Who's Ready for a HUGE letdown at D23?

[Mad Hattered]

Looks like they will be announcing a big ole cup of nuttin'! Universal has to be salivating like rabid dogs right now.

From Inside the Magic:

http://www.**************.net/2013/06/imagineering-open-house-to-feature-12-panel-discussions-filling-final-day-of-2013-d23-expo-with-60-years-of-history/

 

[dwheaton]

You beat me to this one. Here's another story that promises no new ride announcements:

http://micechat.com/34021-2013-d23-expo/

I'm trying to stay optimistic and think they're just being mysterious and setting us up for a surprise. But given the recent history, I'm starting to wonder...

 

[rteetz]

This just kind of sucks. But maybe they're just keeping the announcement of something big a secret because thats what I would do. I hope thats what they're doing. DHS needs something at this point I don't really care whether its Star Wars, cars or something Pixar. DHS needs to do something and fast so thats why I'm hoping they're keeping it a secret.

disney lover at heart

 

[disneyworld1977]

Yeah this could mean lots of things. They are really wanting to come some stuff under wraps. Maybe because they don't want anything "new" getting out in the open, whether it's ride technology or whatever for that matter. I know they have announced things in the past, but maybe there are things they are working on that are black and white yet and don't want to jump the gun and something changes like in the FantasyLand. Or they could do some teaser or have a finale at the Expo for a "surprise" announcement.

I don't know, I am just throwing out some scenarios. But with all seriousness how can they not be up to something? They can't be just sitting on what to do with Star Wars. I think most would agree that would be awfully weird.

 

[disneyworld1977]

And think of this, the Lucasfilm take over was big deal and in came out of nowhere when it was official. I know WDW things would be different, but still they can hide some stuff too. maybe?

 

[Joben]

Yeah this could mean lots of things. They are really wanting to come some stuff under wraps. Maybe because they don't want anything "new" getting out in the open, whether it's ride technology or whatever for that matter. I know they have announced things in the past, but maybe there are things they are working on that are black and white yet and don't want to jump the gun and something changes like in the FantasyLand. Or they could do some teaser or have a finale at the Expo for a "surprise" announcement.

I don't know, I am just throwing out some scenarios. But with all seriousness how can they not be up to something? They can't be just sitting on what to do with Star Wars. I think most would agree that would be awfully weird.

I'm with you on this one, they have to have some kind of expansion announcements coming. I know business for them keeps growing, but the competition seems to be taking a larger part of the pie. If they are not going to match the competition they are headed for a down turn. I think it makes more sense that they are trying to keep it a surprise over they don't see the need to do anything as long as people keep coming

 

[DCTooTall]

I posted this in a similar thread in the Unplugged forum and thought I'd add it here.

Somthing else I noticed though that could be coming, buried between the lines in the article though... 'Imagineers will be discussing past and current projects'. It almost makes me wonder if we might get some actual information on what's coming with the Avatar Project. It wouldn't be an announcement since they already made that in their big stand alone press conference, but it would be something big that many of us have been waiting for.


------

Well as of right now, I'm not surprised at them not saying anything about carsland or Starwars Land. There has to be something worth announcing for them to announce it. They also would have to factor in any potential cannibalization that may occur if the do announce something.

Not to mention D23 starting to seriously lose it's prestige internally, if evidenced by the fact they are literally giving away memberships now.


With Star Wars Land, Quite frankly, Disney hasn't owned Lucasfilm and the Star Wars rights long enough to really put together a comprehensive idea on how to best expand upon the licensing within the parks. There may have been some blue sky ideas sitting on a shelf, but definately not anything in a place ready to be announced.

Carsland in Florida... I'm personally still not convinced it's ever going to happen. RSR is basically the same core ride as Test Track with different theming and a few additional features... but I'm not sure the differences are enough for Disney to think it's worth spending the money and building it just down the street from the other attraction. It would be almost like them taking the Indy Ride from DL and putting it in the MK, even though Dinosaur is the same attraction w/ a different theme.

Then you also would have the fact that it would undermine one of the big advantages and goals of the Existing Carsland. Burbank has been trying to elevate the Disneyland Resort into a full fledged destination resort, and not just a place that attracts local and regional guests. Obviously, they don't expect a 7 day+ resort like they have in Florida, but they are hoping for a solid 3+day resort, and Carsland was placed and positioned to help be a major draw to help differentiate the California Property from the Florida Properties. To build yet another clone in Florida would once again rob California of a true unique mass-appeal draw..... and I'm not entirely sure if management is that stupid.


