General Chat / Disney Co. Annual Report

The Walt Disney Company has released their annual report for the year 2006. New CEO Bob Iger has about 7 pages of the usual annual stuff, but after reading through all of the "we did such a great job this year" self congratulatory stuff, you get to a section called dreaming. Dreaming? In an annual press report? Wtf? Anyway, when you click the link, this is what you find. Seen is a set of concept artwork that shows some possible new things coming to the Disney parks and resorts in the future.


"Carland"
This picture appears to be a Car themed area with a Test Track technology style ride zipping about it. Speculation on most Disney sites has this ride showing up somewhere near Paradise Pier at Disney's California Adventure. As much as DCA needs new rides, I hope the park doesn't become "Disney's Pixarland, California." Looks pretty cool so far.


"New Urban Entertainment Center"
The above is labled "new urban entertainment center" and has a city skyline as a backdrop. The skyline has led many to believe that this will not be the new "attraction" development on the Western Way at Walt Disney World, but could be in a city with no Disney park. Some suggestions have been Chicago, New York, and even London. Probably the least exciting piece of artwork in the whole set.


"Toy Story Live"
I take back what I just said about the new urban entertainment center being the most uneventful piece of artwork shown. Toy Story Live (as it is called here) is thought to be a travelling stage show in the style of Mickey's Magic Show. Again, it's hard for me to get thrilled about this but the kiddies will probably love it.


"Pirate-themed Adventure"
Now things are getting interesting. The above artwork clearly shows a pirate town, an island linked to the town by rope bridge, and a pirate ship. Ok, there are three theories about this piece so far.

1) It's the long rumored and supposedly delayed Pirates of the Caribbean makeover of Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland. The island idea fit and that ship could be the Sailing Ship Columbia, but where would that town go? I don't hold much faith in this one just because of where Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island is located. How would the Spanish influenced architeture of the pictured town look against New Orleans Square? It's possible, and I'll probably be proved wrong, but this is the lesser of the two rumors in my opinion.

2) This is the recently reported new pirate area of Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland. Recently, Al Lutz of MiceAge reported on big additions coming to Hong Kong Disneyland after the completion of "it's a small world" in 2008. This rumored expansion of Adventureland would begin between the Theater in the Wild and the Rafts to Tarzan's Treehouse and dive under the Disneyland Railroad tracks into the open expanse on the other side. Additions discussed include a pirate town (fits with the picture), a new Pirates of the Caribbean ride centered more around the movie and with a Splash Mountain-like drop at the end, and a pirate themed Haunted Mansion. That last addition I'm completely sickened by. This could work, but where is the Haunted Mansion in the art? I hold some faith in this idea, but more in the last one.

3) As you will see further down, there is some art showing off what's described as a "new Disney theme park." Now before I go into detail about that, look to the bottom of the piece (image is second one down from this post). Notice that Spanish looking town, that rope bridge, and that big rock? Look familiar? Look at the pirate adventure art piece again. See the similarities. My personal belief is that this is a section of the new park shown below. As I said before, I'm probably wrong, but the similarities are too close to go unnoticed. Any thoughts?


"New Nighttime Water Spectacular"
This piece could be showing off any of three things: The long rumored Fantasmic! 2, a show for DCA's lagoon, or the replacement for Epcot's Illuminations, codenamed SkyDance. While, in my opinion, it's definately not the last, the first two make sense. DCA needs a nighttime show, HOWEVER, with the direction that the park is going in (i.e., addition of Pixar characters everywhere) I don't think this piece is for that park. If you look closely on the mist screens, you can see characters from the Lion King, and Ariel is in the background of the shot too. This leads me to beleive that this is "Fantasmic! 2." During Cynthia Harris' run as Disneyland Resort president, she expressed great interest in replacing the current Fantasmic! with a new show. She stated once that it was "in development." Could this be it? I hope so! As much as I adore Fantasmic!, it sorely needs to be replaced/updated.

Oh, on a far out note, some people think this may be a night show for Disney's Animal Kingdom. I say bullshit, the park doesn't even stay open past sunset!


