Disney's Halloween Horror Nights (That Never Was) | A Story of Michael Eisner and Halloween
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida is the largest and most ambitious Halloween event ever created. It's odd to consider the notion that Disney would ever have a similar event, focusing on horror and jump scares when they're so comfortable with their family friendly Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. However, today I'm interested in jumping back in time to when Michael Eisner was CEO and how Disney would likely have it's own version of Halloween Horror Nights if he was still around today.
Logo Background Source: / @freestuff-motiongraphics
Various Media Sources: pastebin.com/X...
Many of the music tracks found in my videos can be located on Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicso...
If you enjoy the content on this channel, I encourage you to hit the like button, as well as subscribe with bell notification to be alerted when new videos are released.
Follow me on 🐤 Twitter: / poseidonentmt
Follow me on ▶️Facebook: / poseidon-entertainment...
Follow me on 📷 Instagram: / poseidonentertainmentyt
Finally, a Disney Parks UA-camr who doesn’t endlessly shit on Eisner. The man made plenty of mistakes during his tenure for sure, but his era of Disney has something the 2 Bobs both lack: freak’n balls! Eisner’s Disney wasn’t afraid to experiment, be creative, go wild! Eisner understood that for the company to be profitable it had to stand out amongst the rest. Even if that mindset started to waver during the end of his run, it’s that mindset that ultimately saved the company.
This ^
Damn strait! Eisner gave Disney fans what we really wanted! Pleasure Island. MGM Studios. Animal Kingdom. Water parks and thrill rides for grown adults.
that's right. there are so many unique attractions that Disney parks has created over the years that really stand out.....well most of them.
I think he lost some sort of balancing element when Frank Wells died. Overall, though, I would say Eisner was a net good for the company overall. For Pete’s sake, they call the ‘90s “the Disney Decade” for a reason.
Well the thing is, we know Michael Eisner saved the company, but like many Disney CEOS (except for Chapek since he’s already bad to begin with) he became a fallen angel.
Also, Bob Iger is not entirely a bad Disney CEO as everyone claims him to be! I know he’s made plenty of mistakes during his final years, but he’s also done many things to help the company too; such as getting Oswald back, stopping the struggles between Disney and Pixar, fixing Disney’s California Adventure in the early to mid 2010s (mainly with Buena Vista street). He didn’t really have much involvement in the parks updates after Buena Vista Street, the late 2010s’ decisions for the parks were of course by the cheapskate that was Bob Chapek. So Bob Iger is also like Michael Eisner, he started out good, but like Eisner, became a fallen angel.
And before you all come at me with “He’s planning to have Disney take over the world” 1. Conspiracy theories aren’t always true, and 2. 20th Century Fox basically opted to be bought by any entertainment company, Disney did NOT just knock down their door to forcefully buy them.
"I do not make films for children... or, at least, not primarily for children."
"You're dead if you aim for kids."
"We design the films to appeal to ourselves."
"The adults have the money. ... children don't have any money."
- Walt Disney
Disney stopped paying attention to Walt a long time ago. Try finding any of Walt's books anywhere in any Disney property. If a cast member brought them onto the property they would try to seize them. Disney has nothing to do with Walt's vision any more.
Paris used to have a haunt event in their Walt Disney Studis park and I was always jealous. I feel like Disney could easily keep the kid friendly Halloween in Magic Kingdom/Disneyland parks but have a bit more scary Halloween haunts at parks like Hollywood Studios, California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios and Tokyo Disney Sea.
Whell you have Halloween horror nights at universal studios
I was unaware that this was a thing. Can you point me in the right direction?
@@PoseidonEntertainment Walt Disney Studios would have an event called Terrorific Nights every Halloween but stopped doing em in 2012. They were actually very intense for Disney standards.
Here are some videos:
ua-cam.com/video/A2pCGhIeTZ4/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/TP1sTSQ13JA/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/hfoyYwfKZN8/v-deo.html
@@inkiadk I've never seen this before, interesting.
@@inkiadk Ah, I appreciate it! I'll definitely do a bit more research into it
I think Extra-Terrorestrial is an excellent attraction that was built in the wrong park. I wish Disney would make more intense rides again, seeing that it’s been a while since the parks have gotten any truly thrilling attractions
Yeah, extra terrorestrial could sit close to Star tours at Hollywood studios and it would be a Hit
Was it in the wrong park though? I know I called it "inappropriate" for Magic Kingdom, but I think the perception of Magic Kingdom as a park for children needs to die. It's a place of fantasy and romanticism and that's not necessarily for kids.
@@PoseidonEntertainment That’s actually a good point. Still, I feel like the idea would’ve been more welcome at a different park. Magic Kingdom has such a cult following and fans would seemingly never let an outlandish concept in the park
Well they own both Alien and Predator now...
@@PoseidonEntertainment Fully agree. The current people at the helm don't really get this, but Disney parks *should* be for everyone. The problem is that, after some time, it just got this reputation of "it's for kids" that it has never been able to truly shake. It's ingrained in the minds of parents, young adults, and, arguably most importantly, Disney executives.
This is very apparent in the alien encounter situation. Even with numerous content warnings posted practically everywhere, parents *still* took in young children thinking "oh it's Disney! It won't be that bad" (Forgetting the fact that Disney is *very capable* of producing premium-grade nightmare fuel when they want to).
You need to put in some real effort if you want to break this kind of thing - plus, you'd need a gradual incline, not a steep drop. Alien Encounter shouldn't have been the first attraction for older audiences - it was simply *too* nuts for the current public impressions of Disney. Something like the conceptual "Fire Mountain" or "Villain's Mountain" attractions (might be worth doing a video on if you can get substantial data on them) would have been better to introduce thrilling experiences before Alien Encounter happened.
The current executives have not had much interest in changing this perception - but I'm fine with that. Less Annual Passes for me to manage.
I love 1980s Eisner.
There is absolutely no doubt that 1980s Eisner saved Disney, and he deserves credit for that. The resort & theme park expansions he implemented in the 1980s are exactly what was needed at the time. If a less ambitious person had helmed Disney it's likely the company would have floundered, beem purchased via hostile takeover, then broken up for parts. Imagine a world where (say) Six Flags purchased Disney's theme parks and Universal ended up with the movie & cartoon IP. Ugh.
Having said that: Eisner lost his way when Frank Wells died.
Without Wells to mitigate, Eisner became a more attenuated version of his worst impulses & fears. Eisner's demons consumed him, paralyzed him, made him unable to govern effectively which ended up with people like Pressler & Harris filling the 'creative' vacuum and steering Theme Parks division into a ditch. His (vile) treatment of Katzenberg created unnecessary competition in Dreamworks and drove creatives into the arms of Universal.
EuroDisney's rocky start taught 1990s Eisner to be afraid of risk.
Thus, I have to politely disagree with you: had Eisner stayed around, there's NO WAY we would have gotten a more ambitious, scarier Halloween event. Disney's decline into mediocrity would have continued while Eisner sought personal revenge against the industry folk who'd pissed him off. Had Roy E. Disney not intervened, a few more years of Pressler & Harris would have killed the parks, and the only reason they got the boot was because Eisner was no longer there to protect them.
