Why Hollywood Studios is being rebuilt

[Ignohippo]

really? thats interesting...on my survey Harry Potter was the clear winner then star wars and LOTR was pretty much even....but like a said in fairness if you did these surveys in three years you may see something totally different

I'm sorry, but I would question any survey that would put LOTR and Star Wars in even the same league of popularity. They aren't even close.

Can you walk into any home store and see LOTR decor? Do toy stores still carry LOTR or Hobbit toys? And that's even with LOTR/Hobbit movies currently being released!!!!

 

[ScoutN]

Song of the South had a successful theatrical re-release in 1986 that helped win approval for Splash Mountain. The Twilight Zone remains on television today in reruns and has been revived several times.

Annual New Year's Eve/Day Marathon is the highest rated marathon on those days. Pretty big with what other networks run. That opening jingle is synonymous anywhere.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I really hope DHS gets neither Cars or Star Wars. It would be a really sad day when Disney can't surprise and amaze us with great concepts anymore and come up with something so extraordinary that we cannot even try to guess what it would be.

By adding Cars or Star Wars, Disney would become too predictable and they used to never be predictable.

I have the sinking suspicion that that time has arrived. I don't think that they are capable of amazing us or even themselves anymore, at least stateside or the very least WDW. I think that whatever creativity that they once had has been stifled so many times by value engineering that they have lost all incentive to create something that will never be built or be built in a manner that puts it in "this sucks" category. And frankly, I don't blame them. This is a tough time for imagineers. They create, management throws it out or cuts it in half. If a fragment of what they created actually makes the light of day, then all of the "nothing can make us happy" fan base will talk like it is the worse thing ever, and how they would have done it better. We cannot be amazed because our expectations are too high for our own good. You can say that the expectations are high because that is what Disney always did, raise the bar and knock your socks off. Guess what...that standard died a mere 15 years after Walt Disney passed away. It no longer exists. We might want it, but, we are not going to get it.

 

[Ignohippo]

American Idol was a bad idea before it was ever built. I new it would fail quickly.

You'd have to be a Disney Executive to not know AI was a really bad idea.

If it would have had more of a tie-in to the actual show (like some kind of tournament twice a year that would include all of the daily winners to get a couple people straight into the Top 32 on the show), then maybe...

 

[ScoutN]

You'd have to be a Disney Executive to not know AI was a really bad idea.

If it would have had more of a tie-in to the actual show (like some kind of tournament twice a year that would include all of the daily winners to get a couple people straight into the Top 32 on the show), then maybe...

Wouldn't have worked. All those daily winners or even a quarter more than likely wouldn't be able to make it back.

 

[hull327]

Regardless of what properties they include in the DHS makeover, I hope they identify how much WDW needs a "thrill" park. If TDO would just simply fill DHS with some cutting edge coasters and thrill rides, it'd probably be the resort's #2 gate.

No one wants Star Wars Land or CarsLand more than I do, but WDW desperately needs a park that will appeal to teens and thrill seekers.

I said the same thing several pages back. To properly battle Universal they need more thrill rides.

 

[EsmeraldaLeGitanNotreDame]

I said the same thing several pages back. To properly battle Universal they need more thrill rides.

But is there even a battle? C'mon. Who's Winning?
Disney won a long time ago. Universal sucks. Thrill rides my toosh. Harry Potter is the only thing they have. I wish there was more theming and fun parades and fireworks. They don't even have the same amount of rides. Disney takes years to do. Universal...a few days. Bleh.

 

[hull327]

But is there even a battle? C'mon. Who's Winning?
Disney won a long time ago. Universal sucks. Thrill rides my toosh. Harry Potter is the only thing they have. I wish there was more theming and fun parades and fireworks. They don't even have the same amount of rides. Disney takes years to do. Universal...a few days. Bleh.

Well apparently there's enough attendance at Universal that makes DW execs at least a little worried.

 

[EsmeraldaLeGitanNotreDame]

Well apparently there's enough attendance at Universal that makes DW execs at least a little worried.

I haven't been reading this thread, I just popped in.
So how do we know Disney execs are worried exactly?
Anyway, grandparents and families with little ones will always be going to DisneyWorld. They aren't hurtin.
Gawd, I'd love to be a Disney Exec.

 

[hull327]

I haven't been reading this thread, I just popped in.
So how do we know Disney execs are worried exactly?
Anyway, grandparents and families with little ones will always be going to DisneyWorld. They aren't hurtin.
Gawd, I'd love to be a Disney Exec.

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=945509227

I also can't find the other news article but for the past 2-1/2 years Universal has seen meteoric attendance increases thanks to Harry Potter. Finally, in late 2012 it started to level out but now they have Transformers 3D which is supposed to be excellent. Disney on the other hand has only grown at about 2.3% over the same time period. Those numbers are off the top of my head from memory but are relatively close.

 

[lebeau]

You really think that? I'm the complete opposite. It's loaded for kids, male and female.

Sure. It's loaded with stuff to do for everybody. But if you are looking at traditional gender roles, it's heavily skewed towards male interests.

