Disney's used its D23 Expo to announce new attractions projects in the past, but all we got this year were teases for Avatar and "Project Orange Harvest," which is the development name for the Star Wars land that's still under development for Disney's Hollywood Studios.
One of my initial sources who told me last summer about Disney's plans for both Star Wars and Cars Land at DHS warned that if Cars Land ever slipped behind Star Wars on the development schedule, that would be an ominous sign for Lightning McQueen and the gang. Disney liked the idea of bringing Cars Land to Florida not just because it was a proven hit across the country at California Adventure, but also because the plans were finished and could be easily and quickly duplicated in Florida.
Until, someone decided that the they couldn't be.
Of course, if Disney really wanted a second Cars Land, it could throw enough money at the project to make it happen, come heck or high water. But Disney, like any company, has to prioritize its expenses. And, apparently, it's decided that it would rather go big on Project Harvest than expand the budget simply to recreate Radiator Springs Racers and Flo V-8's Cafe in Lake Buena Vista.
So we've removed those from the list of upcoming attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios. If you want to see a Cars Land in a Disney theme park in the United States, you'll continue to need to book a trip to Anaheim.
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This is a good sign they'll be putting all their muscle behind Star Wars.. Ahem, orange harvest...
Avatar, on the other hand, sounds like a significant risk as if the sequels don't get great reception it will likely fall flat.
On a personal note, even though I almost never get out to Disneyland, I like when they have unique offerings at each park. Yes I would really like to ride Radiator Springs Racers, but I also am a fan who knows a lot about it, and therefore am more likely to spend the money to go to DCA if there are unique offerings. From a business perspective this just makes more sense to me. If Disneyland was identical to Disney World I would have no reason to go there, and that means no additional money for Disney.
I wonder, though, if the once rumored Monsters Inc coaster (now headed to DCA) is back on the table for expanding DHS' Pixar Place? After Star Wars and Avatar, of course! Get the really important stuff going first!
I can't see PAYING guest rejecting new attractions because of the reception of the films.
Knowing how detailed & meticulous James Cameron is, you know this won't be some sub par collection of C ticket rides.
Regardless of what one thinks of the actual movie, one of the strong selling points (like Star Wars, harry potter, even cars land) is that it's a fictional world, so that alone allows these prospective lands plenty of opportunities to "wow" visitors.
As it should be. I was never a fan of this idea of bringing Carland East. I could care less about it affecting Disneyland Resort and it's exclusiveness to the land, as I really don't think it would make that much of an actual impact to attendance out West to have the concept on both coasts. I say if you can save on the R&D and cut your construction time significantly, which is something Disney seems to have issues with these days, then by all means, fast track a fully fleshed out and functioning attraction somewhere else.
What I do care about, is that Disney is going all in on building Star Wars Land without another large scale Land such as Cars Land cannibalizing any of the budget. I REALLY hope they don't somehow manage to under whelm once the plans for all of the attractions finally come to light. This land is a dream come true for millions of fans around the world, spanning several generations. I'm seriously considering having extra fingers temporarily attached to my hands so I can keep as many digits crossed as possible hoping this turns out to be a mind blowing experience for all fans of the franchise. I really feel this, more so than Avatar (which I'm all in favor of coming to AK) is Disney's first real chance to cut loose and blow the doors off and show people what WDI is really made of, and create an immersive experience that rivals, if not surpasses what Universal has done with the Potter franchise.
Not to mention DHS is small, and even though they might be able to cannibalize some storage or parking areas to expand the park, it won't make a big enough impact to include both CLE and SWL. I'd much rather they put all their considerable dollars into SWL to make it something that will last for generations and really be a spectacle, much like Harry Potter is at Universal.
It's expensive to take a trip to Orlando or Anaheim for those from outside the regions, so Disney seems to have made an excellent decision by allowing Cars Land to remain exclusive at California Adventure.
This gives vacationers a better reason to go to DLR one year, and WDW the next.
I also kind of think the Cars area at the Art of Animation Resort in Florida is already the Orlando "Cars Land". It would have felt weird to have Radiator Springs there...but then have it in the park too.
Hopefully, they will go all-out with Star Wars at DHS and that Disneyland in California will only get a small amount of Star Wars in Tomorrowland. Someday, a third gate in California can get its own big Star Wars land down the line in what would be a Marvel/Star Wars kind of thrill park.
As for Avatar, I think people will have to eat their words when Disney is finished. Count me amongst those who think the Avatar movie was overrated...but I also have to admit it was gorgeous to look at. The movie had a base camp setup on an alien world...and then the characters went into the jungle of that world and experienced all the unique flora and fauna of another planet. This would be INCREDIBLE at DAK...and it actually does fit with the them of the park. For years, I've wanted to see an "alien zoo" in Tomorrowland showing what life could look like on other planets (I imagined it as either a new dark ride or a retheming of the subs ride at Disneyland to be subs in an alien ocean)...and I think Avatar allows Disney to create something like this at DAK. It's going to be really spectacular.
