Mouse Extra

It appears the Living Character Initiative that Disney has been expounding on the last couple of years has taken the next step in its development. This project has been responsible for such interesting and popular ideas as Lucky the Dinosaur, the first walking audio-animantronic, Turtle Talk with Crush, and the cool interactive Mr. Potato Head seen in the queue for Toy Story Mania.
 
Now, at Disneyland, you can see the newest creation from this Walt Disney Imagineering project. It’s a talking Mickey Mouse, and he is holding meet-n-greets at the California Park in Toontown.  Check out the video from Disneyland News Today.

Over the past few years we have seen these types of animated characters used in stage shows, but those spoke written lines in choreographed settings.  But ever since the introduction of those characters, we have been waiting and hoping that the same technology could be used in the meet-n-greet setting.  This could an absolutely groundbreaking enhancement of the experience for children at the Disney Parks

I can only imagine that this will make its way to other Disney parks sooner rather than later.  And we can’t wait!

We have recently seen another test of the new queue less waiting system that Disney has promised for the dueling Dumbo attraction coming to the revamped Fantasyland. For the second time in several months, Disney has tested this idea at the popular Rock N Roller coaster over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. For details and lots of good pictures, I recommend heading over to Studios Central. Essentially, Disney hands out cards to people who then group together in their designated waiting area. When their card is called, off they go to the ride, presumably with little additional wait.

 
The positives of this idea are, well, self-evident. Who wouldn’t rather walk around, shop, eat or even just sit down instead of waiting (and standing) on line? This is especially true when waits exceed a half hour or so. But I can see, perhaps a few difficulties. For one, lines will certainly not decrease. In fact, they may well increase. People put off by a 45 minute wait at Soarin’ may now grab themselves a ticket. Plus, the process of gathering people and waiting for them to get into the attraction may well be a longer process than just having the next person in line jump on the ride. I imagine this will be an issue until they work out any kinks in the system.
 
Also, I would think that this idea requires a lot more space. You need an area for the people to sort of hang around waiting for their number to be called. The new Dumbo attraction will have this built-in to the design with games and whatnot to occupy your waiting time. But existing attractions may not be able to handle this. At the most recent test, guests waited in a large backstage area. I could see this being implemented at attractions like Test Track and Splash Mountain where there is some space to develop waiting areas for people to gather. But a ride like Peter Pan, where this may well be useful, has no real space to do this. 
 
I suppose the true test will be Dumbo when it opens. If it works, this may be the new way you will queue up for a ride.

todays post is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra

By now, every Disney fanatic has heard about Summer Nightastic coming to Walt Disney World this summer.  The centerpiece of the marketing program is a return of the famous Main Street Electrical Parade to the Magic Kingdom after a decades’ long absence.  And now we find out that the upcoming run in Florida will be barely over two months long.

Yesterday, the Disney Parks Blog added an update to its original story about the parade’s return informing us that Summer Nightastic will run from June 6 through August 14, a much shorter run than many wishing to see the parade had hoped.  This gives fans just over five months to get to Orlando or risk missing the parade for who knows how long.

In years past I have complained vociferously about this kind of short-term announcement from Disney, but this one takes the cake.  Most often, I have moaned about how long it takes for them to announce the dates for Star Wars Weekends, but at least fans who want to attend that event have a relative idea when it might take place and can start planning accordingly.  This event, containing something nearly every Disney fan over the age of 25 gets overly nostalgic about, was completely unexpected.  And now, we all have only five months to raise funds, find the time to take off from work, and do all the planning.  You think this bugs?  You’re darn right it does!

Last week, Disney World officials announced “Summer Nightastic”, a promotional program for this summer at the Orlando parks.  Like last year’s Disneyland promotion of the same name, Florida officials hope that a one bit of big news for Disney fans combined with few relatively modest changes and a catchy tagline, will be enough to put a sense of urgency into potential visitors.

For the Disney purist, the center piece of this promotion includes something that is certain to be very exciting.  The Main Street Electrical Parade will finally return to the Magic Kingdom.  But truth be told, that is the only part of what has been announced so far for Summer Nightastic that is really worth talking about.  The other elements include…

• A very non-specific announcement of a new fireworks show coming to the Magic Kingdom, which we really can’t get too excited about until we know more about what to expect.
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is planning “New lighting effects and the addition of a new drop sequence”.  While new lighting can be interesting, I am not sure what the virtue is of a new drop sequence when the current sequence is supposedly random.  What can be more new and exciting than a random sequence that is new every time you ride?
• A summer concert series at Epcot, which again we can not judge until we know more about it.
• Extended evening operating hours at the Animal Kingdom.  A good idea to be sure, but not exactly earth shattering news.

