That raises a broader question, though: Why should it take the death of a celebrity to convince Disney, or any other theme park company, to bring back attractions that retain loyal followings? Might there by other instances where parks would do better to return an attraction location to its previous inhabitant?
Obviously, logistical challenges would make some attraction returns impossible. Sorry, no manager's going to get far inside Disney proposing to tear down Mission: Space to rebuild the Horizons pavilion. Or to rip out the New Fantasyland to bring back 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Smaller-scale difficulties probably would prevent the return of either of Robin Williams' old Disney shows, at least in their original locations.
(This paragraph has been updated, since my spatial memory of the old Feature Animation pavilion is scrambled.) "Back to Neverland" (which we linked yesterday) served as the set-up for a walking tour through what is now The Magic of Disney Animation building but was then a working animation studio. So bringing this show back to the park isn't as simple as running it again in its old theater. That facility just doesn't exist anymore in that form.
There's a similar issue with "The Timekeeper," which played in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. Disney's converted the old CircleVision theater into the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. Swapping that show for its predecessor would require substantial capital work, much more than the film swap and seat re-programming that Disney had to do to bring back "Captain EO" to its old theater to replace "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" after Michael Jackson's death. If either Robin Williams show is to return to WDW, a venue change likely will be required.
But once we move beyond these type of tributes, some "do-overs" wouldn't be that hard. What about bringing back the Country Bear Christmas Special or Vacation Hoedown to the Magic Kingdom's Grizzly Hall? Or returning the Swiss Family Robinson to their Disneyland tree? Could Ghostbusters return to Universal Studios Florida's Twister theater? Who'd like to see the old Diamond Horseshoe show again? Or see Alien Encounter take out Stitch?
I'm sure that some fans would love to see Back to the Future evict The Simpsons Ride, but let's not forget that Universal's invested big bucks in very lucrative Simpsons-themed restaurants around that area, plus, the "future" in "Back to the Future" was 2015, so it ain't gonna be the future for much longer. :^)
So, it's a balance. The new attractions replaced the old for a reason — parks thought that they'd be an improvement. But even the world's most popular theme parks make mistakes now and then. Is there a reasonable replacement of new for old that you'd like to see happen at a specific theme park? Please tell us about it, in the comments.
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I always thought it wasn't tooo far-fetched to have both Back to the Future and the Simpsons co-exist. There are two domes, have one for each attraction. Re-work the queue/theming and you "add" another ride to the line-up. Plus some clever voice acting and editing can change the future date from 2015 to 2050 :)
...I miss Back to the Future the Ride.
I always thought it wasn't tooo far-fetched to have both Back to the Future and the Simpsons co-exist. There are two domes, have one for each attraction. Re-work the queue/theming and you "add" another ride to the line-up. Plus some clever voice acting and editing can change the future date from 2015 to 2050 :)
...I miss Back to the Future the Ride.
The bottom line is that there might be some peripheral interest in some retired attractions, but the interest is certainly minimal, and probably not enough to warrant eliminating existing attractions that still have some popularity. It would be cool if Disney could use some currently vacant space in the parks to use as a rotating attraction celebrating the past (the sound stage next to Toy Story Mania in DHS which has been used for Narnia and Jack Sparrow exhibits would be one spot while there are probably dozens of locations in EPCOT that would work). However, any attraction that has complicated motion systems would need to be whittled down to just the movie portion. As much as the Blue Sky Studios in DCA gives guests a look into the future, it would be cool if Disney set up an attraction that looked back into the past.
Horizons is favorite ride of all time, so that might be an exception. While I know it will never happen, I would love to see a Future World attraction with a similar tone that incorporates some parts as nods to fans but also does something new given the 30 years that have passed since it opened.
Should theme parks have "do-overs" though. I think not just do to the fact the rides were replaced for a specific reason. Popularity waned, poor reliability, and/or too many incidents occurred. There might be a few exceptions to this, such as the old Imagination Pavilion which I remember as always being popular and having a line unlike it currently has now.
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Having said that, I don't see why Back to the Future can't co-exist with The Simpsons or, better yet, I don't see why Back to the Future can't come back at all in its own way.
Though I'd imagine Christopher Lloyd getting on in years is a huge obstacle.