Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Competitors Transformed...



"'Transformers' will be a jewel in our collection of world-class rides based on great movies. - Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO, Universal Parks & Resorts

Competition is good...

It creates a situation where you have to rise above what you know are your limits and work to achieve something you didn't think you were capable of. Athletes deal with this all the time. Businesses deal with it on a daily basis. Disney deals with it too, although much more so now than a decade or two before... at least from the theme parks perspective. I'm not referring to the film division of the company here.

I'm talking about attractions. You've seen in "The Competitors" article that was posted a while ago that the Mouse has some serious competition around the world. Walt Disney has always been the standard bearer, the pinnacle for others to reach for. In theme park design, WDI has always been the big guy that you were competing against. Up until the late 80's/early 90's there wasn't a comparison between other design groups and WED/WDI. I'm not saying there wasn't any competition, I'm simply saying it wasn't competition that was a threat to Disney.

Not anymore...

Universal Studios will be adding some competition over the next few years according to IESB. Shortly, well get that new land based on "Harry Potter" and then later, 2011 to be exact, they'll be opening up a new attraction based on the "Transformers" movie. First it'll come to Universal Studios Singapore and then Universal Studios Hollywood. I'm sure I'll be cloned(Hehe... sorry, couldn't help that) to the other parks in Dubai, Japan and Florida as well once a little time has passed.

It's going to be interesting to see what they come up with. I've seen and rode "The Simpsons" ride and it's a very good example of design work, but it's not on the scale as something like Harry Potter or Transformers... expect a much more, bigger experience. Please don't think of this as a negative for the Mouse. I want better designed attractions at Universal and every other park. It only increases the pressure on them(Disney Theme Parks/WDI/TWDC) to do better. And they will.

This is great news.

If you want to express yourself then be proactive. Send an e-mail to them(Disney). Buy some stock, even a small share and show up at the annual meetings to voice your opinion. Go to the parks and complain, respectfully of course, that you want more/better attractions. Don't be passive, but don't expect Disney to be either.

Competition is good. Very good.

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UPDATE: More detail available in an article over at Dark Horizons.

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8 comments:

Justin said...

I really dislike the designs of the Transformers in the latest movie. They just don't read well. I mean looking at that picture I still have trouble finding the head, arms, legs, etc. Its just a huge jumble of parts. Might as well be a heap of scrap metal.

Anonymous said...

Scrap Metal? Isn't that one of the new Transformers in the new movie? Actually this sounds really great. I'm looking forward to what the attraction they come up with. And I agree with Hunter that it'll only make Disney better in the long run.

Anonymous said...

Honor well said, Competition is GOOD. It will push the Mouse to create bigger and better attractions.

Theme Park Fan said...

I rode the simpsons and I actually dislked it immensly it was choppy and poor animation and hard to follow . It wasnt as immersive as Back to the future

Anonymous said...

"Walt Disney has always been the standard bearer, the pentacle for others to reach for."

Love the blog, but love it much more when you don't try to use words you don't understand. "Pentacle" is a 5-sided star surrounded by a circle, sometimes associated with witchcraft. "Pinnacle" is what you're looking for.

But then again, I can't blame you... you went to USC. :)

Honor Hunter said...

It could be worse...

I could have gone to UCLA.

;P

Anonymous said...

What a tool.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand from the article what ride system this will be using. Will this be similar to Spider Man? - Tasman