AWESOME VIDEO and I love the thought experiment of "what if Eisner had stayed" but honestly? I'm glad he's gone.
Now we gotta do something about Chapek...
Admittedly in this new era, it's easy to look back on Eisner favorably. I definitely take your points though.
With 20/20 hindsight Eisner should have just resigned when Frank Wells died.
Add that to the list of things to do with a time machine.
Great post-though I think I’d take Eisner at his worst over Chapek. At least Eisner had the heart and passion of a showman and I believe he understood what Disney meant to its fans. But you are definitely not wrong about his tenure post-Wells: It wasn’t pretty.
Maybe chapek will buy a soccer club. ;). Hopefully something will divert him.
When I use to work at Disneyland, I imagined a Halloween themed version of It’s A Small World. Taking advantage of LED lighting, Halloween themed music, and the part that would make the ride scary, have the red glowing LED’s on all or most of the dolls.
Oh, and put (child's play) Chucky in there somewhere with the other dolls. Holding mickey's head.
Hahaha! That would be a trip!
An interesting interpretation of things.
@@barnaby_ *LAUGHS* I LOVE it!!
And change the face of the clock tower to a more creepy one.
Something I've noticed is that the scariest things are not necessarily things that are simply outright scary, but rather the corruption of what's pure. A great many people seem to get this. For example: clowns were made into terrifying things because their main purpose is to bring joy, but are a little unsettling. Seeing one put an "s" before "laughter" ends up being quite disturbing. Look at (most) of the HHN icons: They tend to be more pure things, twisted and melded into murderous figures of horror.
Jack, the Director, the Storyteller, would-have-been Icon Cindy, the Usher, Chance(?), all characters based on things associated with general positivity, twisted and mashed together with murderous madness, allowing them to properly take the helm of one of the most horrifying events to grace the theme park world.
Disney could very easily do this kind of thing perfectly, even without all the chainsaws or extreme gore. There's a place for non-gore-centric terror.
But, Disney has pretty much given up on the teen/young adult market. Not that I entirely mind - this has absolutely caused Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, and Universal to pick up the slack and then some, and their competition with each other pushes them all to do better. I just wish Disney would apply itself more. Go beyond the IPs. Take risks.
Modern Disney is living in older Disney's basement, with a college degree that older Disney funded, but modern Disney refuses to do anything but the bare minimum with it, living off of older Disney's legacy.
The replacement for Happily Ever After is a major disappointment, especially since it's _supposed_ to help celebrate 50 years of Disney World. Seems more like it's just celebrating the past 5 years of the animation studio, with little thought given to anything else. You know what would have been cool? A run-down of the resort's progression. Start by dedicating the show to the memory and ideas of Walt Disney himself, start with some opening day classics like stuff from the Tiki Room, Country Bears, and Mickey Mouse Revue, move on to some classic Epcot stuff like One Little Spark, and then go from there - showing stuff from various attractions throughout, especially dedicating some time to defunct ones. It's not like you'd have to remove IPs outright - you could easily play songs from many popular films, or films related to the attraction from the same time period when the attractions themselves don't have proper theme songs. Celebrate the resort, not the IPs it's using.
But no - it's a generic show helmed by two businessmen who don't understand a single *iota* of what makes the Disney Parks special, and have no clue about the legacy they need to uphold.
(side note - I entirely agree with you. Eisner would have *absolutely* tried to compete with HHN had it gotten big when he was in charge.)
God, you always have the most thought out comments. I have to say that I completely agree with every point you've made. Your commentary on the HHN icons is spot on I think. Perhaps that's why Fear never caught on as a character.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Absolutely - it at least is a big contributing factor. When I watched Expedition Theme Park's video on Fear, I had that exact thought (and my comment is still there if you're interested), and some individuals in the comments also added stuff. Due to "Fear" not having a core "theme" that's truly his own, it made him very forgettable.
Additionally, getting into a rough bit of psychology here, the abuse of "mirror neurons" is important for horror. Seeing Jack put someone in a blender, or the storyteller dropping an anvil on someone on a bed of nails, that stuff resonates with you. Your mirror neurons end up making you imagine what kind of pain that such situations would give you before finally ending your life. To my knowledge, Fear didn't have that factor - he wasn't really given much in the "creatively gruesome murder" department. It's important in horror to know *what* the character's going to do to you if they catch you - imagining the pain produced from whatever torture they inflict makes my skin crawl, personally.
He was simply a generic "big bad" who lacks identity.
(Also, my comments are what happens when some guy who loves to just think about things, and is very passionate about certain topics, gets a bunch of free time. Gives me time to think about and format my personal opinions about a variety of subjects. Critical, informative, and/or speculative videos, much like yours, are perfect for this. They present ideas, I process them, form my own thoughts, and post them in the comments, even if it gets a little long.)
@@gladiatordragon9219 I definitely enjoy your commentary on things when you choose to share it. I wish I could offer better and more thought-out responses, but I'm finding myself exceptionally busy right now. Regardless, this is the kind of discussion and contribution that I'm aiming for with the channel. I've always perceived theme parks as an art form worthy of academic scrutiny and provoking this kind of discussion is the goal with a lot of my videos.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Yeah - while I did say I do have a ton of free time, I do have some other things to do, so I haven't gotten around to everything yet. (Side note - if I haven't commented on a video, I hope you don't take it too personally. I haven't quite gotten around to everything yet - I still have yet to watch the Ratatouille vs ROTR video)
But yeah - Theme parks are what I consider "compiled" art (alongside things like movies and even video games). It takes a lot of different forms of art, and puts them together into a single production. I just wish more parks had the passion and/or resources to see it that way.
@@gladiatordragon9219 I'm not asking you to comment for the sake of it, but I did want to express that I enjoy when you do take the time to think things out but that it can get lost among all the other comments. The channel has grown to the point where the notifications are becoming overwhelming, and while ideally I would like to reply to everyone, I just sometimes can't find the time to do so.
Also, spot-on again. I had an idea for a "Theme Parks as Art" video for a while, diving into how many different art forms come together to create such an incredible space. It's been sitting in the back of my mind before I even started producing videos, but I'm glad that I'm not the only one who recognizes it.
I've never been to one of these spooky events, so I don't have much to say about them. BUT, I like your point about 6 year olds being the focus of the parks now! I live closer to the west coast, so Disneyland is my go to, and they changed snow whites scary adventures, they changed tower of Terror, and for half a year they change the Haunted mansion! All the scary rides are disappearing! What makes a place like Disneyland fun is the whole range of emotions we experience there, not just joy and wonder on every ride. It starts to feel stale.
I'm actually a fan of the new iteration of Snow White because it feels like it was helmed with actual care to keep the ride feeling thematically whole. I do miss the scarier scenes, but the replacement is more than acceptable. I also enjoyed the Haunted Mansion Holiday for what it was, but I've agree that it's quite lighthearted.
And ruined Pirates of the Caribbean ride for hypocrisy 's sake
I wish we still had Michael because he would always attract attention to me like all these more intense rides
Current leadership is too focused on little children. Disney has always been a place for "families" in that it included attractions for all ages, not just the tiniest of children.
Disney in Tokyo actually did do these scary Disney Halloween theming. Also Eisner has done some good with what he was given, yes he has done bad but who hasn't. He was a wild club and Disney back then needed one.
