DHS What should they do with Animation Courtyard?

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
So let me get this straight, They spent the last 10 years trying to undo the studio concept by removing The Great Movie Ride for Runaway Railway, The backlot tour, The Pixar Studios area, added the cheap and tacky Toy Story Land and Galaxys Edge. we are losing MuppetVision for an entire Monsters Inc. Land and now for Animation Courtyard they are actually leaning back into the studio concept? They really have no long term plan on how to make this park cohesive, do they?
To be fair, this was actually the quickest route to returning it to a cohesive "land", as is now the fashion at the park. Launch Bay was the odd duck. No, it's not an IP land like the others, but it will make sense again as a self-contained unit and also creates an animation strip from Vacation Fun to Frozen to Runaway Railway to the Courtyard that plays decently well with current-state Hollywood and Sunset.
 

HMF

Well-Known Member
To be fair, this was actually the quickest route to returning it to a cohesive "land", as is now the fashion at the park. Launch Bay was the odd duck. No, it's not an IP land like the others, but it will make sense again as a self-contained unit and also creates an animation strip from Vacation Fun to Frozen to Runaway Railway to the Courtyard that plays decently well with current-state Hollywood and Sunset.
I would have kept the Pixar area and put the Door Coaster there. TSL and now MIL are very short sighted decisions IMO. each movie does not need it's own Land and the Pixar Studios concept could have given them the opportunity to put in multiple Pixar Attractions without them being forced into other parks where they don't belong Muppet Vision would be saved ROA and TSI would be saved and DHS would have a cohesive feel again. Also I would have kept the Great Movie Ride as the parks thesis statement. would have saved them lots of time and money and the park would have an identity instead of the random collection of IPs it is now.
 

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
I would have kept the Pixar area and put the Door Coaster there. TSL and now MIL are very short sighted decisions IMO. each movie does not need it's own Land and the Pixar Studios concept could have given them the opportunity to put in multiple Pixar Attractions without them being forced into other parks where they don't belong Muppet Vision would be saved ROA and TSI would be saved and DHS would have a cohesive feel again. Also I would have kept the Great Movie Ride as the parks thesis statement. would have saved them lots of time and money and the park would have an identity instead of the random collection of IPs it is now.
People don’t care if it is Pixar vs Disney. That is not a cohesive enough theme to lump random IP together. You propose Slinky should be next to the door coaster and a Walle attraction? That would look pretty silly. Not to mention, does that mean Pixar can’t exist in other parks, like Buzz in MK where it fits naturally?
 

Mr. Sullivan

Well-Known Member
The idea of a land with a bunch of random disconnected Pixar attractions is horrendous, and we see how horrendous it is in practice. What you're asking for is DHS' Pixar Pier.

Pixar is a studio, not a franchise. Toy Story has no place being next door to Monsters Inc and Monsters Inc has no place being next door to Incredibles.

That is why Pixar Pier doesn't work. None of those things belong together.
 

Disgruntled Walt

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
So let me get this straight, They spent the last 10 years trying to undo the studio concept by removing The Great Movie Ride for Runaway Railway, The backlot tour, The Pixar Studios area, added the cheap and tacky Toy Story Land and Galaxys Edge. we are losing MuppetVision for an entire Monsters Inc. Land and now for Animation Courtyard they are actually leaning back into the studio concept? They really have no long term plan on how to make this park cohesive, do they? Also, if they are not bringing back the actual animation studio this will basically be a glorified exhibit just like it was before Launch Bay.
Honestly, at this point, it's wishful thinking to believe they care about cohesiveness. Now I have to take each decision as it comes and judge it. In this case, it's a good decision. Once Upon a Studio was absolutely fantastic, and the fact that they're creating something from that for the park is a big win!
I would have kept the Pixar area and put the Door Coaster there. TSL and now MIL are very short sighted decisions IMO. each movie does not need it's own Land and the Pixar Studios concept could have given them the opportunity to put in multiple Pixar Attractions without them being forced into other parks where they don't belong Muppet Vision would be saved ROA and TSI would be saved and DHS would have a cohesive feel again. Also I would have kept the Great Movie Ride as the parks thesis statement. would have saved them lots of time and money and the park would have an identity instead of the random collection of IPs it is now.

