The Creative Bankruptcy of Disney Leadership: Why the Mediocrity of New Disney Rides Doesn't Deliver 

There's been a lot of rumor that he was pushed out of the company as being too expensive. From what I hear, his projects consistently go far over-budget, but the results are obvious. I think the pandemic was an excuse for Chapek to make a lot of cuts that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to do without a lot of pushback. Obviously I don't know any of this for sure, but I felt that his departure was odd. Before the pandemic hit, I happened to encounter him at the Nomad Lounge, seemingly working on a project that he was quite enveloped with (or at least that's the impression that I got). I can't speak for him, but I'm not sure if I believe he was ready to leave the company.

@@PoseidonEntertainment he always seemed to be so passionate about his projects that I thought he would never want to retire.

I think a little of Joe's problem was he started getting to full of himself. He also started worrying about detail that was pointless. Example, he was talking about the special fur matting of the yeti they did and the dirt under the nails. Why, this had to cost hours of time and money to do something that at 45+mph you'll never see in the dark even if lit. He started to over tell stories also over the ride experience. Meaning he started to rely on the story/art of the project for excitement more than the actual performance of the ride...I think he was pushing to hard to cement his legacy as a marquee imagineer in Disney history and not letting it happen naturally like the originals did

@@chrisr2596 Perhaps that’s true, but at least Joe had passion for his projects. I think Walt himself would have appreciated an imagineer that wants to continue to plus things and add to the overall guest experience, even if some of his details might be a bit overkill. I believe Animal Kingdom is arguably the best park for details because of Joe.

Exactly! His ideas were too much for their share holders to handle

Everest is another great example of this, unfortunately since Everest there hasn’t been anything original and I don’t think there will be anytime soon. 🥲

@@jayman5577 definitely not. They will redo all the classic original attractions to be some form of cheapened IP to "sell more merch" already happened with Tower of Terror and others.

@@boxingfan2796 tower of terror was based on an ip

@@lilcloutvevoWell, yes and no. While The Twilight Zone was an IP, the “episode” was fictional. It was still an original backstory for the ride, it just used The Twilight Zone to convey it. Technically you could remove all Twilight Zone references and still have that core story of 5 people vanishing from an elevator during a freak storm in 1939. Would the ride suffer from the loss of the Twilight Zone references? Yes, but it’s still an original story idea and can be done.

Oh I agree. I'm not sure what Disney was thinking there. I know that themed transitions are difficult, but they didn't even try here. I'm also annoyed by how easily visible the Tower of Terror is from numerous points within the land.

That blunt idiotic no-sense rough transition, exists in Paris as well, between Toy Story Land and the Ratatouille zone. "Paris" there, in the theming of the square, does not even have a convincing "inner city Paris Feeling", because the whole 'expensive' thing is one sided. The other side is a blunt unimaginative wall (were they parked food trucks/carts to get the attention a bit off that blunt wall), and behind that wall, the 3rd class local attraction park's rides from Toy Story Land come peeping out. In the new development for the Studios park, instead of building the second part of the street (with for instance some minor but unique 'Paris' related attraction in it) to make the Ratatouille land believable at last, they invest in more idiotic cheap carnival rides with TSL.... I have the worst feelings with the whole of the Studios' expansion plan, by the way. Nothing at all is coherent, NO place at all will take you into total immersion and make believe, as in the planning, all "themes" will be fully visible from one another across the mini-lake (blown out of real proportions on the PR-produced artwork) and ending up in a senseless mish-mash, just housing 3 attractions of unrelated theme. For me personally, the whole expansion project is an intellectual failure...

Clearly Galaxy’s Edge is just Andy’s new Star Wars playset that he left outside!

@@dennisvelez9846 THAT would have been an AMAZING transition! Just place oversized Star Wars figures in a pile on the way there, as if transitioning from toys to imagination!