A friend of mine got me a plush toy of Skippy for my plush collection. I never experienced Extra TERRORestrial (hostile aliens are something I always feared/hated so thank God) but I did grow up with Lilo & Stitch, which I love… and as such, one of my favorite shows at Disney was Stitch’s Great Escape, so my experience with Skippy was that attraction. As such, I also loved Skippy and I was really sad, not only about losing Stitch when the attraction closed but also about losing Skippy. I’m not sure that friend was even aware Skippy had been on Stitch’s show because she had never been to Disney. She said she got it for me because it had a Disney World tag. I thanked God she got it for me because of that… because the Stitch attraction I loved had closed along with Skippy. I cried.
Seeing all the crazy things Eisner tried to do to get the teen audience in (Barbie stage show at Epcot? Scarier attractions, more thrill, etc) I have no doubt he would want Disney to capitalizing on scary things like HHN to attract that crowd in.
The Barbie show was something....
Some of the potential Fox properties Disney could explore for an adult Halloween event:
-Alien
-Independence Day
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer
-The X-Files
-Predator
-The Exorcist
-The Omen
Disney is sitting on a goldmine here. Besides Universal, Fox has a pretty stellar catalogue of scary classics. Let Magic Kingdom be family friendly. Hollywood Studios can afford to have a little more edge.
I looked it up briefly and I was surprised by how few iconic horror franchises Fox had in their library, but these are all pretty solid suggestions.
Don't forget that they could do a maze inspired by Venom and Carnage located in Avengers Campus!
The Hills Have Eyes
@@PoseidonEntertainment
Noice. Now that Disney has the horror stuff, Magic Kingdom can be family friendly while Hollywood Studios can get more space for the horror shows, displays and haunts. Or else they can Collaborate with the creators of Dark Deception and induce horror all four parks!
Don't forget The Hills Have Eyes, and Goosebumps.
Thank you for the reappraisal of Eisner. Hindsight is 20/20, and we've been given a lot of hindsight to reevaluate him from. As for haunted attractions, I LIKE that MNSSHP is not-so-scary. I love classic horror, but can do without the modern blood and gore and guts. My wife is scared by the Haunted Mansion, so I'm not getting her on anything more intense than that. If I was designing haunted houses for a MNSSHP, I'd start with ones based on Disney IP... A Headless Horseman one, a Dr. Facilier one, an Evil Queen one, or maybe just a a general Villain's Lair with scenes based on different villains. Then we get to Fox... A bloodless Alien one would be fine. But also some primo 50's sci-fi films in its back-catalogue. You could probably whip up something good with The Fly, Day the Earth Stood Still, Invaders from Mars, The Alligator People, and so on. But if it were up to me, I'd remake Disney's Hollywood Studios into 20th Century Studios and have a "tomorrowland" of retro sci-fi, a musical show with all those Rodgers and Hammerstein films, and stuff like that.
I would love to see a "Silly Symphonies" Halloween party where everything's black and white and sepia, with art deco themes, and characters like the Mad Doctor or the Skeleton dancers.
It sounds like it would have been a good idea for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. Instead of whatever nonsense the ride is right now, a journey back into classic cartoons that defined Disney animation would have been a really cool concept.
It feels like current Disney is trying to create kids who love Disney who will grow up to be adults who love Disney. The problem is that creates a 10-15 year gap while you wait for those kids to grow up. What are current adults supposed to latch onto?
There won't be any adults left soon. There will only be infantile beings trapped in their bodies (full of plastic surgeries to cover up, btw).
With Disney Parks making you now pay for things that for decades they would entice you to come to their parks with. The under maintenance of the parks and rides. Even the undermaintenced transportation system. It's no longer a viable option to go to any Disney owned and operated park. Not to mention the reservation system and now Genie+. If you happen to be in central Florida for a few days, just buy a one day ticket, go enjoy the attractions from your childhood and walk away with the nostalgia. Disney Parks isn't worried about making new guests...which is obvious from all the upcharging. They honestly don't even care if you are satisfied with your experience anymore. Disney just wants your money. Bottom line. And how are they going to entice you into spending even more? They're going to have Genie+ suggest what to do and when to do it, in an subconscious effort to get you to spend more money in the restaurants and gift shops. They're tracking your every move... even if you're unaware. So just go with a one day ticket, enjoy a few rides from your childhood and a snack or two and walk right back to the monorail or ferry boat and hightail it down the road to Universal Studios...and make new memories and new fans with your kids at a place that actually cares if you have a good experience! 🌎🌍🌏
Jumping off of the first comment, I believe that Iger and Chapek have made some rather expensive blunders with the parks. Perhaps Galaxy's Edge sells a lot of merchandise, but what about when it loses it's new "shininess"? Disney's brand of Star Wars has quickly lost relevancy. This aim for short term profits isn't creating life-long fans that will continue coming to their parks. I anticipate that future leadership will have to really fight to get people in, and that many of the additions today will be seen as needing costly replacements. It's one thing to replace a great attraction with something mediocre, but what about entire lands?
Currently at Disney and saw your notification for this video, and I couldn’t be more glad to watch a new Poseidon entertainment vid at Disney! :D thx for the suprise! :)
Hey thanks, I appreciate the support!
Man was Alien Encounter an awesome attraction. It was mind blowing to me in my teenage youth. One of the best attractions ever designed by Disney. I wish I still had the hat I bought in the gift shop when I rode it for the first time.
I only went on it once, but I agree. In retrospect, it doesn't seem as intense as I remember but it's certainly a vivid memory.
The first time I experienced it I didn’t really get the attraction but I’m pretty sure the special effects in my chair weren’t working because I went back to try it again and this time was blown away by the special effects! I ended up loving the attraction and I even had a soft spot for the Stitch overlay because I’ve always had a fondness for that character
During an armchair imagineering competition someone submitted an idea for a HHN-esque event for Disney Hollywood Studios (the park more likely to get an event like that) with a few haunted houses themed to Toy Story, The Nightmare before Christmas and so on. They also went into detail in describing a Star Wars house (the competition was in thinking of a haunted house). The idea was great! I'd love to see Disney do something like they do in Hong Kong
Certainly interesting.
I've always wondered why Universal doesn't do a not so scary in Islands of Adventure. Minions in Halloween costumes, The Scooby gang and their many ghosts, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, cute versions of the classic monsters and the Marvel Villain's in comic book form come to mind. Last year during Covid they had a trick or treat at Islands so why not market this up?
Universal used Islands of Adventure for it's HHN events from 2002-2005, where every island would be made into a scarezone. The reason why Universal isn't using IOA anymore could be due to them needing to worry about all these rules, as there are 3 that would really affect them. Those rules being:
No Marvel Themes (since 2003 after Marvel's backlash)
No Scary Imagery in Suess (Rule made by Dr. Seuss's Widow)
Don't mix Harry Potter with HHN (Rule made by J.K Rowling)
While I can easily see them loop around the Harry Potter rule by theming it to Dark Arts. They would need to use something more generic in Marvel. I'm not exactly sure how they'd be able to make IOA the "Not-So-Scary" Halloween destination due to the park's more thrilling nature, with an exception being Suess Landing, as that would honestly be perfect. Though, Universal has done Kid-Friendly Halloween activities in Universal Studios Japan, as Minion Land and Universal Wonderland would be made into "Safe-Zones" where Kids can play and go Trick-or-Treating with IPs such as Minions, Sesame Street, Hello Kitty, and Peanuts.
