Originally Posted By ChurroMonster I can appreciate attractions based on movies because they are usually based on movies on enjoy. But the stories they tell are stories I already know. I saw the movies. I already know the stories. But the attractions I seem to enjoy the most are attractions that mostly tell their own stories. The stories are loose, sometimes scant, but the environments are immersive. I'm talking about attractions like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Jungle Cruise. These attractions were built to tell new stories that the experiences they presented were substantial enough to support. I'm sure the Mermaid attraction will be great and the Cars attraction will be spectacular. But I know those stories already. Why tell me the same story again in attraction form? I just want attractions that will engage my mind as much as they thrill my body. Is that so hard?
Originally Posted By bartholomewneff New stories? As in Fairy Tales? Ok, here's one: Ohio State is the best team in college football. Hahahahahahahahaha. Now THAT's a story, a big whopper!
Originally Posted By ni_teach I think that the real problem is that while Walt would take risks all the time with his wild ideas and tell new stories, the current management doesn't want to take the risk and tell any new stories. They only feel safe in telling stories that they already know are popular. That is why we see so many movie based rides.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Don't forget that the stockholders don't want management risking their investments. The belief seems to be that there is a much higher chance that an attraction based on a marketable Pixar flick is going to increase traffic than on something that conjured up from scratch. It's really a kind of sad situation.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle Hans is right on. You don't have to be a genius to see the pattern as of late: Disney tried TL98 and all of DCA with non-movie/toon based rides and attractions and the general public wasn't interested. Since then they've added Buzz, Nemo, Monsters, Flik's Fun Fair...ALL have brought in the crowds and the lines. Whether or not you agree with this approach is completely irrelevant to the fact that the model is working and in true Disney fashion they'll milk it for all its worth.
Originally Posted By ni_teach Moon Waffle said: "You don't have to be a genius to see the pattern as of late: Disney tried TL98 and all of DCA with non-movie/toon based rides and attractions and the general public wasn't interested." I think that is what management things, however, I think the real problem with the TL98 and DCA was that due to all the budget cuts the quality of the rides were just not there.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle ^I don't disagree. But like you said, that isn't how management sees it. They see those things as failures and the toon/movie-based rides and attractions as successes. They will stick to what has been working for them, whether they understand the root cause or not. DCA's recently announced expansion is proof.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster Hans wrote: "Don't forget that the stockholders don't want management risking their investments. The belief seems to be that there is a much higher chance that an attraction based on a marketable Pixar flick is going to increase traffic than on something that conjured up from scratch. It's really a kind of sad situation." I have seen no evidence that a Pixar-based attraction ever increased attendance very much if at all. And there are already lots of those. Thrill rides seem to create the biggest spikes in attendance--character-based or not. I would think stockholders would be pushing for thrill rides above everything else. Perhaps the Cars attraction will be the perfect balance of thrill and character. Who knows?
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster bartholomewneff wrote: "New stories? As in Fairy Tales? Ok, here's one: Ohio State is the best team in college football. Hahahahahahahahaha. Now THAT's a story, a big whopper!" But it's a story almost all college coaches believe as do the press. Oh, and that pesky computer. I'm sorry your team can't be as great as my Buckeyes. Really. I am.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "I have seen no evidence that a Pixar-based attraction ever increased attendance very much if at all." Maybe not. From what I can tell it's rather obvious though that Pixar character based attractions are successful on various levels. For example, there certainly would be no other reason that a Buzz themed attraction would be cloned around the globe. What possible reason would Disney have to continue to keep financing Pixar based rides in the way that they to do if these attractions weren’t proven to be popular?
Originally Posted By cheesybaby Do Pixar rides bump attendance? Who cares. They sell merchandise. Think margin - management does.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The point is that they (Pixar attractions) are making more money for the company. What measures the company is using to determine this is any body's guess, but it stands to reason that they would continue doing it if it weren't helping the bottom line one way or the other.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle ^Exactly. They'll keep adding these type of rides as long as they continue to generate long lines. And you know Toy Story, Mermaid, and Cars are all going to do just that.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf If Disneyland were made-up entirely of Pixar-themed rides, it would be out of business. Using them to enhance the parks is okay (in limited quantities) but the magic of Disneyland is experiencing something you can't watch on your television. So agreed, CM, we need new stories. And according to bean, they are working on some of those as well. We can only hope for the best.....
Originally Posted By cheesybaby <<If Disneyland were made-up entirely of Pixar-themed rides, it would be out of business.>> I strongly disagree. I much prefer the existing Disneyland to 100% Pixar, but it would not be close to "out of business."
Originally Posted By whistler Over the years, myself and about a thousand other people on various boards have described their ideas for a new take on the old funny/fright boardwalk spookehouse ride. This seems to be a somewhat common idea among us armchair geeks.... someone at wdi MUST have had it. Just imagine... what they could have done with that idea, on a large scale. I'm sure midway mania will be fun, but what they could have done, in theme.... oh man, I would have loved to see something like that.
Originally Posted By bartholomewneff ChurroMonster said: "I'm sorry your team can't be as great as my Buckeyes. Really. I am." That's funny, Churro. I really, Really, REALLY wanted Ohio State to go to the Rose Bowl so my Trojans could lay waste to them but the BCS system is so screwed up. Hopefully, someday soon they'll adopt a playoff system in college football and then we can show the Buckeyes what USC can do to them. Until then, you'll just have to live in that fantasy world where their the best team, blah, blah, blah. Hehehe.
Originally Posted By danyoung I guess I don't understand this need for NEW stories, when the basis of most DL attractions is previously released films. DL has a great mix of both types, what with the HM, Pirates and Indy right in there with Pan, Dumbo and Buzz. And I also don't see why people have such a problem with Pixar, which is now coming up with many more memorable characters than Disney animation has for many years. True, I don't want TL to become all Pixar, and I really don't think MLF belongs in WDW's Tomorrowland - OK attraction, bad fit with theme. What I want is for Disney to tell me a story in a ride. I don't care if it's previously released or new, Disney animated or Pixar animated. I just want a good story told in a new and unique way. THAT'S what Disney has always been good at, and that's what they've somewhat slipped away from in recent years.
