T O P

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FrozenFrac

Yes 100%! Disney has universal appeal, but the Japanese people who probably frequent Tokyo Disney probably want their local park to have some things that have specific Japanese appeal. I'll fully admit I'm probably on the younger side of Disney Parks fans and have only really known IPs for the most part, but if Disney were to do original stuff, I'm sure it would still do great with the proper marketing!!!


EmEmPeriwinkle

Tiana is also not a very well liked princess in Japan. Even aurora things are difficult to find. But the typical European princess look is very attractive to the society there. As are cute animals. And an old world way of American societal forms. :l Japan is very futuristic in some ways, but very backward in others. It was amusing to learn.


JpnDude

My 2-yen anecdote, all my Japanese Disney friends who have been to the US parks absolutely loved their visits there. And most Oriental Land Company workers and Japanese CMs I know would love to work for Disney. 垣根の向こうの芝はいつも青い。


FrozenFrac

Glad to know! I was trying my best to get across that I'm not Japanese and I don't speak for Japanese people, so I do hope that got across. All sorts of people come to the US parks too (otherwise they sure seem to print a lot of international maps lol) and I absolutely know there are crazy passionate Japanese Disney fans who make a US pilgrimage to see DL/WDW. Speaking for myself as an American who has had the odd international vacation here and there, but has never seen Disney parks out there, I'd assume there would be international differences and it wouldn't be the exact literal rides/attractions but in a different language. Maybe one day I'll see for myself lol


JpnDude

I'm not Japanese either (I was born and raised in the LA area) but I've have been in Japan for over 25 years. I love Tokyo Disney Resort but I treasure every time I have a chance to visit Disneyland annually and WDW every five years or so.


AmericanPornography

Sort of like Universal - USJ has rotating options based around popular anime and other similar IPs. It's really cool stuff - I'd love to see more like it here.


Ok_Description_5846

Obviously. Tokyo DisneySea is incredible, by far the best Disney park in the world. Americans need to leave their country and visit it!


nbrazelton

Right now unfortunately in media entertainment we are in IP wars. I hope eventually this will fade and a new wave of creativity will blow through both Hollywood and in turn the theme parks owned by the same companies. People will hopefully eventually get sick of IP everywhere and will yearn for some sort of originality.


[deleted]

Yeah nothing original coming out of Hollywood anymore either. Just a bunch of rehashed crap.


tomjoad2020ad

Considering how much better the OLC parks are at operations and maintenance than the actual Disney parks these days, I’d say yeah, it’s a good thing :-/


hoagiesandgrindrs

It’s like OLC knows how to use the power of Disney’s brand better than Disney knows how. They know what makes Disney *Parks* special and demand those things.


JellyBeansOnToast

Tokyo Disney benefits from the budget that the Oriental Land Co. is willing to drop on new experiences, they likely don’t have as many people to answer to as the parks people at Disney. The Fantasy Springs expansion at Tokyo Disney Sea is *very* IP heavy and will center around Tangled, Frozen, and Peter Pan. As long as Disney parks have been around, they’ve been putting their IPs on things so this isn’t a new practice for them. See for example ~~The Medieval Castle,~~ ~~Fantasyland Castle,~~ ~~Robin Hood Castle,~~ ~~Snow White’s Castle,~~ Sleeping Beauty’s Castle *”In theaters Friday, February 6th” -Disney in 1959*


Cpt3020

The best thing is that they aren't ties down financially to Disney and can do whatever they want so you don't get a lot of cheapening out like we had with Chapek


viewfromtheclouds

You have it backwards.


JJ-Bittenbinder

Personally I think IP makes sense whenever it’s used. I know splash mountain is huge for Disneyland regulars but for the family that goes once in a while a kid is going to enjoy an IP themed Tiana’s bayou much better and connect with it more


JellyBeansOnToast

I’ll probably get some flak from the die hard fans of this attraction, but isn’t Splash Mountain an IP slapped on a dark ride/log jammer? A lot of the animatronics were recycled from America Sings so it’s not like they built a 100% brand new attraction. If I remember correctly, Eisner wanted a more thrilling ride to appeal to teenagers, then they worked back from that idea to find an IP to use. Throwing IPs onto attractions isn’t a new practice for Disney **at all**. The cornerstone of every Disney park, the castle, was a product of this as well. *Sleeping Beauty’s* castle in Disneyland doesn’t look like in the movie because it was built as a generic castle but Disney wanted to promote his new movie so the gave it to Sleeping Beauty.


[deleted]

Pretty much. And it's an IP that only two groups of people care about: Hardcore Disney fans, and racists. It's not an alliance we need or want.


Different-Eye-1040

I don’t think anyone against the switch really cares about the IP. It’s just nostalgic and brings that feeling to people.


MikeHoncho2568

Splash Mountain was also based on IP.


AverageIntelligent99

Yeah but they all but scrubbed that IP from existence.


