Wednesday, November 25, 2015
IAAPA Legends Panel: How Disneyland Changed the Industry, and How the Industry Changed Disney
www.themeparkinsider.com: Disneyland opened 60 years ago this year, but how have Disney's theme parks continued to change the theme park industry? That was the question at the heart of this year's Legends panel at the 2015 IAPPA Attractions Expo.
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Competition is not always a bad thing, not because it pushes you to do better than your competitor because it can lead you to reexamine how your work is fundamentally different than anyone else's and how you can use that to your advantage. Once people start realizing that they have something unique and important to bring to the table, "healthy competition" is less about overtaking your opponent and more about improving yourself based on what you can do that no one else can. This article is an excellent example of how this idea actually works in the real world, and how Disney caused ripples throughout the themed entertainment industry that resonate to this day. I thought this was a good example of how no other park can be Disney, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. These parks figured out what makes them "not Disney", took the best aspects of those qualities, and used them to their full advantage. This reminds me a lot of a theme park close to my city: Holliday World, the quintessential American theme park complete with bored acne-ridden high schoolers manning the rides, a series of mascots based on each part of the park, and rides ranging from spinning plastic turkeys to the world's first launched wing coaster. It's no Six Flags or Disney park, but its status as an independent park gives it the feel of a homey, down-to-earth attraction instead of a huge corporate scheme-- not to mention making it much cheaper.
People always put a negative connotation on competition. I don’t’ think it should only be thought of that way. This article shows that competition can be good for both sides. Disney moved into these areas where other themed parks were located and that sparked competition in their hearts. They had to step up their game to get people to come to their parks and it worked. They knew that they could never overpower Disney but they knew they could get those people going to Disney afterwards or before. By having a different theme and being so close they made sure to promote that they aren’t Disney but something different and unique. People are always looking for something new and using competition to hype up their game made it good all around.
So, first off, I would have really liked if someone had actually written something in this article, rather than compiling a long page of quotes from different sources...
However, some of these quotes were very interesting and totally telling of the relationship between Disney and other theme parks. I think Mehrmann said it best when he said: "No one can out-Disney, Disney." Because he's right. Disney was one of the most incredible, innovative things to come from the 1950s, and over the years developed into a staple of many people's childhoods (and adulthoods!). It is so ingrained in our culture now that it is extremely difficult to compete with something of its influence. Which is why I really appreciate the way the owner of Knott's talks about the situation. The parks were practically down the street from each other, so I imagine this could have made many people fear for the success of their company. But instead, he embraced the opportunity for his company to challenge itself, and do what they could to "complement" Disney. I think this is a really strong approach to potential competition that everyone should be able to emulate. Look not to compete, but to complement.
Disney has made the entertainment industry what it is today. When people think of theme parks or family friendly movies, they usually think of Disney because Disney is the leader in the entertainment industry. Disney created a competition in the industry because everyone else wants to compete and try to be up to the standards of Disney in order to be semi successful. Healthy competition is a very good thing within industries. It helps companies get better and try new and innovative things to make their products even better. Competition benefits the consumers because they benefit from the products that each company is working on and they get to choose which one they like the most. Each company is trying their very best to impress the customer and win them over in order to get their business. Disney is a great company for the consumers as well as their competition because they inspire growth in the entertainment industry.
Kat's right, I wish this article was written better...
Aside from that, pretty cool to read this account of the panel, which was clearly an interesting look at the way that Disney's unquestioned place as sovereign theme park did not necessarily threaten other places, but oftentimes pushed them to improve and evolve. The presence of a Disney park right next to your existing theme park means that if you put out a good product, the people there for Disney will probably stop by your attractions too! Now of course, the competition must still place a great deal of stress on other theme parks, which isn't necessarily something they'd bring up at this panel. But the fact that most people working in the theme park industries have worked for all major - and not so major - parks shows that these mutual relationships are strong and ongoing. It's cool to see that all these panelists believe that the entrepreneurial spirit in this industry is still going strong, and it makes me excited for what's to come!
I think this article has an interesting premise, and of course I hopped right on as a Disney fanatic and Disneyland history nerd. However, this really wasn't all that much about Disney. It was sort of more about Knotts Berry Farm... But, interesting either way.
And I agreed with a lot of what he said, up until the end when he said "You can't do something from scratch [anymore], a story that doesn't exist somewhere else."
Now, I realize that a lot of people are under that illusion in regard to creating original movies as opposed to sequels, but there are still stories to be told. I agree with Walt Disney when he said that he didn't like sequels. I suppose thats why all those Cinderella sequels, etc happened after his death. Sometimes a sequel is nice, like in a trilogy, or in something like Harry Potter, but a sequel obviously made to exploit a franchise and make more money, is unnecessary and Disney- especially Pixar can do better.
Ever since Disney has bought Pixar, its been about expanding the brand and creating sequels instead of doing what they do best creating an original story. Original stories are not dead! What about Pixar's ingenuity when it came to stories never thought of like Up!, or this year's Inside Out. There are still stories to be told, and that's part of Disney I wish hadn't changed with the times.
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