In late February, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a multi-year, two-billion-euro expansion of Disneyland Paris. The changes won’t be officially rolled out until 2021, but they’ve already given us a glimpse at the direction Disney plans on taking its theme parks. According to Iger’s statement, Walt Disney Studios Park will be transformed with three distinct lands themed to Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen.
On the surface, this isn’t anything revolutionary. Disney films and stories have always been a fundamental part of the Disney Parks. When Disneyland first opened its gates to the public on July 17, 1955, four of its 17 inaugural attractions were based on Disney properties: Snow White’s Adventures (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Sleeping Beauty Castle (Sleeping Beauty), Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Alice in Wonderland). In 2018, 25 Disneyland attractions are based on films (i.e. not original concept rides like the Haunted Mansion or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad), with another 48 film-based attractions scattered across Walt Disney World’s four parks.
Image: HarshLight, Flickr (license)
The difference, rather, is in the way Disney is choosing to approach its material. Instead of creating a cluster of one-off attractions and calling it “Fantasyland” or “Tomorrowland,” the company is structuring large areas of their park around one film or franchise to create a more immersive experience, a la Universal Studios’ Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. We saw it happen with Disney California Adventure’s Cars Land in 2012 and Shanghai Disneyland’s Treasure Cove in 2016, and then again with Animal Kingdom’s Pandora – The World of Avatar in 2017.
While there’s clearly no imminent danger of Main Street, U.S.A. being redesigned as the streets of San Fransokyo or Spaceship Earth torn down and replaced with the Death Star (permanently, that is), it’s clear that Disney is steering its theme park development in a new direction—one that does away with the idea of generic lands based on themes of fantasy, innovation, and exploration and instead offers guests the ability to step into incredible replications of their favorite films. There are some clear advantages and disadvantages to this approach; let’s break them down.
Pro: Disney can tailor its theme park experiences to its most vocal and dedicated fanbases.
Image: Frank Phillips, Flickr (license)
There’s a reason why Disney isn’t shelling out the big bucks for a replica of Giselle’s cottage in Andalasia or the thief-riddled underbrush of Sherwood Forest. Each Disney film and franchise has attracted its own subset of dedicated fans, of course, but only a few have been massively and consistently profitable. Instead of shuffling Frozen singalongs and meet-and-greets from land to land, Disney now has the power to dedicate large swaths of its property to keep up with (and feed into) the supply and demand for its hottest animated film to date. Star Wars Land promises to be even more of a worthwhile investment than Toy Story Land or Disneyland Paris’ version of Arendelle, given the longevity of the Star Wars franchise and Disney’s plans to develop more films and stories in its universe for years to come.
Con: There’s less space for original, non-branded attractions and entertainment.
Image: Sam Howzit, Flickr (license)
Let’s face it: Some of the best things in the Disney Parks have nothing to do with their films. Think about the popularity of Spaceship Earth and the now-defunct Horizons or the classic feel of Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain. There’s no doubt that Imagineers know how to craft a compelling and iconic attraction from scratch, but more and more lately, Disney has chosen to brand their attractions and shows. (Case in point: the last non-film based attraction to debut at Disneyland was Astro Orbitor, which opened nearly 20 years ago in May 1998.) This isn’t to say that Imagineers won’t be able to apply that same degree of creativity and care to Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land, “Marvel Land,” and “Frozen Land,” but working within a branded franchise limits the company to specific themes, characters, and storylines—parameters that would be lifted to a considerable degree in more generic themed areas like Adventureland and Frontierland.
Pro: Disney can create a more thoroughly immersive environment and make fans feel like they’re truly stepping into a film.