"Concept for new Disney theme park"
Here it is: the piece of artwork that will spark more speculation and rumors than anything else. The two biggest questions will definately be "What's the theme?" and "Where is it going (if at all)?" While I obviously have no clue on the answer to either, I can offer my opinion on the matter. Let's start with the what, shall we?
What: So far two ideas have sprung up regarding what this park is: 1) It's a new DisneySea, as evidenced by the water, possible pirate area, and the caslte from Tokyo DisneySea's Mermaid Lagoon in the background (more on that later). This is definately a possibility, although this would be a much smaller DisneySea than that which is in Tokyo. 2) It's an entirely new concept, with that NOT being a pirate area in the bottom and that NOT being Mermaid Lagoon at the top. I can see this side, too, as Walt Disney Imagineering doesn't like to repeat itself (it's forced to usually, by upper management wanting all the popular rides in all of the parks).
Overall theme and name aside, as we analyze the photo, we can definately see a Spanish/Mediterranean themed town in the southeast corner, a tall, rocky mountain rising to the north, a castle-like structure with water running out (or from underneath) of it, and a dense forest area accented by a vertical rock to the southwest. Now, my personal observation is how closely this piece resembles the artwork released for the Beastly Kingdom section of DAK. That piece, found here, clearly shows a similar castle-like structure, a vertical rock surrounded by water, and a dense forest. Now, before I go any further, let me say that I believe that Beastly Kingdom as a whole will NEVER be built. As many Imagineers have stated, "the land will never be built, but the ideas found there will live on in other attractions and parks." Now, do I think this is an extension of the Beastly Kingdom idea? Nope, I just thought it would be cool to point out the similarities.
Where: Before we consider the where, let's knock out all available possibilites. We're start with the first and oldest resort first, and work our way up.
Disneyland Resort: A third park in an already over saturated market would be overkill at this point in time. As has been shown by the lackluster attendence of DCA, a third park in Anaheim would only suck visitors out of the first 2 parks, and not bring the numbers Disney wants in. Also, Disney is focused on fixing DCA's problems at the moment and it is highly doubtful that they would prefer to spend money that could be spent improving DCA on a third park. If a third park ever comes to Anaheim, it will be very far down the line. Also, where the hell would they put it? Odds: 1 in 500

Walt Disney World Resort: While WDW has the land to build the park and the attendence to sustain a 5th park, the likelihood of it coming here are slim to none as well. A 5th park at WDW would only suck attendence from the other 4 Disney parks as evidenced by the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998. By the way, Animal Kingdom just had it's first phenomenal year, possibly becoming the second most visited park at WDW right behind the Magic Kingdom! Go DAK! Anyway, what happend when DAK opened was the expected rush to see the new park didn't draw more people to Orlando, it only took them away from the other parks. It really hurt Disney-MGM Studios and Epcot, and it's taken almost 10 years for the resort to recover. A 5th park now would be overkill and set the resort back another 10 years. Not to mention all of the current parks needs some serious TLC. Odds: 1 in 100

Tokyo Disny Resort: Tokyo Disneyland is the most visited theme park in the world. It tops WDW's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, etc. So one would assume Tokyo DisneySea would be right there with it, correct? Wrong. Tokyo DisneySea is, just as DAK finally has, just pulling itself up to par with it's sister park. Also, Tokyo Disney is really focusiong on improving the areas outside of it's parks at the moment. The Disneyland Hotel and the Cirque du Soliel venue are both currently under construction at the resort. Also, as mentioned with Anaheim, where would they put it? Tokyo Disney is built on a landfill in Tokyo Bay and any more expansion would mean further reclaiming of the bay or expansion into the congested streets of Tokyo. One day a new park will come to Tokyo Disney, but not any time soon. Odds: 1 in 300

