Back Lot Tour Closing 9/27/14

DonaldDuck1117;2434491 wrote:
Could we be entering into an exciting decade at Disney? Avatar land. Rivers of light. Frozen. Backlot closing? Lets all hope!

What they have going on at Animal Kingdom is the only thing that will really wow anyone. All the other changes are primarily giving people exactly what they want (boring if you're looking for amazing innovation or imagination) or minor tinkering with street/music performers. The challenge for Disney now is whether they continue delivering exactly what their clientele are asking for, or go way beyond and deliver something amazing that nobody thought was possible that regains a leadership position in the industry. They lead in cash and raw attendance numbers, but it has been a while since Disney has changed the game in a dramatic and meaningful way.

Right now they're making fast horse buggies, and the people really like it, but they aren't making any cars (which will change a lot of things, but nobody knows they want them yet).

I agree that this attraction was just a shell of it's former shelf...if fact our last few trips it wasn't even opened. BUT here we go again...another closure without any major attraction going in it's spot. Closing an attraction without having a clear picture of what you are replacing it with just goes to show that these parks do not have a strong leader in charge. At least when it was running it was another thing to do....and the lines where still long, it kept the flow of the park going.

I'm just not impressed with Disney's vision for their parks anymore. They are turning them into Meet and Greets. Spots that used to host attractions are being turned into character spots leaving teens and adults without small children one less thing to do in the park. Don't get me wrong, Disney is a destination for families with children, and I have no problem with characters, but my son hasn't been interested in them since he was 7 years old.

I feel they used to have a nice compromise of family attractions / character interactions for small children and thrills for the older kids, but it seems to me that they are turning every inch of these parks into the simplest and cheapest forms of entertainment. character meets cost them nothing. For us we are almost to the point of it not being worth the price of admission because there are not enough quality attractions for the age of my son and nephews to go anymore.

I ranting a little, but I am really disappointed with them again. I keep waiting for them to wow me with an announcement of something really cool and cutting edge and it seems that they can't pull it off.

What I don't understand is all the secrecy lately. If they have some big plans ready for development, JUST ANNOUNCE THEM! Shutting things down and putting up construction walls without anyone knowing why is just frustrating. It is the age of information sharing. The secrecy is an annoying holdover of the past that Disney needs to let go of.

BrerGnat;2434497 wrote: What I don't understand is all the secrecy lately. If they have some big plans ready for development, JUST ANNOUNCE THEM! Shutting things down and putting up construction walls without anyone knowing why is just frustrating. It is the age of information sharing. The secrecy is an annoying holdover of the past that Disney needs to let go of.

Agreed....Give me something to look forward to and get excited about...make me want to plan another trip......My fear is that they really don't have a plan OR it's just going to be more shops and Character Meets and that is why they are so closed mouthed.

I don't blame them for trying to cash in on Frozen, but they need to realize that there are families that started out 15 or 20 years ago coming to Disney and that their kids are growing up and not interested in Disney cartoons anymore. They are going to lose them as guests because Universal is blowing them out of the water in the pre-teen/teenage attractions. The Fantasy Land addition was a disappointment to my family. We expected something much more cutting edge and all we got was an updated Ariel ride from EPCOT.

I'm sad.

I just don't get how the widespread closures at DHS can be seen as an improvement by fans. A "shell" of an attraction is better that no attraction at all, or worse a gift shop.

:(

NJGIRL;2434496 wrote: I agree that this attraction was just a shell of it's former shelf...if fact our last few trips it wasn't even opened. BUT here we go again...another closure without any major attraction going in it's spot. Closing an attraction without having a clear picture of what you are replacing it with just goes to show that these parks do not have a strong leader in charge.

Just because Disney didnt come out today and say "here is what we are going to put there" doesn't mean they don't have a plan. I doubt they would close a ride at Studios and not have a plan to add an attraction since that park is already in desperate need of more attractions. I'm hoping this is a gateway to a major overhaul of Studios.

DonaldDuck1117;2434505 wrote: Just because Disney didnt come out today and say "here is what we are going to put there" doesn't mean they don't have a plan. I doubt they would close a ride at Studios and not have a plan to add an attraction since that park is already in desperate need of more attractions. I'm hoping this is a gateway to a major overhaul of Studios.