@@Undrave while that’s a great idea, it would cost too much for these guys

I appreciate Disney as a company for its creative legacy and because of its classic attractions. If the parks were made up entirely of experiences from Iger and Chapek, I don't think that I would even want to go.

@@PoseidonEntertainment couldn’t agree more!

I agree. Being in Texas, I've never had the opportunity to go to Disney Land or World. I have "experienced" the parks through pov videos here on RU-vid. I don't understand why anyone would spend so much money for broken animatronics, meals you need a mortgage for, and all the new upcharges. I grew up going to Six Flags. Disney's supposed to have more dreamy experience. Yet, Six Flags, from what I've observed, outshines the house of the mouse.

@@lisagillum-wells1979 don't go, waste of time

@@PoseidonEntertainment You know, ideas don't have to be good on paper. You just need to look up the original sources and get them right before delivering. Brainstorming for anything that comes out of your mind also helps too, along with guest interaction and feedback. While it's understandable Disney is in a tight spot trying to get back its profits from the pandemic, I think creativity may need to be put first, then they can worry about the cash. Also no one is mentioning TRON (made in Shanghai) or Cosmic Rewind or that Mary Poppins attraction. I guess a few props won't hurt, besides some props are cheaper than screens. Looks like whoever will lead better go find all forms of imagination and art in the place where lost things go or they'll never hit 88 miles per hour. Or even give Genie Plus a whole redo to get it similar to Fastpass Plus.

Yeah as I always say, Bob Iger and Bob Chapek take Walt’s name in vain and think that they can buy any companies, and that’s a big problem. 😞 I mean Walt Disney was a guy who wanted to be a rich guy, but that wasn’t his true passion. His passion was to bring affordable family entertainment for not only children but also appealing for adults, and he wanted the audience to love his movies, because he made his movies for everyone including the audience to love it, not just for himself.💖

One thing that I find incredibly distasteful is how Walt Disney is quoted on construction walls, as if it's a seal of approval. I think the original Epcot was incredible, but it definitely was not Walt's creative vision, and to put a statue of him in the middle is insultingly audacious. I think IP did and still does make a lot of sense for Fantasyland because that's exactly what guests have come to expect and want, but you have to also deliver. That's one major issue I have with Seven Dwarves Mine Train. I've often heard the claim that it's well themed, but it's mostly rockwork. It only has two scenes, being the mine and the cottage, compared to how many scenes on Big Thunder Mountain? It's... lazy. A rollercoaster with just enough to get by, but again, not going for the standard that Disney was once known for. I'll never understand its popularity, other than it being friendly for small children.

By IP, you're referring to intellectual Property, right? So, with so many rides having some relationship to Disney's movies and shows, you're concerned about Disney's desire to milk the popularity of these creative works via the attractions and the visitors who ride or attend them. That's what rides and shows are in Disney parlance: "Attractions", because they attract people like moths to a flame. Moreover, each one has to tell a story the way Walt would tell it. Let's take the example of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train and the aforementioned criteria for telling the story of Snow White? The way you describe the ride as containing only the mine and the cottage, and not having taken the ride myself, I don't know the answer to that question. That said, if the ride is required to tell the story of Snow White, it could at least provide some detail on the jewel mine itself. Whenever I've seen the movie way back when I was a kid, after watching the Dwarfs march off to work with their picks and shovels following their singing "Hi, Ho, Off to Work I Go", I had few clues about where those people work and what they do. For example, who owns the mine? Who gets the gem output? How are the gems delivered to the mine owner? How are the Dwarves paid, assuming they get paid at all? One last thing: not all gems are dug from a mine and come as cut and polished stones as they appear to be from what videos I've watched of the ride. I have to wonder just how much research the Imagineers conducted when they conceived and designed the attraction: did they visit any open diamond mines in South Africa or Australia? Did they visit an emerald mine in Colombia? Did they visit a lapis lazuli mine in Chile? Did they consult with anybody from DeBeers or other diamond merchants about what kind of stones are dug from mine shafts or what happens to them after they're removed from the mines, e.g., that they're sent to be cut and polished into the beautiful gems we all know and love? If that research had actually been performed, then anybody could tell ride designers that the mine scenes showing polished stones gleaming or glowing in the dark are bunk--magical perhaps, but nonsensical. I know I'm going to get flack from these comments, but my response is, "Yes, I know this is a remnant from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale as Walt would have told it, but this ride still doesn't tell satisfy the requirement of telling a story, especially if the story is about the mine and the Dwarfs' work there, no matter how many scenes from the Snow White story you insert. Anyway, what story are you attempting to tell, the story of Snow White or the part about where the Dwarfs work, this jewel mine?"