To piggy back off of this, the Studios really needs HHN because that park just continues to under-deliver. That being said, I very much hope that HHN comes to Epic when that opens. I'm tired of the long barricades and gravel that defines the lines at the Studios. If they were to move it to Epic, they could construct buildings and queues specifically for the event.
Probably the easiest Disney “haunted house” would be to simply take the original concept for Haunted Mansion and do that more or less. Beyond that, the possibilities are endless (and let’s not count out Park original stories and characters).
Also, other experiences like Villains grove could be interesting too.
I believe that the first scare maze at Hong Kong Disneyland was inspired by the original Haunted Mansion. I know little about it other than that premise though.
Well, much of this has just been pure speculation. But it's interesting.
A legitimately scary Disney Halloween event would be a tough sell, not just to leadership, but to a large percentage of its consumer base. It wouldn't necessarily be impossible though.
In Walt Disney Studios in Paris (a.k.a. Disneyland Paris's backstage area with a few rides) they actually used to have a truly horrific halloween event called Terrific Night, with gore and everything. I guess they were so ashamed of they park that Disney leadership didn't seem to notice or care. An interesting experiment and deviation from the Disney formula, but not something I feel like older audiences would want from a Disney theme park as opposed to a universal theme park.
To get an idea of what a Disney Horror event would be, I think that it would be wise to look a bit less at the Eisner Era and more at the Walt Disney Era of Disney. Even before Eisner, and even with Walt at the helm, Disney didn't really shy away from frightening themes and imagry. The Haunted Mansion, and to a lesser extent, Pirates of the Caribbean, are filled to the brim with some classic examples of horrific imagery, as sanitized as they might feel to a hardcore horror junkie. Not to mention many of the classic Fantasyland dark rides were unintentional nightmare fuel, particularly the Florida version of Snow White. As for his films, examples include Night on Bald Mountain, The implications of Pleasure Island in Pinnochio, as well as the dark tone in a good chunk of Sleeping Beauty.
So much like you have suggested, an event less reliant on graphic violence and jump scares, but one that focuses more on atmosphere and theming. Less like and 80's slasher film and more like a 30's Universal Monster film. Basically, taking the underlying dark themes already present in Disney Parks, and bring them to the forefront.
Basically, What if the Disney Villains took over the park. Or, the ghosts of The Haunted Mansion are left to run the park, brining their twisted sense of humor to the land.
They already have Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy they could implement. Some things that could work would be walkthrough experiences though the Fantasyland dark ride show buildings, there are plenty of assets in there that could fit well within a non-traditional haunted house, like say a walkthrough where you must escape from pleasure island. One other thing I've thought about would be riding through Pirates of the Caribbean with the lights off, with certain figures and areas briefly illuminating, giving guests a sense of uncertainty and insecurity. They could also resurrect an abandoned Fantastic prototype involving Haunted Mansion ghosts to be a Rivers of America show. A Fireworks show themed to Night on Bald Mountain. A Haunted Mansion Parade Turning the Jungle Cruise into a perilous trek through a supernatural jungle. Emphasising the supernatural element in Thunder Mountain's lore. Perhaps even turning Indiana Jones Adventure into a large-scale walk-through narrative experience. And last but not least, It's a Small World, but the music and animatronics are turned off.
Of course, the Haunted Mansion would operate as is.
I feel like Disney's Halloween event can be targeted towards teens who are not old enough or ready for Universal's Halloween Horror Nights
Here’s a little something interesting, did you know that Hong Kong Disneyland is the ONLY Disney Park that actually made scare mazes?
They included; Main Street Haunted Hotel, Demon Jungle, Alien Invasion, Revenge of the Headless Horseman, Graves Academy, The Nightmare Experiment, and Maze of Madness: The Nightmare Experiment Continues.
Have they continued with the mazes though? I can't seem to find a clear answer on this.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Not entirely, after Maze of Madness: The Nightmare Experiment Continues, the people at Hong Kong Disneyland decided to create a maze that wasn’t frightening or scary like the past ones, but was still fun. This maze was known as “Journey Into Halloweentown” which was themed after and made for the 25th Anniversary of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. However it only did well in 2018 where it actually had the movie’s characters whereas the 2019 version had different cast members in different festive Halloween costumes just greeting the guests in general instead of trying to follow along with the maze’s story.
I have never heard about Halloween horror nights before, and it sounds like an awesome video idea.
Actually, Disney has kind of dipped their toes into a "scary" themed haunt events in other markets. On UA-cam, there are videos of Hong Kong Disneyland's Nightmare Experiment. It basically turned movies like Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland pretty disturbing. It was a horror maze, without the blood and guts and looked so "undisney". Disneyland Paris also had a Halloween event were ghouls roamed and scared guests in the early years.
I believe Disney could very much come into the more mature Halloween event market. Sure HHN and other events are popular, but so are Disney Villains! Who better to compete with Howl-o-Scream and Halloween Horror Nights than some of Disney's most iconic twisted characters like The Shadow Man, Cruella, and the likes of Chernabog of Fantasia. Disney could set up temporary maze-like experiences in Hollywood Studios and DCA, and put us in timelines where the villain(s) has defeated our beloved protagonist and have us in their sights.
Again, the mazes don't have to be bloody, just have wonderful theming, haunting music, properly hidden "Boo-holes", and props like discarded clothing or items we know a Disney hero would have, and you have a recipe for success. Shoot, use the rides in the park to expand with the event. Tower of Terror screams scare zone and ride combo in itself. We can have bellhops and the five departed hotel guests "Haunting" the queue line, warning ridders not to enter the hotel and then the ride as is. Put in some fog, and this is a great test the waters type concept. So the opportunity is there if Disney wants to participate in a little more mature events.
He went over the Hong Kong scare mazes in the video
@Montague- He did not know about the Hong Kong haunts, as evident of him thanking people for informing him on them. I didn't even know them about untill a video by Fastpass Facts a few years ago. It was very eye opening to see how dark, yet tame disney could get with horror mazes.
@@cameronbyrd7671 excuse me, I thought your comment was talking about something else.
now i wanna see jack the clown and maleficent fist fight.
I didn't know about the HKD scare experiences; I would LOVE to see what Disney could do for a scare maze!! All things considered, Eisner was indeed a very creative leader of the company, you're right about that.
More traditional scare mazes, even those like HKD, might be a tougher sell at the Disneyland Resort though, just because I think they actually have one of the only large scale, kid-friendly Halloween events in the Los Angeles/Southern California area, so in that sense they're actually cornering that niche market for the season. Every year, my friends and I will make the scare maze rounds: Horror Nights @ Universal, Six Flags Fright Fest, Knott's Scary Farm, the LA Haunted Hay Ride, and for a bit of a drive we'll do the Queen Mary Haunted Harbor mazes in Long Beach, not to mention any number of pop-up scare mazes around town. All of those are for teen-adults, so while I'm sure Disney would have success there too, it feels like an oversaturated market, whereas I don't think there's anything truly comparable for the family-friendly market than Mickey's Not-so-Scary.
