Disney no longer coming up with original ideas for rides

[wallrock]

How many original rides were based off of Disney movies??? Almost all of them.

Quite the opposite.

The vast majority of rides at the Magic Kingdom weren't related to Disney movies. Only a handful in Fantasyland were associated with films. When Epcot opened there were no movie tie-ins anywhere. MGM is a natural exception because of the concept of the park, but only a small sampling of Disney movies were there. Animal Kingdom too was practically void of Disney film related attractions.

Back in the day Disney didn't depend on films to build attractions.

 

[mcjaco]

Title of the thread is Disney. Not Magic Kingdom.

One can argue that DL's Fantasyland was the anchor of the park when it opened. People wanted to see their favorite movies in real life. Snow White, Mr. Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, etc.

The same can be said now. People still want to see the movies in something tactile.

Don't get me wrong, I love the BTM story, EE, POTC, etc. But the movie tie in rides, really draw people in. It's a comfort thing.

 

[wallrock]

Title of the thread is Disney. Not Magic Kingdom.

One can argue that DL's Fantasyland was the anchor of the park when it opened. People wanted to see their favorite movies in real life. Snow White, Mr. Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, etc.

The same can be said now. People still want to see the movies in something tactile.

Don't get me wrong, I love the BTM story, EE, POTC, etc. But the movie tie in rides, really draw people in. It's a comfort thing.

In my post I refer to more than just the Magic Kingdom.

Movie based attractions are not what made the Orlando campus, and ultimately all of Disney, the attraction powerhouse it is today.

It was thinking outside the box and not using films as a basis for attraction story telling. Movie tie-ins may be the thing today, but Disney developed a devoted following with material that was non-film oriented.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Good luck finding that DVD! It's been lost in the vault for quite some time.

They could sell a DVD with just the animated Br'er Rabbit bits of the movie, although it would be a bit short. IIRC, until circa 1970 they were still releasing the movie to theaters every few years and to promote these releases they showed the cartoons on the Wonderful World of Disney TV show.

Disney probably has a "don't go there" attitude to the whole Song of the South thing, but if they wanted to they could commercialize Splash Mountain more if they dealt with the controversies in a forthright manner. Then again the sales of ride photos alone probably pay for the entire capital and operating costs of the ride, so why take a chance on messing up a good thing?

 

[rteetz]

They could sell a DVD with just the animated Br'er Rabbit bits of the movie, although it would be a bit short. IIRC, until circa 1970 they were still releasing the movie to theaters every few years and to promote these releases they showed the cartoons on the Wonderful World of Disney TV show.

Disney probably has a "don't go there" attitude to the whole Song of the South thing, but if they wanted to they could commercialize Splash Mountain more if they dealt with the controversies in a forthright manner. Then again the sales of ride photos alone probably pay for the entire capital and operating costs of the ride, so why take a chance on messing up a good thing?

They do have a don't go there attitude. Except for the last few every shareholder meeting someone would ask when is the movie coming out of the vault and they would just ignore it or give a generic response.

 

[JenLT]

Synergy...movies sell parks...parks sell movies...it's the circle of life.

However, I think it is less and less likely. The idea of selling people to come to Disney World for a new "generic space ride" is a much harder sell than if you tell people there building a "Star Wars Land". Likewise, Disney brass I'm sure feels that if they had spent half a billion dollars to add Beastly Kingdom to AK would have not sold people on coming to the park, yet Avatar will hopefully do the same trick.

(Of course, Universal is not much different. Have they opened something outside of Rip Ride Rockit that is not based on iP?)

That's a really good point. Part of the fun of Disney is seeing your favorite movies / characters come to life. While I think they could sell lots of merchandise based on a good ride alone, the draw to go to Disney World in part comes from the movies in the first place.

 

[mcjaco]

In my post I refer to more than just the Magic Kingdom.

Movie based attractions are not what made the Orlando campus, and ultimately all of Disney, the attraction powerhouse it is today.

It was thinking outside the box and not using films as a basis for attraction story telling. Movie tie-ins may be the thing today, but Disney developed a devoted following with material that was non-film oriented.

I'd argue that MK didn't become a "powerhouse" until Splash Mountain was built.

 

[mcjaco]

They could sell a DVD with just the animated Br'er Rabbit bits of the movie, although it would be a bit short. IIRC, until circa 1970 they were still releasing the movie to theaters every few years and to promote these releases they showed the cartoons on the Wonderful World of Disney TV show.