IPs are fine if done right. But now it's being overdone on steroids. Literally redoing EVERYTHING even at Epcot to be some form of Cars/Pixar/Marvel/etc. It really cheapens the feel in my opinion. There's no more original and unique attractions that Disney used to be notorious for. There's no innovation or imagination. Everything has been sterilized, cheapened and then slapped with an IP.

Exactly, IP's back then we're the template, Fantasyland was made as a home for Walt's characters. So IP is ingrained into the dna of Fantasyland from the get go. It was a way of promoting the park as a means of saying "you could meet your favorite characters", I can't recall any other IP based attractions being built in Walt's era following the opening

Holy snot that's bad and unsafe and almost definitely illegal to some extent.

@@spencerpetunia8268 not to some extent

Comparing someone to Pressler is an insult in itself, but the “fatter” and “balder” roast killed me.

I liked the scene in Iger's book where Steve Jobs went off on him for how crappy & cheap-looking the Art of Animation resort is. Iger argued that it was really inexpensive for guests, but now that's no longer true.

Iger’s thought process wasn’t “how can this complement Disney”, but “how can we make up for our own lack of ideas”

It was fine when the parks reopened because they were so dead that it was a great experience in and of itself, but now where it's overly crowded every day? If I didn't have a pass, I wouldn't pay for a ticket right now with the experience that it is. I have a strong feeling that many of these experiences won't come back once they resume normal operation either. A lot of streetmosphere will be permanently cut, and I wouldn't be surprised if fastpass comes back as a paid system (which I would be in favor of, because I hate the system that they had in place), but the pandemic has definitely been an opportunity to make significant changes, many of which will continue to cheapen the experience.

I think Disney doesn't really care about COVID. They're just using it as an excuse to pinch pennies and either delay the return of services they absolutely could have kept (social distancing isn't possible on open air trams? Really?), or remove them altogether and hope you don't notice.

I agree, I'm in the same boat as you. It looks like I definitely favor Universal, but I'm really just interested in seeing these parks produce the best attractions that they can. I know that the original version of Potter for Disney was something like Space Ranger Spin but with wands? The new Spider-Man attraction is feeling a lot like that. Obviously Universal used these IPs a lot more creatively, and their recent attractions are feeling a lot more creatively inspired after Hagrid's opened. Even the videos for the Secret Life of Pets ride is blowing me away with how good it is.

@@PoseidonEntertainment Yes, based on the limited videos I have watched of the new Disney Land Spider-Man ride, it does not look near as impressive as the Universal Spider-Man ride that opened way back in 1999, and still holds up in 2021. I watched a video of the complete ride through of Secret Life of Pets and it looks really cool for a simple family dark ride. Just feels like Disney is "phoning it in" in the US parks, which in turn, is treating it's "guest" (customers) like we are idiots and will accept anything they produce. It is like current day Disney has totally forgotten what makes many of us long time fans (my 1st trip to Walt Disney World was in 1978 (I was 10). My kids have been a lot, but not sure they have the same long term affection for Walt Disney World as those of us who were fortunate enough to be able to go in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Anyway...lets just hope Disney steps it up.

