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

[Donaldfan1934]

Acceptance isn't the responsibility of whoever makes the sign.

You're right, it isn't. Acceptance is in the eye of the park visitor and while the attraction did build up a substantial cult following over the years, there was enough pushback to outweigh it. And that pushback goes as far back as its conception, so it was bound to happen no matter how closely guests read the signs.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Magic Kingdom once had the identity of all families, which included an array of ages and backgrounds.

Now people assume Magic Kingdom means family as in toddlers and princesses. So the ride fit just fine beyond people believing the Magic Kingdom was something it was not.

Yes, Magic Kingdom was and is intended for all families, but was never intended to showcase anything for explicitly mature audiences. Also, while the perception of Magic Kingdom being a toddler park still exists today, I wouldn't be surprised if it was even worse back when Alien Encounter opened back in the mid-90's as the amount of thrilling experiences across all of the parks wasn't where it is today. Generally speaking, the advent of the internet has made it more socially acceptable to embrace "childish" interests as one grow older and that especially includes Disney related ephemera.

 

[V_L_Raptor]

You're right, it isn't. Acceptance is in the eye of the park visitor and while the attraction did build up a substantial cult following over the years, there was enough pushback to outweigh it. And that pushback goes as far back as its conception, so it was bound to happen no matter how closely guests read the signs.

The thing about acceptance/pushback in the eye of the park visitor is that it's largely after the fact. It's after the warnings, after the preshow, after the information about the effects and show (even Birnbaum's would've spoiled the whole enchilada, had anyone bothered to look). It's still the responsibility of the visitor. If the visitor chooses to make that acceptance or pushback a cusp of entitlement, then the visitor takes sole responsibility for that response. Alone. Not splitting the responsibility with Disney. Little Baby Buttercup shouldn't have been there, still went, cried to dehydration and screamed to muteness... It's still not Disney's fault, because it's not as though Disney held a gun to LBB's head to frogmarch the little kidlet into the theater.

When you first saw AE live in the Magic Kingdom, what was your response to the difference between the warnings and the pushback thereto?

 

[Donaldfan1934]

The thing about acceptance/pushback in the eye of the park visitor is that it's largely after the fact. It's after the warnings, after the preshow, after the information about the effects and show (even Birnbaum's would've spoiled the whole enchilada, had anyone bothered to look). It's still the responsibility of the visitor. If the visitor chooses to make that acceptance or pushback a cusp of entitlement, then the visitor takes sole responsibility for that response. Alone. Not splitting the responsibility with Disney. Little Baby Buttercup shouldn't have been there, still went, cried to dehydration and screamed to muteness... It's still not Disney's fault, because it's not as though Disney held a gun to LBB's head to frogmarch the little kidlet into the theater.

When you first saw AE live in the Magic Kingdom, what was your response to the difference between the warnings and the pushback thereto?

Sorry, I should've been more clear. The pushback at conception I was referring to was the pushback was made internally by veteran imagineers. I still agree that the acceptance of an attraction entirely up to the visitor, but the overall guest should've been foreseen by Eisner and the younger imagineers based on the warnings from veteran imagineers.

Also, I never saw AE live in the Magic Kingdom, but I've read the experiences of and know people who did. My family only made one trip to WDW while it was still open when I was 4 and a half and very sensitive to loud noises, so it's for the best I never did see it in person anyway.

 

[Jones14]

Parents are oblivious to safety warnings. I’ve seen children who couldn’t have been older than ten at Halloween Horror Nights before.

That’s not the fault of the company, but the Venn diagram of people who ignore safety warnings and people who complain because their kid got scared on the Tower of Terror is a circle.

 

[Lensman]

I wonder what the MPAA equivalent rating of AE would be? I suggest it would be PG-13. So in retrospect, they should have just outright banned kids under a certain age. They wouldn't even have to enforce it, but it would have made the intensity of the attraction clear and pushed emotional liability onto the parents.

I guess it's easy for me to say this with the benefit of hindsight. Would appreciate everyone else's thoughts on this.

OTOH, it might just be best to get back on track with discussion of the follow-on to SGE.

 

[WDWTank]

Parents are oblivious to safety warnings. I’ve seen children who couldn’t have been older than ten at Halloween Horror Nights before.

That’s not the fault of the company, but the Venn diagram of people who ignore safety warnings and people who complain because their kid got scared on the Tower of Terror is a circle.

Tower of Terror isn’t even that scary too be honest.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

I wonder what the MPAA equivalent rating of AE would be? I suggest it would be PG-13. So in retrospect, they should have just outright banned kids under a certain age. They wouldn't even have to enforce it, but it would have made the intensity of the attraction clear and pushed emotional liability onto the parents.

I guess it's easy for me to say this with the benefit of hindsight. Would appreciate everyone else's thoughts on this.

OTOH, it might just be best to get back on track with discussion of the follow-on to SGE.

That's not a bad idea, but I feel something like that would've had to been enforced or else you'd end up with an identical situation. And while I think it could've had a chance prolonging the attraction's lifespan, it probably would've been by just a few years given that you'd now have the issue of an attraction with an enforced age limit at the Magic Kingdom.

I really like how you mention that if viewed like a movie, AE is a PG-13 attraction. That's kind of what I had in mind when I was making comments about AE being in a park that was overall PG.

Also, I agree that the thread needs to progress, but I can't help but feel AE will keep coming up here even after this cycle of discussion eventually gets back on track. This is because unlike many other attractions and their predecessors, the final product of SGE is the direct result of how it was limited by AE's infrastructure. It's just like how you can't talk about Journey into Imagination with Figment without mentioning Journey into YOUR Imagination. In both cases, the replacement attractions were quick band-aid solutions to their controversial predecessors that ultimately failed bring any real resolution to the problems they were created to fix. In short, AE is just a big elephant in the room that will be contiously addressed until plans are made official for the current space.

