There’s a shift happening at Disney Experiences. At this year’s D23 Expo, newly minted Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum closed out an evening filled with fan-service announcements by turning to the crowd of 12,000 in the Honda Center and saying, “Remember, everything we do, it’s all for you!” As I slowly made my way out of the venue, I had one phrase playing over and over in my head: fans over financials. In this article, I want to expand on that thought.
Fans Over Financials: A Shift in Disney Experiences?
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- Why Figment, the Yeti, and Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune point to a fan-first shift
- How the Tomorrowland and Spaceship Earth updates fit into Disney reinvesting in the classics
- What else could lean into fan service, from Magical Express to Extra Magic Hours
Before I recap the evening’s announcements, I want to speak a bit to my own mindset going into the evening. Since COVID-19, and even before then, Disney theme parks have felt more and more like a place to grow year-over-year quarterly earnings. We’ve seen the story play out over the years: a cutback in perks, replaced by higher prices and less value. After bouncing back from the COVID-19 closures, the theme parks were on fire, financially.
With the theme parks holding up the company, I have long thought of them as a place to maximize revenue and minimize costs. That was my mindset heading into Saturday night. Perhaps nothing better encapsulated that mindset than when I talked about Figment in my predictions article. Yes, I put Figment as the header for the article because I was anticipating the announcement, but I couldn’t get ROI and Yield Management out of my head. I simply didn’t see the business case for Figment. Here’s what I wrote:
Is this finally Figment’s year? Disney has been teasing, and teasing, and teasing more Figment for years. The question isn’t whether or not executives at Walt Disney Imagineering, EPCOT, and The Walt Disney Company as a whole have an appetite for an update to Journey into Imagination with Figment; I think the question is how much of a budget can they stomach? Everything needs to be IP-driven these days, and while Figment has certainly become a profitable IP, as it relates to EPCOT festivals, the lovable dragon doesn’t have a lot of reach into the flywheel of OneDisney.
Journey into Fan Service with Thomas Mazloum
Simply put, Figment isn’t nearly a big enough IP to throw $50-100+ million at. What I wasn’t anticipating was an announcement slate that leaned so heavily into fan service. Disney confirmed that Figment’s ride would be reimagined to include Dreamfinder on a new journey. Mazloum made it very clear that this announcement is one for the fans. It doesn’t matter if it makes business sense; it’s about the fans. “Yes, yes, we are taking a new journey into imagination at EPCOT with Figment. With Figment and Dreamfinder. I’m so happy to tell you this. We know, we know how important this is to you,” Mazloum said. “We heard you, and this is one more way we are putting you, all of you, all of you in the center of everything we do.” It doesn’t stop at Figment, either.
Are You Yeti For It?
Fixing the Yeti on Expedition Everest makes almost zero business sense. Disney confirmed the animatronic will be repaired rather than replaced, and that the Yeti is staying in the same spot in the attraction. Does it really make sense for Disney to invest so much money into fixing something that the average guest doesn’t even know is broken?
I’m not alone in that sentiment, either. In fact, Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum echoed my thoughts in a post-Expo interview. “Figment and the Yeti may not be household names to every Disney guest, but they are certainly favorites among our most loyal fans”, Mazloum said. “I want them to know that we hear them…”
Another project that is purely fan service is the return of Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune at Disneyland Paris. It’s one I’m less connected to, since it’s in a different country than my daily beat. Getting rid of an IP, in this case Star Wars, and returning to something that doesn’t fit neatly into the OneDisney flywheel was surprising.
Other projects lean more toward “it’s about time” than straight fan service, like the Tomorrowland reimagining at Disneyland and the Spaceship Earth redo at EPCOT. Disney has announced both of these projects before. Disneyland Resort president Jill Estorino confirmed during D23 that the Tomorrowland project will move ahead of the Avatar destination at Disney California Adventure. With Disney revisiting both projects, they are very likely to move forward.
Reinvesting in the Classics
It was surprising to hear the Yeti’s roar echo through the Honda Center, or see Neil Patrick Harris dressed as Dreamfinder. But the underlying story is something that Disney has been planting the seeds for months, if not a year or more. The concept of reinvesting in the classics, combined with fan service, is the real headline here. Mazloum said as much in his post-Expo interview when talking about Tomorrowland. “Tomorrowland shows once more that we are listening, and that we care about our existing lands and attractions as much as the new ones.”
That builds upon the impressive refresh of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Magic Kingdom. The upcoming update to Carousel of Progress is another example of Disney reinvesting in what hardcore fans enjoy most about the theme parks instead of closing them. Disney has an impressive slate of brand new things coming, too. Villains Land, Monstropolis, Piston Peak National Park, and the Tropical Americas land are worth getting excited about.
It’s worth noting that the concept here of fan service over financial sense doesn’t mean that these updates are bad business. To the contrary. Reinvesting in what super fans love, or loved, about the parks is a wonderful investment. It’s just not what we’re used to as Disney parks fans. We’re used to seeing capital go into removing or replacing attractions, not breathing new life into them. So when the head of the Disney Experiences division comes out and shows enthusiasm for Figment and Dreamfinder, it feels like a fever dream.
More to Come?
Now, I’ve heard some valid complaints and pushback whenever someone brings up that this Expo was filled with fan service. There are a lot of things that Disney could’ve announced that would’ve won everyone over. The top complaint I’ve always heard over the years is about the Disney Lightning Lane system and creating a “paid FastPass”. That’s not changing. Let’s move on. One thing that Disney could lean harder into fan service on the vacation-experience side would be the return of the Magical Express.
In recent years, I’ve heard of an appetite within the company to bring back the Magical Express. From my understanding, the ever-expanding Airport Luggage Transfer service is step one. Now, that’s not to say that the Magical Express is definitely coming back. In fact, if I had to guess right now, I’d say it’s actually highly unlikely. That said, bringing that back would be a huge win for guests visiting Walt Disney World.
Another area where Disney can win, especially with all of these new offerings coming online in the next few years, is the return of Extra Magic Hours. Right now, every guest is eligible for Early Entry at the theme parks, but extra playtime at the end of the day is reserved for guests staying at the Deluxe hotels. Creating a perk that more closely resembles Extra Magic Hours would be really well received by guests.
Honestly, I would expect to see more changes that lean into fan service. This was Mazloum’s chance to get in front of Disney’s biggest theme park fans and win them over. While the internet is still being the internet post-Expo, Mazloum did really well. If he can pair the attraction updates with some operational updates, we might be in for a wonderful 5+ years as Disney theme park fans. We’ll be watching closely.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!