It's probably a different situation in Florida though, and am now curious to know more - great video as usual!
You make a good point, and I didn't really consider the California market for haunts. It's definitely different in Orlando though. Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens is a pretty significant event, but it still doesn't reach the level of HHN. Scream-a-geddon is another significant player as well, but otherwise that's pretty much it. I know that SeaWorld Orlando has tried Howl-o-Scream this year, but it doesn't seem to be successful. I'll check it out later this month, but I know it's a rather small event and they're essentially begging people to go at this point.
21:47 Some random dude literally shouted "Oh sh*t"! He obviously didn't watch his mouth like he somehow forgot that he was in a family-friendly theme park, especially a Disney one! Even if Alien Encounter was an intense attraction in a Disney Park to warrant such a reaction!
I somehow completely missed that
You can say everything you want about Eisner, but he was definitely ambitious.
I still remember being 6 and my mom mistakenly taking me into Alien Encounter thinking it was some sort of shelter for the intense rain that day. I was genuinely scared. In retrospect it was definitely unique.
I was young when I went in there as well. Definitely a memorable experience though.
Alien encounter...and even stitch's great escape were two of my favorite attractions at WDW
Missing the Eisner days. Good accurate history. Keep it going good sir.
Honestly, as someone who adores Halloween but has NEVER enjoyed the intense scares of something like a HHN or (in my hometown of Atlanta) Netherworld style of "intense, cutting edge, multi attraction haunted event" I appreciate that Disney does something milder for us scaredy cats (and there are millions of us around the world) even if I have never been able to afford to go. I do like some of your ideas (like having the skeleton pirates walking around the park to interact with people in the sort of frenzied way they do in the film) and I agree that it could go a little more scary since a lot of the event is ticketed separately, is after most kids' bedtimes, and honestly is too expensive to pay for more than yourself and your partner to go anyway.
When I was a kid, I found Maleficent and the Evil Queen scary as hell (back when Disney still did villains) and rather intense. So let the cast members BE more intense and play darker with their villainous characters for the Halloween season. Let the EQ be her scary ass witch self, let Maleficent be the cutting, cold, Mistress of Evil who declared that Philip should now deal "with all the powers of HELL!" There are certainly ways they could go scarier without going full on chainsaw massacre...or threatening to cut someone's head of with shears.
I know it seems contradictory that I love the idea of decorating up my house and myself to look all spooky for Halloween, but I don't want to be scared out my mind because I never liked it as a kid. And when I watch the 3-year old toddlers draw back and not want to approach my door despite their insisting parent...I can't help but feel guilty for going *too* spooky, because I remember that feeling. I enjoy a little creepiness with my Halloween, but I just don't want the intense blood and gore and howling actors chasing me through a maze. And really, I can get _that_ kind of experience ANYWHERE. For cheaper.
Throughout Disneyland's entire history, the majority of parties visiting have not contained children, just as the majority of households subscribing to Disney+ also do not contain children.
I think the marketing misleads people into believing that it's intended for children. When I go to Magic Kingdom or Disneyland though, I rarely see anything aimed specifically towards children other than meet and greets. "Family" attractions are in abundance, but that's certainly distinct from children.
Disney should have a Halloween Horror Nights styled Halloween event focusing on Disney Villains!
If that happened, just imagine the Marvel IP maze they could do that marvel told universal not to do after HHN 12.
A Disney villains maze like Scary Tales. An Alice in wonderland maze based off Tim burton or American McGee. Original mazes. So many ideas if this actually happened.
But that’s a big WHAT IF… especially since Hong Kong isn’t doing the Disney haunt no more
I agree that there's a lot that they could do. Their massive library is perfect for scare mazes.
Man! Disney REALLY needs some actually scary attraction for Halloween. Look, I like myself some non-scary spooky stuff, but some thrill would really help with its more mature guests. Like maybe an attraction starring Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, guiding guests to nightmarish realms filled with all sorts of freaks of nature
Disney could have a haunted house where animatronic alligators eat children, brain eating amoeba create zombies in mouse ears etc. But this would be a specially ticketed attraction of course.
Why pay when you can do it for free?
I was thinking during the video . . . My problem with the chains of being "kid friendly" is not because I'm an adult, but because the restraints of being "kid friendly" is condescending and overly sanitized. I didn't start riding roller coasters with loop-de-loops when I became a young adult. I started riding them the moment the top of my head hit the line of the "You Must Be This Tall To Ride" sign. For most kids, that's actually around the age of 7. And I personally find a title like "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" just plain off-putting. Imagine of the Haunted Mansion were called the "Not So Ghostly Mansion." If you're gonna do horror, just do it. Don't advertise that it has no fangs. Goosebumps wasn't gory or extremely intense, but they at least promised kids that they were in for a scare. That's, I guess, the problem with Disney and the "kid-friendly" leash. It treats kids like they don't actually want any scares, not like they just need more toned down versions of them.
I’ve always wondered if Disney could do a scary event at ESPN. Keep it away from the parks or something idk
WWoS always seemed like a missed opportunity to me. It definitely fits into the markets that Disney was expanding into "the Disney way", but now it just seems to sit there. Perhaps using it for a Halloween event could work, but even as someone who has very little interest in sports, it could definitely be utilized better.
I agree having 2 different ranges of Halloween parties is a missed opportunity by Disney. It would be nice for the teen and young adult demographic to have their own more intense Halloween experience at Disney. Disney has 4 parks, 2 of which are perfect for having after hour parties within. Personally Disney need to stop being stagnant and cautious with their Disney World property and start expanding again. Universal is dominating currently and they are not stopping. They have a 4th park being build and they are not afraid to change things up. Disney is so set in not changing that they won’t even put a Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Overlay in their park even though it’s is well accepted and requested at WDW, because of Disneyland’s popularity. I truly hate how much WDW is treated as the trash heap of the all the Disney Park even though it is the most popular and has the highest crowd/foot traffic. The chances of a 5th park and more adventurous rides is low.
While I know everyone shits on Michael Eisner, he did understand that Disney was about the experience. And he was willing to take risks and trust the opinions of imagineers and kids. Idk, I kind of miss him now.
Disney doing a Disney version of Halloween horror nights is the most UnDisney thing I've seen them try to do!
I think transforming a traditional fairy tale villain into a heroine was scarier tbh... it gets worse when you realize that it was their biggest hit by far. 🤔🤷♂️🙃
I think that shoving cartoons into Epcot is the most "un-Disney" thing that they can do. Up until the last decade, what made the parks "Disney" to me was the quality and effort that went into the experience. Only a company like Disney could produce such a unique attraction like Living With the Land. Anyone can regurgitate IP ad nauseum though. Perhaps Disney is now competing with Motiongate.
Hey Poseidon! I’m a new subscriber and I usually don’t comment, but I do have to say that I love your videos, and I really appreciate your honest take on Eisner. He wasn’t that bad, and his failures really overshadow how many accomplishments he’s had. Without Eisner we would never have gotten the Disney Renaissance, HollyWood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Disney stores, Disney cruise lines, and beautiful resorts like Grand Floridian, Yacht & beach club, etc. That guy REALLY expanded the Disney company, and while not every decision was the best, I do admire his appreciation for creativity and originality.
