Those that know me best are very aware I am a subtle Disney fanatic. Whether it’s the nearly 6 years of service, my ability to quote Disney movies endlessly (“Hey, I’ve been turned into a cow, can I go home now?”), or the 100+ Disney songs I have, I can say I am a good fan of Walt Disney’s work and carryover success. However, I want Disney World to fail. I want Disney World to be in popularity trouble. I want challengers rising to the occasion. I want Universal, Sea World, and Busch Gardens to really push for chomping away at Disney’s success. Why? Because the technically-still-legal monopolizing that Disney is performing is not allowing for the theme parks to truly branch out, evolve, and improve upon themselves. How can Magic Kingdom better themselves when they don’t have to? Why on earth would Disney want to improve when they have occupied the entire list of 5 busiest theme parks in the world and 5 busiest parks in America?
What has Disney released for the parks lately anyway? A slew of remakes and Toy Story Mania. That’s about it. Not complaining about any of these rides, no, but is that the best they can do? Is Toy Story Mania the peak of Disney creativity? Expedition Everest back in 2005 was phenomenal, and there has been nothing like it from Disney since and even years before its release. Epcot badly needs a new attraction, Magic Kingdom hasn’t had a new attraction in years, and Hollywood Studios still needs some revamping (and American Idol is not the solution). In the meantime, Universal has a massive roller coaster due out this summer and an entirely new section ready for the public next year. Sea World re-created the Shamu show, their dolphin show, and has another roller coaster out this summer. Busch Gardens has revamped its park slightly and has two new attractions from 2008 roaming around. The re-designs of Universal Islands of Adventure and Sea World can be felt throughout the park; re-designing Haunted Mansion and Pirates only affects….those locations.
Of course this idea of revamping costs money, and this is exactly why there is a strong chance I will never be a Disney Imagineer. The main reason is because I am extremely competitive, and Disney really isn’t, because they quite frankly don’t have to. Despite NEVER winning anything in any of the theme park awards that are held annually or biannually (you never see Disney mentioning this, because they never actually win), Disney still pulls the phenomenal attendance numbers. Magic Kingdom receives 15 million people a year. Sea World? 6 million. Epcot hits 10 million a year. Hollywood Studios (In my opinion Disney’s weakest park) receives 9 million. Its competition, Universal Studios, passes 6 million barely. So with these lovely numbers, why would the higher-ups want to achieve the ultimate Disney experience when we as guests seem obviously satisfied with what’s already there? Why would we want to add on and fix what’s in Disney when just throwing in a few new ad campaigns is much cheaper?
Year of a Million Dreams, love it or hate it, was extremely effective and didn’t require new attractions. This new What Are You Celebrating has been a hit with the guests as well. No need to add an attraction to the badly-needing-one Fantasyland. There’s apparently no need to totally fix up Tomorrowland, which now looks like long-ago’s Tomorrow. No need to try to change the Impressions of France and Star Tours films, which have gone through three different decades of viewing. No need to enhance Tom Sawyer Island, Living With The Land, Carousel of Progress or Jungle Cruise; 4 attractions that had Disney’s touch and could also use some facelifting.
So this is what I want to happen: I want Disney to be scared. I want all these parks (I am including Aquatica) to suddenly succeed, to suddenly create massive attendance numbers that will bite into Disney’s success. If this sort of stuff actually happens, then perhaps Disney will wake up and realize that they are aging a bit. It will require about a century of backwards-decision-making to truly spiral Disney into true trouble, but it might take much less for Disney’s bite to become smaller. If Sea World and Universal successfully advertise their plethora of changes, then pixie dust magic may start wearing off ever so slightly. Then guess what, Disney will retort, will retaliate. Maybe then, we’ll have Everest-quality attractions planned for all the parks, and they can come more often than every half-decade. Maybe we’ll see the facelifts that would make Walt Disney proud and not roll so much in his grave.
The first sign of this potential biting into success was Aquatica’s phenomenal opening. By the end of the year, it was the third busiest water park in the States and 8th in the world. This was just Year One. Attendance of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach actually dropped a little at sight of the competition. While 1% doesn’t sound like much of a drop, it could escalate if the positive reactions coming from International Drive continue.
Bottom Line: I don't really want Disney to actually fail and lose money, but I do believe that Disney needs competition in order to truly show what they are capable of. With their backs against the wall, Disney can release some amazing stuff. Tower of Terror saved MGM Studios back in 1994, and Everest launched Animal Kingdom into worldwide fame and success. However, there isn’t enough competition coming from the others, and I would like to see more so we can see Disney pull out some wild cards.
Personally, my dreams of being a competitive Imagineer with a desire to craft the best rides and parks the world has known is all but dead---but perhaps down the road when Disney executives do decide to really fix up the parks, I’ll be there to provide the ideas. Yes, I want a longer Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Yes, I want more Soarin’ movies (flying over Europe, Australia, and the Arctic during those beautiful Northern Lights). Yes, I am asking for too much, but if you can dream it, you can do it, granted the financial providers want it to be done. Come on Universal, succeed, so we can see some rivalries actually emerge; instead of the equivalent of a little kid kicking the shins of Yao Ming in an attempt to hurt him.
Just a thought.
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