Universal announces yet another major attraction, Disney taking a nap

[Fun2BFree]

It is important to suspend disbelief but there is no creativity these days in an attraction like Toy Story Mania compared to that of old. And actually there are explanations (some subtle) to your plotholes.

To be fair, I was just picking a few examples that came to mind. Whether it be the juxtaposition between a castle and 1900s America, talking birds or the existence of anthropomorphic mice, suspension of disbelief is integral. We accept everything old in the park for what it is because it has already stood the test of time, yet go over everything new cynically and with a fine-toothed comb. We talk about how Stitch and Monsters Inc ruined the carefully-crafted New Tomorrowland theme, yet accept that a realistic Western-style Monument Valley style landscape can go next to a Deep South briar patch filled with cartoon animals.

 

[tirian]

You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.
As Walt Said " Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."
Maybe the reason we are not getting anything new is because there is no more imagination left? :ROFLOL:

Based on the latest music, movies, TV shows, and books, you'd think that's the case; but it's not!

America's greatest creative detriment right now is that the corporate behemoths from the 1990s through today have tried making everything a formula instead of encouraging new talent. Meanwhile, companies that allow creative freedom instead of suppressing it are enjoying the most success (namely, Pixar). As soon as business people stop fearing creativity, we'll have another widespread entertainment renaissance in American culture; and the money will come.

 

[ChrisFL]

Based on the latest music, movies, TV shows, and books, you'd think that's the case; but it's not!

America's greatest creative detriment right now is that the corporate behemoths from the 1990s through today have tried making everything a formula instead of encouraging new talent. Meanwhile, companies that allow creative freedom instead of suppressing it are enjoying the most success (namely, Pixar). As soon as business people stop fearing creativity, we'll have another widespread entertainment renaissance in American culture; and the money will come.

Good points, not to mention the idea that they don't have to continue to make huge profits every quarter for the demanding shareholders all the time...

 

[T-1MILLION]

To be fair, I was just picking a few examples that came to mind. Whether it be the juxtaposition between a castle and 1900s America, talking birds or the existence of anthropomorphic mice, suspension of disbelief is integral. We accept everything old in the park for what it is because it has already stood the test of time, yet go over everything new cynically and with a fine-toothed comb. We talk about how Stitch and Monsters Inc ruined the carefully-crafted New Tomorrowland theme, yet accept that a realistic Western-style Monument Valley style landscape can go next to a Deep South briar patch filled with cartoon animals.

Apples to Oranges really sir. Of course the suspension of belief has to be there. But that is what those stories were about. Going from Uncle remus talking to children in the harsh reality world into the cartoon realm and adventure of the stories. That is exactly what Song of the South did. So it fits fine with the frontierland theme.
Monsters Inc is a place full of monsters that tell jokes. It is a forced fit, but it does not fill nearly as well as what the 'new' tomorrowland design of the 90s was about. So yes, it did ruin that original idea that was brought in there durring the early 90s.

Now bring this back to Toy Story Mania. There is never a reason explained or even presented why we should put in 3D glasses or the vehicles as mentioned earlier. It is just a very lazy idea overall. Toy Story Mania would of been something great to put on the bottom floor of Disneyquest. But as a themed attraction that you would expect at Disney. It falls a bit short in some areas.

And no, it does not spell Doomsday for Disney because Universal is having success and progressing with new immersive attractions and concepts, but it does say something about having that sort of mentality. "We are a big enough brand so we are always going to have more visitors" type of mentality. That is the sad way managment looks at the parks quite often. We should not be have to praise general upkeep.

 

[toolsnspools]

I tend to disagree about crowd control and adding a new e-ticket to MK. The only thing it will do is add to the number of annual max capacity days at the park, and even with another E-ticket, nobody really enjoys spending a day there when it's at max capacity. MK is #1 and it will stay there until there is a 5th gate with another castle. (Not likely to happen... ever).

The MK future needs to be one of maintaining the current attractions, like they did with PotC and are hopefully doing with SM. The best way to crowd control MK is to move the crowd to the other 3 parks.

Building a new land at DAK needs to be a high priority. Something that can stay up later than the animals would be good. The park has space for crowds. Stop closing the gates at 7:00pm. Make a land that can keep a night crowd, and you could run the park with the new land, EE and Dinoland.

DS is on the right track. TSMM is a top notch attraction. Build the Monsters coaster and you will keep moving attendance in the right direction. You may even find enough guests to fill AIE (Soon to be, if not already, one of the biggest flops in Disney history.)