And then you have the straight up internal cannibalization issue. New Fantasyland has had mixed results from some of the rumblings I've heard (ie. not as strong a draw as was expected). You have the Mine Train still to open. the Avatar project is still preparing to break ground (with all sorts of mixed feelings from the disney fan community)... And Disney is continuing to work towards pricing themselves as a "once in a lifetime" or "Once every few years" destination. If Disney announces something with as much rumor traction (wish I believe is mostly based off wishful thinking and not based on any legit sources) as Star wars or Cars in Florida, They could very likely shoot themselves in the foot by convincing large numbers of guests to hold off on their visit another couple years until these areas open..... thereby hurting any return they'd see from New Fantasyland or Pandora.....especially with the construction timetables Disney works on.


Contrast that to Universal lately. They've been waiting until construction is well underway before they make the official announcement. This leads to a shorter window between mainstream media buzz and the attraction opening. They've also been pretty consistent with new things lately, Which when combined with their much more affordable pricing, make it less likely that someone will decide to put off their trip for a couple years until the next big opening.

 

[disneyworld1977]

I posted this in a similar thread in the Unplugged forum and thought I'd add it here.

Somthing else I noticed though that could be coming, buried between the lines in the article though... 'Imagineers will be discussing past and current projects'. It almost makes me wonder if we might get some actual information on what's coming with the Avatar Project. It wouldn't be an announcement since they already made that in their big stand alone press conference, but it would be something big that many of us have been waiting for.


------

Well as of right now, I'm not surprised at them not saying anything about carsland or Starwars Land. There has to be something worth announcing for them to announce it. They also would have to factor in any potential cannibalization that may occur if the do announce something.

Not to mention D23 starting to seriously lose it's prestige internally, if evidenced by the fact they are literally giving away memberships now.


With Star Wars Land, Quite frankly, Disney hasn't owned Lucasfilm and the Star Wars rights long enough to really put together a comprehensive idea on how to best expand upon the licensing within the parks. There may have been some blue sky ideas sitting on a shelf, but definately not anything in a place ready to be announced.

Carsland in Florida... I'm personally still not convinced it's ever going to happen. RSR is basically the same core ride as Test Track with different theming and a few additional features... but I'm not sure the differences are enough for Disney to think it's worth spending the money and building it just down the street from the other attraction. It would be almost like them taking the Indy Ride from DL and putting it in the MK, even though Dinosaur is the same attraction w/ a different theme.

Then you also would have the fact that it would undermine one of the big advantages and goals of the Existing Carsland. Burbank has been trying to elevate the Disneyland Resort into a full fledged destination resort, and not just a place that attracts local and regional guests. Obviously, they don't expect a 7 day+ resort like they have in Florida, but they are hoping for a solid 3+day resort, and Carsland was placed and positioned to help be a major draw to help differentiate the California Property from the Florida Properties. To build yet another clone in Florida would once again rob California of a true unique mass-appeal draw..... and I'm not entirely sure if management is that stupid.


And then you have the straight up internal cannibalization issue. New Fantasyland has had mixed results from some of the rumblings I've heard (ie. not as strong a draw as was expected). You have the Mine Train still to open. the Avatar project is still preparing to break ground (with all sorts of mixed feelings from the disney fan community)... And Disney is continuing to work towards pricing themselves as a "once in a lifetime" or "Once every few years" destination. If Disney announces something with as much rumor traction (wish I believe is mostly based off wishful thinking and not based on any legit sources) as Star wars or Cars in Florida, They could very likely shoot themselves in the foot by convincing large numbers of guests to hold off on their visit another couple years until these areas open..... thereby hurting any return they'd see from New Fantasyland or Pandora.....especially with the construction timetables Disney works on.


Contrast that to Universal lately. They've been waiting until construction is well underway before they make the official announcement. This leads to a shorter window between mainstream media buzz and the attraction opening. They've also been pretty consistent with new things lately, Which when combined with their much more affordable pricing, make it less likely that someone will decide to put off their trip for a couple years until the next big opening.

Yes that is a good point about the Avatar Project. If they do that project still, I hope they do it right. I don't want it to feel like a big movie set, I want to immersed in the land and animals of Avatar, not thinking about the movie!

 

[tjkraz]

This actually addresses one of the issues that I personally foresaw after attending the two prior Expos.

The parks pavilion has always had a large scale presentation of projects underway. In 2009 the focus was Cars Land and in '11 it was Fantasyland.

At present, Disney doesn't really have anything announced which could be shown-off to that degree. Disney Springs, I guess, but a 20' model of the mini-mall isn't exactly going to draw in the crowds.

What I couldn't figure out is how they would build a parks pavilion around projects which wouldn't be announced until the arena session is held. This may provide the answer. Instead of making announcements during the arena session, I suspect they will have details on (currently unannounced) projects immediately on display when the show opens. Could be DHS Cars Land. Could be Star Wars land. Could be Avatar. Could be all of the above...and Disney Springs.

I'm as cynical as anyone over the dubious value of past Expos, but I refuse to believe Disney will let this event come-and-go without any substantial announcements for the US parks.