The obvious conclusion to draw here is that Summer Nightastic is Walt Disney World’s response to the opening of Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter this spring.  But let me give Disney the benefit of the doubt and assume that is not the primary reason for this promotion.  I mean, if someone there thinks this program can compete with Potterland they ought to be fired.

No, Summer Nightastic is just simply too sparse to be considered by anyone with a brain to be an adequate “response” to Universal’s project.  But that shouldn’t take away from the potential positives here.  For the tourist with plans to head to the Mouse this summer, this comes as really good news.  The return of the Main Street Electrical Parade is truly a treat for the longtime Disney faithful.  And how could extended hours and a new fireworks display ever be considered anything but positive?

So rather than dwell on the obvious “could haves” with this promotion, lets just say that Summer Nightastic seems like a nice addition  to the Disney World slate for this year.  We all want more and expect more out of Imagineering.  And while it does seem strange that Disney is obviously allowing Universal to take center stage for the time being, let’s not draw conclusions on what this promotion was intended to do and then criticize it for not achieving a phantom goal.

This is a sad morning in the world of Disney fans, as many people wake to the news that Roy E. Disney passed away yesterday after a long struggle against stomach cancer.  He was 79 years old. 

There are two articles this morning that I think do a nice job with telling Roy’s story.  First, the Los Angeles Times has a great biographical piece by Dawn C. Chmielewski and James Bates.  And also, the New York Times has a nice tribute by Brooks Barnes…

As a boy the younger Roy would play in the halls of his uncle’s studio, where animators often used him as a test audience as they toiled on movies like “Pinocchio.” As an adult he helped bring the animation studio back from the brink, overseeing a creative renaissance that led to “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.”

But the soft-spoken Mr. Disney was primarily known for a willingness to question the company’s top managers, aggressively and publicly, when he felt they were mishandling the family empire. Some people in the company referred to him as its real-life Jiminy Cricket: a living conscience who was at times intensely disliked by management for speaking out.

Twice, Roy saved his beloved Disney Company from disaster, as well as helping to usher in the incredible years of animation excellence the article speaks about above.  He was certainly the voice of reason on many fronts at Disney, and often the ray of hope for longtime Disney fans.

The question one must inevitably ask now is “who will be the next savior?”  Without a Disney, without someone with a family connection to the principles the company was founded on, who will bring the company out of the darkness during the next potential disaster?  Roy will certainly be missed.  But it may be years before we really know how much.

Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel reported earlier this week that Disney’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs claims the Mouse does not plan on using Marvel characters inside the Walt Disney World theme parks, but predictably leaves plenty of wiggle room for the future of Disney’s newest characters. 

But the real story here is not what they won’t do in Florida, but what they can do everywhere else in the world, including Disneyland.  And what Disney really wants out of this deal.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs told analysts that Disney will focus instead on using Marvel properties in its other theme parks, because of a pre-existing licensing deal between Marvel and Universal Orlando giving Universal exclusive use of some of Marvel’s best-known characters –including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men and the Fantastic Four — in theme parks east of the Mississippi River.

Universal also has contractual rights to Spider-Man for theme parks in Japan.

“As we get outside of Orlando — and Spider-Man in Japan — we have an opportunity in theme parks and, over time, we’ll explore just how best to take advantage of that,” Staggs said in response to a question at a Bank of America media, telecommunications and entertainment conference in Marina del Ray, Calif.

As absolute as this may sound on the surface, notice that there is no mention whatsoever about what the future holds after these agreements run out.  My guess is that Disney is playing a very cool hand in an inevitable game of corporate poker. 

Universal is unlikely to want to continue to pay licensing fees to its chief competitor after the agreements run out.  And it would seem to me that they would be willing to discuss a buyout of the licenses so Disney can get their hands on their new characters as quickly as possible, and rid Universal of all the complication this deal could cause the.  Also, a lump sum from Disney would help the financial burden of all the changes that are on the horizon at Islands of Adventure.

If I were to read between the lines here, this could easily be interpreted as Disney really wants to buyout Universal and Staggs is being sent out to the media to position Disney as less desperate at the bargaining table.

Another form of pressure would be for Disney to start adding Marvel in a high-profile way in Disneyland, something Staggs all but admitted they plan on doing soon.

Staggs brushed aside another question about whether adding a character such as Spider-Man at Disneyland while it is featured at a Universal theme park in Orlando could create brand confusion. “People tend to space their visits out,” he said.

In other words, Disney is more than happy to risk brand confusion to get Marvel characters integrated into Disneyland, which would be perfect in the remaking of Disney’s California Adventure.  But it would also add even more pressure on Universal to accept a buyout at a reasonable price.  Well, at least reasonable from Disney’s point of view.