Is Toy Story Land really needed?

[NavyDad]

Plus - I have noticed Disney's focus turning almost 100% to families with kids who are not in school yet - they have a lot longer travel window - and the school year aged kids can only travel during times of the year where the park is already packed.

I really don't think that is true at all.

I think all of the expansions/changes have shown that Disney parks are focused on an immersive experience for the whole family.

Avatar probably geared more toward teens and young adults.

Toy Story is geared toward younger kids but remember people who are now in their 20's were kids when the first movie came out. They will feel a strong connection to the theming of this area over the next 5 - 20 years.

Star Wars is a great mix. Young children always seem to be drawn to it for some reason. Teens and young adults are super into Star Wars with the new shows and movies. People in their 30's to 60's pretty much grew up with Star Wars as hugely important to the culture during most of their lives...

Disney parks have always been a mix of stuff for young kids, family attractions with a couple of thrill rides sprinkled in and nostalgia for the older generation. That doesn't seem to be changing...

 

[tlmadden73]

I really don't think that is true at all.

I think all of the expansions/changes have shown that Disney parks are focused on an immersive experience for the whole family.

Avatar probably geared more toward teens and young adults.

Toy Story is geared toward younger kids but remember people who are now in their 20's were kids when the first movie came out. They will feel a strong connection to the theming of this area over the next 5 - 20 years.

Star Wars is a great mix. Young children always seem to be drawn to it for some reason. Teens and young adults are super into Star Wars with the new shows and movies. People in their 30's to 60's pretty much grew up with Star Wars as hugely important to the culture during most of their lives...

Disney parks have always been a mix of stuff for young kids, family attractions with a couple of thrill rides sprinkled in and nostalgia for the older generation. That doesn't seem to be changing...

Yep . .this.

Toy Story and Star Wars reaches multiple generations.

I am in my 40s - Star Wars (and Indiana Jones) was my thing when I was in my elementary school years and when Star Tours hit DHS in the early 90s (late 80s) (before the prequels) it captured my attention! Despite being in high school.

My love of Star Wars made DHS my favorite park throughout my 20s and 30s (even though it wasn't until recently that the prequel material showed their face there). Heck, this last visit I was surprised (and AUDIBLY excited) when Darth Maul came out to be an enemy in the larger Jedi Training session! It was like I was a kid again!

Toy Story hit and I found it a great movie and loved all three movies as an ADULT without having a child yet. They are just good timeless movies that cross many generations (especially since Woody reminds grandparents of their old toys and us Gen Xers are reminded of our old toys as well).

Now that I have a son of my own .. I am anxious to "pass down" my love of those franchises to him. At three he already loves Buzz, Woody and Emperor Zurg. It is his favorite parts of the parks despite there only being two attractions geared towards them (Space Ranger Spin and Toy Story Midway Mania). I fear that by the time Toy Story land hits he will have outgrown the franchise, but will be the perfect age for Star Wars land.

They made a good decision on the two "lands" to build at DHS. They potentially are longer lasting than Harry Potter (unless there are future HP books/movies).

 

[BradChristian]

I really don't think that is true at all.

I think all of the expansions/changes have shown that Disney parks are focused on an immersive experience for the whole family.

Avatar probably geared more toward teens and young adults.

Toy Story is geared toward younger kids but remember people who are now in their 20's were kids when the first movie came out. They will feel a strong connection to the theming of this area over the next 5 - 20 years.

Star Wars is a great mix. Young children always seem to be drawn to it for some reason. Teens and young adults are super into Star Wars with the new shows and movies. People in their 30's to 60's pretty much grew up with Star Wars as hugely important to the culture during most of their lives...

Disney parks have always been a mix of stuff for young kids, family attractions with a couple of thrill rides sprinkled in and nostalgia for the older generation. That doesn't seem to be changing...

I think we are saying similar things... I should clarify. Magic Kingdom will be the focus of pre-school aged kids. Animal Kingdom appeals to the younger crowd too, but Avatar is expanding the parks horizon along with the nighttime entertainment to reach a larger group.

I agree with your other synthesis as well.

 

[hakepb]

Toy Story could be a great theme .... If they focused the concept on creativitity. Like the Lego Movie, Toy Story wasn't great because Slinky the Dog was the greatest toy in the world ... But the creative way Andy played with Slinky and his Piggy bank and blurred the lines between various product "worlds" was amazing!

As presented, Toy Story land seems to be a segmented, visit toy A here, toy B over there, and make sure they remain seperate (Like any boring adult would plan)

Now, if the Slinky ride cars had an Etch A Sketch infront of every guest with a quiz that Alphabet would later answer, and you wind up racing a group of para trooping soldiers....