Disney Rumors for November 2022
Is the PLAY! pavilion dead? Has Disney admitted a mistake with Harmonious? And is there movement on a potential development at Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
The answer to all three questions is yes. I’ll explain what’s happening in this month’s Disney Rumors.
We Hardly Knew Ye
Robert Niles, the longtime Disney insider and contributor to The Orange County Register, has confirmed what we’ve long suspected.
EPCOT will not open the PLAY! pavilion anytime soon…or ever. Sadly, Disney has quietly canceled this project despite some recent signs of optimism.
The newest EPCOT map still displays the PLAY! pavilion as coming soon. However, I guess the map people are the last ones to know on this topic.
Park officials spent many hours and resources working on the building intended to host the PLAY! pavilion.
Even though this building is nearly ready to host the promised immersive attractions, management has said no.
Disney has done some calculus on the appeal of an interactive pavilion. Unfortunately, the results didn’t go the way you would have expected.
Remember some of the story leaks for the PLAY! pavilion? They suggested a monorail attraction and several character encounters.
Other reports suggested theming akin to the Disneyverse portion of Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Here’s the thing, though. Disney didn’t promise enough specific character interactions, instead choosing to keep the conversation broad.
That’s because nobody could settle on an intellectual property (IP) sure to strike a chord with potential visitors to the pavilion.
Wreck-It Ralph definitely didn’t move the needle, nor did a monorail ride.
Instead, Disney would have needed to turn this space into something with specific character connections, thereby kind of defeating the purpose of the place.
On the one hand, Disney had promised an open world consisting of a rotating library of crowd favorites.
On the other hand, surveys suggested that people wanted the same few names that are already readily available across the Disney campus.
So, the PLAY! pavilion started to look expensive and unfocused. Disney would have spent too much money on something fans may not have wanted.
The Harmonious Debacle
Harmonious has been in the news twice lately, but neither headline happened for the right reasons.
First, Disney confirmed that Harmonious is dying soon. After several years of hype, it won’t last two years as the park’s nighttime presentation.
Thirteen months ago, everyone acted hyped about the impending debuts of Disney KiteTails and Harmonious.
Now, KiteTails is dead, while Harmonious has earned its death sentence. Park officials simply didn’t believe that Harmonious offered enough bang for the buck.
Even worse, the show has come with several noteworthy headaches, which brings me to sunny point number two.
Folks, Harmonious just caught fire again. Seriously, pyromaniacs must have designed these barges because this is at least the third time that it’s happened.
Here’s the recent incident:
And here’s one from six months ago:
Now I’m going to say something that may send you into a giggle loop. One of the ongoing issues surrounding Harmonious was entirely predictable.
MickeyBlog has frequently mentioned that Walt Disney purchased swampland for the Florida Project.
The entrepreneur took this approach because it was cheaper and also manageable. You can usually build over swampland as long as you plan for it.
The reason why EPCOT exists in its current state is because the World Showcase Lagoon comes with a water table that is NOT viable for construction.
Guess where Disney needed to position the Harmonious barges to keep them from blocking other scenery!
Yup, the barges couldn’t go where Disney wanted because of the swampland. Once park officials realized their mistake, they should have killed the project.
Instead, Disney designed a presentation intended to last a decade or more without any viable plan for where to put the barges.
So, now they block park sightlines during the day and catch fire at night. Oops.
More Attractions Coming to Hollywood Studios?
The other story I’m chasing right now both makes sense and doesn’t at all. Bear with me here.
Some folks believe that Disney will expand soon-ish at Hollywood Studios. So you can guess why this idea appeals to management.
Currently, six or seven attractions require waits of 50+ minutes on most dates and often 60+ minutes.
That logjam occurred because Hollywood Studios invented a plan that worked too well. Disney converted the old, unpopular park into a new one in high demand.
The introductions of Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway have turned Hollywood Studios into a must-do park.
The ugly duckling has transformed into the crown jewel of the Walt Disney World lineup. But unfortunately, the park doesn’t have that kind of space.
Disney could only solve the current limitations by expanding into a new area. And that’s apparently a possibility.
Why wouldn’t Disney do this? As you know, the company faces financial challenges right now.
If Disney were flush with capital, it’d have already greenlighted the Zootopia/Moana projects at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Disney Villains park as well.
Why didn’t that happen? Those projects cost money. However, Disney wants to do each one since they’ll pay for themselves over time.
Since the company faces challenges in distributing its resources, Hollywood Studios seems like it should come last out of the three. After all, it just gained several massive upgrades.
So, Disney officials face a dilemma. Should they expand at Hollywood Studios, a surging park with overcrowding issues?
Alternatively, should Disney prioritize the balancing of Animal Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom II expansion?
Personally, I would rank Animal Kingdom as the most pressing, followed by Magic Kingdom, and then Hollywood Studios a distant third.
We’ll soon find out whether Disney agrees.