News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[UNCgolf]

The scope is irrelevant. They're not addressing the needs of the park even before you realize these IPs would entirely fly in the face of Animal Kingdom's theme.

A no height requirement dinosaur AA dark ride would be a much better addition than anything they mentioned, and potentially more popular too.

 

[UNCgolf]

My point is we don't know how many attractions positive/negative this expansion will yield. Is Moana Splash being built where the Boneyard is? Is it being built where Primeval Whirl was? Will there just be the spinner and Moana Splash? Will Zootopia have more than one attraction? We have no idea, so I think with all that being said it is too soon to say whether or not they're addressing the "needs of the park" (which to them is just more $$$ being spent by guests)

We do have an insider that's seen the plan and said it's just Zootopia replacing Dinosaur, the Moana Splash going mainly where Primeval Whirl was, and then the rethemed spinner. No additional attractions.

 

[MissingDisney]

The whole D23 Blue Sky segment with Josh and Friends was …….awkward. Their body language wasn’t even comfortable. This was all hoop and no lah.

I don’t think they know what the h3ll they’re doing right now and know everyone is irritated. Being the master spin doctor that he is, Josh came out and was like “let’s get the people hyped up on some stuff to distract them from all these other train wrecks …..whadawegot….Zootopia? Moana? Yeah, that’ll work….what else….throw in some villains. They seem to like that. That’ll really get them going….”

And it works. Distraction is an art. Disney is good at artwork of all sorts.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Oh I agree they could make a better dinosaur ride -- something like the early part of the Jurassic Park River Adventure would work best, IMO. Just a slow, casual ride with no height restrictions where you get to see a bunch of dinosaur AAs. That ride would be a massive hit.

I was operating on the assumption they wouldn't want to spend that kind of money, though, and the best we could get is just a refurbed version of the current ride with all effects working as intended. Otherwise they're going to replace it with IP.

Completely agree. Just depressing that there seem to be so many possibilities for popular dinosaur attractions... but Disney's current IP mandate means they would rather ditch dinosaurs altogether than spend money on an attraction not tied to a profitable IP. If they really get rid of a dinosaur land at AK, it will show how fanatical they have become about this mandate as dinosaurs are such a natural theme for the park and something that fascinates almost everybody at some point in their lives. You would expect Dinosaurs to then be on the list with Australia of lands people keep hoping getting added to DAK because they would be logical for the park.

 

[No Name]

My point is we don't know how many attractions positive/negative this expansion will yield. Is Moana Splash being built where the Boneyard is? Is it being built where Primeval Whirl was? Will there just be the spinner and Moana Splash? Will Zootopia have more than one attraction? We have no idea, so I think with all that being said it is too soon to say whether or not they're addressing the "needs of the park" (which to them is just more $$$ being spent by guests)

We have a pretty solid idea. It’s a Moana boat ride, rethemed spinner, and Zootopia replacing Dinosaur. It’s three rides replacing three rides on existing land, so +/- 0 rides, and hence not an expansion.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Zootopia does NOT fit with DAK, and I can't stress enough that you must be completely devoid of critical thinking if you think it does.

But it's Disney with Animals! At Disney Animal Kingdom! That's what the park is about, right?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I was led to believe both. Not sure what the land will be called or what the unifying theme is.

They could easily cut Zootopia and just build the Moana portion and keep Dinosaur if the budget dictates, though.

Never thought I'd be rooting for budget cuts.

Does anyone actually care about Zootopia now? They're not making a sequel and it's not like it's such a beloved film in the USA. No one talks about it like they do Moana or Encanto.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It seems weird to completely scrub dinosaurs from the park. One thing I would have thought that was guaranteed to move merchandise and hold the interest of children was dinosaurs.

They probably feel that because their own dinosaur movies don't do well (2000's Dinosaur, Pixar's Good Dinosaur) that dinos are not good for the brand/business.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Never thought I'd be rooting for budget cuts.

Does anyone actually care about Zootopia now? They're not making a sequel and it's not like it's such a beloved film in the USA. No one talks about it like they do Moana or Encanto.