And if you have a princess fan in the party, you used to limited to a scary dark ride, two decade-old stage shows and expensive princess meals and make-overs. Now at least, there is a little more for princesses to do. But there could still be more.

 

[Ignohippo]

Wouldn't have worked. All those daily winners or even a quarter more than likely wouldn't be able to make it back.

There are ways to make it work. They could have had weekly winners. Disney could have given winners free hotel rooms for the rest of the week and paid for their flights to have been changed (while it's an expense, it's nothing compared to the level of excitement the attraction would gain) and paid for them to fly back for the tournament. You're only looking at about 25 people in each tournament. I'm sure they could have gotten FOX to help with the bill as well.

They probably spent more on the monitor out front than it would have cost to make the show a truely exciting attraction. Just think about how much media attention the show would have received a couple times a year.

 

[lebeau]

A poster goes from "NOTHING WILL HAPPEN OMGz STOP REEDEN TEH INTERNETz" to "OMGz NOTHING FOR TEH GURLz!"

LOL. Harry Potter SURELY is not geared toward girls with the movies, books, nothing. But it is wildly successful with girls. The notion Star Wars doesn't appeal to girls is more laughable than the guy I shoved on ignore the other day.

Can't tell if this is aimed at me or not. If it is, you are seriously misrepresenting my posts. If it's not, I can't tell who else you would be referring to. So either I missed some idiotic posts or you are pulling stuff out of you a$$.

 

[Californian Elitist]

But is there even a battle? C'mon. Who's Winning?
Disney won a long time ago. Universal sucks. Thrill rides my toosh. Harry Potter is the only thing they have. I wish there was more theming and fun parades and fireworks. They don't even have the same amount of rides. Disney takes years to do. Universal...a few days. Bleh.

I think you underestimate Universal. Harry Potter is the only thing they have? I don't think so. Disney takes years to build a kiddie coaster, while it took Universal one year for Transformers. Not to mention the announcements for expansions Universal keeps making. Disney hypes up an announcement...regarding chairs. CHAIRS. Wow.

Universal sucks, but Disney attempted to copy their concept years ago, and seemingly failed.

 

[EsmeraldaLeGitanNotreDame]

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=945509227

I also can't find the other news article but for the past 2-1/2 years Universal has seen meteoric attendance increases thanks to Harry Potter. Finally, in late 2012 it started to level out but now they have Transformers 3D which is supposed to be excellent. Disney on the other hand has only grown at about 2.3% over the same time period. Those numbers are off the top of my head from memory but are relatively close.

Ahhh. Alright I See. Well I'm glad to see Uni is doing better. Disney to me is more family friendly and the grounds are more well kept, and well, to me on so many levels Disney is better. But if Uni is getting better, that's good. I just was disappointed when I was there. I went to Uni before ever going to Disney, and was disappointed by it. It's not like I was tainted by Disney magic. I just wasn't impressed. It reminded me of my own local theme parks, nothing special, which it should have been. =/
And Disney, well, that was impressive. Spotless, clean, themed, magical, neat, tons of entertainment. Rides rarely shut down, like at Uni. It was ahmazing for me.
I'm glad Uni is trying to do better. They need to.

 

[lebeau]

And in my high school (when LOTR was at its peak) the idea of going to see one of those movies was laughable.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I haven't been reading this thread, I just popped in.
So how do we know Disney execs are worried exactly?
Anyway, grandparents and families with little ones will always be going to DisneyWorld. They aren't hurtin.
Gawd, I'd love to be a Disney Exec.

That people are willing to spend $90 to go to Islands of Adventure instead of $10 for a fifth day at Walt Disney World. The "Universal sucks and is only thrill rides" nonsense is a tired cliche that only the most delusional of Walt Disney World desperately hold onto.

 

[EsmeraldaLeGitanNotreDame]

I think you underestimate Universal. Harry Potter is the only thing they have? I don't think so. Disney takes years to build a kiddie coaster, while it took Universal one year for Transformers. Not to mention the announcements for expansions Universal keeps making. Disney hypes up an announcement...regarding chairs. CHAIRS. Wow.

Universal sucks, but Disney attempted to copy their concept years ago, and seemingly failed.

OK...
I missed the chairs announcement....

I just wasn't impressed with Uni. Disney looks like thay have taken, much more time, and I'm cool with that.

 

[lebeau]

While I like the thought process and agree with you...there is one thing you're missing.
The franchises will draw people in that wouldn't necessarily go to WDW or UO because they are fans of the franchise.

I understand the moves. Plus...DHS is about attractions based on films/studios...it's a no-brainer that they use franchises.

But do they really?

I know a lot of geeks. I know very few who visited an amusement park because of an IP. Most Star wars fans I know have never even heard of Star Tours much less ridden it.

 

[lebeau]

Regardless of what properties they include in the DHS makeover, I hope they identify how much WDW needs a "thrill" park. If TDO would just simply fill DHS with some cutting edge coasters and thrill rides, it'd probably be the resort's #2 gate.

No one wants Star Wars Land or CarsLand more than I do, but WDW desperately needs a park that will appeal to teens and thrill seekers.

I disagree. Disney has pretty much ceded that demo to Universal and coaster parks. Let em go.