 

[TangledUpInKnots]

In all fairness given the numerous warnings perhaps it wasn’t the best attraction for an 8 year old to experience.

True, granted you'd have to talk to my parents about that one, but I'm guessing since I wasn't a kid who got scared easily, they assumed "hey this is disney world no other ride has ever bothered her, let's take her on it and she will be fine." Not saying that assumption was correct as I was obviously terrified (while the rest of my family loved it and still completely loves it) but I could see why parents wouldn't heed the warning as it it like the one scary ride in a sea of magical kid stuff, so I think a lot of times the warnings fall on deaf ears, because of this sense of a "disney bubble". Please note I'm not suggesting Disney can't make rides/attractions like this again or that I think anything inherently was wrong with AE or them making it in the first place, I just simply stated the 8 year old in me is not rooting for a reboot.

 

[TwilightZone]

Also, I agree that the thread needs to progress, but I can't help but feel AE will keep coming up here even after this cycle of discussion eventually gets back on track. This is because unlike many other attractions and their predecessors, the final product of SGE is the direct result of how it was limited by AE's infrastructure. It's just like how you can't talk about Journey into Imagination with Figment without mentioning Journey into YOUR Imagination. In both cases, the replacement attractions were quick band-aid solutions to their controversial predecessors that ultimately failed bring any real resolution to the problems they were created to fix. In short, AE is just a big elephant in the room that will be contiously addressed until plans are made official for the current space.

I will give stitch's great escape this, it at least does not make fun of the previous ride's failures like figment did. You can't make one bad ride and then have your follow up awful ride make fun of the previous incarnation, it just doesn't work.
PS I really really hate jiwf
PSS I still think jiyi is better than jiwf

 

[tonymu]

out of curiosity I googled it
not sure if these were here the whole time...

I remember there being MANY, MANY warnings inside and out from shortly after it opened. Of course it did replace the very very tame Mission to Mars. People don't read and sometimes you just don't know what fear threshold everyone in your group has.

 

[raymusiccity]

Parents are oblivious to safety warnings. I’ve seen children who couldn’t have been older than ten at Halloween Horror Nights before.

That’s not the fault of the company, but the Venn diagram of people who ignore safety warnings and people who complain because their kid got scared on the Tower of Terror is a circle.

Pretty much what you often see at theaters showing 'R' rated films. Alleged responsible parents toting underage children along.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Tower of Terror isn’t even that scary too be honest.

Tell that to my 8 year old self getting dragged screaming and crying on it by my parents.

 

[Dunston]

Tower of Terror isn’t even that scary too be honest.

Try telling that to somebody riding it for the first time--you can cut the suspense with a knife before the elevator finally drops.

 

[Princess Leia]

Try telling that to somebody riding it for the first time--you can cut the suspense with a knife before the elevator finally drops.

Yeah... 26 years old, and I keep chickening out every time I get close to the queue.
That being said, I WILL ride it this year. I have to just get over the anxiety at the door.

 

[crxbrett]

Pretty much what you often see at theaters showing 'R' rated films. Alleged responsible parents toting underage children along.

Yep. I saw Deadpool 2 opening weekend and the 2 people sitting directly next to me were a mom and her 5, maybe 6-year-old son. Then of course you have the parents who blatantly disregard the R-rating completely and then complain after they took their family to see South Park or Team America because it was a cartoon.

If anything, Alien Encounter probably taught Disney that most people do not read warning signs or straight-up disregard them altogether.

 

[trainplane3]

Yeah... 26 years old, and I keep chickening out every time I get close to the queue.
That being said, I WILL ride it this year. I have to just get over the anxiety at the door.

It's nowhere near as scary as a regular drop tower. Being enclosed, with a floor, with a large group of people makes it less intimidating. But the theming does help pull a "scare" factor in.

As they say "Just Do It!". You won't regret it.

 

[ppete1975]

You have a good point about how the general public can be their own worst enemy, but I can't help but feel that Disney was asking for this scenario to play out in the that way it did no matter how hard they tried to avoid it. They may have treated the attraction with maturity, but as I said, those efforts can only go so far when you're dealing with an experience that is completely subversive in the context of where it is being presented.

Thrilling, but not exclusively adult, attractions such as Space Mountain may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are expected and don't straight up undermine what the Magic Kingdom's identity is or is percieved to be. Yes, it's important for Disney to take risks and go beyond what is expected of them, but it's also important that they don't go too far and end up achieving the opposite.

To be clear, this isn't to say that Disney shouldn't create experiences for demographics they aren't traditionally associated because they most certainly need to do so. In fact, that's the beauty of having 4 unique parks with different overall themes, tones, expectations, and, to some extent, audiences. If put in a different park, an attraction like Alien Encounter may have the opportunity to thrive. But because it was where it was, it was met with controversy that wouldn't have been remedied by simply reading signs. Just because something is read doesn't mean something is accepted.

How many little kids do you see in scary movies? Ive seen several in R rated movies and you could tell the kid wasn't comfortable or even understood what was going on. People are always like, I want to do this and I don't have anyone to watch my kid, my kid is more mature, my kid isn't scared of anything...

 

[larryz]

Tower of Terror isn’t even that scary too be honest.

Tell that to the ladies who have grabbed me -- a perfect stranger -- during the drops.

 

[LukeS7]

Yeah... 26 years old, and I keep chickening out every time I get close to the queue.
That being said, I WILL ride it this year. I have to just get over the anxiety at the door.

I did it for the first time last year (I was 23), wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Yay for having a crippling fear of heights