I get what you mean about creating a Pixar Studios land; it makes sense, especially in light of what we've lost. When I was in high-school, I armchair-Imagineered a Brazil Disney Resort with a park called Disney Movieland (creative title, right?), and I had a Pixar Studios section basically doing exactly what you suggest.

I think the single-IP lands can work, but they have become far too common for Disney. What you put forth would be a welcome return to the original idea of the studio park, and I'll explain what I mean in a second...
The idea of a land with a bunch of random disconnected Pixar attractions is horrendous, and we see how horrendous it is in practice. What you're asking for is DHS' Pixar Pier.

Pixar is a studio, not a franchise. Toy Story has no place being next door to Monsters Inc and Monsters Inc has no place being next door to Incredibles.

That is why Pixar Pier doesn't work. None of those things belong together.

@Mr. Sullivan the reason Pixar Pier is so awful is because it's basically a jumble of IP slapped on practically unthemed rides. In @HMF 's proposal, we are returning to the original idea of the studio park: entering into the films produced by a studio in a studio-like setting. Studios by definition are chock full of differing IPs. If you enter a Pixar Studios land, I would totally expect that in one soundstage you've got Monsters, Inc. and in another you've got Toy Story. That's what a studio is!

I think it all comes down to what you PREFER to see. If you like immersive lands, then the Studio-model isn't for you. If you are ok with immersive experiences housed in soundstage buildings, then the Studio-model is great!

I prefer immersive lands overall, but I miss the Studio-model, and I'd love to see it come back.
 

Mr. Sullivan

Well-Known Member
Honestly, at this point, it's wishful thinking to believe they care about cohesiveness. Now I have to take each decision as it comes and judge it. In this case, it's a good decision. Once Upon a Studio was absolutely fantastic, and the fact that they're creating something from that for the park is a big win!


I get what you mean about creating a Pixar Studios land; it makes sense, especially in light of what we've lost. When I was in high-school, I armchair-Imagineered a Brazil Disney Resort with a park called Disney Movieland (creative title, right?), and I had a Pixar Studios section basically doing exactly what you suggest.

I think the single-IP lands can work, but they have become far too common for Disney. What you put forth would be a welcome return to the original idea of the studio park, and I'll explain what I mean in a second...


@Mr. Sullivan the reason Pixar Pier is so awful is because it's basically a jumble of IP slapped on practically unthemed rides. In @HMF 's proposal, we are returning to the original idea of the studio park: entering into the films produced by a studio in a studio-like setting. Studios by definition are chock full of differing IPs. If you enter a Pixar Studios land, I would totally expect that in one soundstage you've got Monsters, Inc. and in another you've got Toy Story. That's what a studio is!

I think it all comes down to what you PREFER to see. If you like immersive lands, then the Studio-model isn't for you. If you are ok with immersive experiences housed in soundstage buildings, then the Studio-model is great!

I prefer immersive lands overall, but I miss the Studio-model, and I'd love to see it come back.
I guess it's tough to say exactly what I'd prefer because I've never seen the studio model done particularly well, or at least done to it's fullest potential. I think Universal Studios Florida and MGM both opened with a good foundation to prove that model's longterm success, but neither park really evolved in that direction. And the less said about Walt Disney Studios the better.

I never was a big fan of DHS in the form I first found it in (which was still firmly a studios park), but I was a fan of USF in the form I first found it it in. Had they both continued to develop that way, they'd likely be my favorite parks on earth because film is my lifesblood. It's my everything. It's what I have dedicated myself to.

But these days, I really strongly dislike USF and what it has become and like DHS a bit more than I did than how it was (though it is still my least favorite of the four parks).

