I think, ultimately, it comes down to people wanting to have a great experience. Part of the blessing of IP is that you can get a very clear sense of what experiences people want to have. The curse, then, is that if you don’t deliver that experience you’re sunk.
The main flaw with Gringotts, to me, is that the movies set the expectation that the ride will be a rip-roaring coaster ride through the deepest, darkest corners of the bank, where you can witness amazing and magical sights. The ride NEARLY does this, it has ALL the pieces it needs to hit a home run . . . aside from the rip-roaring part. It nails the setup, it nails the scenery, it nails the dark corners of the bank . . . but every time we think we’re about to take off it stops us literally in our tracks. There’s an expectation about the pace and they don’t meet it. The non-canon story elements we encounter do not make up for this. That it’s clear they *could* have nailed this amplifies the disappointment factor.
The same can be said of the Mario Kart ride. In attempting to over-deliver they end up missing the mark on the main thing people wanted - to cut loose on the racetrack of their dreams, just like they do in the game. The main expectation is speed and they never give it to you. No amount of well-produced show sets and AR interactivity make up for failing to deliver what guests wanted more than anything else.
This is also where Rise succeeds - people want the experience of being caught mid-battle in a Star Wars spacecraft, and really feel like they’re in one of those moments. While it leans into the films that most people probably would not have favored, it does this ambitiously, realistically, and thrillingly enough to allow guests to have the sort of feelings they hoped to have. This is part of where Smugglers Run gets caught - they nailed the premise of an experience guests want to have, but the execution doesn’t deliver on the guest’s expectations. What should have been a dream-come-true experience instead feels like a letdown. The ride misses the forest for the trees. All the buttons are in the right place, but the ride fails to deliver the emotional experience guests associate with flying the Falcon. It tasks you with a lot of “realistic” in-world business, but that was never what we were there for.
This is part of why it’s so important to get really clear on the aspirational moment guests want before you start filling it out with “stuff” - the stuff is important, but only to the extent that it supports the thing guests actually want to do. Get that wrong and “stuff” won’t save you.
TRON has the right idea - who wouldn’t want to take a Light Cycle for a spin? But, similar to Gringotts, the action’s over before it really gets going. Womp womp. So close, and yet . . .
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Honestly, I felt the same thing with Journey to the Center of the Earth. It never lets loose in the way that it should or could. The buildup is perfect, but the payoff just doesn’t meet the expectations.
Setting the correct expectations is very difficult because everyone comes in with different goals, desires, and preconceived notions, but managing those expectations is quintessential.
Mermaid is a prime example. The entrance and queue lead you to believe you’re entering a flight of passage level experience, but the ride simply doesn’t match it. Besides the abrupt finale, I think Mermaid is a solid attraction, it just fails to correctly set expectations.
Contrast this with Gringotts where it’s facade is massive and front-and-center in the land, the queue is gorgeous and intricate, warning signs and videos warning and showing a high-speed coaster whirling around, and the actual ride’s buildup sets expectations sky-high for an actual coaster segment, but when the time comes, the ride ends.
Gringotts is a fine ride, but if it delivered on its promises, it would be receive universal acclaim. What doesn’t help Gringotts is it’s placement. It’s supposed to anchor the park, anchor the headlining land, and serve as the park’s gold-standard attraction. Largely in part because it fails in these regards, I would put Universal Studios Orlando as Orlando’s worst park, meanwhile I’d put Islands as its best.
Another factor that makes it worse, is because it’s supposed to be the headlining attraction, it usually demands massive waits, which decrease the ceiling for disappointment. Ask anyone who waited three hours for Navi River Journey opening weekend if it was worth it, and they will likely tell you no. Navi is a solid C-ticket. It’s queue, entrance, loading station, and everything else about the attraction properly set expectations. The only blunder is when wait times get out of control, expectations become skewed, because with an increased wait comes a need for an increased payoff.
Shanghai Pirates sets expectations really well. Entering the queue, to boarding the ride, to the first couple scenes, nothing about it draws attention to itself. There’s no pre-show, or really anything that should make anyone believe they’re about to experience one of the best rides on the planet.
Rise’s entrance is very very subdued. Has a prolonged rising action, from the queue, to the pre-show, to the transport, and walking off that ship into the star destroyer into that reveal is just wild. Then the actual ride, and everything in it. Everything seemingly tops what came before it. It never fails to deliver a payoff.
Tron just leaves you wanting more, much like Seven Dwarfs Mine train. An extended mine train could easily be the best ride in Magic Kingdom at the moment, but it’s laughably short length inhibits it. Tron and Mine train have good payoffs, but they’re simply not sustained. They don’t have an expectations problem, they have a ride experience problem. Your expectations could be zero for both attractions, but once you get to the payoff, it’s just not sustained to complete the attraction with a curtsy and bow.
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