I agree with you as a Disney Vacation Club member I go to Disney quite regularly and for the last few years I much prefer the Universal Parks much more. The water taxi's to and from the hotels are great and I generally like the layout of the parks and rides better. The only exception being The Fast and The Furious which is sort of new and it really would have to improve to stink! Overall I like Universal better but my wife is a Disney girl all the way. I cannot wait for the new Epic Universe Park to open!

Indeed, and it's extremely frustrating to me. For most of my life, I always held the idea that Disney's theming and attractions were unbeatable and top tier, especially when Universal went on their screen binge. Now though, they seem to have definitely learned from their mistakes and are going in such a dramatically different direction. All the videos for the new Secret Life of Pets ride blow me away with how good it is. Disney and Universal haven't built a dark ride like that in decades.

@@PoseidonEntertainment yeah I just watched the vid for that ride and was blown away. I also just think uni has just been innovating more lately and their rides are just more interesting which is sad for me cuz I’m a huge Disney fan but it’s just the way it’s going

@@largol33t1 i think youve hit the nail on the head. IP isnt everything, it helps but its not everything. i LOVE universal, but i dont care for any of the IPs aside from harry potter, and my favorite ride was not ever the forbidden journey or escape from gringotts tho, it was rip ride rock it, a completely generic ride. now my favorite ride is velicocoaster, because its an amaaaazing rollercoaster, and the animatronics in the queue are to die for. but i dont care about jurassic park at all, if im being honest i dont think ive actually even watched one of the movies the whole way through, but that ride is fucking great and i ride it every time i can. i think the rides and general Jurassic park area have given me more nostalgia for that series than (trying to) watch the movies ever has lol. thats some successful theming and entertainment.

Aye, it's pretty bad. The constant excuses and apologizing for an experience that continues to just degrade is astounding. I'm not sure why people wouldn't want to hold Disney to a standard worth paying for.

@@PoseidonEntertainment Yeah it seems like critical thinking is just not a thing amongst all these fans. Or it seems like a lot of them seem to interpret criticism towards Disney as “I hate Disney.“ The other excuse I constantly hear is “Disney is a business and they have to make money.“ I am of course very well aware of that a lot of people don’t seem to understand that it’s a balance between creative artistry and commerce. Disney has been leaning far too much to the latter.

@@spinlok3943 what they hear is their own voices telling them to wake up but they are so invested in the lie they can't. I'm like, people, yes it WAS amazing. WAS. no one like realising they are getting ripped off and that whats happening to the pixie dusters.

I respect your opinion, but I actually disagree. I think that Under the Sea, while not really my taste, is very much in the spirit of the classic dark rides that define Disneyland's Fantasyland and that the Magic Kingdom has been getting away from. I enjoy that it uses a lot of practical effects and doesn't shy away from using lower level animation like in the "Under the Sea" song scene. I prefer the lower level animatronics of many older Disney attractions that really help to flesh out scenes, rather than blowing all of the budget on something high tech, but ultimately inconsequential like the River Shaman. I also believe that New Fantasyland was in the works long before Disney saw Universal's success with Hogsmeade, as that opened in 2010 and New Fantasyland in 2012. The rest of the land though, doesn't really deliver. 7DMT isn't a great attraction, having only two real show scenes in the mine and the cottage. Otherwise, it's just all rockwork, which isn't compelling theming by itself. I also despise how the expansion is so heavily focused on meet and greets, rather than attractions. There was no reason to get rid of Snow White's Scary Adventures to meet princesses other than merchandising opportunities.

Maybe merchandising opportunities or a theater show would be much better!

@@AXander1978 chill it’s his opinion, but yeah it’s boring.

Oh God the Little Mermaid is so awful lol.

I think it really goes beyond that though. My argument for that video essentially boiled down to: "If you're going for merchandise sales, you made the mistake of not going OT". Galaxy's Edge has a lot of fundamental problems that a retheme wouldn't necessarily fix.

@Rosamund Powell They no longer know how really think big when they have the opportunity. That is why they did not get the Harry Potter franchise in the park. They could have created a whole separate gate for Harry Potter buy they did not want to spend the money just like Star Wars.