Disney probably has a "don't go there" attitude to the whole Song of the South thing, but if they wanted to they could commercialize Splash Mountain more if they dealt with the controversies in a forthright manner. Then again the sales of ride photos alone probably pay for the entire capital and operating costs of the ride, so why take a chance on messing up a good thing?

They showed it in theaters way past the seventies. I saw it as a kid in the 80's (1986 to be exact).

Glad to have my copy off of a Laser Disc release from long ago. I'll be honest, it's not that great of movie, but a nice piece to have in the collection.

 

[Quellman]

So we have "the queues are amazing".

And if Disney wants us to "experience the queues"...why did they spend every minute since ak opened coming up with two systems to attempt to circumvent them?

I guess they figure they need to either enhance the story (Expedition Everest, Haunted Mansion) or entertain (7dMT, Soarin') They have a responsibility to guest to provide entertainment. There was a time at Six flags parks where they had television in the lines that played WB cartoons all day. Something to increase guest satsfcation. An hour wait feels much less if you are engaged. And for some people talking to their family is too much!

I didn't see the queue on PP, but I don't like the new interactive queues on HM, Pooh , and Soarin' I don't think installing video games constitutes theming. AT DCA, the Soarin' line has pictures of aviators and their historical significance underneath the photos.. IMO, that's well themed.

Soarin' over EPCOT has a theme of Airport hanger, and even then, it is really poorly done. The technology for those games really needs to be redone since it often doesn't work well at all. That is a distraction queue not a themed queue. I'm curious as to which part of the Hm queue don't you like? Is it the cryptograph? The murder mystery with the busts? The playable organ? The books? But you are right some of the interaction is forced and not fun, for adults anyway.

Yes, but all those are 30+ years old I think the OPs point is .. has there been anything original in recent memory?
..

Someone mentioned Animal kingdom was pretty much all original except for the Broadway shows, (Lion King, Tarzan, Pocohantas, Nemo) and It's tough to be a bug. But to be fair they had to market it as Na-ta-Zu (Not A Zoo) so they needed to include some IP. But you are correct that there have not been any D or E ticket original idea attractions since the opening of Everest. Even Mission Space was from 2003. But Disney also has a hard time finding the space for the larger rides. More attractions that have come in would be B or C ticket rides and are based on IP. Enchanted tales with Belle is an interactive group meet and greet, the Little mermaid Dark ride is a clone, the Nemo take over replaced an existing omnimover at the Seas.

Then there are the rare rides that spawn a movie IE POTC

Don't forget the Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion. They also rebranded Count Down to Extinction for the film Dinosaur. When will the Jungle Cruise film come out?

Quite the opposite.

The vast majority of rides at the Magic Kingdom weren't related to Disney movies. Only a handful in Fantasyland were associated with films. When Epcot opened there were no movie tie-ins anywhere. MGM is a natural exception because of the concept of the park, but only a small sampling of Disney movies were there. Animal Kingdom too was practically void of Disney film related attractions.

Back in the day Disney didn't depend on films to build attractions.

Yet now we have Stitch, Monsters Inc, and Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland, which had NO movie tie-ins previously.

 

[wareagle57]

I guess they figure they need to either enhance the story (Expedition Everest, Haunted Mansion) or entertain (7dMT, Soarin') They have a responsibility to guest to provide entertainment. There was a time at Six flags parks where they had television in the lines that played WB cartoons all day. Something to increase guest satsfcation. An hour wait feels much less if you are engaged. And for some people talking to their family is too much!

They still do this at Six Flags. Unfortunately you can almost never see or hear the darn things. I've never been able to enjoy a Looney Tunes cartoon while in ride. You'll be in a spot you can hear for 30 seconds, and then move up in line to a spot you can't. The Simpsons ride at Universal Studios does a very good job of it though. I kind of want to just keep waiting in line so I could see the whole video.

 

[wallrock]

Yet now we have Stitch, Monsters Inc, and Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland, which had NO movie tie-ins previously.

You missed part of the context of the discussion. My statement was in response to the topic of original attractions and not today's mindset.

I'll state it again; back at the beginning Disney didn't have to rely on movie material to make attractions. Doing so today, including the examples you cite, only reinforces my statement.