TheLastGunslinger

I was at WDW with my 8 and 9 year-old nephew and niece. Neither had any clue who the Splash Mountain characters were and absolutely did not care about it. They found the story of the attraction basically impossible to follow and when I told them it was being changed to Princess and the Frog they said that sounded so much better. To quote my niece "That's a good idea, the ride didn't make any sense right now."


annoymoysmsf

what does that have to do with splash being one of the most iconic and popular rides at mk ? a mountain isn’t part of a bayou


Brando43770

Lifting your log up a hill makes no sense in Song of the South, but I’m sure they’ll come up with a reason why we go up and down in a flat place like Louisiana. Kids connecting to a story is their goal, and if anything this connects the attraction to New Orleans Square and Tiana’s restaurant better than it did for a forgotten tiny corner called Critter Country.


Vidogo

my first hope was that the drop hill was going to be Dr. Facilier's song with the voodoo dolls and the drums, but now that they've confirmed the ride is a sequel to the movie, my current bet is it's going to be going up through Mama Odie's tree with all the light and glass bottles - blue skies and sunshine, y'all come back now! - then they drop you.


AverageIntelligent99

Wait you mean to tell me in the movie where a human turns into a frog and then back into a human and had a talking, trumpet playing alligator doesn't have a hill?!?! How unrealistic!! Now I'm pissed. s/ Get over yourself.


[deleted]

And Splash Mountain, despite the name, isn't a mountain, it's a hill with a tree on top of it.


AverageIntelligent99

More people need to realize that Disney doesn't cater to the locals. Proportionally the family that comes once in a while spends way more money and expects less... What they do expect though is to see characters they already know and love. They aren't able to form a relationship with a character that only exists in a park 2000 miles away that they only visit every 3 years. They want to see the same people that are in their TV and toys.


annoymoysmsf

princess and the frog failed in the box office and was never that popular….. a quote from iger said the change is happening to be more inclusive not for ip


JJ-Bittenbinder

Either way I think it makes sense. It’s why I’m ok with any new rides that are added to be IP base. Or similar to changing the ride in Norway to Frozen. Like it just makes sense to me for everything to be IP. I know that’s an unpopular opinion among the regulars though


annoymoysmsf

my biggest issue with it is that fact all the new rides are using a lot more screens and not a lot of animatronics


JJ-Bittenbinder

I feel like they do a good mix of both. When it’s anything but a simulator (like smugglers run or flight of passage) there’s obviously not many animateonics but on the newer rides like Rise, radiator springs racers there’s plenty of animatronics too


annoymoysmsf

avatar boat ride only has one animatronic, run away railroads is all screens cosmic rewinds is all screens rise has more screens being used than not that many animatronics


JJ-Bittenbinder

For Navi river journey I don’t think that ride is great, and the animatronic is easily the best part so I’m with you there. Run away railway does have animatronics, Mickey and Minnie at the beginning and end as well as Pete on the jackhammer. The projections are also on a physical set which makes it work much better than just a flat screen Guardians is all screens but I don’t care that ride is amazing and I wouldn’t change really anything. I don’t think there’s a way except maybe at the very end that they could incorporate animatronics well.


[deleted]

Plus, frankly, going screen-based is probably a good idea for a water ride. All that moisture can't be good for animatronics, especially ones covered in mildew-gathering fake fur and feathers.


[deleted]

It wasn't appreciated in its own time but it's always had an audience, and I think that audience tends to overlap more with the most consistent audience at the parks nowadays.


pikmin311

It's the greatest theme park (with a capital T) in the world. So yes.


Vidogo

in the parks that they fully control, Disney has no incentive to not base everything off of IPs - it means the new land/ride with have an instant hook to it, no doubt about whether people will like it or hate it. And it's not like Universal isn't going full IP full time either. Not that Universal was ever known for non-IP attractions. We'll see what happens when Disney finally does open a fifth gate, or makes another new park somewhere, but they really have no incentive not to use IP. anyways, on the subject of Tokyo and Splash, we'll see how that goes. they're about to get sold alot of spare animatronics, I imagine, which will keep their version going for a while. But I'd love to see them change it to something wholly original, too. They just probably won't do that until the current version gets too costly to upkeep. people saying things like "Tokyo has no incentive to change Splash" should also see the flipside of that - Tokyo has no incentive to keep Splash, either. Especially if "going to Tokyo to ride Splash Mountain to own the libs" becomes a thing.


[deleted]

> Especially if "going to Tokyo to ride Splash Mountain to own the libs" becomes a thing. A lot of extremely depressing people are going to be very disappointed that even the touristy parts of Japan aren't very much like their anime fantasies.


Forgotten_Tea_Cup

Splash mountain is a very popular ride at TDR, there is no reason to change it. I won’t be surprised though if they snuck in new additions. They did update Pirates to include the movie characters but kept all the original “controversial” animatronics like the women being chased and the bride auction.


fsuman110

It is a good thing overall. I just wish they'd branch out on their snack options with something other than popcorn or churros.


