On day three of the Walt Disney Family Museum’s Disneyland celebration a public audience was treated to The Happiest Places on Earth: A Look at Disney Parks Around the Globe. Once again Marty Sklar was the host and the panel included Craig Russell and Bruce Vaughn from Walt Disney Imagineering along and Disney Legend Dick Nunis. The topic was how Disneyland would influence projects around the world.
Sorry but this is a long post.
Bruce is the Research & Development person and spends a lot of his time looking over the horizon. Craig is the design and build person. He has to take this weird stuff, build it, and do it within budget.
Dick started with Disney before Disneyland. He was in the orientation department and worked with the legendary Van France. After studying the history of the theme parks, you realize that this man was part of everything. Probably knows more about the operation of the parks than any other human.
Like the Saturday session, Marty started with each person’s first experience with the Disney Parks. Craig grew up in Southern California and it was a family tradition. Dick worked security for Walt and Lillian’s 30th anniversary party two days before the park opened. Bruce did not go until he started working for Disney. He was 27 and it was 1993. He figured he worked for the company so he should go to the parks. After one ride on Peter Pan, he was captivated.
On Walt’s comments that the parks will continually change, Bruce felt the parks needed to remain relevant. Nostalgia is nice but the parks cannot become a museum. What looked cool then can look bad today. There has to be a careful balance.
Craig said audience expectations were changing. As the company focuses on globalization, there is a need for more attractions with cross-cultural appeal. One success story is Toy Story Midway Mania, which he compared to a ride through Wii game.
Dick was struck by Walt’s ability to plan beyond his lifetime. He told the story of the Russians stealing the technology for Circarama. Walt’s people wanted to sue but he had a different idea. He proposed to double the size of the screens and do it better. He and John Hench even talked about a screen above the audience. Dick felt that Soarin’ is a tribute to John Hench.
The discussion moved on to the first wave of expansion including Walt Disney World, Disney California Adventure, and the timeshares and cruise ships. At first, Dick thought he would be moving to Florida to recruit and train a new team to run Walt Disney World. Instead, the Company decided to promote Dick, keep him in California, and have him send his best people to do the job. He was very proud of his team and many remained in Florida for many years. I enjoyed the connection between Dick, Marty, and Ron Miller sitting in the audience. It was like being let in on a private discussion.
Dick is a wonderful storyteller. The opening day for the Magic Kingdom was picked specifically because it is the slowest season of the year and the slowest day. They did not want a repeat of Disneyland’s opening. Some people projected crowds of 100,000 or more. Early in the morning, in the helicopter, somebody noticed a huge line of cars and thought the park would be over run. Dick calmed him and told him that was just the Cast coming to work.
So they braced for the big crowd. It never came. Only 10,000 showed. In fact, the park remained quiet for weeks. The press was saying that Disney bit off too much. Dick said just wait. The pressure mounted. Dick said wait. The day after Thanksgiving, the crowd was so large they had to close the gates.
Walt said to his team, “We have to study the land” when laying out the resort. That team included Joe Potter who built 44 miles of canal in such a way that he would never flood an adjacent property and it has worked. Others mentioned include Joe Fowler and Dick Irvine.
An interesting fact about the Disney organization was Walt’s way of putting people together who may not get along. Walt said that, “Friction makes motion” and this produced the most creative solution. John Hench took Potter’s canals and gently curved them for a better look.
You would think that an east coast Disneyland would have been a no brainer. Nevertheless, Walt was very concerned after the failure of Freedomland near the Bronx in New York.
Dick helped to create Tokyo Disneyland. He said it took five years to generate an agreement. With that said, the look on Bruce and Craig’s face was funny. They mentioned that it has already been 10 years since talks started on the Shanghai project and they still are not done. That property is so large; it can hold multiple theme parks.
One factor that made the Tokyo negotiations more difficult was Card Walker. Card was President at the time. During World War II he served on an aircraft carrier. He lost a lot of friends during the war. This created a mental block that made it very difficult to work with the Japanese, as he did not trust them. In the end, it worked out and the Japanese parks have been huge success stories.
Marty asked what it is like to work with different cultures. Craig said that Tokyo wanted a Xerox copy of Walt Disney World. The only time they did a Japanese specific attraction – Meet the World (it focused on Japanese history) – it was a complete failure.
Craig commented on the difference between Japanese and Chinese guests. The typical Japanese guest grew up with Disney products and they are very loyal to the brand. They wanted a clone of the stateside parks. The Chinese guest comes from one of two camps. They are either a local Hong Kong resident with more exposure to the brand or they are from the mainland where most of their exposure came from pirated videos. They found that many of the mainland guests walk onto Main Street and there is no emotional connection. That is why Shanghai is likely to have a very different entry experience.
The Disney people were surprised and adapted to the unique way many of the Mainland Chinese guests use the park. For the most part, the child population is small and families come in large multi-generational groups. Of course, the Company likes that. What they did not expect was the restaurants were being overrun with non-diners because the family would leave behind the grandparents with all of their stuff and then wait until the rest of the family returned. The solution was to add more seating areas.
Many visitors from India visit Hong Kong Disneyland and the park had to increase the availability of vegetarian options. Even the Jungle Cruise script became a complex project. Guests are able to experience the attraction in three different languages. The original script was written in English and the translations were customized to be relevant to that audience. Sometimes jokes just do not translate well across cultures.