What I can say for certain is that I do like mixed IP lands if the mixture of the IP is tonal and thematic. Hence why I'm very on board for something like Tropical Americas. But the thought of a bunch of Pixar stuff plopped into one land really turns me off because there is no tonal or thematic link between them other than them all belonging to Pixar and that to me seems messy.

But maybe seeing the concept done well would change that. I just have never seen it done well.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
The idea of a land with a bunch of random disconnected Pixar attractions is horrendous, and we see how horrendous it is in practice. What you're asking for is DHS' Pixar Pier.

Pixar is a studio, not a franchise. Toy Story has no place being next door to Monsters Inc and Monsters Inc has no place being next door to Incredibles.

That is why Pixar Pier doesn't work. None of those things belong together.
Man, can you imagine if they stuck Winnie the Pooh next to Snow White next to Peter Pan next to Little Mermaid all in one land? Chaos!

Every franchise doesn’t need a land. That’s a VERY new idea.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
Also maybe I’m mis-reading things. But I never expected Mermaid and Dis Jr to go away for the theoretical Animation Courtyard expansion. Doing something cosmetic now with the courtyard doesn’t seem like a bad thing. Though bare-minimum cosmetic, I’d still have preferred both buildings be redressed into theatres instead of slightly better sound stages.
Yeah, this is kind of where I am about it all. Can't say I am excited about it, but if they're realistically not going to redevelop this area in the foreseeable future they may as well make it look nice/more cohesive and do something with that building. Going back to the animation theme also makes the most sense of anything.

Will say that I get why some people aren't exactly excited by this announcement, but it strikes me that 1) it is not like they have no major attractions announced and under construction for the resort (and this park) to open in coming years, and; 2) I am happy they are trying to at least utilise otherwise under-utilised spaces rather than just leaving them to hobble along half or entirely closed as has been common in recent decades. If anything other than a mind-blowing redevelopment of the area was going to be disappointing, this area was realistically going to just remain a bit of a mess for the foreseeable future.
 
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The Leader of the Club

Well-Known Member
Man, can you imagine if they stuck Winnie the Pooh next to Snow White next to Peter Pan next to Little Mermaid all in one land? Chaos!

Every franchise doesn’t need a land. That’s a VERY new idea.
Those attractions all work in Fantasyland because they’re based on classic storybooks. The general conceit exists that these are all fantastical characters that could conceivably live in the same enchanted forest somewhere.

Aside from the studio that created them, what basic DNA do Cars and Finding Nemo share? Why would it make any sense to go from one of those worlds to the next except for the fact that we know “this is a PIXAR movie?”
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Those attractions all work in Fantasyland because they’re based on classic storybooks. The general conceit exists that these are all fantastical characters that could conceivably live in the same enchanted forest somewhere.

Aside from the studio that created them, what basic DNA do Cars and Finding Nemo share? Why would it make any sense to go from one of those worlds to the next except for the fact that we know “this is a PIXAR movie?”
How much sense does it make to go from Tiana to Cars? Or Big Thunder to Cars... none whatsoever, and it seems like people are fine with that... Grouping the Pixar IP into a Studios Park is not a terrible idea, and since everyone knows the studio and their work, it makes enough sense....
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
The idea of a land with a bunch of random disconnected Pixar attractions is horrendous, and we see how horrendous it is in practice. What you're asking for is DHS' Pixar Pier.

Pixar is a studio, not a franchise. Toy Story has no place being next door to Monsters Inc and Monsters Inc has no place being next door to Incredibles.

That is why Pixar Pier doesn't work. None of those things belong together.
Fantasyland used to be the catchall Disney animation land because they made so many fairy tales. Most Pixar movies are just characters in a big city, therefore I see no reason you can't just mash all the movies together into one big Pixartropolis.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Man, can you imagine if they stuck Winnie the Pooh next to Snow White next to Peter Pan next to Little Mermaid all in one land? Chaos!
funny-bill-murray.gif
 

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