This is one of the things that makes me think it won't happen. For some reason, despite it's box office success they never really merchandised Zootopia or gave it much of a presence at the parks. They also don't seem to consider it a franchise and it doesn't pop up all that much on the streaming rankings like Moana or even Coco. So, I would be a little surprised to suddenly see them spend big on a Zootopia land in 2023, 2024 or whenever.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Isn't Zootopia getting a Disney+ show?

 

[SNS]

This is one of the things that makes me think it won't happen. For some reason, despite it's box office success they never really merchandised Zootopia or gave it much of a presence at the parks. They also don't seem to consider it a franchise and it doesn't pop up all that much on the streaming rankings like Moana or even Coco. So, I would be a little surprised to suddenly see them spend big on a Zootopia land in 2023, 2024 or whenever.

Disney could be testing the waters with the new tv series and then there is the previously mentioned Shanghai Zootopia ride they can clone (especially if it really does use the Indiana Jones/Dinosaur ride system).

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I like the look of the Moana boat ride and spinner, but if it were up to me, they'd put all this in the Adventureland expansion pad and relocate and redress the Aladdin spinner. It would fit in that park better, give MK another ride and improve another part of that land...

...again, if it were up to me.

 

[No Name]

They probably feel that because their own dinosaur movies don't do well (2000's Dinosaur, Pixar's Good Dinosaur) that dinos are not good for the brand/business.

This was a pretty successful dinosaur movie!

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I like the look of the Moana boat ride and spinner, but if it were up to me, they'd put all this in the Adventureland expansion pad and relocate and redress the Aladdin spinner. It would fit in that park better, give MK another ride and improve another part of that land...

...again, if it were up to me.

That would actually enhance that area of the park.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This was a pretty successful dinosaur movie!
View attachment 666111

Don't say that! Then they'll want to put Cars into AK.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Completely agree. Just depressing that there seem to be so many possibilities for popular dinosaur attractions... but Disney's current IP mandate means they would rather ditch dinosaurs altogether than spend money on an attraction not tied to a profitable IP. If they really get rid of a dinosaur land at AK, it will show how fanatical they have become about this mandate as dinosaurs are such a natural theme for the park and something that fascinates almost everybody at some point in their lives. You would expect Dinosaurs to then on the list with Australia for lands people keep hoping getting added to DAK because they would be logical for the park.

I am slightly torn, as Dinosaur might be my favorite ride in WDW. However I can understand a transition away from the generic Dino area theme to something else. While popular, you can see dinosaurs all over the country without having to go to WDW. You have them as part of small regional parks, as traveling showcases, ect. There isn’t anything that WDW can offer in the “Dino” space that would be unique to WDW.

At this point if WDW is at all concerned with “competing” with Universal or other parks, the major edges that WDW will have is exposure across its various media platforms, and leveraging its IP so that it is the only place you can go to get that certain experience. Anyone can build a log/flume ride. Only Disney can offer splash/tianna. Six flags can build all the roller coasters it wants, only Disney can bring your Marvel.

It’s the whole reason univeral went all in on Harry Potter. Yea the rides are good, but any park can build a side by side medium coaster or indoor rides with screens. You don’t need to fly to florida for that. But If you want to see Harry and Hermione, the only place you can do is universal.

Disney has the largest and most popular selection of IP of any theme park. So I can see the reasoning behind shifting from a Dino ride that anyone can build, to popular IP that you can only get at WDW.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Don't say that! Then they'll want to put Cars into AK.

Imagine if Dinosaurs were cars...

 

[No Name]

Don't say that! Then they'll want to put Cars into AK.

Don’t worry, Cars 2 cemented the franchise as a solid fit for World Showcase.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I am slightly torn, as Dinosaur might be my favorite ride in WDW. However I can understand a transition away from the generic Dino area theme to something else. While popular, you can see dinosaurs all over the country without having to go to WDW. You have them as part of small regional parks, as traveling showcases, ect. There isn’t anything that WDW can offer in the “Dino” space that would be unique to WDW.

Well, that was the whole argument about AK being Nahtazu. Disney is taking an existing concept and applying Disney showmanship and Imagineering to elevate it to something else. I'm not sure many people agree, but I actually liked the spin they took on it by focussing on dinosaur fever and building a tourist town that grew around an archeological dig. That was the kind of creativity and originality on which Disney built its reputation, not just making rides based on movies.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Imagine if Dinosaurs were cars...

DinoCARS

Coming soon to Disney+