I wish they did that as well. Why couldn't Disney have chosen Mos Eisley on Tattooine with touches of the sequel episode characters? Why was it their main focus? The movies were very unpopular, whereas older fans love the OG trilogy and wanted that nostalgia.

@@rhaenyralikesyoutube6289 they used the sequel trilogy as the theme bc they want that one to make money because its new, regardless of what the fans think.

I definitely agree with you. As a little kid, Epcot was my favorite park because of how fascinating the different experiences were to me and that wasn't even "classic Epcot" as we know it. The pivot away from edutainment is a huge mistake. What made Disney parks so popular was the artistry that went into the experience and people definitely notice those types of things. When Disney isolates their most dedicated fanbase by bringing in shallow experiences, then how does that bode overall? Will vacationing families still come when they're told it's not worth the time or money?

Ip’s are people creativity, so if implemented correctly it can be great. Take Harry Potter areas and even avatar.

What do you mean by that? Are you talking about the fluid movements of the Na'vi River Shaman or the Kylo Ren animatronics? In that case, I definitely agree. Animatronics like the Pirates Auctioneer or the Wicked Witch were noticeably more advanced, but not so in a way that they stuck out stylistically when compared to the other animatronics of the attractions. Disney had a pretty extensive history of animatronic figures that all emulate the same style, and I've seen them definitely moving away from that. Off-hand, I would consider the following attractions all stylistically similar in how they portrayed human figures: Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Fort Langhorn, Spaceship Earth, Horizons, Journey Into Imagination, World of Motion, Maelstrom, The American Adventure, The Hall of Presidents, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Great Movie Ride. I also associate other attractions that don't feature people with many of these, such as The Universe of Energy, Country Bear Jamboree or Splash Mountain. I can't quite place my finger on what it is, but something about their movements and style fit into what I perceive as a distinctive Disney style in attraction design.

@@PoseidonEntertainmentI think it's just the amount of detail that was put into them. Blaine Gibson's work is incomparable to anyone else. And just the detail put into the mechanism itself you look at some of the maintenance manuals and they're just gorgeous. I also think Garner's work in the park reminds me of classic Disney with the mystic Manor ride, nightmare before Christmas overlay, and the new yeti all look to me like a natural evolution to what Disney animatronics should be.

@@Robotmaker Oh yeah for sure. I didn't think about those attractions in that way but I see what you mean now that you've pointed it out.

My 3 favorite rides at Disney are and always will be Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, and Space mountain.....

Don’t forget expedition Everest!

Outstanding Voldemort

This quote also fits perfectly with the new jurassic world trilogy

@@largol33t1 the new Nintendo land universal is building is so amazing, it’s so creative and they actually tried. Same with the secret life of pets ride. On the other hand disney has been a let down lately. Especially canceling that awesome quinjet ride for a cheaper low budget multiverse ride

I agree, in that I like the aspect of feeling "shrunken down". I've only been to DCA once and it was after Bugs Land was torn down, so I never experienced it, but I do very fondly remember the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set" play area of MGM Studios. I probably wouldn't like it as much if it were around today because it's so kid focused, but it does a much better job than either Bugs or Toy Story Land, and while those are obviously in much larger spaces, it doesn't mean that they couldn't have done more with the theming.

despite that, A Bug's Land was still better than Avengers Campus, bc at least there was a theme. Avengers Campus is just.... buildings with superheroes in them. sometimes.

I was at Bugs Land a lot. The rides sucked but I believe the land itself had an awesome feel.

not related but my very first/oldest memory was waiting in line at a bug’s life when i was like 3 or 4

Oh well thanks, I do appreciate that!

I think the Studios itself needs some dramatic improvements, but overall I agree that Universal as a resort delivers more than Disney right now. It's a bit unfair that Islands seems to be getting all of the good attractions. I fear that the Studios will suffer for a while longer because of the focus on Epic Universe, despite being excited for that project.