Image: Roderick Elime, Flickr (license)
Anyone who’s stepped foot in Cars Land knows the feeling: There’s nothing like seeing a beloved film come to life. While Disney has long cultivated a reputation for attention to detail—down to the gas-lit streetlamps and horse-drawn cars of Main Street, U.S.A.—the idea of totally immersing guests in a single film is less than a decade old. Of course, total atmospheric immersion isn’t the endgame here. If the features of Star Wars Land are fully realized when the area opens to the public in 2019, for example, visitors will not only be able to enjoy an actual corner of the Star Wars universe, but be able to participate in the stories, too: taking control of the Millennium Falcon during a crucial battle, conversing with droids in front of the cantina, and more. Though not unprecedented (think Universal Studios’ Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade), these immersive experiences can be infinitely varied and keep guests coming back for years to come —not just because they’re drawn to the nostalgia of their favorite theme park, but because they know they’ll be able to experience something completely new each time.
Con: Themed lands that revolve around one film or franchise may alienate a substantial number of Disney fans.
Image: Maria Ma, Flickr (license)
How many times have you heard someone (usually an adult someone) decry the power ballads and snowman soliloquies of Frozen? Or come face-to-face with someone who couldn’t care less about the politics of blowing up the Death Star? The Disney Parks were never going to please everyone, no matter how generic or specialized or whimsical or cutting-edge they became. With that said, however, entire themed areas that revolve around a singular film or franchise may alienate more guests than, say, Tomorrowland’s eclectic mish-mash of space paraphernalia, Star Wars-themed simulators and Toy Story references would. In Tomorrowland, as with any other generic Disney land, you can pick and choose which films to interact with. In Toy Story Land, however, there won’t be something for everyone—just a lot of somethings for Toy Story aficionados.
Right now, it’s easy enough to tell those visitors to go enjoy any of the other attractions and lands in Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The only time it gets tricky is when you have something like Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris, where parkgoers who may not enjoy Star Wars, Marvel, or Frozen might start second-guessing their decision to purchase tickets for the day.
Pro: Disney Parks can adapt and grow with the franchises they develop, allowing them to create an ever-changing variety of new attractions and entertainment for guests to enjoy.
Image: HarshLight, Flickr (license)
This is undoubtedly one of the most exciting opportunities to come out of Disney’s new themed lands. Remember, if you can, how Star Tours – The Adventures Continue broke new ground for the Disney Parks. While overhauling an entire 3D simulation system would have been an expensive and time-consuming project, Imagineers found a more cost-effective way to keep the attraction fresh and exciting for returning guests: They created randomized virtual “missions” that transported riders to various spots in the Star Wars universe. Now, anytime a new Star Wars film premiered, they could develop a new set of videos for the ride without having to make any fundamental changes to its structure or theming.
Now imagine that idea applied over the course of an entire land within the Disney Parks. Instead of upgrading one attraction every few years, Disney would be able to explore and expand their character and entertainment options as the franchise progressed. Instead of guests flocking to the newest iteration of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, they can travel to Batuu and meet new droids or take on new interactive challenges at the local cantina. This could very well be the future of Disney Parks—not a fixed tourist destination and walk-through museum of Walt Disney’s favorite stories and memories, but an ever-changing world of adventure and true innovation.
Con: Heavily-themed lands can make the parks feel less cohesive and potentially dissuade guests from experiencing it as a whole.
Perhaps these glasses are rose-colored (or, knowing Disney rose gold-colored), but there’s something wonderful about getting to walk through Disneyland or Epcot and feel like the park was designed under a unified vision. It’s certainly possible that Imagineers will find a way to seamlessly transition from the ice-capped castle grounds of Arendelle to the rocky crags of Batuu—or, at the very least, install large enough partitions or natural-looking berms to keep the areas separate—but the overall effect may make the Disney Parks more disjointed. Instead of walking through a set of lands that complement each other (or, at the very least, are bound by common themes of innovation, exploration and fantasy), guests will flock to their favorite part of the park while ignoring the rest.
So, which is better: The nostalgic trappings of Walt’s original Disneyland or the shiny new possibilities of a heavily-branded Disney Park? It may be impossible to give a definite answer, though it certainly seems like the company has started moving in the latter direction. Only time will tell if they made the right choice.
