Sunday, February 10, 2008
Will Disney Keep Us Amused?
New York Times: "Now, Disney is embarking on a $1.1 billion, five-year effort to get California Adventure on track. The blueprints call for ripping out ho-hum rides and adding elaborate new ones, rebuilding the park’s entrance — a hodgepodge of turnstiles, a miniature Golden Gate Bridge and pastel tile murals — to shift the focus to Disney iconography."
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11 comments:
“Guests are pretty much no longer interested in being passive viewers,”
With the incredible overflow of entertainment these days, I find it's no longer the distributors and creators that are choosing how people will enjoy free time. Years ago, Disneyworld was a place to go because you could not create that aesthetic anywhere else in the country. Now, people are experiencing half of those ideas on their projection screen movie theaters systems in their basements. We require much more out of entertainment these days, which is only natural in this incredibly technology-based culture.
It's sad to see that america has become so corporate that price is driven more than quality. Walt would have looked at California Adventures as a failure to his goal of entertaining rather than gaining. If all I wanted was to make money, I'd be in Tepper now training to take over the family business rather doing what I want to do. It's also sad that people have lost the creativity needed to make up a story from an abstraction, that realism drives a market known for cartooning reality in order to engross an audience in the experience.
The fact is that people just are not as surprised and taken back by amusement parks anymore. They use to be exciting and new with all the exciting rides that were on the cutting edge of technology. But now it takes more then that to get people excited. Once we have seen something new we're on to the next big thing ignoring what just happened. So its hard for amusement parks since it takes years to develop and build something exciting and once its out the people want something bigger. Disney isn't the only one with this problem.
It's interesting to hear about this from this perspective as I heard about part of this renovation from people working in places that have been out-sourced to do it. I agree that the entertainment industry has to move so fast now that there's hardly any room for the real creativity and in this case magic that should be happening.
UHm living like 20 minutes from Disneyland, I got already sick of these theme parks. The article is true.. there is no feeling of oh wow I really want to go back. It just feels like any regular theme park, but I guess Disney is making a good leap to acquiring new crowds.. hopefully. 1 billion make over.. I am really excited to see this.
I guess if anyone is going to try to 'revolutionize' the theme park industry, Disney has got to be the one to try. Along the lines of the 'video game' generation, I can't tell whether or not I agree. Yes, video and computer games are replacing most childhood entertainment, but should we encourage that and make theme parks just an extension of the WII in our living room, or should they be something that we don't get exposed to so often, even if that is just an actual physical thrill.
I am definitely not surprised that they are trying to revolutionize the theme parks like this. To bring in a stronger "young adult" population, they need to add attractions that can rival a Six Flags in terms of adrenaline rush. The only way to this is to start from scratch. Unfortunately, this means a lot of the original Disneyland will be lost, but I don't think they are crazy enough to eliminate the entire thing.
it's great to see at least one great american company that is still able to grab hold of the market with its aging values and goals. sometimes all people want is to relive their childhood, and Disney seems to have enough brains and desire to keep doing this for many more years to come.
figures, a stock market analyst would be the only nay-sayer in the article.
I am still amazed with the atttempts that the Disney does even in this day with the new motion pictures, new cruise line musical theatre, or risky theme park investments. I know some people aren't exactly appreciative of all the things that Disney has to offer, but I think it has been maintaining its legacy more than it could have for decades. And I have no doubt that Disney would manage to keep us amused as long as Mickey Mouse stays off from public domain.
I go to Disney World about 2 to 3 times per year. I never seem to lose interest in any of the rides, shows, and other parts of the parks. I may be crazy, but being at Disney is a relaxing experience. I have been anticipating the opening of the new attraction at the Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM studios) and I am sure it will be a hit. The buzz lightyear rise is immensely popular with wait times of 30 to 60 minutes, even in the less busy times. It has also been harder and harder to obtain hotel reservations as well as dining reservations. I will always go to disney, just to see what new things they are dreaming up.
I think the biggest issue here is who at Disney is going to be the driving force behind a new renaissance in media entertainment. If it will happen, it will happen at Disney. People often forget that the inventions of Walt Disney and his team were absolutely revolutionary. Although piggyback-ing off of these ideas (such as performative labor, attention to detail, quality and friendliness) have gotten the Disney theme parks this far, I'm not sure the open creative freedom exists within the company to truly encourage technical and artistic innovation any longer.
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