I recently told a friend that the 2017 D23 Expo is probably the closest I will ever come to Walt Disney’s dramatic announcement of the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow in 1965. That may sound hyperbolic, but the staggering number of changes that Disney announced represents a five-year plan for Disney. It also hints at the long-term future of the Disney Parks & Resorts division. Disney has reached a turning point, and they have chosen to throw out the prior rules for theme park management in favor of a new style. As of right now, Disney is all-in on intellectual properties (IP). Let’s take a look at why this happened and what it means.
The early days of Disneyland
Image: DisneyWhen Walt Disney bought the orange groves that would become the Happiest Place on Earth, he had a vision for the new enterprise. The facility would elevate current standards of family-friendly entertainment. Amusement parks, carnivals, and regular parks at the time all had their flaws. They were often unclean, unsafe, and unwelcoming.
The day it opened to the public, Disneyland stood out as a refuge for families, a wonderful day’s entertainment that would simultaneously delight small children and the elderly. The key to this universal appeal was a basis in stories Walt Disney understood well.
Uncle Walt constructed entire themed lands that transported guests to faraway places and, sometimes, even different time periods. He did this by retelling popular stories, many of which guests already knew. One of the anchors was Snow White, an original attraction at Disneyland but, more importantly, the first animated movie released by what we now know as The Walt Disney Company. Everyone knew Snow White and wanted to share that experience as a themed ride, even if the one that Disney made was confusing to many guests.
The first new and updated Disneyland brands
Image: DisneyDisneyland also provided new adventures that had a focus on theming. Jungle Cruise is probably the most famous of these creations. As you know, it sweeps theme park tourists away on a sardonic boat ride through the Amazon River and, later, the Congo. The idea is to make you feel like you’re there, and the intellectual property drives both concepts.
Similarly, Walt Disney embraced every opportunity to sell merchandise and park tickets via known Disney brands. The first major example was Davy Crockett, a wildly popular television series in the mid-1950s. As soon as the show grew an audience, Disneyland gained attractions to match the show. And that model has become the anchor of Disney theme parks over the years. Most television series and movies that gain a loyal audience and glowing reputation eventually receive a park presence.
Theming hits and misses
Image: DisneyHonoring Walt Disney’s legacy is a full-time job for current Disney cast members. Since his death, they’ve been tasked with herculean feats such as the construction of Walt Disney World and, later, the opening of Epcot. The latter project was near and dear to Uncle Walt’s heart, so much so that it was his last major announcement prior to his death.
When Magic Kingdom opened, Disney park planners felt pressure to duplicate popular Disneyland attractions, something that their founder and leader had never wanted to do. When Epcot opened, it didn’t follow Walt’s wishes of a functional prototype city of tomorrow. It did, however, include a daily version of the World’s Fair, the World Showcase, and a forward-thinking area known as Future World.
The theming in all of these areas had a specific purpose. It was to reflect the express wishes of either Walt Disney or the fans who had previously requested various attractions and points of interest. A lot of the Epcot that you’ve known stood as a tribute to Uncle Walt. What park planners gradually learned over time is that concepts like Tomorrowland and Future World place a lot of demands on Imagineers. An idea can quickly feel dated in a constantly changing world.
Image: DisneyIn its earliest iteration, Epcot’s Future World was an education-focused but fun place for kids to visit, with The World Showcase section in the back for parents to appreciate. Over time, Future World grew stale, an issue we’ve since seen repeated at Disney California Adventure and, to a lesser extent, Tomorrowland.
Some of the pavilions at Future World never evolved the way that Imagineers had hoped/projected, and Tomorrowland was a difficult situation all around. The beloved nature of the attractions meant that Disney couldn’t undertake the changes needed to modernize this themed land. To this day, Tomorrowland Speedway takes up a massive amount of space while offering a lesser version of an attraction kids can enjoy at any decent tourist trap town. And Disney California Adventure always had a shaky theme that never quite gelled.
The trial balloons
Image: DisneyDisney executives have always loved their own IP, which is why they hesitated to promise the world to JK Rowling for a Harry Potter themed land. Once they watched a major competitor build a wildly successful Wizarding World with that premise, they got smart. Disney started to embrace IP more than ever before.
The first move was the acquisition of a license for Avatar, which was the number one movie of all-time when Disney added it. They announced plans to build an entire themed land for IP that they didn’t own, an unmistakable acknowledgement of a past mistake. This area took six years to become a reality, but Pandora – The World of Avatar is a huge success by any measure. Still, Disney didn’t own the IP, and their executives viewed the situation as less than ideal.