Disneyland Resort Paris: This one requires the shortest explanation. Disneyland Resort Paris, or Euro Disney, has struggled since day 1. The additon of the dismal Walt Disney Stuidos next door only put further strain on the resorts financial resources. I can't recall the number of times I've read articles about Disneyland Resort Paris "refinancing." Anyway, with the current problems the resort has, a new park won't be seen for a good 15-20 years. Odds: 1 in 1,000.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort: So far, every resort discussed has two parks. Except Hong Kong Disney. The park just opened in 2005 and started off with a bang. Over the past 2 years however, the Chinese have learned what a cheap rip-off park they got and attendence has dropped tremendously. New E-tickets are currently being planned, including the previously mentioned "it's a small world", Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion, along with talks of a new park. If you look at any overview shot of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, you will see a HUGE parcel of land next to Hong Kong Disneyland. This area is "earmarked" for a new park. Even though the Magic Kingdom is hurthing for more to do, the planning of a new park has not stopped, and my belief is that land is where the proposed park is supposed to go. Odds: 1 in 50


"Toy Story Mania"
Forever called "Midway Mania" on any Disney discussion board you read, this project has been underway at both Disney's California Adventure and the Disney-MGM Studios for about 6 months now. The basic premise of the ride is a Buzz Lightyear shooter but with a twist: You wear 3D glasses the whole time! Originally thought to include all Pixar characters, it's now pretty obvious that it's only going to include Toy Story characters (unless this is only one scene of the ride). While I'm not too excited about it, Disney-MGM desperately needs a new ride. And DCA needs anything! Set to open in early 2008 at both parks.


"Monsters, Inc.: Hide N' Seek"
Also currently under construction, Monsters, Inc.: Hide N' Seek is set to open in later 2007/early 2008 at Tokyo Disneyland. My current understanding of the attraction is that it is similar to Buzz Lightyear rides EXCEPT instead of shooting the monsters we point at them with our flashlights. I read about this one a long time ago and thought it was closer to completion, but I guess not. Just like WDW's Monster, Inc. attraction (it's gonna flop, I promise you), this ride will be located in Tomorrowland.

Wow, that took me nearly 2 hours to type out. Anyway, your thoughts? Ideas? Opinions? It appears to be an exciting time for the Disney theme parks, especially if you love Pixar. Bah. Give me classic animation any day. I look foward to your input!

Edited by Iceman, 18 January 2007 - 04:33 AM.

Awesome stuff here. Thanks for all the great info too. Im glad to see a lot of new things coming to DCA in the future, since that park really has great potential to be a Disney park worth going to for families and teens alike.

Tokyo Disney Resort: Tokyo Disneyland is the most visited theme park in the world. It tops WDW's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, etc. So one would assume Tokyo DisneySea would be right there with it, correct? Wrong. Tokyo DisneySea is, just as DAK finally has, just pulling itself up to par with it's sister park. Also, Tokyo Disney is really focusiong on improving the areas outside of it's parks at the moment. The Disneyland Hotel and the Cirque du Soliel venue are both currently under construction at the resort. Also, as mentioned with Anaheim, where would they put it? Tokyo Disney is built on a landfill in Tokyo Bay and any more expansion would mean further reclaiming of the bay or expansion into the congested streets of Tokyo. One day a new park will come to Tokyo Disney, but not any time soon. Odds: 1 in 300

Wow, great post and news! Thank you. Concerning the quote, I wouldn't say that TDS has just come into alignment with its neighbour. Having visted both, TDS far surpasses Tokyo Disneyland. In fact, having been to Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Paris, I would say that Tokyo's iteration is the worst, by far. I won't get into the specifics about it. Although TD does have more rides, everything in TDS (including quality of rides) surpasses that of its neighbour.

My post wasn't concerning the quality of the park. Trust me, from photos and videos alone one can surmise that Tokyo DisneySea is THE best themed park in existence, and has a good line up of attractions to boot. My comment was about the parks attendence figures finally achieving a status that is above projections made by Disney. I'm glad ya'll enjoyed the post. Any thoughts on what some of these pieces may be?

Wow, I'm gonna have to get back to this, or else I'm not gonna get school work done. But this is awesome!

BTW, would you happen to know of any place that has construction photos of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel? I helped work on the project and I want to see how my baby is doing (well, not MY baby, but hey, I worked on the design!).

