Why Hollywood Studios is being rebuilt

[lebeau]

You argued that SW was much more popular than LoTR and to support that argument you mentioned LoTR toys weren't very common in stores, etc. I think the two franchises are actually both very popular and the fact that young kids are a demo that is more into SW than LoTR is why merchandising is the way it is. I then used my youthful experiences with both franchises to bolster my point. If SW is more popular than LoTR I don't think it is light years more popular, just a bit. I have friends who would argue that LoTR is way more popular because they hated the more recent SW movies and I've argued the other side with them. Doesn't really matter, except I could see @twebber55's poll having validity. Regardless, I hope Disney builds some more SW stuff and I hope it kicks butt.

I am a Star Wars fan from way back. 1977 to be exact. But no group of fans over-estimates the popularity of the subject of their fandom like Star Wars fans. Not even Disney fans.

 

[PeterAlt]

I'd say Haunted Mansion and Amazing Adventures of Spider Man are both world class rides...Disney and Uni both have rides that tell stories and immerse you in different environments. That is why they are compared. Six Flags doesn't try and do this....that's how I look at it....I loved Disney as a high school and college kid and my young children (now 8 and 10) have had really fun days at the Uni parks. Anyhoo, they are similar enough that comparisons are inevitable. I see nothing to dissuade me from my Venn diagram. Lots of families have interest in both sets of parks.

I disagree about Spider-Man. While it is a cool ride, as for artistic value, Haunted Mansion is a classic on so many levels. The music. The set designs and props. The optical illusions. The script. It is a timeless classic that NO Uni attraction can even come close.

Also, Pirates of the Caribbean is of this calibur too. Those two attractions were created around 1968, soon after Walt's death. I know Walt played a hand in the creation of PotC, and Mansion to a much lesser extent. I think that time period was the Golden Age of WDI. I wonder if this was because Walt was at his peek or because the Imagineers motivated themselves to work harder after Walt died - or a combo of both?

 

[Thrill Seeker]

It was the right call. But Disney has a long way to go before they enter the territory of "too girly".

I agree.

 

[George]

I am a Star Wars fan from way back. 1977 to be exact. But no group of fans over-estimates the popularity of the subject of their fandom like Star Wars fans. Not even Disney fans.

I find that I agree with you quite often. BTW, I was born in 1969 and was thus the perfect age for the original trilogy. I was just old enough to be kind of concerned about the teddy bears throwing rocks at the stormtroopers when I saw RotJ.

 

[PeterAlt]

I find that I agree with you quite often. BTW, I was born in 1969 and was thus the perfect age for the original trilogy. I was just old enough to be kind of concerned about the teddy bears throwing rocks at the stormtroopers when I saw RotJ.

So was I, by the way. I was seven when Star Wars was released! I was nine or ten when Big Thunder Mountain opened at WDW. I was 12 when EPCOT opened. I was 19 when DHS and Pleasure Island opened (just two years later and I would be allowed into that spinning club and get hungover the following morning!).

I thought the teddy bears throwing rocks was cute.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Define world class rides? Because why Id say Disney rides are unique and themed wonderfully, I wouldn't say world class. Many families that head to disney with small child aren't going to Uni just yet. People maybe interested but many people are still going to Disney without heading to Uni. People never compare Disney and Six Flags, so why compare Uni and Disney?

If you don't compare Disney to Universal, then what can you compare it to? ("NOTHING! THAT'S THE POINT!" they all said. )

I think you're right that Disney and Uni fill different niches, but surely there are enough similarities that *some* comparisons are justified. If you're someone who's interested in the theme park business as a whole, then it's not very helpful to box off one company's set of parks in its own completely unique category. And the more Uni ups its game, the less Disney itself has the luxury of not comparing the two.

 

[PeterAlt]

I would agree with this mainly because to remain competitive in the thrill business you have to continously build new and more thirlling attractions. The only economical way to do that is with lightly themed rides. I would much rather see Disney spend thier money on a couple highly themed rides that will remain relevant for years, then putting in lightly themed high thrill rides that will be obsolete in a year or two.

I have to disagree to a certain extent. Different demographics show for each park. For example, MK attracts younger crowds. DHS has attracted a more mature crowd. Disney can play into those stats and offer more there for that demograph. Or they can build more for younger guests and try to even the demographic data with MK.

They need to choose one park to have a reputation for catering to older crowds and keep adding attractions to justify it and perpetuate that reputation. This is what they have been doing for the MK for younger crowds. That's why AE never really fit in - they should have built it at DHS.

 

[WDW95]

I wonder how Shanghai is going to play into all of these discussions. I've heard that this park is going to focus on franchises more than any other Disney park. In tomorrowland I have heard that Tron would be heavily featured there. But I wonder, considering the purchase of Star Wars if Tomorrowland in Shanghai is going to heavily feature this property.

If so is it a possibility that Disney would want to implement some of these designs over multiple parks (DHS and Shanghai) to save on research/development costs?

 

[doctornick]

The only reason the Indy Stunt Show and Beauty and the Beast are still around are because they are ridiculously high capacity venues that can pull a lot of ppl off the streets when they need to. This is also the only reason why anyone thought bringing Lawsuit City- er, Lights Motors Action to DHS was a good idea.

