News Wakanda joins Coco, Zootopia, and Encanto on Disney Parks' future blue sky expansion list, reveals Josh D'Amaro

[drnilescrane]

It doesn't have to be movie first then attraction

For 99% of the world that doesn't live near a Disney theme park, and for a lot that do, the content is the gateway into the brand. People come to the parks and enter the ecosystem because of their affinity with the stories and characters they experience in media. They stay because they like the parks product.

Attractions like Mystic Manor are absolutely necessary for fleshing out the parks and creating a quality product but as we've seen once again this summer it's next to impossible to build franchises out of parks original IPs.

This is a 68 year old business. It's reasonable to expect it to mature and naturally become more efficient.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I’m just glad someone from TWDC finally has said IP infusion = better ROI.

People were arguing with myself and many others that this was not the case.

What is the proof of this? They haven't built a major non-IP ride in 10 years, even longer in the USA.

Everest was a better return on investment than anything Disney has built since, as @lazyboy97o has said countless times, including this very thread.

The statement was said in a press release with no context, by a team of people who know they're not allowed to do anything else. The strategy and outcome is pre-determined. Its Disney convincing itself more than anything else. It's what Bob wants to hear because he doesn't know any better and isn't willing to try.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Wakanda is a fictional nation in Africa. So elements of it could be pulled into the Africa area of AK.

For the love of all that is just, please no.

 

[JD80]

No. If it's made into an attraction in a theme park then it's being re-used. It's an existing idea, not an original idea.That's what's meant by original in this context. An idea in the parks that has never been seen before outside the parks.

Weird way to look at things.

 

[Rhinocerous]

Give me a Battle Rhino meet ‘n’ greet and I’m sold, no questions asked.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

What is the proof of this? They haven't built a major non-IP ride in 10 years, even longer in the USA.

“And we have learned that incorporating Disney I.P. increases the return on investment significantly."

It’s a direct quote from D’Amaro, the chair of Parks…. anecdotally, I think it’s a pretty clear argument that infusing IP = more merch sales. As well as the fact that if it wasn’t truly a better ROI, why would they continue to build & build only IP attractions.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Encanto isn't an original story?

I mean original to the parks. Encanto isn’t.

 

[Incomudro]

Black Panther (T’Challa) is likely off limits for WDW but Wakanda is likely possible to use. And if Uni tried to block such use, you know Disney would be quick to pull out a PR push saying that Uni is preventing the building of an attraction themed to a popular Black character and concept that they are building for inclusion (with the subtle implication that Uni is being racist).

A Wakanda without Black Panther.
That's just the type of ridiculousness Disney has been going for.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

As well as the fact that if it wasn’t truly a better ROI, why would they continue to build & build only IP attractions.

Just because Disney decides to do something does not automatically mean it was the best or only option.

We also know that IP popularity does not translate to ride popularity. Spider-Man may sell a lot of toys, but Web Slingers is far from Disneyland's most popular attraction. Fast and the Furious at USF is widely panned. WDW just scrapped 2 nighttime shows because they were not as successful as hoped, despite all the movie music and imagery used.

There is far more to themed entertainment than recongnizable iconography.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

A Wakanda without Black Panther.
That's just the type of ridiculousness Disney has been going for.

Right. Imagine if they made a Star Wars land without Darth vader and Luke Skywalker…

 

[FerretAfros]

Just because Disney decides to do something does not automatically mean it was the best or only option.

We also know that IP popularity does not translate to ride popularity. Spider-Man may sell a lot of toys, but Web Slingers is far from Disneyland's most popular attraction. Fast and the Furious at USF is widely panned. WDW just scrapped 2 nighttime shows because they were not as successful as hoped, despite all the movie music and imagery used.

There is far more to themed entertainment than recongnizable iconography.

"Once one dismisses the rest of all possible worlds, this is the best of the rest of all possible worlds." -Voltaire (more or less)


It seems that it's been so long since Disney has had an original attraction in the US that the ex post facto logic has become that there is something inherently inferior about them. However, throughout the nearly 70-year history of the parks, almost all of the most iconic elements and attractions are original designs that do not rely on existing Disney-owned IP. Nearly everything that made Disney theme parks a must-do experience for the general public came from outside the narrow lense of what was already defined as "Disney."

It's really only been in the last roughly 30 years that IP has had any sort of meaningful consideration for new attractions (when Splash Mountain broke the tradition of confining animated characters to Fantasyland), and the IP-only focus has really only been in effect for the last ~15 years as Iger has attempted to comprehend why people even visit the parks in the first place. Even as the overall attraction mix has evolved over time and familiar characters are appearing in more and more locations, the parks themselves are still overwhelmingly original experiences and the original elements seem to do most of the heavy-lifting when it comes to drawing guests into the parks.

Which, of course, makes perfect sense: if someone wants to experience something from a film, it's far easier and cheaper to just watch the film again at home than it is to travel to a theme park. To have any chance at success, theme parks must be far more than just a collection of moments from movies.

 

[SteveAZee]

I wonder if they know they own older films too

Newer films will be 'older' films by the time any of this gets built.

 

[Incomudro]

Can’t wait for the 20 acre Wakanda land that features one E ticket, a reservation only restaurant, and no shade!

And no Black Panther.
What was so great about Wakanda in the movies anyway?

 

[Incomudro]

Wakanda is a fictional nation in Africa. So elements of it could be pulled into the Africa area of AK.

Please no.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

Newer films will be 'older' films by the time any of this gets built.

Right lol. For example, by the time we would get a coco ride the films gonna be 10 years old

 

[HauntedPirate]

I could easily see Wakanda making its way to other parks, but also am sure Disney has long been discussing with Universal the possibility of taking back Marvel, or at least some characters. It's not an impossibility. Hulu, the Simpsons theme park contract ending and who knows what other deals all matter. With Universal unable to really update or build new Marvel attractions, I think over time they will want to replace that land with other franchises.

Because Comcast is stupid, right?

 

[Mike S]

Thank god for Universal’s contract.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

Thank god for Universal’s contract.

Quiet Mario

 

[Magicart87]

How quickly can you guys convert the Starcruiser building into a Wakanda Inn and Suites? - Bob Iger

 

[Ghost93]

I don't get some of these decisions, by no means do I think Encanto, Coco, and Wakanda will ever have the staying power of something like Frozen or Beauty and the Beast.

Encanto and Coco are very popular among younger generations and both films have a timeless quality about them. Wakanda is a bit riskier IMO. Black Panther was a phenomenon in 2018, but that was before superhero fatigue kicked in and before the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. Making a Wakanda land without the Black Panther himself as a central focus seems questionable.

Also, I generally feel that live-action films — no matter how good — become more dated easily than animated films. For that reason I'd be hesitant to create entire lands around live-action properties.