BTW, would you happen to know of any place that has construction photos of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel? I helped work on the project and I want to see how my baby is doing (well, not MY baby, but hey, I worked on the design!).

I'll see what I can dig up.

EDIT: Here ya go. Dates say from December 20th, 2006. And what kind of stuff did you do for the design? I'd be fascinated to know since it looks to be such a stunning hotel.

Edited by Iceman, 18 January 2007 - 03:57 PM.

Very nice post, thanks. I'm most excited about Carland (and the name even matches the ole' area naming scheme, though it's not as catchy), since it seems like that's intended for DCA, and I'm eager to see what they can do on an almost entirely new E-ticket. That ride has been rumored for a very long time (though not originally with the Cars theme), since car culture is a pretty big thing in California and it's something they didn't cover that well, aside from maybe Mulholland Madness.

About the artwork for the new park, I'd definitely put my money on a new DisneySea. You've got the previously mentioned Mermaid Lagoon (with the water coming out to give the whole "rising out of the sea" effect), the possible pirate area which would fit the overall theme, but you can also see what looks like the Lost River Delta in the top right. And I'm not sure about the stuff in the top left, but if you look very closely at the thing that looks like a UFO, the round thing in the middle looks almost like a giant globe surrounded by some kind of viewing ring. Aquasphere, perhaps? And behind that you can see what look like some Middle Eastern style golden domes, which could possibly be our Arabian Coast. I can't match the structure in the middle of the screen to anything though, and we'd be missing Mysterious Island and American Waterfront, but a new DisneySea would certainly be different from the old one (though not including Mysterious Island would be a travesty, IMO). One thing I find very striking about the artwork, and I might put off as unimportant because it's only artwork, is how unconventional the layout is. Everything looks very spread out around that river/lake. But I imagine it wouldn't be that bad in real life, and there would probably be stuff in what currently appear to be blank spaces.

And I wish I'd seen that Beastly Kingdom artwork before I made Dragon's Tower, though it's funny how they're similar with the whole "tower on fire" thing.

A new DisneySea? Well I know for a fact that there is a top secret water park being built somewhere in Florida right now, I hope thats it

(though not including Mysterious Island would be a travesty, IMO)

And I wish I'd seen that Beastly Kingdom artwork before I made Dragon's Tower, though it's funny how they're similar with the whole "tower on fire" thing.

Well, in regards to Mysterious Island coming to the U.S. (or any new Disney park for that matter), don't count on it. At least, don't expect a full export from Tokyo DisneySea. I read somewhere recently that many of the original attractions at TDS are in some way copyrighted by the Oriental Land Company and can not be used in another Disney theme park. The list includes Aquatopia, StormRider, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and The Magic Lamp Theater. Now, some of these properties, such as the Jules Verne inspired rides, can be used elsewhere, but it cannot be the same ride as that found at TDS. Very sad IMO, but it dispells those rumors of Mysterious Island coming to DAK (thank god). This is one reason why a DisneySea theme park stateside would be very, very different from the original in Tokyo.

And if you're ever looking for Disney pictures, artwork, etc., let me know. I've gathered quite the collection over the years and I don't mind sharing.

Edited by Iceman, 18 January 2007 - 11:20 PM.

... Wonder when the deconstruction of Mulholland will begin.

In case anyone was wondering...

Disneyland is going forward with conversion of Tom Sawyer's Island into "Pirate's Island." Date of arrival is unknown, but sources from within the park have been hearing this information. Could be a rumor within the park too, but I doubt it since schedules are going to have to be redone as far as ride placement for attractions workers.

Also, Pirates will supposedly be going down again to include more stuff from the movie.

Finally, Splash Mountain is getting a 6 month refurbishment starting at the end of this month.

So if the Pirate's Island/area occurs, it will most definitely have to go around that.

Splash closes TUESDAY for FIVE months.
1/23 - 5/19

Fantasmic was supposed to go dark this past week, but they brought it back for the weekend.

Monorail's closed Monday & Tuesday. I'm guessing it's for final Finding Nemo or station fixes? It's been one-way for about a month now after being closed for a couple months.

