Do you think Disney Parks are focusing more on Star Wars and Marvel and focus less on Disney itself?

[DodgerGirl]

My father and I were having an interesting discussion yesterday about how Disney Parks seems to want to focus on Star Wars and Marvel and focus less on Disney itself and what Dad thinks is that Disney should make the parks focus on themselves rather than having an obsession with Star Wars and Marvel and that would bring the old magic of what the parks used to be like before being taken over by Marvel and Star Wars and other properties. I think whenever Disney bought Lucasfilm and bought Star Wars I think Disney knew that buying Indiana Jones and Star Wars would make them a huge fortune and when Disney bought Marvel I think it was the best thing they did and especially since Stan Lee died in 2018 they wanted to honor him and Disney bought Marvel so they could have a successful empire in Stan Lee's legacy and ever since Marvel has grown to be a huge success for Disney itself and the parks. But one thing I never figured out is how in the world Disney got the rights to The Muppets because before Marvel The Muppets were the biggest success by appearing in Disney Parks having Muppet characters at the parks and more. I think Disney really needs to tone down by promoting Marvel and Star Wars less in the parks and promote the Disney characters princesses and Tinker Bell a lot more in the parks
Do you agree?
Dodger

 

[starlite_]

Having a land dedicated to Star Wars and a land dedicated to Marvel does not a takeover make. At DLR for example there are like 17 lands. Only 2 of them don't have "classic" Disney properties. Same at WDW, with Pandora replacing Marvel. They are simply the newest lands because they are the newest big properties.

Disney also bough Marvel like a decade before Stan Lee died, they didn't do it to honor him at all.

So no, I don't agree.

 

[BrianL]

I don't know - I think they are adding Star Wars and Marvel right now because they are newly acquired and the parks didn't have any of that represented. I don't think they are ignoring Disney proper. They are currently building the Moana Journey fo Water at Epcot, and also building or just built lands in Paris and Tokyo based on Beauty and the Beast & Frozen. I think they're just building to the current need, and once those are built they will focus elsewhere.

 

[HokieRaven5]

I don’t think it’s to that big of a level. Since Galaxy’s edge was announced (2015) this is the list of projects that are either in progress or completed (there may be others I’ve left off) that are non-Marvel/Star Wars attractions/lands in the parks:

• Toy Story Land
• Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway in DHS
• Toontown overhaul in Disneyland
• Tarzan Treehouse getting a newer Disney IP update in Disneyland
• Tron Lightcycle run
• Moana Journey of Water
• Fantasyland expansion in Tokyo Disneyland with 2 attractions (Beauty and the Beast and Baymax)
• Arendelle coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and Walt Disney Studios Park
• Tangled and Peter Pan attraction coming to Tokyo DisneySea’s Fantasy Springs area
• Zootopia coming to Shanghai Disneyland

And then there’s still the unknown surrounding the Mary Poppins attraction in EPCOT (though those chances are slimmer now), as well as the retheme of Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog. So while yes, there are a bunch of marvel/Star Wars parks projects that have happened, it’s not like they haven’t also put some focus on other Disney properties.

 

[BrianL]

I don’t think it’s to that big of a level. Since Galaxy’s edge was announced (2015) this is the list of projects that are either in progress or completed (there may be others I’ve left off) that are non-Marvel/Star Wars attractions/lands in the parks:

• Toy Story Land
• Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway in DHS
• Toontown overhaul in Disneyland
• Tarzan Treehouse getting a newer Disney IP update in Disneyland
• Tron Lightcycle run
• Moana Journey of Water
• Fantasyland expansion in Tokyo Disneyland with 2 attractions (Beauty and the Beast and Baymax)
• Arendelle coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and Walt Disney Studios Park
• Tangled and Peter Pan attraction coming to Tokyo DisneySea’s Fantasy Springs area
• Zootopia coming to Shanghai Disneyland

And then there’s still the unknown surrounding the Mary Poppins attraction in EPCOT (though those chances are slimmer now), as well as the retheme of Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog. So while yes, there are a bunch of marvel/Star Wars parks projects that have happened, it’s not like they haven’t also put some focus on other Disney properties.

