Why is Stitch's Great Escape still there?

[JohnD]

Well I plan to go back this coming May (my birthday) and do you think I should go experience it? It's just that when you read reviews like "This is the last exit before Stitches Great Escape - TAKE IT!" I get a little bit worried that it will be 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back. And I find as I get older, that much of my life matters!

If you're in the park, and have the time, sure, experience it to judge for yourself but not at the expense of something else if your time is limited.

 

[JenniferS]

Nobody I know who has only seen the current attraction has left interested in returning. Hard to speak for myself as I did experience the prior attraction.

I never experienced Alien Encounter. Stitch is all I know.

We visit at least once per trip. It's a seat ... in the A/C ... out of the sun ... with no wait.
The same could have been said of Sounds Dangerous. Now we have nothing there. Be careful what you wish for folks.

 

[Nemo14]

Well I plan to go back this coming May (my birthday) and do you think I should go experience it? It's just that when you read reviews like "This is the last exit before Stitches Great Escape - TAKE IT!" I get a little bit worried that it will be 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back. And I find as I get older, that much of my life matters!

Well, if you want your criticisms to be taken seriously, then of course you should experience it.

 

[CheshireCat12]

I don't LOVE it, but Stitch is a very popular character and without this attraction he would not be well represented outside of character meet and greets. I wish they would do something more with him someday.

 

[Bryansworld]

My biggest complaint about SGE is how often the effects do not work correctly. Every time I ride something is not quite right. Either the sound, cannons, or air on your neck effect. I LOVED Alien Encounter and wish it would have stayed. I think the idea was understandable to make it more kid friendly, but they fell short on the story and flow. But I would be just as upset if Alien Encounter was still there and the effects did not work correctly.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Well I plan to go back this coming May (my birthday) and do you think I should go experience it? It's just that when you read reviews like "This is the last exit before Stitches Great Escape - TAKE IT!" I get a little bit worried that it will be 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back. And I find as I get older, that much of my life matters!

I'll bet I'm older then you, yet when you think about it, every single thing you do in WDW is using up time that you will never get back. Every minute you stand in line for a "popular" attraction is time that you will never get back. Walking down Main Street is time you will never get back. Even going back and forth to connect with FP times is time that you will never get back. Heck, even traveling to WDW is time that you will never get back. If you go with the proper attitude then it will be worthwhile, but, considering how you feel without ever seeing it, I doubt that you will allow yourself to be contradicted, so I'd say no, don't bother. I sincerely doubt that you will enjoy it, you will be spending all your time looking for things that you don't like about it.

 

[rct247]

The reason it is still there is because Alien Encounter was a great attraction by by 2003, it had be around a while and many parents complained at the scary nature of the attraction. Add on to that that in 2003, Lilo & Stitch was still fresh and there was a new character that audiences were in love with. Let's be honest, even today, you have to admit that the concept of keeping most of the teleporation theme in tact, but replacing the scary alien with Stitch does make sense on so many levels. The problem arises when the idea requires Imagineers to recycle an attraction and a building layout. As previously stated, the building layout has not changed since the park opened with it's first attraction inside. Alien Encounters seats and teleporation tubes also had to be recycled leaving Imagineers with limitations in how the story must be told and working around what all the sensory theater was capable of. Unfortunately, the show script just isn't that great to begin with. Now add in the fact that while it is toned down for audiences, it still has "scary" aspects putting in a narrow age group that would enjoy it. The popularity of Stitch has already peaked, but there are still many fans and merchandise out there. Imagineers are stuck now on what to do with that space. The building layout is limited and recycling the really cool teleporation effects for a 3rd attraction won't fly. While Stitch is a dude with many guests, it does still serve as a people eater with two moderately sized theaters and shows loading every 5 - 10 minutes. There isn't usually a line, but even on the busiest day of the year, Stitch can pull wait times of 20 - 40 minutes believe it or not. The attraction only takes 4 to 5 cast members to run, the darkness and low lighting allow them to mask many issues with paint, stains, rust, hard water, dust, etc. The show empties into gift shops that do lead to people making purchases. With no good replacement lined up, keeping it still serves an purpose in a park that is always looking for more ride capacity. In my opinion, there are attractions that are equal if not worse. Sounds Dangerous was worse. Stitch's Great Escape isn't going away for a little while if not longer. It's likely to be around for at least another 3-5 years despite low ratings. There just isn't anything better.

 

[doctornick]

It does pull in consistently low results in guest polls, but it's filling a hole.

An overhaul or (another) retheme would be nice but I don't think its top of the list. Internally there's still a lot of hate and conflict over the whole AE/SGE fiasco.

Is it conceivable that they could ever shut it down and bring back ExtraTERRORestrial? Such a great experience. I mean, that would not be an expensive re-do and would likely be more popular (at least among the segment of people who can tolerate it).

Of course, it goes completely counter the toddler oriented building they have done of late in WDW...

 

[doctornick]

Think about this...If the movie was never even made and this was an "original" attraction and Stitch was a park exclusive character would guests see it differently?

