DHS What should they do with Animation Courtyard?

[Bocabear]

MK has a big lagoon in front through which people can ride the ferry. If they want a boat ride, the ferry meets that purpose. I have been to MK many times with my kids. They love the ferry and other boats around WDW, they do not ask to go on the boat in ROA.

The Columbia ship in DL was different since it is a pirate ship.


I feel Simpsons is outdated and a bad choice. I'm afraid Disney thinks it is a good choice though. It's similar to Muppets. I think the long-term fans will like it, but that section of the park will end up with not as many visitors as other IPs.

So I guess the kids would not want to ride the speedway since they drove to the park in a car already...
The lake approach to the park is not really part of the park...it is outside of the park, and the Ferries are not themed to 19th century transportation....So really what is outside of the park cannot really be considered a part of the Magic Kingdom....

 

[eddie104]

So I guess the kids would not want to ride the speedway since they drove to the park in a car already...
The lake approach to the park is not really part of the park...it is outside of the park, and the Ferries are not themed to 19th century transportation....So really what is outside of the park cannot really be considered a part of the Magic Kingdom....

While that may be the case what’s the difference from the two experiences ??

Your on boat looking at different surroundings.

 

[Bocabear]

While that may be the case what’s the difference from the two experiences ??

Your on boat looking at different surroundings.

well you can reduce just about anything down to that bottom line..... You can eat at the castle or at your dinner table in the kitchen....just different surroundings....
You can ride in a car or a rollercoaster....just different surroundings..... etc.
I would think most people see a steamship at the Magic Kingdom and don't think it is just another boat...
But again if a car is a car and a boat is a boat, why bother even traveling to a Disney theme park...surely your local fair has rides....why invest the money in a trip if you really think that way?

 

[flynnibus]

Now RoA is the ‘heart of the MK’? Come on…

It's the connection to Walt's love and passion for the steamboat that make it such a core ideal of the castle park. It's the tie back to WALT'S PARK and the ideals of Disneyland that give it such extra panche. The part of the customer base that isn't into the history or generational aspect of the park don't connect with that. Doesn't help that Disney pretty much nerf'd it for the last 20yrs and now you have new generations that don't really care about it. That's what neglect does...

Comment is more about the passions of the man behind the whole theme park concept than it is about what is the 'most popular part' kind of thinking.

In DLR (much more than in MK) - the river is very much the physical heart of the park too.. because of the design of the water system around the park.. where the waterways are literally interconnected like a vascular system.

 

[Bocabear]

MK felt like that in the early days... you could board a Swan Boat that would take you around the hub and over past Adventureland...the Jungle cruise waterway seemed connected...though I think there was a dam between the two... It was more noticeable when they started dying the water of the jungle cruise brown.... That whole circuit has been completely cut off for the bigger hub. When I was a kid it felt like there was running water and fountains everywhere.... even small streams like the one at the entrance to Frontierland ( is it even there anymore?) and fountains running in Adventureland, Pirates area, around the old skyway station, and the big daddy of them all, 20,000 Leagues....

 

[Gusey]

What does this have to do with Animation Courtyard?

 

[Bocabear]

What does this gave to do with Animation Courtyard?

Everything!!! lol

 

[MLevell]

I think my main hope* is that whatever they do here follows the Multiple IPs that are thematically linked trend of Tropical Americas and Villain's Land rather than be another single IP land like Monster's Inc Land, Toy Story Land, Galaxy's Edge. I don't think there are many IP left that make sense as having their own land, even fewer that Disney has access to, even fewer that would seem right for the space. The Simpsons probably is one, and with how strongly Disney has utilized and pushed it since the Fox acquisition I can't dismiss it as a real possibility, but man building a Simpson's land as soon as Universal tears theirs down would be odd, still you can build a better Simpsons ride than what Universal has and that alone might be enough to tempt them to do it.

