intimating, it was so disliked by guests, it was dragging down overall park enjoyment. Not to mention dealing with the freak-outs. Compared to that... nothing is indeed better.

 

[marni1971]

Did the restraints push hard on Alien Encounter? Maybe that’s how it was perceived as “too scary”.

No harder than SGE.

I blame alien encounter's failure on a lot of things..

Blame it on one thing - complaints from people who ignored the numerous warnings.

 

[tonymu]

I would say that overall I liked Alien Encounter. While I understood and enjoyed the effects the harness gave, I always hated the physical harness. I don't like being so constrained. It took me a while to find the sweet spot of sitting up in the seat just enough that when the harness came down, bumped your shoulders and then adjusted up a bit they would be high enough to not feel constrained but could be felt for the effects. I had a young nephew who was terrified by the attraction the first time we went and would go into tears anytime we mentioned going back (for years). He never went again and would wait outside. It was kinda sad when you realized how many terrified people there really were in the theater and how many more of the screams were real than the sound sound effects.

 

[Princess Leia]

I don't know if they did, since I wasn't around for it, but judging by video alone, I think it was more than just that that made it too scary.
But personally, the original, opening day version was worse.

I need to watch this when I get home after work.

It was kinda sad when you realized how many terrified people there really were in the theater and how many more of the screams were real than the sound sound effects.

I think that maybe if it didn't have such a prime location in Tomorrowland, it might have survived tucked away in a corner. However, given it's location, you could watch the scared kids walking out (honestly, I don't know why my family would be standing out by it, we never went into the attraction, but I remember being in Tomorrowland watching long lines of people go in).

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

The best and easiest budget-friendly solution would be to retheme Stitch back to Alien Encounter (what else would work? Lol). If they can bring back Captain EO due to popular demand then they can definitely bring back the original Journey into Imagination and The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.

What still exists of the previous? I doubt the conversion back to AE would be an easy swap. Anyone have the deets on what if anything remains from the AE days? It'd be a nice treat for sure to see AE returned; talking armchair.

Maybe they could take a page from Mission Space and offer a tame version along with the scary version?

 

[Coaster Lover]

Is it really so difficult to fix Stitch? A better storyline or borrowed plot points from Stitch has a Glitch, a removed chili burp (replace?) maybe a spray effect (sneeze?) and some comic relief from Pleakley and Jumba... and the show would be a success.

I like the idea of keeping the show as a bit of an "expo" show. It fits really well with the theater set-up. Maybe have it as a show where Jumba is showing off some of his newest creations. You need to remove the shoulder restraints so that you can remove the height requirement if you're going to keep Stitch as the IP, but you can keep a lot of the other effects. Maybe Jumba introduces a new creature that can turn invisible (use a simple Pepper's ghost effect) and then you feel the creature on your legs/neck. Another creature that sneezes. The finally could be another creature that can grow up to enormous sizes... you have a wrap around projection screen around the top half of the theater and you can "see" the giant creature walking around the outside of the theater and reaching into the theater causing damage (via practical effects of walls breaking or pipes bursting). In the end, Stitch comes in to save the day and you leave with the theater in pieces... re-reading what I wrote, I guess it takes a lot of elements from Tough to be a Bug and Muppets 3D, but I think it could work, be tame enough for kids of all ages, and yet entertaining enough for older crowds...

 

[TwilightZone]

I need to watch this when I get home after work.

It's sadly not a video, it's an audio, but I feel it gets the job done of showing how scary it was.

 

[Princess Leia]

What still exists of the previous? I doubt the conversion back to AE would be an easy swap. Anyone have the deets on what if anything remains from the AE days? It'd be a nice treat for sure to see AE returned; talking armchair.

Maybe they could take a page from Mission Space and offer a tame version along with the scary version?

How many pre-show rooms are there? Because if there's only one, I don't think you could pull a Mission: Space on this attraction.

 

[TwilightZone]

What still exists of the previous? I doubt the conversion back to AE would be an easy swap. Anyone have the deets on what if anything remains from the AE days? It'd be a nice treat for sure to see AE returned; talking armchair.

Maybe they could take a page from Mission Space and offer a tame version along with the scary version?

There's a bit of alien encounter that is still in stitch today, mainly props and the like, the most obvious being sir and the two skippies.

 

[Coaster Lover]

How many pre-show rooms are there? Because if there's only one, I don't think you could pull a Mission: Space on this attraction.

Depends what you consider a pre-show... there's a holding room (just after you came in from outside) where they had a video that briefly introduced what was going to happen and then there was the actual pre-show room where SIR (the animatronic) described the technology. After that, you went down a small hallway into the theater.

 

[trainplane3]

I would say that overall I liked Alien Encounter. While I understood and enjoyed the effects the harness gave, I always hated the physical harness. I don't like being so constrained. It took me a while to find the sweet spot of sitting up in the seat just enough that when the harness came down, bumped your shoulders and then adjusted up a bit they would be high enough to not feel constrained but could be felt for the effects. I had a young nephew who was terrified by the attraction the first time we went and would go into tears anytime we mentioned going back (for years). He never went again and would wait outside. It was kinda sad when you realized how many terrified people there really were in the theater and how many more of the screams were real than the sound sound effects.

Very rarely do harnesses ever make me feel uncomfortable, but I agree with this for SGE. I didn't do AE since I had half a brain to acknowledge it was a terrifying attraction and I was young when it was open. I did SGE a couple years ago and the one thing that freaked me out was how much the harnesses push down on you. Well that and how terrible the attraction was. I can't imagine the harnesses make it very kid friendly.