Stinger's down for a bit of time too for some reason... 1/16-3/8.

Edited by The Beta Factor, 21 January 2007 - 06:30 PM.

In case anyone was wondering...

Disneyland is going forward with conversion of Tom Sawyer's Island into "Pirate's Island." Date of arrival is unknown, but sources from within the park have been hearing this information. Could be a rumor within the park too, but I doubt it since schedules are going to have to be redone as far as ride placement for attractions workers.

Also, Pirates will supposedly be going down again to include more stuff from the movie.

Finally, Splash Mountain is getting a 6 month refurbishment starting at the end of this month.

So if the Pirate's Island/area occurs, it will most definitely have to go around that.

The Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann AA's are NOT coming to the Pirates of the Caribbean. Funding is instead being fowarded from that rehab to the Tom Sawyer Island makeover that has been pushed and scaled back (i.e., it's not going to be extensive a redo as it was scheduled to be). As for Splash Mountain getting a 6 month refurb: I don't believe it's scheduled to be that long. WDW's closed Jan. 2nd and is having the same stuff done to it as Disneyland's (rebuilding of the drop, general maintenence, etc.) and it is scheduled to reopen sometime soon. Plus that would put it's refurb into late June/early July and I can't see Disneyland depriving it's summer crowds of a popular mountain.

Edit: Just saw Brent's post regarding Splash Mountain's dates. I find it wierd that Disneyland's Splash Mountain is going down for a far longer time than WDW's even though the refurbs are supposedly both for the same thing.

Edited by Iceman, 21 January 2007 - 09:07 PM.

Splash Mountain has some major issues that need taking a look at over in California. Apparently it has been overdo, and not everything got fixed when it went down to replace the logs.

I'll see what I can dig up.

EDIT: Here ya go. Dates say from December 20th, 2006. And what kind of stuff did you do for the design? I'd be fascinated to know since it looks to be such a stunning hotel.

Yay!

I was able to look through pretty much everything in the hotel. Meaning I had access to all the plans, elevations, and sections. I did a lot of redline fixing (meaning correcting changes to the design) for the rooms and elevations, but that was not really a lot of actual design. My creative input came on... a bus drop depot. Hey, when you're coming out of third year as an internet, that's still not too bad!

Basically, I helped with the design of the bus dropoff shelter and even designed some angle brackets for the columns. Oh yeah, and I helped detail some of the windows.


I'm curious to see how they do the hotel's dome. I know the team had a lot of trouble trying to figure out exactly how to support it structurally. It's a huge glassy dome that lets light into the central atrium. (Of course, there's also the possibility they scrapped it; I can't be sure they kept it, since I went back to school before they finished DD and handed it off to the builders.)

Tokyo Disneyland is the most visited theme park in the world. It tops WDW's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, etc.

Tokyo Disneyland has not held the top attendence spot since Tokyo DisneySea opened. Both parks have averaged around 12 million per year in attendence, with Tokyo Disneyland's pre-Tokyo DisneySea attendence at 16 million. Attendence and guest spending has also had a slight decline in recent years. There is speculation that Tokyo DisneySea's attendence would dip further if the Tokyo Disney Resort followed a ticketing system similar to the other resorts. As it stands, there is no Park Hopping allowed on the first two days of a multiday ticket. The big lesson Disney needs to learn is how to handle problems. Take a good look at Tokyo DisneySea's Tower of Terror and Disney's California Adventure's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Instead of cutting the show, the same building was used, but with a diffferent appearance.

I read somewhere recently that many of the original attractions at TDS are in some way copyrighted by the Oriental Land Company and can not be used in another Disney theme park. The list includes Aquatopia, StormRider, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and The Magic Lamp Theater. Now, some of these properties, such as the Jules Verne inspired rides, can be used elsewhere, but it cannot be the same ride as that found at TDS. Very sad IMO, but it dispells those rumors of Mysterious Island coming to DAK (thank god). This is one reason why a DisneySea theme park stateside would be very, very different from the original in Tokyo.

