Stitch's Great Escape replacement?

[dxwwf3]

Looking back before the mid-late-90s, Disney World seemed like it was almost apart from Disneyania in general.

The attractions had their own characters, their own stories, their own histories..... they were not featured anywhere else, on any films, etc. If you hadn't been to Disney World, you don't know who Dreamfinder and Figment is.

Think about it.... there was Pirates and Haunted mansion before the movies, Dream Finder & Figment, Country Bears before the movies, etc. There were attractions like Dreamflight and Alien Encounter that had nothing to do with any Disney movie.

This was when the parks were at their best too, IMO.

 

[DisneyParksFan1]

This was when the parks were at their best too, IMO.

Yes this was definitely WDW's golden years. Then the 100 Years of Magic and Millennium Celebration came...:fork:

That's when all of this nonsense started. "Oh why don't we keep the same Dreams Come True parade for another decade or so?"...

 

[Jasonflz]

IMO, I think that's why Disney was always smart by using their own characters on park attractions.


Looking back before the mid-late-90s, Disney World seemed like it was almost apart from Disneyania in general.

The attractions had their own characters, their own stories, their own histories..... they were not featured anywhere else, on any films, etc. If you hadn't been to Disney World, you don't know who Dreamfinder and Figment is.

Think about it.... there was Pirates and Haunted mansion before the movies, Dream Finder & Figment, Country Bears before the movies, etc. There were attractions like Dreamflight and Alien Encounter that had nothing to do with any Disney movie.

Now it seems that Disney wants to use movies in the attractions and vice versa. In my opinion, I think this is recipe for disaster. Tieing in movies is fine if it's a time standing classic that will never die like Snow White or Cinderella.... but Monsters, Inc. A Bug's Life, and Cars is a different story.

I also believe that the particular showcase of that building may be hard to work with for an imagineer. I will say that SGE is better than Mission to Mars. You have to have an attraction that allows an entire room to focus on a very small central showpiece.

Fully agreed.

More or less, the concept of the attraction shouldn't be changed, only the content.

 

[DisneyParksFan1]

Fully agreed.

More or less, the concept of the attraction shouldn't be changed, only the content.

Precisely! This should be done with most attractions that have been taken over by Disneyana. (Tiki Room, SGE, etc.)

I mean it works for a couple of attractions, only some can pull the Disney characters off those being Splash Mountain, and to some extent Buzz, but other than that. It's not necessary for the other ones.

 

[ChrisFL]

IMO, I think that's why Disney was always smart by using their own characters on park attractions.


Looking back before the mid-late-90s, Disney World seemed like it was almost apart from Disneyania in general.

The attractions had their own characters, their own stories, their own histories..... they were not featured anywhere else, on any films, etc. If you hadn't been to Disney World, you don't know who Dreamfinder and Figment is.

Think about it.... there was Pirates and Haunted mansion before the movies, Dream Finder & Figment, Country Bears before the movies, etc. There were attractions like Dreamflight and Alien Encounter that had nothing to do with any Disney movie.

Now it seems that Disney wants to use movies in the attractions and vice versa. In my opinion, I think this is recipe for disaster. Tieing in movies is fine if it's a time standing classic that will never die like Snow White or Cinderella.... but Monsters, Inc. A Bug's Life, and Cars is a different story.

I also believe that the particular showcase of that building may be hard to work with for an imagineer. I will say that SGE is better than Mission to Mars. You have to have an attraction that allows an entire room to focus on a very small central showpiece.

It's called SYNERGY which is the corporate philosophy of the company these days, it's even heavily preached about in Traditions for new CM's

If they can't sell merchandise, tie in other name recognition with other things they can sell, why bother? (in their opinion).

Perhaps if they'd bring in unique attractions of the highest caliber, they would be able to fill the resorts without discounts and not need to worry about how much merchandise they sell.

 

[raven]

It's called SYNERGY which is the corporate philosophy of the company these days, it's even heavily preached about in Traditions for new CM's.