EPCOT is a challenge. We all want EPCOT to really be the City Of Tomorrow, but building attractions that represent that, without having them become outdated in :30 minutes is a tough one. I think building an integrated resort is a step in the right direction. Something that would allow the guests to become integrated into the experience. i.e. EPCOT CM for a day. Let the Imagineers run wild and stick to the EPCOT theme.

If they could have this done by my December trip it would be nice... :lol:

 

[brucie]

The Monster Inc. Coaster should be announced soon.

By the time they announce it they will need to announce another E ticket right away because it has taken so long, and I don't think this one announcement is going to be enough to quell the... "OMG Universal is building everything and Disney is building nothing fears".

 

[Jasonflz]

To be honest I think a few people will be uninterested with a proposition of a new Monster's Inc. ride.

 

[hrcollectibles]

DCA being the exception to the rule.

And the PatF

And those two new DVC's.

I don't disagree with everything you say but my glass is half full because of Iger/Lasseter.

What is Patf?

 

[The Conundrum]

DCA being the exception to the rule.

And the PatF

And those two new DVC's.

I don't disagree with everything you say but my glass is half full because of Iger/Lasseter.

DCA was/is a failure im not sure what your trying to say. Are you saying the dvc expansion is very good? how so? and wahts PatF???

 

[hrcollectibles]

5 foot tall mice? Mickey was always said to be about 5 feet tall or so. Walt humanized mickey, he was the average guy. Even had a dog who was a life sized dog, lived in a human sized house and his friends were human sized as well. That is why they are the height they are in the parks. There is a story to them..

How do we know they were Human Sized and not smaller?
So based on this then Walt would have been 10 feet tall based on the Partners Statue? seeing that mickey comes upto his waist

 

[panther726]

And not to mention, as IOA made Universal a game changer and a major player, their attendance has remained stagnant and went DOWN the last year, not pulling away or making a dent in Disney's attendance. Disney doesn't need to answer Universal. Disney is still king of the castle while Universal is the court jester.

Exactly. But you can't say that without being blasted because Disney should care about keeping up with universal.

Yeah, Disney is arrogant... they have a right to be.

Uni can reveal as many rides as they want. They won't top Disney attendence or profit.

 

[magicmaya]

No.:lol:

You mean, No.:wave:

Just Kiddin'!

 

[tirian]

I tend to disagree about crowd control and adding a new e-ticket to MK. The only thing it will do is add to the number of annual max capacity days at the park, and even with another E-ticket, nobody really enjoys spending a day there when it's at max capacity. MK is #1 and it will stay there until there is a 5th gate with another castle. (Not likely to happen... ever).

The only DL-style park with fewer attractions is HKDL. :lookaroun At one point, the MK had 20K and AE in addition to everything that's there now (except SGE, of course). Two extra E-tickets didn't hurt anything.

The MK future needs to be one of maintaining the current attractions, like they did with PotC and are hopefully doing with SM. The best way to crowd control MK is to move the crowd to the other 3 parks.

The public sees the MK, then Epcot, as WDW. Attendance levels prove this. The other two parks are icing on the cake. As long as Disney continues advertising the CASTLE as the experience, the MK will need the majority of attention.

I'd like to see all your ideas happen by this December, too.

 

[ChrisFL]

Exactly. But you can't say that without being blasted because Disney should care about keeping up with universal.

Yeah, Disney is arrogant... they have a right to be.

Uni can reveal as many rides as they want. They won't top Disney attendence or profit.

If Disney continues to think like that and continue their decline in service, eventually they may get a rude wake up call

 

[Captain Chaos]

If Disney continues to think like that and continue their decline in service, eventually they may get a rude wake up call

I am a Disney fan and I truly think this is what they need... A huge wake up call.. I enjoy Disney for what it is and what they have... But I too believe they cannot just sit on their laurels... Sooner or later people are going to get tired of a stale product... I am not a Universal fan, but, I hope Harry Potter changes the game since IOA failed to... This will be the wake up call Disney needs....

 

[whylightbulb]

I am a Disney fan and I truly think this is what they need... A huge wake up call.. I enjoy Disney for what it is and what they have... But I too believe they cannot just sit on their laurels... Sooner or later people are going to get tired of a stale product... I am not a Universal fan, but, I hope Harry Potter changes the game since IOA failed to... This will be the wake up call Disney needs....

If anything has the potential to "wake up the mouse" it would be Potter. But honestly I don't think it will. There is no threat from Universal as both properties feed off of each other. Disney is not at all concerned and in fact, will be happy to see increased attendance at Universal. If anything, it may make Disney more lazy.

 

[hrcollectibles]

If anything has the potential to "wake up the mouse" it would be Potter. But honestly I don't think it will. There is no threat from Universal as both properties feed off of each other. Disney is not at all concerned and in fact, will be happy to see increased attendance at Universal. If anything, it may make Disney more lazy.