I think that DCA was really the largest blight on his record, along with WDSP and Hong Kong DIsneyland. Those are pretty significant blunders, but I agree that he played a huge role in saving the company as well. As far as WDW goes, things were overall pretty good, with some notable exceptions here and there.
dude i found ur channel at the beginning of the week and felt absolutely in love. Ur vids are amazing, u have a new fan!!
Thanks, I'm glad that you enjoy!
Considering that I had a panic attack as a child during Stitch's Great Escape, I think I would have actually pissed my pants during Alien Encounter.
The only thing scary now about the Disney Halloween event are the ticket prices- 👻
The Christmas after hours event is apparently having issues selling. Perhaps we'll see.
I feel like a cool concept for a Disney horror nights would be to take the original stories of the princesses and bring them to life; Brothers Grimm or Hans Andersen to mention a few. For instance, Arial was supposed to kill Eric but killed herself instead, and the Evil Queen ate Snow White's intestines (but it was a pig's; she was lied to and assumed it was Snow White). Just taking the Mad Hatter concept to another level.
An interesting concept. I've always been a fan of the Scary Tales houses.
Or how Cinderella's stepsisters had to cut their toes to fit the shoe (and then they get attacked by crows and blindfolded), Pinocchio nearly killing himself at Some point of the story, how the prince that rescued rapunzel was nearly killed and blindfolded by rose's spine, the OG Hunchback of notredame story written by Víctor Hugo (or the classic Horror film based on that book), the ice queen's mirror, etc.
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is it's one big event each year that the spend a ton of money producing, but Disney World has so many events through out the year that bring people into the parks. At Epcot there's The Festival of the Arts, Flower & Garden show, and Food & Wine fest. Magic Kingdom has the Halloween and Christmas events, plus a Villains event that was just getting going before the pandemic hit, there were special events at the Water Parks in recent years, plus they decorate for the Christmas Holiday at all their Parks and Resorts... "If" Disney World wanted to compete with Universal's Horror Nights, The Holly Wood Studios park would be the place to do it, Tower of Terror has become the Park icon after all... They all ready have Star Wars and Indiana Jones there, and could add in special event things like Alien, and the film versions of Pirates of the Caribbean, Maleficent and Cruella and Fantasmic could become something completely "dark and scary"... but I can't imagine a blood guts and gore event from Disney
Nah and I don't think they would ever include gore in any attractions, even at a scary event. I wouldn't even want them to because they can still manage to deliver without it.
@@PoseidonEntertainment If they did a cool "PG-13" Halloween Party based on their live action films at the Hollywood Studio I go see it
Alien Encounter and Tower Of Terror were awesome. I’m so glad I got to enjoy it before they ruined it.
The haunt mazes at Hong Kong Disneyland definitely show how their take would look like in the U.S. parks, and it would be completely unique and different, which should be preferred over just copying HHN's formula, causing stagnation in Halloween festivities. There's also the villain grotto maze at DCA too.
"People like to be scared."
Walt Disney
I'm willing to bet that Eisner would've never allowed Pirates of the Caribbean to be changed the way it was changed after he got dumped.
I remember I was still kind of young when the changes were made and even then I thought it was unnecessary and tacky. Apparently too many guests were "confused" as to why Jack Sparrow wasn't in it. Who cares?
is pretty simple in my mind not so scary in magic kingdom and a Halloween horror nights esc area in Hollywood studios
It seems a little too obvious
I remember the first time my dad took me on dinosaur at animal kingdom when I was about 6, it was both our first times on the ride so we had no idea what to expect. I still have ptsd to this day from that ride as I was not expecting it to be as scary as it was that ride absolutely terrified me
Dinosaur is definitely an interesting attraction. I really only consider to be a few steps down from the intensity that one might find at HHN. I'm certainly glad that it exists though. I find it to be highly underrated.
love your chjannel dude. spent all last night watching em ! keep it up
Thanks, I appreciate the support!
This is one of my fav one of yours
There was a idea were Disney was going to make a Godzilla ride. This was going be a fast train ride.
I wonder if Disney would use that idea again?
A very minor historical inaccuracy: Disneyland's version of Captain EO came out in 1986, not 1987.
On topic: In some instances, I think how HKDL did haunt mazes would lend themselves to the US Disney Parks, but in only two theme parks: the Disney Hollywood Studios park and the Disney California Adventure park. Why there is because of losing/shifting their thematic identity and thus becoming a blank aesthetic slate.
This being hypothesis: For instance in the Disneyland Resort, prior to Avengers Campus and when the not so scary party was at Disneyland park, California Adventure park had room to implement similar mazes like HKDL or a variation of the cult tour attraction from Tokyo Disneyland, The Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour (though modified and loosely based off Kingdom Hearts II world, Disney Castle in it's interior.)
Similarly, some of those mazes and the aforementioned mystery tour would have worked at Disney Hollywood Studios park. Bringing in some revenue while also being loosely based on their more scary/Halloween properties, like walking through some iconic scenes from the Nightmare Before Christmas or the science fantasy film, The Watcher in the Woods.
On a separate note, I personally would have been scared of the Alien Encounter had it come to Disneyland park. But I also know Southern California Disneyland locals would have welcomed it with open arms, considering the popularity of the Haunt mazes and experiences with horror fans and college students.
Definitely interesting ideas here. Thanks for the correction as well
i had no clue that disney scare mazes actually existed already, that's super cool! i think disney sure could do something to rival halloween horror nights if they were willing to put the focus on it, but that really doesn't seem too likely. with disney having so many parks too i feel like there'd be potential for them to go full on with the theming at some parks while leaving others to be the classic disney experience so there's still something for all ages or people who don't like scares but there's still the intensity that the big horror lovers want
They're certainly not lacking the money to do it. I'm surprised by how involved the houses at Hong Kong were.
I do understand people want to be scared. But, the problem i have is that the "haunted houses" at HHN can't truly scare people. So there isn't anything to be frightened of and they end being not scary. I went to an HHN the year they had it at Islands and there was stuff to do beside wait in line. It was fun. I'd go again. I did go again and it was back at Universal. Nothing to do but Jaws and wait in lines. Lines whose wait times for all the houses added up to quite a few hours longer than HHN was open. Haven't been back since. Can't see all the houses cause the event hours don't let the park stay open long enough. Can't go on any rides cause they're all shut down or turned into houses. Not worth wasting money on. I honestly have no clue how HHN is still a success.
You presume that HHN operates this way still? There are plenty of attractions open and a large part of the appeal isn't the intensity of the houses. Each house is treated as an artistic endeavor and the level of detail that goes into each one is fascinating.
I love the content! I wanted to know what are your thought on Harmonious and the rest of the 50th? I personally hate KiteTails, dislike Enchantment, and find Harmonious passable.
I thought enchantment was decent, harmonious bad, and kite tails… don’t know what the hell they were thinking
I've been busy so I have yet to really digest the different shows other than skimming through them. However, I will say that the 50th has been off to a rather disastrous start. I've considered just making a shorter video next week talking about how hilarious it all is.
