Why do they keep replacing rides instead of adding them?

[Dingdingding]

“Here in Florida, we have something special we never enjoyed at Disneyland…the blessing of size. There’s enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine.” Walt said about 'the Florida Project'.

Then why keep they destroying perfectly well attractions to replace them instead of adding new attractions. Disneyland Resort has a larger number of rides than the much larger Walt Disney World for crying out loud!

The number of attractions hasn't changed that much in the last ten years but the number of people that has to use its capacity did. A only slightly larger number of attractions has to fill a much larger group of people (and during construction of the replacements the number of attractions is actually lower; just look at the 'half-day park' Hollywood Studios). When will they stop this madness and get back on adding instead of replacing like they did in the good ol' days since they have the blessing of size?

 

[wilkeliza]

They are adding several rides.

If you look at what is going in at DHS you'll see that only 2 attractions (3 is if you count the playground) were removed for the 4 minimum attractions we are getting, 2 in Toy Story and 2 in Star Wars. MK is getting a brand new attraction (Tron) and theater that is not replacing anything. Epcot has barely started announcements but it is getting 1 new attraction that is not replacing anything on top of the overhaul.

Also while WDW may have the blessing of size it is also built on a swamp. So while yes it looks like there is size not all of that size is good for building out on. Plus some of it is protected wet lands.

 

[Kirk]

I'm sure losing sponsorship also plays into it somewhere too.

 

[Christy702]

Anyway you look at it, it all comes down to money.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

Anyway you look at it, it all comes down to money.

Not just money, but popularity. Everything has a shelf life, including attractions. Ellen's Energy Adventure, the Great Movie Ride, Lights Motors Action and the Backlot Tour were all on their last legs and either needed major refurbishments or a do over.

 

[BrianL]

Not just money, but popularity. Everything has a shelf life, including attractions. Ellen's Energy Adventure, the Great Movie Ride, Lights Motors Action and the Backlot Tour were all on their last legs and either needed major refurbishments or a do over.

Right. Great Movie Ride at the least needed to be heavily refurbished and possibly changed and updated with different movie properties. It's either that or add the new attraction in its place. Obviously they think the newer attraction will be more of a draw (and usually they are right). My only gripe about it is with the timing, but I totally understand the move in general.

 

[Tonyz]

They opened two new rides literally in the last 60 days...

 

[loves to dive]

Right. Great Movie Ride at the least needed to be heavily refurbished and possibly changed and updated with different movie properties. It's either that or add the new attraction in its place. Obviously they think the newer attraction will be more of a draw (and usually they are right). My only gripe about it is with the timing, but I totally understand the move in general.

From what I understand, and I could be wrong, GMR is being replaced because they lost Turner Movie Classic and would have to redo a lot to replace that. Every time I've been there in the past few years there has always been at least a 45 min. wait so it's not like it's been empty.

 

[BrianL]

From what I understand, and I could be wrong, GMR is being replaced because they lost Turner Movie Classic and would have to redo a lot to replace that. Every time I've been there in the past few years there has always been at least a 45 min. wait so it's not like it's been empty.

Yeah, the TCM contract probably had to do with the timing, but it's still unfortunate. The only things they'd have had to redo would have been the signage and the narration (which they could easily go back to the old style of having the tour guide give narration). And while it's true that plenty of people still rode GMR, it wasn't a huge draw and also very often ran at half capacity.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

Yeah, the TCM contract probably had to do with the timing, but it's still unfortunate. The only things they'd have had to redo would have been the signage and the narration (which they could easily go back to the old style of having the tour guide give narration). And while it's true that plenty of people still rode GMR, it wasn't a huge draw and also very often ran at half capacity.

There could also be some structural or other behind the scenes fixes that the public has no knowledge of.

I'm just hoping they put the wicked witch animatronic somewhere.

 

[maxiesmom]

Apparently OP you don't know about the recent expansion at the Magic Kingdom that added a handful of rides? Or about the 2 new rides in the Animal Kingdom? Or about the construction going on at the Disney Studios where multiple rides are being added?

 

[Lesverts]

Think of Walt Disney World as an ornamental tree. New growth requires the removal of old, dead undergrowth. For the tree to be healthy there needs to be the occasional pruning and shaping. There is no sense leaving it be to have a veneer of shiny top growth hiding a large, dead core.

 

[rteetz]

It depends on the situations at each park really.

Epcot replaced Maelstrom with Frozen. Controversial at that.
Guardians will replace Universe of Energy which didn't draw in crowds anyways. Mission Space and China are both getting updated. France is getting an expansion with a new ride and nothing is leaving that.

GMR will be replaced by Mickey but this will help with crowds at Toy Story and Star Wars.
DHS lost LMA and Backlot which were just two huge attractions. Those are being replaced with two Star Wars rides and then we get two additional with Toy Story. So DHS will have a net gain in that aspect. Still probably not enough though.

MK hasn't really replaced anything. They expanded Fantasyland adding a second Dumbo for capacity, Mine Train, and Ariel. Tron and the new theater will help capacity even more at MK.

AK replaced meet and greets with two new much needed attractions in Pandora.

Am I missing anything?

 

[Tonyz]

Am I missing anything?

As usual... of course not.

 

[rteetz]

As usual... of course not.

You never know sometimes I do forget about things

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I agree with the OP. WDW has added quite a bit of DVC rooms over the last 10 years and but without adding significant capacity.

Cutting MK's hours during peak season and jamming everyone into Pandora did not sit well with me at all. I paid peak season prices but without the hours.

WS needs more than 1 dark ride and I noticed that Impressions de France got cut back to twice an hour.

 

[GreatLakes]

I think Disney has done a good job of both adding new attractions and replacing old ones even if I'm not fond of some of the replacements. If some of the attractions got more frequent updates, like Ellen's Energy Adventure, I don't think they would get as stale and end up needing a full replacement. More frequent updates to keep them current, if done right, would keep them more popular.

 

[SCSteve]

They opened two new rides literally in the last 60 days...

Do you mean the 2 rides in Pandora we waited 7 YEARS for?

 

[rteetz]

Do you mean the 2 rides in Pandora we waited 7 YEARS for?

Announced in 2011 (at announcement we didn't know what we would be getting). Construction began in January 2014. Opened May 2017.

 

[SCSteve]

Announced in 2011 (at announcement we didn't know what we would be getting). Construction began in January 2014. Opened May 2017.

You are correct.. we only waited 6 YEARS