Exactly.... And even with the New Harry Potter Experience I still believe that both parks could be done in a day and a half. In my opinion this will only help Disney as tourists will want more than a day and a half experience...I think it would take alot for Disney to get any kind of wake up call. Sure they may see a decrease in attendance. Based on the 2008 Theme park report I found.. The Magic Kingdom had 17,000,000 visitors in 2008 while Universal Had 6,200,00... In order for Universal to even be a threat to the Mouse in orlando they would have to triple their attendance numbers. I just do not see how that will happen...Not even with Harry potter or a new roller coaster

 

[WDW1974]

And yet WDW's success continues to increase. Our petty complaints will fade into history just as they have for so many years. The veterans on this board can attest that in the early millennium, forumites were still complaining. How many people still remember Thrawn? How many people will remember him in a decade? Two?

In a few years, this thread will be dead and forgotten. Disney will still be profitable and successful.

I don't see WDW's success increasing ... attendance is down, profits are down, revenue is down ... how is its success increasing?

And while there certainly can be -- and are -- petty complaints here, I think most (and not talking about mine but in general) are pretty well-founded.

I don't what a Thrawn is, so I can't comment.

But the last sentence of your post is the one that worries me because there are no guarantees that Disney will be around forever just because ... sure Mickey will be around, parks might or might not, same with studios and ABC ... huge names in American history no longer exist ... they either went out of business (like Pan Am, TWA, Mongomery Ward, Woolworth, Plymouth etc) or were swallowed by other companies (McDonnell-Douglas, RJR Nabisco, Monsanto etc ...) ... or are shells of what they once were (A&P, Howard Johnson ... and soon GM). There seems to be an idea that Disney as a company can survive anything and that sadly isn't the case.

 

[WDW1974]

You misunderstand me. I'm not addressing the current state of the parks at all. I'm saying that the internet has allow the exchanging of ideas and a more individual "Disney Way", one that in some cases will never be realized.

It's the same with the numerous "Spirit of Epcot" threads that pop up. The diehard fans have their version in their head and Disney will never be able to match.

I'm not saying anything more than that.

I don't really disagree with that, per se. And I don't expect any crazy perfect Disney, even if they conditioned me to.

When I bash Disney it isn't about my standards, it's about them upholding their own. I was at EC on Opening Day ... Disney-MGM too ... I recall just how wonderful those parks were and then improved.

If this was a thread 20 years ago it would be you and me posting with you claiming that Disney wasn't run the same in 1969 than in 1989. The time's have changed, but I bet if you plopped this forum down back then you would see alot of the same type threads.

Nope. Sorry, can't agree here. First I am too young to know what things were like in 1969 ... too young ... wow, that feels good to say.

But I know 1989 well. And Disney wowed me that year from start to finish. From Disney-MGM to PI to TL to CBR to WoL ... a very, very good year. And I spent a great deal of time at the World then.

I'm not arguing about the current state of the parks, I'm talking about the problem of fans and the internet. I'll have to agree with Fun2BFree on this one. Walt would be Iger. Internet forums would have destroyed Disneyland in their post.

I think that's an impossible thing to think of because DL in 1955 basic as all hell form was still an incredible groundbreaking place. ... So, what would Internet fans (why do I feel like this is a Star Trek or Lost alternate timeline universe thread now?) have to compare to it? Amusement parks that were considered dirty, tawdry, tacky places? You can't say 'well, I mean today's fans' because they wouldn't have all that has come since ... which makes this nonsensical and why am I still typ

 

[WDW1974]

Oh there were plenty of naysayers, some thought it was a crazy idea. I bet wdw74's dad was one of them. :lol: And enigmas dad too.

Let's leave parents out of it, you don't want me to take a shot at your momma, do you?

But since you brought Daddy up, he loved Disney as a kid watching the old MMC and dreaming of visiting DL. Living in the NE he never got the chance. But when he saw WDW was opening he was very excited to see it. Took me when the world (a very small, beautiful, GREEN place) was just three and about to debut Space Mountain to the world.

Got my love of the place from him when he bought me my first AP in 1982.

But he goes far less these days (and usually on freebies from CM pals) because HE sees the drop in quality, the sameness, the staleness. He is the one who often points out things and says 'didn't use to be like that' or things of that nature.

Of course, he also has fallen in love with DL and DLP since then too. So he knows that Disney can do far more than what it is doing in Orlando.

~I dedicate this post to my Dad because without him my love of Disney would have never been created ... and I wouldn't be sitting here typing this post at 1:03 a.m.~