The problem with SGE is that it doesn't have a good target audience. It's too silly/funny to be taken seriously as a real scary ride. And it's too scary for the younger crowd to whom Stitch is typically targeted. Being in the dark and restrained is pretty freaky for many people, which is fine, but the audience that can tolerate/enjoy it aren't as likely to be enthralled with someone burping a chili dog in their face.

Now a creepy alien breathing on your neck or dripping saliva on you....

 

[doctornick]

We visit at least once per trip. It's a seat ... in the A/C ... out of the sun ... with no wait.
The same could have been said of Sounds Dangerous. Now we have nothing there. Be careful what you wish for folks.

I actually liked Sounds Dangerous. Didn't love it, wasn't a "must do" or anything, but I thought it was enjoyable enough and certainly different from other park attractions. I don't understand people being happy that it closed, when there is nothing replacing it.

 

[JenniferS]

I actually liked Sounds Dangerous. Didn't love it, wasn't a "must do" or anything, but I thought it was enjoyable enough and certainly different from other park attractions. I don't understand people being happy that it closed, when there is nothing replacing it.

I didn't mind it either.
The first time we were there, my then 8-year old son fuh-reaked in the pitch black. For 6 or 7 minutes, all you could hear was a panicked "Mom, Mom ... Mom". Non-stop.
He is now almost 19, stands 6' 4", more than 200 lbs., and we still tease him once in a while.

This was the same trip that we discovered him chewing gum after lunch at Cosmic Ray's. He hadn't had gum before lunch, and no one had given him any gum during lunch ....
To this day, he denies picking gum from the underside of the table, but his face still goes red, and his voice raises an octave or two, so you tell me.

 

[luv]

I actually liked Sounds Dangerous. Didn't love it, wasn't a "must do" or anything, but I thought it was enjoyable enough and certainly different from other park attractions. I don't understand people being happy that it closed, when there is nothing replacing it.

I didn't love it, but it was better than nothing. It's was a good break from the heat in the summer.

Stitch, too, is better than nothing. I don't like it. It's terrible. But it's better than nothing. It's even better than a meet n greet.

 

[JenniferS]

I didn't love it, but it was better than nothing. It's was a good break from the heat in the summer.

Stitch, too, is better than nothing. I don't like it. It's terrible. But it's better than nothing. It's even better than a meet n greet.

Yeah, what she said.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I actually liked Sounds Dangerous. Didn't love it, wasn't a "must do" or anything, but I thought it was enjoyable enough and certainly different from other park attractions. I don't understand people being happy that it closed, when there is nothing replacing it.

Maybe the fact that you were Getting "ed on" by an elephant at the end of the attraction really showed how much this wasn't a big hit for many..

 

[DManRightHere]

The ride everyone hates, that I am so glad I did not go on, I am asking why do you all suppose it is still there? There had to be plenty of complaints, but I have one theory as to why:

Corporations do not like to be told what to do by anyone, whether a guest, customers, the government, anyone. Disney "eats a lot of crow" when they make guests happy, even though they are supposed to be in the "happy people" business. Keeping Stiches Great Escape is their way of saying "we are a big company and no one tells us what to do and it is our business and if we want to keep something people hate we will" This is even though because it takes power and CMs to run Stitch, a blank space would be less money.

Since a lot of companies are like this (GM and Sears are examples) do you all think Disney is like that too?

I completely disagree that Disney keeps it because "corporations do not like to be told what to do". You may get the feeling the company doesn't care from direct contact to workers (cashiers, guest relations, and such), but I'm sure the companies try their best to do what the customer wants while keeping a good business sense. This is why they rake in the big bucks.

I don't hate the stitch ride either, it is an awkward ride that is too scary for little kids though. I like it because it has cool animatronics. I'd like to see more of them around the resort (cool animatronics, not just stitch characters).

 

[copcarguyp71]

I never experienced Alien Encounter. Stitch is all I know.

We visit at least once per trip. It's a seat ... in the A/C ... out of the sun ... with no wait.
The same could have been said of Sounds Dangerous. Now we have nothing there. Be careful what you wish for folks.

I wish I could "like" this more than once!!!

 

[Matt_Black]

I miss the Sound Studio preshow with David Letterman. "And remember- if you break anything, guards in mouse ears will beat you silly."

 

[walter1901]

I do agree that SGE is not a great attraction. I have only experienced once back in the (not so) sunny days of 2007. I did dislike it and have not experienced it again. I do not remember it deeply and just short brief memories of the attraction. I did not experience Alien Encounter so I am not biased as others. I would like a replacement but It will likely never get replaced due to the popularity of the Stitch character and due to the $$$$ that it would take to replace the attraction. IMHO

 

[KeithVH]

Actually, it's still there because they haven't nuked it from orbit. You know that's the only way to be sure . . .

 

[Magenta Panther]

I don't LOVE it, but Stitch is a very popular character and without this attraction he would not be well represented outside of character meet and greets. I wish they would do something more with him someday.

I feel the same way about Lion King and Mary Poppins...