The removal of the two stunt show venues will require whatever replaces them to have substantial throughput to replace the capacity lost. An added bonus to bringing new rides to this real estate is that the winning proposals are both completely indoor attractions that can operate rain or shine, something DHS desperately needs.

I hope this means that TDO will be building multiple new attractions which will exceed the current capacity of what exists in the part. One concern I have about what we've heard about DHS is that the number of attractions seems someone skimpy. I would hope that they have 7-8 attractions planned (plus keeping the Muppets in some capacity) between Pixar and Star Wars.

I am only aware of two major rides that are of "E-ticket" magnitude that are being developed. There are numerous smaller additions planned, of course.

Are you able to expand on this at all? Is one of the "E-ticket" rides the Cars dark ride that is a RSR replacement? Are there other Star Wars rides beyond the E-ticket (speeder bike coaster)?

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I

I agree with you as far as merchandising. And that seems to be where Disney's head is these days. The success of the Potter merch has driven them insane.

But reall, I don't think EE would be any more popular than it is today if it had a SW theme. It's the ride, not the theme.

I disagree. Indy is much better than Dinosaur. Radiator Springs Racers is much better than Test Track.

 

[Dragonrider1227]

Sad to hear Muppetvision 3D is out but I just saw it not too long ago and its effects felt rather dated. It's mainly sad that the last big project Jim Henson himself did is about to be demolished and that this is more proof we may never see that Muppet land they promised us 20 years ago.
But, I'm psyched for Star Wars land. If it was up to me, I would scrap Avatar and use the money for that instead
So, is there a date set for this rehaul yet?

 

[lebeau]

I find that I agree with you quite often. BTW, I was born in 1969 and was thus the perfect age for the original trilogy. I was just old enough to be kind of concerned about the teddy bears throwing rocks at the stormtroopers when I saw RotJ.

I was born at the tail end of 1970. So we're pretty close in age. Probably no big surprise that we're on the same wavelength.

I was still young enough to think the teddy bears were funny. It wasn't until the TV movie with Wilford Brimley that I finally realized that they sucked.

 

[lebeau]

I

I disagree. Indy is much better than Dinosaur. Radiator Springs Racers is much better than Test Track.

But theme is not the only difference between those attractions. Who's to say Adventure Guy and Talking Cartoon Cars Racers wouldn't have also been superior to Dinosaur and Test Track.

Objectively, there is no way to measure. At least not without resources we don't have access to. But my gut tells me very few people really flock to an attraction based on a familiar IP. It will get a fan to try it. After that, the ride succeeds or fails on its own merits.

 

[asianway]

But theme is not the only difference between those attractions. Who's to say Adventure Guy and Talking Cartoon Cars Racers wouldn't have also been superior to Dinosaur and Test Track.

Objectively, there is no way to measure. At least not without resources we don't have access to. But my gut tells me very few people really flock to an attraction based on a familiar IP. It will get a fan to try it. After that, the ride succeeds or fails on its own merits.

How is indy/dinosaur different other than theme? I thought they were identical

 

[NoChesterHester]

would hope that they have 7-8 attractions planned (plus keeping the Muppets in some capacity) between Pixar and Star Wars.

Careful. Comments like this make us fans sound so unrealistic. 7-8 attractions?

 

[NoChesterHester]

This just happened.

My brain hurts from the last four pages.

 

[GoofGoof]

Careful. Comments like this make us fans sound so unrealistic. 7-8 attractions?

That count includes 2 themed sets of bathrooms, 2 meet and greets and a cluster of benches and planters. So 2 to 3 new rides

Seriously, if you combine Carsland and Potterland 1.0 I think the count is 5 rides. 7 to 8 would be an epic addition.

 

[NoChesterHester]

I look at Everest...that was a major E-ticket and that didn't really boost DAK attendance all that much. Yes it did boost it...but now HP numbers by any means. Also, it's still not keeping people in the parks until closing.

I understand what you are saying, but I can't let this part slide. Everest increased Animal Kingdom attendance by one million people in the first full year it was opened. That was an 11% jump.

And it just isnt fair to say it alone isnt keeping people later. One attraction can't be depended on to keep people into the night. It is a 4 minute ride, shall they just ride it over and over and over?

 

[NoChesterHester]

That count includes 2 themed sets of bathrooms, 2 meet and greets and a cluster of benches and planters. So 2 to 3 new rides

Seriously, if you combine Carsland and Potterland 1.0 I think the count is 5 rides. 7 to 8 would be an epic addition.

7-8 in this day and age is what a new park opens with.

 

[doctornick]

Careful. Comments like this make us fans sound so unrealistic. 7-8 attractions?

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but yeah, I think 7-8 attractions from this rumored large scale expansion is what they should aim for. If they are removing the Indy stunt show, LMA and Backlot Tour (and possibly American Idol and/or Muppetvision) then they need to not only make up for what they are removing but also provide additional capacity that DHS has long needed.

I'm not saying they need that many rides, mind you, just that many attractions. I'd be fine with something like:

Star Wars
1. Speeder Bike coaster
2. Indoor Jedi Training Academy
3. Walk-through Millenium Falcon
4. Ewok village play area
5. family friendly dark ride or flat ride

Pixar
6. Mater's jamboree
7. Indoor RSR replacement (hopefully, E-ticket quality)
8. Monsters Inc ride (door coaster or dark ride)

If they did that while keeping the Muppets, I think it would provide the number of attractions that are really needed to keep people occupied for a full day.