There is also difference in the way Chinese and Japanese perceive value. In China, guests have many choices for theme park amusement and they tend to count how many attractions are available and balance that against the admission price. With the limited number of attractions at Hong Kong Disneyland, many felt it was a disappointment. It may have been beautifully designed but that is not enough. So along with the expansion of three new mini-lands, they are also counting every character meet and greet (also known as Love and Shove) as an attraction. This is how they came up with the figure of 37 new attractions.
In Japan, most guests just like to hang out. Going on the rides is secondary. They are happy if they get on 3 to 4 rides in a visit. Contrast to the American parks where guest satisfaction rises, as people get closer to eight attractions.
Marty asked the panel where they thought the theme park business was going. Dick commented on some of the decisions Disney made after his retirement. He thought that Spain was a much better location than France and Disney should still consider opening a second location in Europe. He also felt that Australia made more sense than Hong Kong and the Company should consider a park there as well.
Craig wants to find little niche businesses and then executing them better than the competition. For example, the Cruise Line is a solid business for Disney even though they are a relatively small player in the field. Their focus on the family and creating a quality product has created a profitable business. The Adventures by Disney tour operations is another example and is likely to expand.
The new resort in Hawaii may be the best example of the future. The Company is trying to find that sweet spot between a destination resort experience but stopping short of a theme park. They want to combine the best of what they have learned from the cruise ships and the tours. The Hawaii property is all-inclusive and heavily themed with Hawaiian culture. Joe Rohde is leading the project and if his work at Animal Kingdom is an indication, the décor will be true to the resort’s Hawaiian roots.
The Company is also looking at urban entertainment environments but these have not been very successful in the past.
On the Research and Development front, Bruce said the goal is to add more control and higher touch. Right now, for many guests that high touch is provided by the Cast Members. For high tech applications, people’s expectations have changed and the way we use technology has forced the Company to develop interactive experiences as opposed to passive viewing.
Sometimes they try things and they do not quite work out the way they planned. A good example is Kim Possible in Epcot’s World Showcase. The original concept was to give kids something to do while their parents explored the pavilions. Kind of like a high tech babysitter. To the Company’s surprise, it turned out to be a family activity. The fact that the Cast Members have gotten into the act, like at the UK pavilion, and you have the additional benefit of a morale booster.
The goal is to personalize the experience. You will see this in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion. Bruce described the encounter with Belle as an example. To create a better guest experience, each encounter will be limited to around 20 guests. The Cast Members will assign roles to the kids and the technology will take over and provide a unique immersive and personal experience.
The Utilidors have created a 10-acre foundation where trees will not grow. The solution is a courtyard that gives way to a highly landscaped forest. Bruce stated that John Hench would be proud how each area will create a sense of reveal.
There is talk about creating premium experiences as well but the Company wants to proceed with caution. The fear is a caste system that may offend those who are unable to afford the higher costs.
Bruce and Craig treated the audience to a preview of coming attractions. Much of this has been already revealed so I will just highlight things that caught my attention.
When the Company created Disney California Adventure they wanted to create something new, different, and edgy. They quickly learned that guests just wanted Disneyland to expand across the plaza. So attractions like the Little Mermaid will feature high quality audio-animatronics on par with Pirates of the Caribbean in an attempt to create new E-Ticket. Bruce mentioned that animating Arial’s tiny little arms was very difficult. The cars in Cars Land will feature a variety of body styles and, at one point; guests will race against other guests.
Tokyo Disneyland will be getting Mickey’s Philharmagic and Toy Story Mania. They are also installing a super-sized version of Fantasmic at DisneySea to be viewed by an audience of 20,000.
Disneyland Paris is getting a Toy Story Playland where you shrink to the size of a toy and enter Andy’s backyard. Careful of those giant footsteps. In addition, coming on line soon will be the new super-sized cruise ships.
Hong Kong Disneyland is expanding and they will be adding a Toy Story Playland, Grizzly Gulch, and Mystic Manor. Speaking of cultural differences, many Chinese believe that ghosts are the spirits of their ancestors and nothing to fear. Therefore, Disney decided to make the mansion all about the supernatural. You are invited to an open house at an eccentric millionaire’s house, a crazy monkey takes over, and everything goes wrong. Danny Elfman is composing the theme music. Both Bruce and Craig felt that Hong Kong might be getting the best Haunted Mansion anywhere.
The first question from the audience was about Disneyland. Bruce and Craig stated the focus is on plussing existing attractions and enhancing the experience. As the DCA expansion winds down, they are starting to think about the next major expansion.
Dick told a story about Walt and Midget Autopia. Walt likes to ride his rides and he could not fit in the Midget Autopia cars. That was a major reason why they were removed. The two features that Walt likes best about the Orlando property were the nice people and the two swamps that would keep the outside world outside.
Dick really wished that Walt could have built the Mineral King project. He felt that it would have reinvented the way we build in the wilderness and it would have been a great year round family attraction.
After the event was over, I paused to reflect on the three panels. This will make sense to some so I apologize to the rest of you. I felt that the Friday and Saturday events were like reading a copy of E-Ticket magazine and Sunday was like looking through a copy of the D23 publication. Overall, the Museum put on a good show, took good care of the guests, and created a magical experience. I hope they do this again next year.
I am a Founding Member of the Museum and purchase my tickets for all three events.
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