@@PoseidonEntertainment I agree that the 50th has been hilarious so far. KiteTails has had so many malfunctions. Nothing that has debuted has been truly amazing. The company needs to learn how to take risks again.
Never expected you were gonna make a horror nights video any time soon.
Hong honk disney was a very interesting case of hallowen events at disney parks,they had the first version of ghost galaxy,jungle cruise and they had their own maze before they went to a more friendly aproach.
Also im such a phantom manor fanboy.
Great essay.
I am a fan of Ghost Galaxy. I've only experienced it once, but I thought it was an interesting concept.
That being said, being an avid hhn fan and universal adult on the same field as a Disney adult. I'd be very curious to see what a fully fleshed out full-on horror events from Disney would look like. With star wars and Marvel, they've got some potential there
OMG that Circus world footage took me back!
They've removed my beloved Barbossa from the Halloween parade!
I’ve been watching some of the “scary” themed new mickey cartoons to get into the spooky mood. I just have to say, while I totally agree that most of their content is aimed at 6 year olds, they seem to be trying to take a whack at darker themes. Mickey dying at the end of the evil queen one, the duck boys being baked into pies by a witch. Don’t know if it would actually scare a child, but I am into hard core horror/gore and this freaks me out. I’m not used to seeing Mickey/Disney in that light. I actually think this makes it much easier for Disney to cause more intense experiences when it comes to scaring even adults. When it comes to darker theming of the character that is supposed to match the definition of light hearted, it’s SUPER unsettling to see Disney turn the mouse into a darker character. Which is why even though I don’t love this new style, I really like the scarier themed cartoons. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years. Hopefully they start changing things around. I absolutely love Disney Land but it’s sad the way it’s currently headed.
I don't like the new animation style at all, but I do like the narrative beats and they are quite entertaining. I will say that Disney's film/television productions are generally okay with pushing the barrier of what one might expect from Disney though. I remember back in 2003 when Pirates came out and people were completely surprised that Disney was releasing a PG-13 movie. Now though, that type of content is a staple of Disney+ with Marvel and Star Wars. My major problem comes from the treatment of the parks with this incessant need to stuff cartoons in places where they don't belong. The World Showcase no longer exists as a place to learn about other cultures and nations, but is instead an excuse to stuff in cartoons and works as a backdrop to sell "international" themed drinks.
Then you'll love the classic short film of the Mad Doctor starting Mickey Mouse
The music at the videopolis section is the timelapse music for GoodTimesWithScar and its all I can think of lol
A lot of the music in the video is from the same artist, Lupus Notce. But, I did directly decide to look up the artist because of his videos.
Here's the song for reference: ua-cam.com/video/O4Lsah7bEJY/v-deo.html
Dinosaur and Extra TERRORestrial scared the absolute pants off me as a child. I heavily looked forward to getting to ride them again when I was older and braver. Obviously a no-go for ET, semi-likely to be a no-go for Dinosaur, since I'm not hitting the parks anytime soon in their (and the economy's) current state.
If it was actually real, many kids would be frightened and screaming that their Disney heroes are covered in blood
Interesting concept. However, under the present money-grab it would surely be a "nightmare"... financially speaking.
I wouldn't be surprised if the new "after hours" events replace even the Halloween party. Far more money for far less? I'm surprised that people are paying. That being said, apparently Disney is having trouble selling their Christmas event.
Disney had a movie called the “Mickey’s House of Villains” where the plot was literally Mickey getting kicked out of his own dine-in theater, and the heroes being locked away in the kitchen while the villains had their fun. I always wanted to have an event where the villains truly take over Disney World for Halloween, especially if they crack open the Disney Vaults for inspiration. Like imagine some of the more obscure villains getting a chance in the spotlight like Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or even go full scare factor with the Horned King from Black Cauldron. It would help acknowledging the older audiences who would know some of the older movie antagonists other then the 6 year olds.
Maybe they could even have an entire grand finale show at the castle where the heroes fight back and take back Disney World for a transition into the family friendly Halloween.
I know there was the Disney villains after hours event in 2019 that looked kind of interesting. It apparently sold pretty well and were going to bring it back in 2020, but obviously they couldn't. If it were to return, I agree that I would like to see more obscure villains and I would hazard to say that this would be the perfect place to put them.
I did the very first two Mickey Halloween Treat events in '95 and '96 as a performer in the Haunted Mansion. I'm glad the holiday remained fun as I think horror nights would have been the wrong choice. But I DO think they could add a bit more "oomph" to their villain appearances in the park for these events. As Jim Henson said: "it's unhealthy for children never to be afraid". That's the core of fairy tales and subsequently the core of Disney since their legacy is built on them.
I agree for sure. Current Disney leadership treats children like they're stupid, incapable of handling even mild thrill. I've made this point elsewhere, but I called attention to how early Disney films like Bambi, weren't afraid to explore sad or tragic moments despite being considered kid-friendly. In contrast, contemporary Disney films move quickly through sad moments, not trusting their audience to be able to handle it.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Yeah very much agreed.
I was 6 when my family went to Disney and was in love with dinosaurs, and one of my favorite Disney movies is still Dinosaur. The dinosaur ride was terrifying to me, but I loved it.
I agree that a Disney horror event would work well at Disney Hollywood studios, I imagine the houses in the style of those they used to make at Hong Kong Disneyland, And the scare zones would also work, I mean I imagine that in echo lake there is a dead man's wharf type scare zone, or sunset boulevard in the style of vanity ball And as for the shows, imagine a more terrifying version of fantasmic and they can even put temporary stages for magic or dance shows, in short it would be epic
Walt wanted his park to be for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that every ride or experience needs to be for everyone, that way mediocrity lies. As long as there’s family friendly alternative available (preferably in a different park) more adult/intense experiences or events should definitely be available.
It’s worth noting that the Walt Disney Studios Paris former Halloween event Terroriffic Night was put on by a 3rd party and had nothing to do with Imagineering and probably not indicative of what a Disney Halloween event would look like.
The Hong Kong Halloween experience does seem to be tone down somewhat in recent years. The year before the world locked down it was a simple walk through Halloween Town with a couple of minor jump scares and a meet and greet with Sally and Jack (or Sally and Oogie Boogie).
I agree that not just Disney, but any theme park should be balanced. I believe that accessible, family friendly experiences should make up the bulk, but the occasional pivot towards kids and on the flip-side, thrill seekers should be sprinkled in as well.
@@PoseidonEntertainment At least as it applies to Disney I would like to see Halloween events separated. Although the undead pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean would make a perfect horror maze or scare zone I wouldn’t want that going on in the same place as “Not so Scary”
Never thought you’d read let alone reply, don’t I feel stupid for basically writing the same message twice.
@@TobiasBroad I generally try to read as many comments as I can, even if I don't necessarily have the time to reply to all of them.
@@PoseidonEntertainment During recovery from a recent bout of food poisoning I just discovered your channel, no need to reply to all my various messages on various different videos.
Incredible, this video is spot on while Eisner, did make a lot of bad poorly thought out decisions for the sake of more money like Euro Disneyland and all of those awful direct-to-video sequels. I think while he was a morally questionable as a businessman and gets more of a bad rap than he probably deserves since a was a driving force behind the Disney animated movie renaissance and the expansion of Disney World, and he helped save the company from being decimated by its competition.