I don't care for the Cars movies (I think they are dumb, but I have two boys and they love watching those flicks) but boy did I have fun at Cars Land. I just loved standing there and taking in all the visuals and I loved eating in Flo's Cafe and watching the cars race around the track. I literally could have spent all day sitting at a table there, just soaking up the environment and people (and cars!) watching.
If Disney does the same level of detail with Avatar at DAK then it will be mind-blowing. I know a lot of people don't seem to understand that, but there's never been a place you could go where you would really "encounter" life forms from other planets that made you feel like you were in an alien jungle...just like there was never a place to go to that made you feel like you were inside a cartoon cars world. I'm really looking forward to what James Cameron and Disney come up with...and I am thrilled that Cameron is so notoriously picky and difficult to please because that means that Disney will not be able to go cheap with Avatar.
Which means, start lobbying for your favorites!
My thought for a star wars e ticket is 'Escape from the death star', an indoor ride using the trackless technology where the guests are escaping the death star with Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. Possible rooms include the detention centre, trash compactor, the canteen (where you see some Penn's alla aribiatta) and a final confrontation with the dark lord of the sith himself Jeff Vader (see YouTube youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw) before Obi-wan intervenes and you escape onto the Millennium Falcon.
Disney doing a star wars land well isn't a foregone conclusion, but I'm pretty confident it will be something special.
If and when Disney does finally wake up, they may end up playing catch up to the parks down the street who didn't hem and haw when it came to creating new experiences for its guests.
And no matter how you spin it, My Magic+ is just a way to make more money off of guests while offering them basically nothing new.
I was excited to ride the new Star Tours, and rode it a month after it opened and on a busy day. It had a 15 minute wait. The Toy Story ride had all the buzz and 90 minute wait.
Disney took a proven hit from DCA (Soaring) and put it in Epcot and its the most popular attraction in the park.
Better to go with something proven.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-universal-to-add-thousands-of-hotel-rooms-20130911,0,7922928.story
Should Uni build thousands more hotel rooms, as this article suggests, one does wonder how much longer Disney waits before kicking up its refurbishment efforts a notch or two. That Seven Dwarves Mine ride is taking an awfully long time to build.
- Brian
I guess you are right with your E-ticket ride prediction. Unlike universal that takes the story of the franchises it got and expend on it (look at T2-3D, Despicable me, Shrek, Harry Potter and more) Disney will give you a 4 minute rehash of the movie in most of it's rides. That is where they do their worst job. Where they do amazing work is there original work like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, It's a small world and lately the Mystic Mansion. They are all above and beyond Cars Land of any stuff they put out movie related. I wish Disney would play that card much more because they never, ever will beat Universal on taking movie ip's to the parks (until they prove me wrong and lets hope it's Star Wars).
Anyway, if you adjust for inflation using just the domestic box office results, Avatar is still not #2, so I am guessing the anonymous poster was not referring to the AFI results - he or she just made a mistake. No biggie. Just trying to have a little fun with it. (BTW, I agree in principle with what the anonymous poster wrote except the part about "the only real shot Disney has" - yeah, whatever - also, Avatar is not going to be a trilogy as THREE MORE movies are in the works).
For the numbers that matter, Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time, both domestically and internationally. By a LARGE margin. Furthermore, Avatar is also the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. It won the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture and Best Director and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning Oscars for art direction, visual effects, and cinematography. Contrary to the "Glass is Half Empty" members of the Disney fan boy & girl community, someone, somewhere, thought the film was pretty darn good.
Incidentally, though, if you do care about the AFI number, Snow White is still in the top ten all time. Nice.
Disney has been slow to counter WWOHP, but I think writing them off the way you do is disrespectful to the company that for so many years has set the standard for theme parks, and without whose guidance and competition WWOHP would never have existed.
I eagerly await star wars land and avatarland. As an intellectual property I find avatar doesn't offer as much as star wars or harry potter, but we will wait and see.
How nice for you that you can afford to go to both. We live on the East Coast, and thus WDW is a easier and more economical destination. Additionally, there is much more to do at WDW, so we get more in one vacation. There are A LOT of people in the same boat. My kid LOVES Cars and would love to go to Carsland. Very disappointing that there will not be one in WDW. I am very unhappy with this project being shelved.
I am happy about Star Wars and hope Disney does not cheap out on this. I still hate Avatar and the idea of an Avatarland. I would rather see that money spent on pretty much anything else. At the very least, take the money for that and put more into Star Wars.
To the post above. I understand your frustration about Crasland remaining in DLR, but I do think DLR should have exclusive attractions / lands.
The debate can easily be made about all those people who live on the west coast who cannot afford to travel to Orlando. These guest also miss out on a huge amount of attractions, & the amount of exclusive attractions in WDW far outweigh the # in DLR.
That's just the nature of the theme park industry.
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Missed headline opportunity: Steve McQueen chokes, stalls out, on the exhaust fumes of the Millennium Falcon.