I do like the idea of some kind of Super Hero City, a kind of retro future New York, with whatever non-Guardians MCU characters, The Incredibles, The Rocketeer, Big Hero 6, Darkwing Duck: I think it would be neat and serve as a nice space for any Masked Crime Fighters and Costumed Vigilantes that Disney might acquire in the future (Isn't there rumors of them getting back in the Power Rangers business?) but obviously if Disney launches a Super Hero land without Spider-Man and Iron Man and the gang people will be disappointed and I don't want Universal to lose those rights any time soon so what'cha going to do.

A kind of permanent 30's/40's Noir Street would seem right at home with the park's history and with the Fox Library there is plenty of refrences you could make, as for attractions... maybe Roger Rabbit, maybe Dick Tracy, do they have the rights to the MCU version of Peggy Carter she is so far removed from her comics counterpart as it is... okay this one would just be for me

I would love a 20th Century Sci-Fi land built around Alien, Predator, and Planet of the Apes. This park has always been the aimed at an older audience/little bit scary one of the Disney Parks so these would fit right in and of course Alien has a long history here anyway. All three IP have managed to stick around, with both their original classics still being discovered by new audiences and their latest installments finding continued success, when you look at what 20th Century Fox had to offer the Disney Parks these three are right at the top of the list, and as Sci-Fi that blends action with horror they are thematically linked, and as three IP's from one of the Hollywood Studios that Disney owns they fit the parks brand. Build it.



*Well clearly my main hope is that the IP and Attractions are all things that appeal directly to me.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

And to the heartbreak of long-time parks fans, kids don’t care about Figment. Most don’t even know who he is. He has a rabid fanbase of 30+ year olds who buy all his merch, but kids do not care. It’s why his ride isn’t a priority to update and his M&G is empty most of the day.

First visit to EPCOT I was six or seven years old, no prior exposure to anything there other than my first grade classmates hyping up Mission: Space and Test Track. We went to Journey into Imagination and it hooked me, all I wanted that day was a Figment plushie. This was modern bad Figment too.

Kids definitely still care about the dude, and even if they didn't, the adults are the ones with the money. This is a really silly post.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Imagine how "epic" Hollywood Studios would have been if Echo Lake had become the Super Heroes land and AC the Villains land. Ah, to dream.

 

[Dranth]

First visit to EPCOT I was six or seven years old, no prior exposure to anything there other than my first grade classmates hyping up Mission: Space and Test Track. We went to Journey into Imagination and it hooked me, all I wanted that day was a Figment plushie. This was modern bad Figment too.

Kids definitely still care about the dude, and even if they didn't, the adults are the ones with the money. This is a really silly post.

It is just as silly to assume your personal experience translates across the board. Figment mostly relies on the nostalgia of those of us who were younger in the early days of the parks. That doesn't mean NO one finds their way to it, but what is there now is a pale comparison to what was there before and there is little chance that the attach rate of newer audiences doesn’t reflect that.

That doesn't mean things can't change but let's face it, that whole attraction has been rotting away in its current form for over 20 years which puts the original out of reasonable living memory for half of millennials, nearly all of Z and the entirety of alpha. Even if it opened today fully restored or reworked and it was amazing, they would have already missed that moment in the lives of a generation and a half where people tend to form that lifelong affection we carry of things we are exposed to when we are young.

Sure, current spending power is squarely with the group that experienced that first iteration but what do you think will happen as folks age out and the demo shifts to those who only know Figment as a relatively bad ride and festival icon?

 

[Ayla]

First visit to EPCOT I was six or seven years old, no prior exposure to anything there other than my first grade classmates hyping up Mission: Space and Test Track. We went to Journey into Imagination and it hooked me, all I wanted that day was a Figment plushie. This was modern bad Figment too.

Kids definitely still care about the dude, and even if they didn't, the adults are the ones with the money. This is a really silly post.

Modern kids could care less about Figment, IF they even know who it is.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Sure, current spending power is squarely with the group that experienced that first iteration but what do you think will happen as folks age out and the demo shifts to those who only know Figment as a relatively bad ride and festival icon?

This is pretty clearly not happening with the amount of late millennial/early gen z disney girlies that buy Figment everything and have not seen any version of the ride other than the current one. Figment has the benefit of being able to rest on being a cute character even if his ride sucks

 

[dmw]

MK has a big lagoon in front through which people can ride the ferry. If they want a boat ride, the ferry meets that purpose. I have been to MK many times with my kids. They love the ferry and other boats around WDW, they do not ask to go on the boat in ROA.

