John S. writes in to ask:
Dear Jim,
I have just recently come across your web site and have found it very entertaining and informative.
Here is my question: After visiting Tokyo Disneyland, I became very excited to find that they were going to install a Pooh ride at Disneyland. I found out a few months ago that the ride is going to be more like the one at WDW (with a track) vs. the one at Tokyo Disneyland (without a track). Do you have any idea why this decision was made? I found the ride at TDL to be fascinating and – judging by the wait time (sometimes up to 240 minutes) – it was a huge hit with the public as well.
Thanks for providing us with such a great web site,
Best,
John Stephenson
John –
Yeah, you’re right. TDL’s “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” IS a really amazing attraction. One that truly dazzles guests at Tokyo Disneyland (which explains why all of those people who are perfectly happy to stand in 4-hour long lines, waiting for their chance to ride in a dancing honey pot).
So why didn’t Disneyland in Anaheim get its very own version of “Hunny Hunt?” Why instead did “The Happiest Place on Earth” end up with a somewhat dumbed-down clone of WDW’s “Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”? Well … to be honest, it’s because all of you stateside Disneyana fans aren’t spending enough on food and merchandise whenever you visit the theme parks.
You see, the real reason that we’ve been seeing all of these affordable, if somewhat underwhelming, attractions being added to Walt Disney World and Disneyland’s theme parks is because those two resorts follow a very different financial model than Tokyo Disneyland does.
To explain: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea’s biggest and best customers are shop girls. Japanese women under the age of 25 who — even though they’re still living at home with Mom and Dad — are already out in the professional world, pulling down a pretty decent wage. These shop girls have tons of disposable income, which they’re perfectly happy to blow on repeated trips to safe but fun places like the two Japanese Disney theme parks. They regularly burn through wads of Yen by buying over-priced plush versions of the cuter Disney characters.
The only problem is … this demographic is incredibly fickle. Which is why the Oriental Land Company is always under the gun to keep TDL and TDS fresh. Keep all those shop girls coming back for more.
Luckily, a ride like “Pooh’s Hunny Honey” has lots of reride-ability. Plus — since the attraction’s built around the Winnie-the-Pooh characters, who are absolutely huge in Japan — that means that it’s easy to move a ton of merchandise daily out of that “Pooh Corner” shop. You know, that store that’s located in “Hunny Hunt”‘s exit area.
Whereas the stateside Disney parks … to be honest, John, there’s this belief at the uppermost levels of the Walt Disney Company that the American theme park market is tapped out. That — at least when it comes to the money that the Mouse is used to making off of its US theme parks — that the corporation may now be entering an era of diminishing returns.
This is why it just didn’t make good business sense for Mickey to spend the $200-million-plus that the corporation would have had to spend in order to field a version of TDL’s “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” in both Anaheim and Orlando. Why it was a far smarter move — financially, that is — to build “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (which is basically slightly souped up version of the classic Disney dark rides like “Peter Pan” and “Mr. Toad”) at WDW’s Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. Installing a cheaper version of this Pooh attraction in its stateside theme parks meant that the Mouse would get a much faster return on its investment.
This is why WDI has been told to table all development of a fifth theme park for Disney World for the foreseeable future. And why the Disneyland Resort is not going to build a third theme park over on those strawberry fields, but a golf course instead. Disney wants to make as much money as possible off of its stateside resorts these days. To do that means that they’re going to have to spend as little money as possible at the Parks from here on in.
This is why all those grandiose plans for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration — with all those enhancements that were supposed to be made to “Small World,” “Pirates” and “The Jungle Cruise” — got canceled in favor of changing out “Space Mountain”‘s track.
And why exactly did the Mouse decide to change out Disneyland’s “Space Mountain” ride track? Because Disney was already ordering a set of “Space Mountain” coaster tracks for the still-under-construction Hong Kong Disneyland. Sensing that there was a real opportunity to economize here, the Mouse asked the firm that’s manufacturing the HK track just to double up on that order. Make an exact duplicate set of coaster track for Anaheim.
This is also why Disneyland won’t be getting a brand new parade for its 50th anniversary celebration, but — rather — will get a slightly retooled version of WDW’s “Share a Dream Come True” Parade. Mickey’s always on the lookout these days for new ways to save a few bucks.
Or — to put it bluntly — new ways to make a few more bucks off of the company’s loyal customers. The merch folks at Disneyland are reportedly positively giddy at the idea of the millions the corporation can potentially make off of the sales of those miniature collectible versions of the snowglobe floats that will be featured in the Park’s 50th anniversary parade. That’s also why the Walt Disney Company is reportedly considering painting Sleeping Beauty Castle gold for all of 2005. With the hope that the corporation will be able to sell millions of these little golden castles during the Park’s 50th anniversary celebration.
You see what poor Jay Rasulo has been going up against, John? This is how the people that Pressler put in place to run the company’s theme parks all think. They’re really not asking themselves “What can I do to enhance the guests’ experience?” Their main concern is “What can I do to get these rubes to open up their wallet again?”
That’s honestly the whole point behind the “Destination Disney” project, folks. It’s all about convincing people that they should be happy to pay extra to have their bags delivered directly to their WDW hotel room. So that all of their WDW image capture stuff can be sent directly to their home PC. It’s all about the Mouse making money.
So — if all you JHM readers really want Disney to start building rides like “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” here in the US — what you need to do is start spending money like Japanese shop girls. Loading up on that high profit plush.
Otherwise … well, the future looks pretty bleak in Anaheim and Orlando. Disney management will probably allow the Imagineers to put a new E-Ticket in each of the stateside parks every 5 to 7 years. But — beyond that — it’s all going to be stuff that’s done on the cheap. With an eye toward making as much money as possible off of the rides and attractions that are already in place.
Isn’t this the most depressing reply to a “Why For” question that you’ve ever read? I know that it certainly depressed the hell out of me to write it.
Totally changing the subject here … I wanted to thank those of you who were nice enough donate a few dollars last week to help keep JimHillMedia.com operational.
It’s really gratifying to know that you appreciate what we’re trying to do here at the site.
Speaking of which … Tom@unknownbeings.co.uk wrote to the site this week to ask:
Sorry, this may be a stupid question … But what the hell is Jim Hill Media all about?!
Hmmn … that’s a really interesting question, Tom. The site’s been around for almost 8 months now. So I guess it’s about time that I actually did give some thought to what JimHillMedia.com is really all about.
I’m thinking that JHM is a website that mostly features articles about the Walt Disney Company and its history. Though I’m thinking — in the months ahead — that we might try to expand the turf that the site covers a bit. Do some stories about other studios. Films by other animators (Don Bluth has had a pretty colorful career, don’t you think? Likewise Richard Williams). Maybe a feature or two about some of the more intriguing aspects of Steven Spielberg’s career (I.E. why “Hook” went off the tracks, what “E.T. II” was supposed to be about), or weird moments in Hollywood history (I.E. the MGM auction, the day that Cecil B. DeMille decided to bury the sets of “The 10 Commandments” out in the Guadalupe dunes).
Would stuff like that appeal to you folks? Or would you just prefer for me to continue to concentrate on the Mouse?
Let me know, okay? In the meantime, try and have a great weekend, okay?
Later,
jrh