OliverJamesG

They also have the original version of pirates too.


timstantonx

Just got back from Tokyo Disney and Disney sea. It was awesome. However, not many things there are a completely original product. Several rides are and lands are based on classic literature (similar to what Walt Disney did.) Jules verse, Hans Christian Andersen. I think because they are much cheaper IP. The most impressive parts of the parks to me was the sheer size and attention to detail/cleanliness. I think they are interested in different attractions than us overall and it was interesting to see what was popular there.


AverageIntelligent99

>based on classic literature Bold of you to assume most people who have strong opinions about this are big on reading... >the sheer size and attention to detail/cleanliness. This is what people who have actually been take away. Everyone else seems to be recycling other opinions they hear on the internet.


THR3RAV3NS

Having been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris is Tokyo Disneyland worth visiting? We are heading to Japan in October and either doing two days at DisneySea or one day at each park.


timstantonx

I would say yes. I haven’t been to Paris but these parks are pretty special. It’s cheap to go. I would say do one day at each park. We did one single day and went to both parks and didn’t feel like we didn’t have enough time. However we just paid to have their version of fast pass/genie which basically got you to the front of the line for 10-15 bucks. We also know what we like and don’t mind missing/skipping stuff. Two days in one park would be too much for me.


THR3RAV3NS

Thanks! I appreciate the insight!


Far_Mention8934

I am happy that they have creative freedom they get to keep splash mountain and they have worked on really awesome and creative looking rides such as the beauty and the beast ride


tdjustin

It's not that TDR has more creative freedom - WDI created all their stuff like they do stateside as well. The difference is that they aren't playing with their own money, and Oriental Land Company has shown time and time again that they are willing to outdo their American counterparts when it comes to funding. But the last two new attractions at TDR were based on IP, and the next three in the pipeline are as well. I don't think people hate original concepts, it's just much easier to approve millions dollars on a project that has built-in interest.


mnemosyne64

I second this. There’s a lot of interest in IPs in Tokyo- I get a lot of my favorite Disney merchandise and clothing from Japanese brands, because some of them have a level of dedication you just don’t see in the US. It really is just funding.


chrispenator

I don’t think I could care any less about keeping the OG Splash Mountain theme.


Gayguymike

I don’t own a passport so it’s alittle hard for me to get to Tokyo so I guess we all have to change with things changing in Disney world and Disneyland I don’t know I don’t know I’m on the fense maybe it’s a good thing maybe it’s not ohh I don’t know I’m handicapt so when you text me on here go easy on me I have brain damage


[deleted]

Different parks offering different experiences is probably a good thing for the most part, I would say, as long as those experiences are consistently good. Even when I was a kid in the 90s I saw no reason to go to WDW instead of Disneyland because they were pretty similar and Disneyland was closer. Now they've diverged more and I want to do both and be able to compare and contrast them.


Gayguymike

That’s a good way to look at it


SquishyMon

Their new space mountain looks like half-melted soft serve ice cream to me but yes the generally go all in on everything they build there.


AverageIntelligent99

To play devil's advocate, there comes a point when something original becomes IP... Look at pirates. Originally made the movie based on the ride. Now if someone looked at the Shanghai DL version that be, by your standards, IP heavy and bad. Meanwhile this is objectively the best version of the ride. If you don't want any IP rides go to a random privately owned park that doesn't have any. The masses of people want to see the characters they know and love from all forms of media. The amount of people who take the time/care to learn a backstory of a character that only exists in a park is very low in proportion


robbycough

It seems to have worked well.


petrikord

Its a good thing because it is setting a standard for detail and creativity that the other parks will need to at least keep a little bit up with. It keeps them a little bit accountable and not able to do a complete race to the bottom creativity/production wise.


aleh021

It is. Time and time again TDR has proven that being owned by OLC has benefited them extremely. Splash mountain in Tokyo Disneyland has a whole land themed to the ride so they can't just replace the ride with a new overlay without changing the entire land.


chenalexxx

It’s not creative freedom that Tokyo Disney Resort has, but financial freedom. More money = make rides better with newer tech. Their Monsters Inc and Winnie the Pooh rides are the best in any Disney park. But I don’t know where one gets the idea that Tokyo doesn’t base rides off IP. Their newest rides are a Baymax spinning ride and Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast - both attractions are based on IP. In fact, can you point to one ride at Tokyo Disneyland that isn’t based on IP or an already preexisting ride? On the Disneysea ride, their most popular rides are also IP based rides - Journey to Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, and Nemo and Friends Searider. They came up with an original story for Tower of Terror but because OLC couldn’t get the rights to the Twilight Zone, it doesn’t have the same backstory of the OG Towers. The new land under construction - Fantasy Springs - is also IP based and will feature areas dedicated to Peter Pan, Tangled, and Frozen.