Continuing the “Journey Into Imagination,” this week, Corey examines some of the more recent Disney parks and attractions and discusses how they measure up to the Disney standard.
Star Tours. Splash Mountain. Tower of Terror. Winnie the Pooh. Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. Indiana Jones Adventure. Disney-MGM Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disneyland Paris. Disney’s California Adventure. Tokyo DisneySea. Walt Disney Studios Paris.
What do all of these things have in common? I consider each one of these (and many others!) to be part of the “next generation” of Disney theme parks and attractions. Of course, there are countless attractions that have been designed and built for the Disney parks in recent years – it would be impractical for me to mention all of them. However, I will take a select few and discuss how the attractions of today compare to the attractions of yesterday.
Let’s start with an attraction that has been generating quite a bit of buzz lately… No, it’s not Buzz Lightyear, but the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This attraction has been thrilling guests for over 10 years at the Disney-MGM studios park. But now – just this week – another Tower has opened it’s doors for those on the west coast to enjoy. Now, to be fair, I really can not critique the newest Tower, because, well… I haven’t been on it yet! But whenever I’m at Walt Disney World, I’m a regular guest at the Hollywood Tower Hotel…
The Tower of Terror combines a unique and thrilling ride experience with immersive storytelling. These elements work together to create a mysterious back story before you ever even get on the ride. The ride portion just serves to add to the overall story being told, but gives riders the thrilling climax that the attraction is known for. The Tower of Terror is a true example of some of the best work to come out of WDI in recent years.
Similarly, Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure broke new ground with an innovate ride system that transported guests through detailed sets as never before. Again, the storyline is so intense, that reality tends to be suspended for most that experience the attraction. Careening through a temple in an out-of-control jeep, trying to find Indiana Jones… I know when I experienced this attraction, I really did feel like I was on an adventure with Indy himself!
But not all Disney attractions of late have been as exceptional as these two… Take, for example, the recent addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Chester and Hester’s Dinorama. This expansion of the Dinoland section of the park includes two rides called Triceratop Spin, and Primeval Whirl. The former is a clone of the classic Dumbo ride with a new theme, while the latter is basically a wild mouse coaster with a new “spin.” The area also includes a small midway section with games of skill that you can find at your average amusement park, carnival, or local fair.
The entire area is actually “themed” as a gaudy, flashy, corny, parking lot carnival. Those with sharp eyes will even notice the faded parking lot stripes on the cracked asphalt that paves the area. Is there a real story here? Well, I guess one could argue that the story IS that it is a gaudy, flashy, corny parking lot carnival. But my question is, what is this thing doing in the middle of Disney’s Animal Kingdom?
To take this a step further, one of the most controversial lands in Disney’s California Adventure is Paradise Pier, an entire section of a Disney theme park modeled after a carnival – the very thing that Walt was trying to get away from in creating Disneyland. The roster of attractions in this section of the park include a variety of off-the-shelf rides that you can find at your local Six Flags park. While these rides may have some thematic elements, they are not in any way the immersive experiences that Disney has become so famous for.
But how about the entire parks themselves? In the previous article, we covered only the parks up to 1984. Parks built since that time include the Disney-MGM Studios (1989), Disneyland Paris (1992), Disney’s Animal Kingdom (1998), Disney’s California Adventure (2001), Tokyo DisneySea (2001), and Walt Disney Studios Paris (2002). To really get a good understanding of how these parks rate, just take a look at the world-wide attendance figures: (courtesy of Amusement Business Magazine)
- The Magic Kingdom Park (Orlando, FL) 14 Million
- Tokyo Disneyland (Tokyo, Japan) 13.2 Million
- Disneyland Park (Anaheim, CA) 12.7 Million
- Tokyo DisneySea (Tokyo, Japan) 12.1 Million
- Disneyland Paris (Paris, France) 10.2 Million
- Epcot (Orlando, FL) 8.6 Million
- Disney-MGM Studios (Orlando, FL) 7.8 Million
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL) 7.3 Million
- Disney’s California Adventure (Anaheim, CA) 5.3 Million
- Walt Disney Studios Paris (Paris, France) 3 Million
There is one thing that is glaringly obvious when I look at this list. With the exception of Tokyo DisneySea, you’ll notice that ALL of the Disney parks that have opened within the last 10 years are at the bottom of the list. The numbers get smaller and smaller with the newer parks. At the same time, the older parks (again, with the exception of Tokyo DisneySea) continue to remain at the top of this list.
I think that this is evidence enough that the quality of the more recent Disney theme parks has been on a steady decline in recent years. People want the quality experiences they have come to expect over the years, and as of late, that is not what they are getting. Instead of creating fantastic new, innovative and totally immersive attractions for these parks, the norm recently seems to be either importing attractions from existing parks or dressing up off-the-shelf rides.
The beginning of the “next generation” of Disney theme parks and attractions looked promising. The parks being built were built up to par with the Disney Standard, and the attraction built were story intensive, innovative, and immersive. But as the years have worn on, the most recent parks and attractions are declining in the quality of the experiences they offer.
So, what does the future have in store? That, my friends, will have to wait until next week, at which time we’ll dive into some of the current projects under construction, and discuss how these projects look to be shaping up against that all important Disney Standard.
Until then… See ya real soon!