 

[Reddog1134]

I agree with what some others have said:

Either:

1. This is a misdirect.

or

2. This will be the death of D23.

 

[rteetz]

I agree with what some others have said:

Either:

1. This is a misdirect.

or

2. This will be the death of D23.

Couldn't be said any better

disney lover at heart

 

[IADtoMCO304]

I posted this in a similar thread in the Unplugged forum and thought I'd add it here.

Somthing else I noticed though that could be coming, buried between the lines in the article though... 'Imagineers will be discussing past and current projects'. It almost makes me wonder if we might get some actual information on what's coming with the Avatar Project. It wouldn't be an announcement since they already made that in their big stand alone press conference, but it would be something big that many of us have been waiting for.

------

Well as of right now, I'm not surprised at them not saying anything about carsland or Starwars Land. There has to be something worth announcing for them to announce it. They also would have to factor in any potential cannibalization that may occur if the do announce something.

Not to mention D23 starting to seriously lose it's prestige internally, if evidenced by the fact they are literally giving away memberships now.

With Star Wars Land, Quite frankly, Disney hasn't owned Lucasfilm and the Star Wars rights long enough to really put together a comprehensive idea on how to best expand upon the licensing within the parks. There may have been some blue sky ideas sitting on a shelf, but definately not anything in a place ready to be announced.

Carsland in Florida... I'm personally still not convinced it's ever going to happen. RSR is basically the same core ride as Test Track with different theming and a few additional features... but I'm not sure the differences are enough for Disney to think it's worth spending the money and building it just down the street from the other attraction. It would be almost like them taking the Indy Ride from DL and putting it in the MK, even though Dinosaur is the same attraction w/ a different theme.

Then you also would have the fact that it would undermine one of the big advantages and goals of the Existing Carsland. Burbank has been trying to elevate the Disneyland Resort into a full fledged destination resort, and not just a place that attracts local and regional guests. Obviously, they don't expect a 7 day+ resort like they have in Florida, but they are hoping for a solid 3+day resort, and Carsland was placed and positioned to help be a major draw to help differentiate the California Property from the Florida Properties. To build yet another clone in Florida would once again rob California of a true unique mass-appeal draw..... and I'm not entirely sure if management is that stupid.

And then you have the straight up internal cannibalization issue. New Fantasyland has had mixed results from some of the rumblings I've heard (ie. not as strong a draw as was expected). You have the Mine Train still to open. the Avatar project is still preparing to break ground (with all sorts of mixed feelings from the disney fan community)... And Disney is continuing to work towards pricing themselves as a "once in a lifetime" or "Once every few years" destination. If Disney announces something with as much rumor traction (wish I believe is mostly based off wishful thinking and not based on any legit sources) as Star wars or Cars in Florida, They could very likely shoot themselves in the foot by convincing large numbers of guests to hold off on their visit another couple years until these areas open..... thereby hurting any return they'd see from New Fantasyland or Pandora.....especially with the construction timetables Disney works on.

Contrast that to Universal lately. They've been waiting until construction is well underway before they make the official announcement. This leads to a shorter window between mainstream media buzz and the attraction opening. They've also been pretty consistent with new things lately, Which when combined with their much more affordable pricing, make it less likely that someone will decide to put off their trip for a couple years until the next big opening.

Solid post

 

[Disney Dad 88]

The announcement was very surprising, especially when the plans for expansion were obviously leaked from sources within the company. Disney is already getting significant backlash from various blogs about no announcements. Many insiders say the plans for expansion are moving forward, but this makes me wonder if they are serious about taking on Uni's spending on new rides in the next 5 years. Appears that Uni has all the momentum and Disney is the dawdling giant.

 

[Darkwing981]

Guess this pretty much kills any future D23 Expos. What's the point if you don't have any major to unveil?

Still like to think that WDI/Corporate have some aces up their sleeve. But kinda letdown that no major projects are coming forward.

 

[tjkraz]

Guess this pretty much kills any future D23 Expos. What's the point if you don't have any major to unveil?

No major theme park projects were announced at the Expo in 2011. In fact, the Disney / Avatar partnership was revealed about a month after that Expo.

In 2009 the biggest announcements (Fantasyland, Star Tours 2) were spoiled weeks in advance.

I suspect many fans were anticipating some announcement at the '13 Expo so this may prove to be a letdown. But I don't know that the Expo's future will be decided solely based upon the absence of a Star Wars Land announcement in front of a crowd of 6000.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Yeah, and as of Friday night there is another rumor/leak that big ole Banana breath will be back in the parks come 2015. Supposedly Kong will be replacing the current Disaster attraction in US. The source for this awesome news is from Orlando United (HTF).

Disney better get their *%^$ together, and get it together fast!