Exactly. While we may nit agree with it, crossing characters from the movies into the parks generates interest back into the movies again which is a money-making deal. You and your child visit WDW for a week and after the vacation the child is craving the high they got on Toy Story Mania. What's the best solution? Buy the Toy Story DVD's. Same goes before the vacation. The child loves the movie so much and now has a place to experience and buy merchandise from it.

 

[dxwwf3]

Exactly. While we may nit agree with it, crossing characters from the movies into the parks generates interest back into the movies again which is a money-making deal. You and your child visit WDW for a week and after the vacation the child is craving the high they got on Toy Story Mania. What's the best solution? Buy the Toy Story DVD's. Same goes before the vacation. The child loves the movie so much and now has a place to experience and buy merchandise from it.

Synergy is not a bad thing at all. Synergy is actually a great thing. But synergy shouldn't be the ONLY thing. I would be willing to say that a good majority of the best attractions ever created at WDW were from original, park specific properties.

 

[Grizzly Hall 71]

This was when the parks were at their best too, IMO.

I agree also. AK was made, Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, AE, Fantasmic!, Splash Mountain, Test Track!

And then here comes 2000's: The Hat (ok I guess it's just temporary), CTX becomes Dinosaur (say what), World Showplace (oh a food court in a Disney park say what?), The Country Bears just have one show (Blah!), Nemo takes over the Living Seas (Are you serious?), Nemo gets a show in DinoLand U.S.A (isn't nemo a fish?) and a whole bunch of other stuff all cumulating with Stitch's Great Escape (THIS HAS TO BE THE LOWEST POINT).

I mean say what you want about Eisner but he bought in some great stuff.

 

[JohnLocke]

IMO, I think that's why Disney was always smart by using their own characters on park attractions.


Looking back before the mid-late-90s, Disney World seemed like it was almost apart from Disneyania in general.

The attractions had their own characters, their own stories, their own histories..... they were not featured anywhere else, on any films, etc. If you hadn't been to Disney World, you don't know who Dreamfinder and Figment is.

Think about it.... there was Pirates and Haunted mansion before the movies, Dream Finder & Figment, Country Bears before the movies, etc. There were attractions like Dreamflight and Alien Encounter that had nothing to do with any Disney movie.

Now it seems that Disney wants to use movies in the attractions and vice versa. In my opinion, I think this is recipe for disaster. Tieing in movies is fine if it's a time standing classic that will never die like Snow White or Cinderella.... but Monsters, Inc. A Bug's Life, and Cars is a different story.

I also believe that the particular showcase of that building may be hard to work with for an imagineer. I will say that SGE is better than Mission to Mars. You have to have an attraction that allows an entire room to focus on a very small central showpiece.

I don't think character tie ins are too bad, though going an original route for most attractions should be the first choice. I also think Monsters Inc. and A Bug's Life can hold up in the future.

The problem with SGE only has a little to do with Stitch and a lot to do with other things. Because of complaints from some parents, they took a really good attraction, that even warns you by including terror in it's name and that when I went to it in 2000 had really longs lines, and watered it down. In doing so, they took an attraction that was scary for younger kids and turned it into an attraction that was still scary for young kids, but now doesn't have the same attraction that it had for older guests. It's really a move that made little sense.

Stitch as a character didn't hurt the attraction, Stitch, I think, is still fairly popular. If you put him in some other kind of attraction that doesn't take place entirely in the dark and have you in a confined space while it feels like stuff is happenening to you, that attraction might work out. I will say that Disney may have hurt Stitch a little with the oversaturation from the tv show and tv/dvd movies, though I really don't know how much.

Bringing AE back seems like it would make a lot of sense. With almost everything still in place, it seems like it would cost fairly little, at least a lot less than it would to put an entirely new attraction into the space. Maybe it would bring the attendance back up.

 

[imagineer boy]

Synergy is not a bad thing at all. Synergy is actually a great thing. But synergy shouldn't be the ONLY thing. I would be willing to say that a good majority of the best attractions ever created at WDW were from original, park specific properties.

Agreed. Besides, original rides can inspire synergy. POTC inspired one of the highest grossing movie franchises of all time!

 

[djdan]

Matter of opinion.... AE was not a good ride... Better than Stitch, but nothing to brag about...