 

[wallrock]

I'd argue that MK didn't become a "powerhouse" until Splash Mountain was built.

And what movie-based attraction propelled Epcot past the 'powerhouse' threshold? How about Animal Kingdom?

 

[Mateo]

I agree with the OP. Maybe it's just the generation I grew up with but it feels like something is missing in the way that new attractions are developed/implemented now. That is NOT to say that Disney parks and attractions aren't head and shoulders above anything else. Yes if all you want are roler coasters/thrill rides some of the other parks have more but they don't give you the same immersive experience you get at a DL park. That being said I just miss the way Walt Disney did things

 

[davish562]

I agree with the OP. Maybe it's just the generation I grew up with but it feels like something is missing in the way that new attractions are developed/implemented now. That is NOT to say that Disney parks and attractions aren't head and shoulders above anything else. Yes if all you want are roler coasters/thrill rides some of the other parks have more but they don't give you the same immersive experience you get at a DL park. That being said I just miss the way Walt Disney did things

Yah, I agree with you about how the older classic rides were built. Each one was more advanced than the last!

 

[mcjaco]

If anyone has had to stand in PP, HM, Pooh, etc. with small children, you'd understand how awesome these new queues really are. My kids thought the queue for Pooh was the greatest thing ever.

And what movie-based attraction propelled Epcot past the 'powerhouse' threshold? How about Animal Kingdom?

You can't use EPCOT as something to compare it with. That park was a completely different animal from it's inception. I'd argue 1984 was it's best year...but I'm an older coot that's been to the parks way too much, as is clearly blinded.....

And AK had Camp Minnie/Mickey, Nemo, Lion King, and Bugs Life tie ins from the get go. And I don't think you'd find anyone stating AK is a powerhouse in any form.

 

[Astridia]

If anyone has had to stand in PP, HM, Pooh, etc. with small children, you'd understand how awesome these new queues really are. My kids thought the queue for Pooh was the greatest thing ever.

So your kids liked the interactive screens? I'm not arguing with the rest of the queue, just the clear the honey screens..

 

[rteetz]

If anyone has had to stand in PP, HM, Pooh, etc. with small children, you'd understand how awesome these new queues really are. My kids thought the queue for Pooh was the greatest thing ever.



You can't use EPCOT as something to compare it with. That park was a completely different animal from it's inception. I'd argue 1984 was it's best year...but I'm an older coot that's been to the parks way too much, as is clearly blinded.....

And AK had Camp Minnie/Mickey, Nemo, Lion King, and Bugs Life tie ins from the get go. And I don't think you'd find anyone stating AK is a powerhouse in any form.

I agree with the first statement.

However animal kingdom should be a power house and isn't treated as such. I love that park the details and animals are amazing. Everyone judges a park on how many rides there are and that shouldn't be the case, I think AK is one of the top parks in terms of theming in the US.

 

[rteetz]

So your kids liked the interactive screens? I'm not arguing with the rest of the queue, just the clear the honey screens..

I just wish they cleaned the dang things.

 

[Astridia]

I agree with the first statement.

However animal kingdom should be a power house and isn't treated as such. I love that park the details and animals are amazing. Everyone judges a park on how many rides there are and that shouldn't be the case, I think AK is one of the top parks in terms of theming in the US.

I agree, its beautiful. It is a wonder. But climate wise it is a little slice of hell! I've been there when the temperatures were frigid in Orlando and when it's been in the 90's and it's really tough to appreciate the beauty of the park when you are so uncomfortable. The cold was a fluke, but they heed to quadruple the amount of fans in the park.

 

[mcjaco]

So your kids liked the interactive screens? I'm not arguing with the rest of the queue, just the clear the honey screens..

At two and half years old, uncovering the characters at each screen was pure joy. Silly? Yes, but it kept their attention away from the line not moving.

I agree with the first statement.

However animal kingdom should be a power house and isn't treated as such. I love that park the details and animals are amazing. Everyone judges a park on how many rides there are and that shouldn't be the case, I think AK is one of the top parks in terms of theming in the US.

Not arguing AK not being treated as such. I went to EPCOT three weeks after it opened as an 8 year old. I'm crushed when I go now. It's a shell of itself, and it bums me out. I hope they don't follow down the same path with AK, as it's theming is of the US parks.

I just wish they cleaned the dang things.

Amen, brother. Amen.