During the many (many many) years of construction on Pandora, Disney made several modifications to their past attraction philosophies based on the successes and failures of this project. The first step was Frozen Ever After, the repurposing of a good ride at the Norway Pavilion, Maelstrom. By the time of the announcement of this conversion, Frozen had already become the most popular animated movie of all-time. Disney made a perfectly logical decision by changing a solid but unpopular ride into something IP-themed. It helped that Frozen was already a part of the zeitgeist by that point, something that was never said of Maelstrom.
Image: DisneyDisney doubled down on the premise by doing something a bit more controversial. At the start of 2017, the company shuttered the Disney California Adventure version of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. In its place, they again prioritized IP with the introduction of Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!
Yes, Twilight Zone was also an IP, but it wasn’t one that Disney owned. Disney purchased the entire Marvel business in 2009, and Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the greatest success stories thus far. Kids love Rocket Raccoon and Groot, which translates to huge merchandise sales and a popular IP. With the re-theming of Tower of Terror into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, Disney took a strong step toward a new business model. They determined that specific Disney IPs, particularly the ascendant ones, were the best anchors for rides.
D23 puts Disney all-in on its own IP
Image: DisneyDisney’s D23 2017 announcements were truly historic in nature. The company delivered one bombshell after another, and there was a recurring them if you paid attention. D23 mapped the future of Disney’s Parks & Resorts division from now until 2021, the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World. And the future of Disney is unmistakably popular IP.
Let’s start with the duplication of a prior decision. Disney chose to repurpose an existing attraction that featured IP that they didn’t already own. And they announced the intention to replace it with an attraction with the theme of Guardians of the Galaxy. The old IP in this instance was Jeopardy, and the Epcot version of Guardians of the Galaxy will be a roller coaster rather than a drop tower dark ride, but the underlying strategy is the same.
Disney will no longer pay an outside company for the right to its IP, instead highlighting something from the Disney catalogue. Only a few years ago, Guardians of the Galaxy was a largely unknown property yet now it’s going to have anchor attractions at two different Disney theme parks.
Image: DisneyThe conversion of Ellen’s Energy Adventure was only the first step, though. Disney also announced that Disney California Adventure will drop the body of its core theme, California. In its place, the park will celebrate Marvel and Pixar instead. As a reminder, when Disney California Adventure was built in 2001, the company didn’t own Marvel or Pixar. The themes that they’re now using as the backbone of the park are IPs Disney went out and bought rather than held previously. Clearly, they’ve learned a lesson from the Harry Potter misstep.
To wit, a major new roller coaster is coming to Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. It’s an American version of Tron Lightcycle Power Run and, you guessed it, Tron is a Disney license. How about Epcot? The Ratatouille ride coming to the France Pavilion is also a Pixar property. And most importantly…
Hollywood Studios is the true embodiment of Disney’s new business philosophy
Image: DisneyWhen you visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios today, you’ll see an advertisement where The Great Movie Ride used to be. In August of 2017, Disney closed the oldest ride at the park, its signature attraction from the 1980s. Why?
Well, Turner Classic Movies sponsored the ride, and it featured movies from many Hollywood studios, not just Disney. At some point soon, this building’s new occupant will be Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. It’s the ultimate Disney IP yet the first ride ever to feature the iconic mouse couple. The change at this attraction is only the tip of the iceberg.
As confirmed at D23, Toy Story Land will arrive in 2018, soon to be followed by Star Wars Land: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019. Once these themed lands are open, Hollywood Studios will be the IP themed capital of the Disney Parks & Resorts empire.
Image: DisneyDisney also confirmed at D23 that a Star Wars hotel is in the offing. It will presumably connect to Star Wars Land, and Disney has confirmed that this new resort will include an immersive Star Wars experience. No matter which side of The Force that you favor, you will receive assigned missions and quests during your trip that you can accept to enrich your Disney IP experience. Rumors abound that a similar construction will happen at Disneyland, this time with Marvel as the focus. And again, Disney didn’t own Star Wars or Marvel until the past decade.
What we’re witnessing right now is the reveal of a grand design from Disney strategists. The future of the parks is Disney-owned IP, some of which Disney went out and bought in anticipation of this sort of eventual usage. D23 was Disney calling its shots on the next decade of park visits. And Mickey & Minnie, Tron, Ratatouille, Star Wars, Pixar, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel, and Toy Story are integral pieces of it. What Disney has achieved here is absolutely amazing, and I say that before they’ve even broken ground on a lot of the stuff listed here.