Don't give them ideas! 😂

Yup, and I consider it to be an Eisner attraction because that's when the development started. It's not like Iger didn't see the success that it brought to Animal Kingdom, so why double down on the cheapness? I wouldn't fault you for having fun with the new experiences that the parks offer, but I also don't think that they rise to the Disney standard. These are for the most part, expensive projects though and are more difficult to replace. Primeval Whirl might be a quick demolition, but Smuggler's Run not so much.

I've always liked Nintendo but I don't like to judge attractions and lands based on their IP. Part of the reason I really like Super Nintendo World is because it just looks ridiculously well done. It definitely takes things a step farther than the Wizarding World and I'd like to see them continue with the interactivity when the Donkey Kong expansion opens.

@@PoseidonEntertainment I was just saying is all. I’m just impressed by all the work that went into the land. And yes, Donkey Kong Mine cart roller coaster!

iirc Universal Japan is planning on having a Zelda transition next. I can’t remember where or when I heard this but I remember it from somewhere!

Things I want next: Zelda and Metroid. And maybe Kirby. Now that I notice, there is a lot of potential. Imagine a rollercoaster themed after kid Icarus. An adventure Splatoon style.

if they put pokemon in there, im sold. and hey, i'd give 'dorf a hug!

Even if you have little kids, it is fun when I was four is as able to enjoy at least half the rides in each Park in Universal.

The original vision for EPCOT was an actual town where people lived and raised families. Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

Yeah, a lot of people really disagree with me on that one. I don't really see the appeal that other people do and don't find it nearly as impressive. For example, the effect of stepping out into the Star Destroyer is pretty impressive until you begin to realize that the ships on the giant screen in the back experience frame rate drops.

The Guardians coaster in particular, yes the system is similar to Gringots, but that ride is really a dark ride with a single coaster element, Guardians is a 5,577.4 foot long coaster with at least one launch. You really can't compare the two rides, that was a bit too quick of a judgment based on the ride system. Also Tron is impressive in it's own right.

I never got that impression from it, but now that you've pointed it out...

I thought I was the only one lol. It's like a corpse tied to a steel rope

I completely agree. There's a vocal minority of people out there who find Epcot "boring" when for the longest time, it was the most interesting of the Disney parks. I understand Eisner's desire to put more thrill rides into the park, but I don't think that needs to come at the expense of the edutainment. A Swiss pavilion with a new version of the Matterhorn would have been the perfect addition, checking both boxes if implemented correctly.

@@PoseidonEntertainment that would have been awesome, but sadly instead they built frozen and guardians, which I find appalling, they are forgetting the essence of epcot and building another magic kingdom, it’s so sad to watch the new direction of this company.

Cars Road Trip is the worst. They would have been better off just closing the attraction than reopening it like this because it's just downright embarrassing. When the videos started coming out, I remember one comment went something like: "I could have made this in my backyard".

That would probably be an interesting video itself. I’ve always thought that the theming of DCA could have worked if given the right care and budget, but you make another really good point with that argument. I’m going to Disneyland in March to shoot a bunch of B-Roll, so perhaps after that I might pursue some version of a video like that.

Agreed. For all the "storytelling" that they like to push, there's definitely a lack of it.

He’s probably rolling in his grave

Is Slinky actually a clone? I'll admit it's not at all a great coaster, but it's original as far as I can tell.

@@PoseidonEntertainment I checked for clarification, "the layout is custom, but any company could go buy the same ride from the manufacturer and theme it however they want. The only thing exclusive to us is the IP". So I was mistaken about the same layout already existing.

Both ideas sound good to me. In another reality, Disney's acquisition of Star Wars would have led to far more engaging and exciting experiences.