The Columbia ship in DL was different since it is a pirate ship.

FYI... DL has two boats for ROA. The paddlewheel is used both for guests to ride, and also when Fantasmic runs on select nights. The pirate ship is different, and was not running when we were there a few weeks ago. DL also still has the canoes and the transport to TSI (which was renamed on many of the signs).

 

[Dranth]

This is pretty clearly not happening with the amount of late millennial/early gen z disney girlies that buy Figment everything and have not seen any version of the ride other than the current one. Figment has the benefit of being able to rest on being a cute character even if his ride sucks

You think that some cute merch will produce just as many lifelong fans as when they had a great ride, an amazing post ride and merch?

No one is claiming Figment is going to completely disappear, but he is basically following the same path as the Muppets. Sure, both get new fans now and then, have a STRONG loyal base that grew up with them, but have lost relevance as time has gone on. Eventually you will only see them on merch.

 

[Eric Graham]

Let’s hope Zootopia 2 is a hit and they build it over Simpsons. I would still prefer an Incredibles/Super Hero land but anything over Simpsons. Please no!

They already have the Simpson's land at Universal and it doesn't get a lot of traction, to be honest...

 

[The Leader of the Club]

No one is claiming Figment is going to completely disappear, but he is basically following the same path as the Muppets. Sure, both get new fans now and then, have a STRONG loyal base that grew up with them, but have lost relevance as time has gone on. Eventually you will only see them on merch.

The thing is, we’ve seen that Disney does have enough faith in these smaller franchises to invest in them outside of merch. Rockin is being rethemed to Muppets. Country Bears got an update rather than simply being replaced with a marketable IP. Figment is simply biding his time

 

[Moth]

Sounds more like we're all describing this merch pusher that, quite literally, only exists to have merchandise and not Figment, a character that, while apart of a bad ride (to us nerds, who knows what non-park diehards say about it), has gotten a respectable push from Disney in the last decade or so with two comic series, a newly created meet and greet, along with small appearances in Shanghai and the cruises with threats of new, "short form" content.

The fact Country Bears just got investment, Tiki Birds are still kicking and other park originals like Haunted Mansion keep getting attention shows that Disney recognizes the strength of established park original characters. If Figment wasn't meeting some quota with zoomers, I'm sure Disney would've loved to take him out back and walk out with purple scaled boots, but they haven't.



Wait a minute, this is the Animation Courtyard thread! The Figment Containment Unit is a page back!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

View attachment 855233
Sounds more like we're all describing this merch pusher that, quite literally, only exists to have merchandise and not Figment, a character that, while apart of a bad ride (to us nerds, who knows what non-park diehards say about it), has gotten a respectable push from Disney in the last decade or so with two comic series, a newly created meet and greet, along with small appearances in Shanghai and the cruises with threats of new, "short form" content.

The fact Country Bears just got investment, Tiki Birds are still kicking and other park originals like Haunted Mansion keep getting attention shows that Disney recognizes the strength of established park original characters. If Figment wasn't meeting some quota with zoomers, I'm sure Disney would've loved to take him out back and walk out with purple scaled boots, but they haven't.

They did have an Educational short with Orange Bird tho...

 

[GravityFalls]

If Disney wanted to get a superhero area into the park, specifically Marvel, I think Grand Avenue made more sense as an option then animation courtyard. But obviously Disney didn't go that route and instead decided to take that whole area and convert it to Monstropolis. Which makes me think that adding what few Marvel characters they have access to at DHS isn't a priority.

After the Guardians the next marquee Marvel superhero Disney can use in the Orlando parks is Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange's Sanctum Santorum (which is located in Greenwich Village, New York) would've fit within Grand Avenue (which was originally the New York backlot area) in the same spot that the Monsters Door Coaster is being built.

That would then give Disney the option to later convert both Muppets and Star Tours into Marvel attractions if either a deal is struck with Universal or another Marvel character outside of the Universal contract ends up connecting with audiences in a big way.