After Disney’s Californian Adventure (DCA) re-themed its
Hollywood Tower of Terror to the Guardians of the Galaxy there has been plenty
of speculation about if or when the other towers around the world will change.
There are a few keys elements to consider around this. I’ll look at them and
give my reasons why I think it will happen in Paris but not yet.
Park Vision
Each park has an overall theme or vision and Walt Disney
Studios has a new one, portrayed in the recent concept art for the largest
expansion at any Disney Park. Gone will be the behind the scenes movie studio
theme and instead you will walk in to immersive worlds of Disney films. We know
Marvel, Stars and Frozen are coming. This is already in progress at DCA; they
began with a Cars land, Paris started with its Ratatouille expansion.
Marvel Brand
Guardians of the Galaxy was a relatively unknown Marvel
comic when the first film was announced. It has allowed Disney a bit more
freedom in how it has taken it to the screen but also it doesn’t have the baggage
of legacy. Guardians has a stronger affiliation with Disney than many other
Marvel properties, something Disney will want to maximise as they reap all the
benefits. Spiderman, for example, is still not under full Disney control as
Sony have the film rights. As a result expect to see slightly less Spiderman
than you’d expect. Guardians also doesn’t form part of the Marvel/Universal
theme park deal and as such can be the poster child of the Marvel expansion in
all Disney parks and most importantly the three Disney own outright
(California, Florida and Paris). Epcot already has a Guardians rollercoaster
being built. Rock n Rollercoaster could easily have been re-themed at Hollywood
Studios but has been left for the moment as well as the Tower of Terror next to
it.
Licensing
While they want to make the most of Marvel and Guardians
they don’t want to be paying out to other companies. The Twilight Zone is owned
by CBS, as a result this means money leaving the company. While Disney have
less of say over Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo; their 100% ownership of Paris
means they can make sure money isn’t going out of the Disney Corporation. This
alone is this single reason why a change to Tower of Terror is guaranteed.
Expansion Flow
The Marvel expansion at Walt Disney Studios (WDS) is
starting to the far left of the park with Rock n Rollercoaster becoming an Iron
Man rollercoaster. In the concept art it looks clear that Armageddon will also
be replaced as well as some work on Moteur Action Stunt Show but what this will
be is unclear. It does suggest that all of this will happen prior to any
changes to Tower of Terror. In my opinion they will want to replace attractions
with the shortest queues before any major changes to those drawing in the
crowds. It would also mean that this could be done at the end of the Marvel
expansion and fit in to the land as a whole rather than a short gun approach to
Marvel attractions opening.
Shows
At present WDS uses the Tower of Terror for its night time
shows, it is the main show for Season of the Force as is in heavy use at
Christmas. It is also used for one night events throughout the year like
Electroland, FanDaze and RunDisney. These show are expansive to produce but not
too expensive to run. The investment that has gone in to these will not want to
be wasted as well as the cost to install a permanent projection building. It also
leaves a small gap in the year to covert the ride and still run the night time
shows. Disney will want an alternative before any temporary closure of these
night time shows which could impact seasonal attendance. Fortunately they have
a future option already mapped out. The lake they are building is being
designed to support shows at all times of day which was confirmed by Tom
Fitzgerald at FanDaze. Once this is open, due within 5 years, then this creates
a larger window for the Tower of Terror change.
Other Options
A change to Mission Breakout isn’t the only option and if
Guardians 3 were to fail at the cinema then Disney could look elsewhere. Using
the Tokyo theming is a possibility, there are no eternal costs and it has a
unique story that has already worked in another park. The other choice is
something entirely new. This would both be expensive and a risk. There was a
lot of negativity around DCA’s re-theme and its wider implications. They appear
to have, on the whole, gone but another is no guarantee.
Timing
I’ve already looked at timing as part of the expected
expansion plan but there is one other area to consider. Each park usually has
an exclusivity period for an attraction, partly as it has put up the
development costs. This could be waved as Disney own both parks outright but I
would expect some internal politics may delay this. Ratatouille is coming to
Epcot but over 5 years after Paris and by the time Tron Lightcycle opens in
Florida it will be most likely be over 4 years old. This timeframe would mean a
2021 opening at the earliest and with the full expansion due to finish in 2022
this would line up.
I’m sure there are other areas I haven’t considered but I
believe everything I can see happening within Disney Parks at the moment
suggests Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout will be in Walt Disney Studios
at a future date but not before 2021.
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