Exactly what I was saying, but more specific. Clearly they are still building and promoting the classic Disney & Pixar IPs.

 

[Kennywood]

Of course they are.

They spent $4 billion dollars to buy Lucasfilm (Star Wars) and another $4 billion dollars to buy Marvel.

While Disney has long since recoup those investment dollars, they're going to beat both horses for a long as possible, to get as much money out both as they can.

 

[Narcoossee11]

They are following the $$$$$$$$. Look at movies in general . The only movies that are making money in Theaters are ZBIG action movies.
Most movies are only waiting a week or two before they go to ON Demand

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

I think they are trying to appeal more to boys. In some ways I think the genius of Disney is that it has huge appeal to moms, who tend to make the decisions regarding family vacation spending. But it is kinda female-centric, and if your little boy is wowed by the cool coasters at Universal or even Kings Dominion, that’s where you’ll take them.

Space and fantasy are a good fit with the overall Disney vibe but might have more “cool” factor for boys who want to brag about their vacation back at school.

 

[MichelinMan]

I think they are trying to appeal more to boys. In some ways I think the genius of Disney is that it has huge appeal to moms, who tend to make the decisions regarding family vacation spending. But it is kinda female-centric, and if your little boy is wowed by the cool coasters at Universal or even Kings Dominion, that’s where you’ll take them.

Space and fantasy are a good fit with the overall Disney vibe but might have more “cool” factor for boys who want to brag about their vacation back at school.

Lot to be said for that - we did our one and only 'lifetime' trip back in 2013 - but then they built Galaxies Edge, and I insisted we needed to go back (even the though the wife isn't as keen). So I think you are right, it expands the Disney demographic. For myself and my now 18 year old son, Universal is much more appealing than Disney, so they needed something for the older male demographic.

 

[Jennasis]

No.

 

[brevebelle]

Although I love Disney, I also love Marvel and Star Wars, so I'm enjoying the way they're being incorporated into the parks. Personally, if they started putting Marvel and SW stuff in MK, I would consider it to be out of place; but Epcot and HS, it works for me. My husband and our kids also love all 3, so we're happy campers with these additions. We would love to see more Marvel on the East Coast, but we know there's the licensing deal with Universal and blah blah blah, so we're headed to California in September to do Disneyland for the first time, mainly to experience Avengers Campus.

On another personal note, I have never understood the Pandora stuff at AK. The hype with Avatar was lost on me, and my husband just didn't have an interest in it. So, if anything feels out of place to me, it's that area. (I've always felt like it belongs more at Universal.) But that being said, I think it's still interesting to walk through, and "Flight of Passage" is my 8 year old's favorite ride, so what do I know?

 

[brockash]

My father and I were having an interesting discussion yesterday about how Disney Parks seems to want to focus on Star Wars and Marvel and focus less on Disney itself and what Dad thinks is that Disney should make the parks focus on themselves rather than having an obsession with Star Wars and Marvel and that would bring the old magic of what the parks used to be like before being taken over by Marvel and Star Wars and other properties. I think whenever Disney bought Lucasfilm and bought Star Wars I think Disney knew that buying Indiana Jones and Star Wars would make them a huge fortune and when Disney bought Marvel I think it was the best thing they did and especially since Stan Lee died in 2018 they wanted to honor him and Disney bought Marvel so they could have a successful empire in Stan Lee's legacy and ever since Marvel has grown to be a huge success for Disney itself and the parks. But one thing I never figured out is how in the world Disney got the rights to The Muppets because before Marvel The Muppets were the biggest success by appearing in Disney Parks having Muppet characters at the parks and more. I think Disney really needs to tone down by promoting Marvel and Star Wars less in the parks and promote the Disney characters princesses and Tinker Bell a lot more in the parks
Do you agree?
Dodger

I guess I'll say way more than what we'd prefer. We're not Star Wars or Marvel ppl. so none of that stuff excites us.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

Lot to be said for that - we did our one and only 'lifetime' trip back in 2013 - but then they built Galaxies Edge, and I insisted we needed to go back (even the though the wife isn't as keen). So I think you are right, it expands the Disney demographic. For myself and my now 18 year old son, Universal is much more appealing than Disney, so they needed something for the older male demographic.