Did you experience AE when it FIRST opened? I'm talking about the first week. It was absolutely amazing, and scared the hell out of me. It was quickly dumbed down due to guest complaints. In fact if I remember correctly, my little bro wet his pants when the "alien" grabbed his head. There was actually a CM that would run around with a alien hand and grab random people when it was pitch black. True story!

 

[TrevorA]

I like what JohnLocke said: They took an attraction that was scary for younger people but was intended for older people, and turned it into an attraction that was still scary for younger people, but now it's also intended for younger people.

Great scott, a paradox!!


---TrevorA

 

[JohnLocke]

I like what JohnLocke said: They took an attraction that was scary for younger people but was intended for older people, and turned it into an attraction that was still scary for younger people, but now it's also intended for younger people.

Great scott, a paradox!!


---TrevorA

It just really makes no sense at all. You're still being confined in the dark, which is probably the main thing that scares small children.

 

[ChrisFL]

It just really makes no sense at all. You're still being confined in the dark, which is probably the main thing that scares small children.

Agreed, they really need to overhaul it, but they'd have to either figure out a very unique thing to do with that limited area, or remove the separate theaters and start with something new.

I don't see that happening for a while

 

[JohnLocke]

Agreed, they really need to overhaul it, but they'd have to either figure out a very unique thing to do with that limited area, or remove the separate theaters and start with something new.

I don't see that happening for a while

I think they should just go back to the original AE. It seemed to get fairly good attendance. It certainly couldn't do worse than SGE currently is doing. I really don't think there would be that much they would have to do to change it up.

 

[Jasonflz]

I think they should just go back to the original AE. It seemed to get fairly good attendance. It certainly couldn't do worse than SGE currently is doing. I really don't think there would be that much they would have to do to change it up.

Captain EO happens to serve here as a good example. Take a classic (if not ignored) cult attraction and bring it back with some touch ups. Granted, EO had Jackson's death to help propel it to massive popularity but AE would sure bring in many nostalgia fans and lovers of the ride in general.





now if only they could bring back Timekeeper

 

[headhoncho34]

Captain EO happens to serve here as a good example. Take a classic (if not ignored) cult attraction and bring it back with some touch ups. Granted, EO had Jackson's death to help propel it to massive popularity but AE would sure bring in many nostalgia fans and lovers of the ride in general.





now if only they could bring back Timekeeper

Timekeeper and AE coming back would definitely make TL one of the best lands again. I never understood why they feel the need to keep SGE open when it as very low attendance and is recieved as one of the worst attractions on property.

 

[Jasonflz]

Timekeeper and AE coming back would definitely make TL one of the best lands again. I never understood why they feel the need to keep SGE open when it as very low attendance and is recieved as one of the worst attractions on property.

Maybe as a joke. :hammer:

Honestly, I really wish TL could go back to what it was in the late 90's. WDI may not know it but they really are missing a golden oppurtunity with New Tomorrowland. Unlike any of the other lands in the MK, TL has the oppurtunity for creativity without being held down by certain limitations. (you really can't do in Adventureland what you can do with TL)

 

[dxwwf3]

I'd be willing to bet that Tomorrowland won't be up to the quality it was in the mid 90's again in my lifetime

 

[JohnLocke]

Captain EO happens to serve here as a good example. Take a classic (if not ignored) cult attraction and bring it back with some touch ups. Granted, EO had Jackson's death to help propel it to massive popularity but AE would sure bring in many nostalgia fans and lovers of the ride in general.





now if only they could bring back Timekeeper

I was going to use EO as an example, but they are kind of apples and oranges. I'm pretty sure everything, except for some AAs, video, audio, and signage, there is ready made for AE, I have vague memories of the attractions pre-show and everything, but I don't think they really changed that much. Are they running SGE at half capacity? I thought they had four theaters, but I'm probably wrong.

I liked the Timekeeper, but if it ever came back, I would really like to see it re-imagined. The use of a simulator or something would help a lot. For me, the idea of Circlevision just doesn't work as well when you have to stand in a long line to get to the show.