@@PoseidonEntertainment You're spot on with this. I have a soft spot for Disney, been a passholder for over 25 years so I'm willing to let a few things go BUT I wholeheartedly agree that they need to come up with new and creative ideas not based on IPs they own. I love the idea of them pursuing ideas based on the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. I like your thoughts on the re-theme of Galaxy's Edge, it really wouldn't be too hard for them to just lean back into the OG trilogy or just make the land Star Wars neutral (it's almost that already). I'm a fan of them reviving Beastly Kingdom myself, that was a missed opportunity IMHO. I'd also love to see them revive the Great Western River expedition or Geyser Mountain. Either of which would be a great addition to Disneyland in place of Tom Sawyer's island.

@@reimagineering.tomorrowlan1505 Have you watched DSNY Newscast's video on turning Splash Mountain into the Western River Expedition? I think it would be the perfect fit if they're going to retheme it, though obviously I doubt something like that would ever happen today. If you haven't seen it, I'll link it because I recommend checking it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-89XXWsakQag.html

@@PoseidonEntertainment Oh my goodness, that would be fantastic! Can't believe I missed this one, thanks for the link!

...or a trackless haunted mansion?

Universal seems to have abandoned virtual queues except for attractions that already have them (which seems to not even be used anyways since they're mostly walk-ons). Disney knows its unfair but still uses it anyways, as Ratatouille and Guardians have proven. The VQ for Hagrid's is long gone, I suspect because Universal recognizes that it was anti-consumer.

Good post. I too don't like cloned McDisney lands in parks. Disney's resorts should all be so wonderful and interestingly different (Tokyo Disney Sea, the Animal Kingdom, & -- in the early 1980s -- EPCOT) that guests are inspired to visit other Disney resorts.

I'm not really excited for either. Tron looked cool when it opened in Shanghai, but part of what I liked about it was how it was unique to that park. As a coaster, it looks short and uneventful. I don't think that Disney should be shooting for something like the Velocicoaster, but they certainly have more thrilling coasters than Tron. Part of what makes Tron appealing is how the seating works, but now that Hagrid's is open, it seems a little too similar to be a selling point.

I haven't seen the new version, but I've only heard negative things about the IP inclusion. I actually think that Up is a fantastic film, but needing to put it into the show is ridiculously tacky. I'm unsure if this is true or not, but I've heard from quite a few people that the characters were removed or put into a reduced role because they were unpopular.

@@PoseidonEntertainment "Tacky" is a good word. If an attraction is intrinsically based on IP (such as Peter Pan's Flight,) then IP is, of course part of the immersive experience. But if an attraction is supposed to be educational (like this bird show) or a simulation of some plausible real-world experience (such as flying to the moon, or visiting an underwater base, or travelling to Mexico..) shoehorning-in IP immediately destroys that immersive illusion. And it becomes tacky.

Definitely agree. In many respects, Disney leadership seems lost, not understanding why Universal took their market share. Galaxy's Edge seems like such a bad emulation of The Wizarding World but shows how they fundamentally misunderstood its appeal. On the flip side, it just seems like the other additions to the parks have no understanding of what the guests want. Those new Incredibles themed rooms at The Contemporary? They're receiving pretty strong backlash, because really, who actually wanted something cheap and tacky like that for $900 a night? The "cult of Disney" will still continue apologizing for the decrease in quality and poor attractions for now, but I have a feeling they'll start seeing a real decline in business over the next few years. Nothing that will bring the company down, but enough that they'll have to reconsider Chapek as CEO.

Aha, well thanks! I appreciate that!

Exactly ^

I imagine that Disney's current path of poor/mediocre experiences isn't sustainable. The company is at a point where they feel they can easily fill their rooms and parks with little to no effort, and that they can quite literally do whatever they want and people will come. However, I've heard a pretty dramatic shift in opinion that's only continuing to grow. I suspect that Epic Universe will also play an enormous role in damaging Disney's hold on the Orlando market, which obviously is their most important. It's not just a financial loss in Orlando, but I think it will have ramifications that will hurt the company's image as the leader of the theme park industry.