I work in a school and notice that the girls seem to go gaga over Disney, whether they’ve actually been or not… the boys seem less likely to talk about theme parks in general (Roblox has a 90% monopoly on their conversation) but for the few who have gone, Universal seems to be the “rave worthy” park (Legoland to a lesser extent.) I think with FOP, Rise, and Guardians Disney is slowly building up an inventory of rides that boys would be more impressed by, without ruining the overall park vibe for us moms, ha ha.

 

[fla4fun]

I was there last week, and they sent me a survey that specifically asked if I liked classic Disney, SW, and Marvel, with a rating for each. I selected that I liked classic Disney five out of five, SW 3 out of 5 and Marvel 1 out of 5. So it is on their radar or they wouldn’t be asking.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

I was there last week, and they sent me a survey that specifically asked if I liked classic Disney, SW, and Marvel, with a rating for each. I selected that I liked classic Disney five out of five, SW 3 out of 5 and Marvel 1 out of 5. So it is on their radar or they wouldn’t be asking.

Intriguing! I definitely like classic Disney the best, although I have a little boy - right now my life kinda revolves around riding miniature trains and finding "Touch a Truck" events. When he gets older if he loves SW and Marvel that's no doubt where we'll go. So I appreciate a mix in the parks, as long as it doesn't get overwhelming. I feel like there are so many thrill-centric parks in this country already and very few that focus on immersive charm the way that Disney does.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Why I also think Disney Parks wants to focus more on Star Wars and Marvel in addition to Disney itself is because I do agree that for a while people considered the Disney Parks like Magic Kingdom princess oriented to attract little girls because little girls love Disney Princesses and the little boys liked Pirates Of The Caribbean and other attractions targeted for boys. But I wouldn't be surprised due to the success of Avengers Campus that Disney will soon build a Marvel theme park in the future and do more Star Wars themed rides and shows and while we will still see the classic Disney oriented stuff in the parks I think this will be the start of the new image for Disney Parks. And I think Disney is happy with the new image that they have because this will make the parks successful

 

[middlechild]

I have a bookmark to the YT page of "The Old Mill". Watched it yesterday in fact. Magic Kingdom to me is the idea of the tranquil life of in our environment. Not just princesses, but the ideals of what could be. Spending the day with family on rides like PoC, IASW, HM. I do recognize that Disney parks left that idea decades ago, but I do see the movement toward Avengers as diametrically opposed to family and more toward thrills in direct competition with UO. Changing demographics is forcing change on Disney, I get that. With the addition of Tron, and other rides with minimum height of 48" we journey further and further away. Does Avengers have that cross market appeal, like selling toys or clothing to last the next 100 years?

 

[umichigan10]

I always find questions like this to be a bit contradictory: marvel and Star Wars IS Disney now. They own them and they are their properties, and they are making content for them themselves. It’s different than when they essentially licensed Star Wars or Indiana Jones from Lucasfilm whereas they now have ownership over them

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

I have a bookmark to the YT page of "The Old Mill". Watched it yesterday in fact. Magic Kingdom to me is the idea of the tranquil life of in our environment. Not just princesses, but the ideals of what could be. Spending the day with family on rides like PoC, IASW, HM. I do recognize that Disney parks left that idea decades ago, but I do see the movement toward Avengers as diametrically opposed to family and more toward thrills in direct competition with UO. Changing demographics is forcing change on Disney, I get that. With the addition of Tron, and other rides with minimum height of 48" we journey further and further away. Does Avengers have that cross market appeal, like selling toys or clothing to last the next 100 years?

I think I read at some point that Disney is also trying to adapt to the rapidly declining birth rate in the US by appealing more to other age groups.

 

[Devil13]

I'm with those who see this more as a question of timing than a real focus. In all the years before they owned Marvel and Star Wars, there really wasn't any Star Wars or Marvel in the parks. Just like before Frozen came out, there was no Frozen presence in the parks, Moana, Coco, Little Mermaid, Lion King, every movie going back before since 1971 for WDW.
Marvel and Star Wars ARE Disney now and they should be leaning into them because of the appeal. In 5-10 years it could be something else.