I find this one a little hard to believe. Disney loves control. Also, a lot of Tokyo DisneySea comes from DisneySea.

Monorail's closed Monday & Tuesday. I'm guessing it's for final Finding Nemo or station fixes? It's been one-way for about a month now after being closed for a couple months.

Disney also likes to avoid operating the Disneyland monorails in shuttle mode. The Mark Vs, and I'd assume the Mark VIIs as there will be remnants of the Mark IIIs in them, are designed for one way travel. There is something, I don't know specifics, int he mechanics along with driver errors that cause damage.


Carland & Pirate-themed Adventure
I believe Disney needs to be very careful with these. An entire land on one film draws the problem of not being easily exanded. Even Toon Town, which could easily grow out of its Who Framed Roger Rabbit? roots has stagnated.

Concept for new Disney theme park
Take a look at some of the overhead concept art for the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort at http://www.disneytheque.com. Notice any similarities? Hopefully, Disney was wise this time and did not get itself into another Walt Disney Studios debacle.

Toy Story/Midway Mania
These attractions have me interested in how they will be spun. I fear that the Disney-MGM Studios version will get the "its a movie, so its in a movie park" treatment. The real missed opportunity I'm expected is in the Disney's California Adventure version. I believe the best thing for Paradise Pier short of starting from scratch is the building of a very rich, easily readable history. Woody and Buzz Lightyear exist in two simultaneous realities. Each one is a toy and pop culture figure and the very real character that figure is based on. Inside Frontierland and Tomorrowland, each should be the real, fictional character. Paradise Pier could easily present Toy Story Mania as an old dark ride built in the 1950s during the heyday of Woody's Roundup.

Monster's, Inc.: Hide 'N' Boo Seek
Monsters exist in a different conotation than extra terrestrials. The connection between Tomorrowland and Monsters, Inc. is weak at best. The attraction may be amazing and receive the same okay as America Sings, but it still doesn't fit. I will say, as things currently stand, Monsters, Inc. has no proper place in any of Disney's parks. I know many would shout "Fantasyland!" but the very contemporary nature of the film would skew with the more old European tone of the land.


Corkscrewed, how much control does Walt Disney Imagineering give to the firms chosen to design the Disney hotels? It appears that Disney's use of big name architects is over, at least I hope so.

I can only draw upon my experience, so this is no guarantee it's how they do things in general. Basically, there was a bidding phase for the project where lots of firms submitted concept art and the suct hoping to get the job. Disney chose the best one.

(Off the record, they chose the cheapest one. There were people like Robert Stern in this competition.)

Once design began, we basically had an open track designing. Disney was then basically in the client position, giving feedback and critiques, telling us what they wanted changed and whatnot. Otherwise, we were free to basically do what we wanted. So in the context of a typical architecture project, we had a lot of control.

It helped that we'd designed several hotels for Disney before: the Grand Floridian and the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, both following the same Victorian style theme.


So to answer the question: Disney gave a lot of creative control over to the architect.

That's the artwork that was released when the hotel was announced. I prefer this one over the final design.


The final desgin. I see the glass dome you're talking about Cork, and I don't understand why they chose that over the original design. It looks better and more like a castle in the original piece.

I must say, the whole big Victorian hotel thing is getting kind of old. After the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is finished every resort except the Disneyland Resort will have one. Even then, the Magic Kingdom Hotel/Disneyland Hotel replacement has been on Disneyland's drawing boards for awhile.

Edited by lazyboy97O, 23 January 2007 - 10:56 PM.

I love the Victorian hotels. I feel that they, more than any other hotel, scream Disney. My favorite one is obviously the Disneyland Hotel in Paris, followed by this hotel (from the art at least), and then the Grand Floridian. Since the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is basically a larger Grand Floridian (at least on the outside), I'll tie it with the GF.

Regarding the replacement for the Disneyland Hotel, why fix what's not broken? Sure it's dated, but it's the original Disney hotel. Plus, I've never heard anyone complain about that hotel. Now the Contemporary is another story, but that's just my two cents.