What about the "Wonders of Life", 20,000 Leagues....and every other spot that was closed down just to supply a spot for a character meet. They have a track record of closing down attractions and putting up character meets, leaving the building empty, or putting in walk throughs of movie props.

If they had a great plan they would have announced it. That's just good marketing.

NJGIRL;2434510 wrote: What about the "Wonders of Life", 20,000 Leagues....and every other spot that was closed down just to supply a spot for a character meet. They have a track record of closing down attractions and putting up character meets, leaving the building empty, or putting in walk throughs of movie props.

If they had a great plan they would have announced it. That's just good marketing.

Unfortunately, this is very true. Just think how many years went by before anything of substance went in where 20,000 was (and it can be argued that an E ticket was eventually replaced with a C ticket...)

My thoughts on this pretty much echo most of what has already been said. I am not distraught over the loss. I just wish it had been announced in conjunction with some kind of fabulous new ride being developed.

DizneyFreak2002
As for Cars Land, the new rumor is just some flat rides, and NOT Radiator Springs Racers...

Sad..
Not a great way to compete with Universal..
I like everyone else is hoping Disney will step it up and show some love to WDW.

I would be disappointed if it were replaced by just a meet & greet as well. However, I have to qualify that by saying that out of all our trips, we only finally bothered trying this ride on the last trip. So, having bypassed it on all the other trips, it's not going to really make or break our vacation if we're bypassing something that goes in there on future trips.

But, I don't see any reason to believe they don't know what to do with the space or are just planning a meet & greet. It doesn't bother me that they're keeping quiet either. I think building a little anticipation is fun. However, the downside is, if you get people speculating about a Star Wars or Cars Land and they just get a meet & greet, people will be disappointed.

I'm not sad to see this go and the amount of land that this single closure will open up is a great opportunity for the park. The backstage tour really struggled since opening. Studios stopped filming, Residential street was taking away, Catastrophy Canyon felt like a poor competition for early Universal rides.

As for the replacements, we shall see. I think the rumor that Toy Story Mania is getting an expansion into the southern building is interesting. I personally hope for a more general Pixar land over porting Radiator Springs. Getting a Monsters, Incredibles, or WALL-E ride would be great.

I used to love this attraction. For the last few years though, it was one of those attractions we'd hit if we had time to kill. I think it's time for it to go. I do agree it would be nice to know what the plan is so we have something to look forward to.

I just have to say this. I loved Frozen. I've seen it several times. I get the promotional opportunities it presents for Disney - but...between the Maelstrom, the themed gift shop, the snow area, the sing-a-longs, etc, I really hope the space does not become yet another Frozen themed area. We also do not need any more meet and greet areas or shops. I've never once walked through Disney World and thought "Man, I really wish they had more shops." The other ideas floating around this discussion sound very interesting though. They have the perfect opportunity here to make DHS so much more than it's become over the years.

NJGIRL;2434510 wrote: What about the "Wonders of Life", 20,000 Leagues....and every other spot that was closed down just to supply a spot for a character meet. They have a track record of closing down attractions and putting up character meets, leaving the building empty, or putting in walk throughs of movie props.

If they had a great plan they would have announced it. That's just good marketing.

Except I said why would Disney close a ride in a park that is desperate for rides. When wonders if life closed Epcot wasn't exactly hurting for things to do, and the Magic Kingdom has never had a shortage of rides.

Secondly there is another marketing strategy which is to not announce anything but just start building. Now Disney has never done that but Cedar Point did this for one of their coasters and the Internet exploded. There was so much buzz created by sites like these trying to guess what it would be and the daily photo updates by fans. If Disney did ever decide to do something like that I bet it would create the same kind of buzz and be better than any marketing campaign they could come up with.

I just can't believe they would take a ride out of a park with already so little to do if they didnt have a plan for something new.

This closing has been long over due, but I hope they do find a place to keep things around to look at, like the plane and some of the crs. My kids always liked to look at the tags and see what movie things were from in the warehoise. I always hate to see things go with no real plan for the area.

I don't remember the details of the marvel contract, does it only apply to the characters that are already showcased at universal? Or does it apply to all marvel characters. Because putting in a superhero themed area would be fun. Does the whole marvel characters are not allowed in the parks thing have an expiration date?