I actually think that Euro Disneyland was a fantastic park when it opened. They certainly spared no expense in crafting an artistically significant park, but they were so tone deaf to the market that they were entering. If Euro Disneyland hadn't failed, the company definitely would have taken a different direction.
To bad we are now stuck with the giant dollar sign known as Chapek. More shopping, less/shoddy rides and attractions!!!!!!
Perhaps he could be convinced to host an event like this if a bunch of pop-up merchandise carts could be littered around.
I've been to Universal horror nights in Hollywood and it wasn't worth it. The park was packed and the park is small. Waited 2 hours for the walking dead maze for a 2 minute walk through maze. I like Knotts Scary Farm better then horror nights.
I've heard the Hollywood HHN is kind of bad. Orlando is something else though.
Another great video...as always. You know I've been there and done that...but now Disney just isn't doing it for me. I watched Tim tracker and Adam the Woo for the 50th early this morning. Even they both seemed to have a less than stellar time. Both were a bit critical at the end of their videos. It makes you pose the question..."Is all this worth it, if you're going to have a less than stellar time?". Would love to see a video on just that question alone. I think you know what my answer would be...🌎
I've noticed that even vloggers/bloggers who unapologetically excuse every poor decision made by the company have even started to drift in a negative direction. It's an interesting shift and I think telling of how things will continue to evolve.
I wonder if Universal will build Donkey Kong after Mario World and then... Minecraft. If that happens, it's over for Disney and they'll have to re-think every short-sighted decision they've made in the past decade and beyond.
this was crazy
4:43 Miramax is owned by Viacom(Paramount) now
I so miss Alien Encounter
Hmmm...Hmm.... I wonder what I hybrid between the "For Children" and the "For Teens and Alduts" approach would be like. I am already thinking of something.
Funny enough I’m a cm at Disneyland and for us cm this month there throwing a scary carnival with scare actors in DCA gonna be a lil weird cause Disney doesn’t do scary but I’m exited to see what this is gonna look like . This isn’t a cast preview just an event they do every year for fun
Interesting. It seems like the perfect park to have a public event like that as well.
I wish they bring it back to disneyland
They really Seouls try to be like Universal. They could make easily make mazes with the Twilight Zone theme, or a marvel zombies maze
A howl o scream ad in the beginning. How fitting.
I'm curious to try SeaWorld's version. I've heard mixed things.
We think the scariest ride at Universal is the cat in the hat ride
I do think that Eisner would have considered having more intense events at the Disney Parks as Eisner was incredibly ambitious for his time.
Which of course, was Eisner's greatest flaw, he was simply too ambitious and while it did put Disney back on the map, it also got Disney in lots of hot water too.
Of course, 90s era America is so much different than modern era America, that it's not even funny. Brand Safety became hugely important in Corporate America and Disney and Universal were no exceptions. You may scoff at Disney saying that it's branding for 5 year old's right now, but the reason is because they have gotten so much hatred from the PARENTS of those 5 year old's over the stupidest details. Remember when Kilimanjaro Safaris used to have a poacher's camp and a dead elephant body in it? Not anymore, and why? Because the parents didn't like it. Remember also when parents swore that the word SEX was spelled out in dust during 2 seconds of The Lion King? Parents went nuts over that one! Everything that Disney ever does gets heavily scrutinized by parents that are just chomping at the bit to take Disney to court for showing their kid something "inappropriate."
It's no wonder that Disney has been leaning toward more family friendly, more brand safe, entertainment. Still, I think Disney has done a good job bringing new thrills to their parks while still keeping their family friendly brand, but I highly doubt that anything even close to the intense nature of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights could be reached by Disney, not without serious repercussions anyway. The gory, adult and sexualized nature of HHN is totally off brand for Disney.
It's an odd move to pivot to such a vocal minority though. HHN itself is always lambasted as being too intense for children, and yet they're clearly not the target demographic and the event continues to make a ridiculous sum of money. I have a feeling that the "kidification" of Epcot will backfire on the company over the next few years. Yes, I'm sure that small children love it, but the shallow transformation of the park doesn't go unnoticed and I predict will hurt attendance numbers. It's just like with Star Wars when The Last Jedi was released. The film had it's vocal minority of sexist and racist problematic critics, but Disney failed to see realize that there was a much larger demographic that was simply turned off to Disney's brand of Star Wars due to their films being so poorly crafted. When Solo bombed, they appeared to not understand their mistake, thinking that brand name alone would create profit. I predict that the current sweeping transformations of the Disney parks will be very much like that. The company feels a false sense of security because of of this apparent "cult of Disney" that will eat up anything that they produce in exchange for media access, but I sense that a large degree of people are becoming turned off to the company. The experience continues to become worse, and at times, insulting to the consumer.
@@PoseidonEntertainment
Except for Disney, those vocal parents are not the minority. They are the majority. They are the ones who take these expensive vacations to the Disney Parks. Think about those ticket prices, who is able to afford to pay that much for an amusement park? Teenagers? Young Adults on minimum wage? Nope, middle age, full time working, home-owning, parents. The 30+ crowd. They are the prime target audience, so yes Disney will absolutely cater to them and their little ones. And the audience just below that demographic? International travelers, often again with their families, who are looking to experience that classic Mickey-Mouseified, Pixie-Dusted Disney touch. Teens and thrill seekers? We are the unfortunate minority here.
And historically, this is nothing new. Disney has always struggled to gain the tween and teenage crowds in their parks, and have often had periods of re-gravitating towards the audiences they know they can attract, kids and families. They have also had shifts in popularity, where the theme parks would stagnate but their film and movie departments became more successful and vice versa. I think that this may be just another one of those times, and that's normal. You mentioned the "age gap" of people seemingly growing out of Disney until they become adults, that is real and has always been there.
Universal, on the other hand, often struggles with family friendly entertainment which is why Universal is currently riding so heavily on Harry Potter and Nintendo for kid friendly attractions. Why? Because it's that same 30+ crowd that's also the main demographic of vacationers going to Universal as well, and what they end up finding out is that Universal's kid friendly entertainment is very lackluster in comparison to Disney. Where Universal does shine, oddly enough, is where Disney fails, with the thrill seekers and Horror Nights crowd. And yes HHN is extremely profitable for Universal and for a few reasons, first off it's an absolutely amazing event with a ton of work and talent behind it, secondly alcohol sales (not joking, they make more in alcohol than in merch from the event) and lastly Universal has always been a company that was directly associated with classic horror movies and action thrillers. Horror is part of Universal's Brand just as family entertainment is part of Disney's. King Kong, Jaws, Beetlejuice, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Jurassic Park, (Jimmy Fallon) most of Universal's theme park offerings has to do with horror, scares and thrills, so it's really a no brainer that they would have a major horror themed event be successful. And Universal knows how to bring realistic horror to their parks comfortably.
But horror is not a major part of Disney's theme park offerings, the most Disney has to work with is an assortment of their animated movie villains which are not realistically scary. And with their major demographic hyper critical of anything that might be "too scary" for their precious little ones, (you'd be amazed how many complaints Disney rides get for being "too scary") horror is a much riskier gamble for Disney to take. Even in their movies, Disney hides behind their other company labels when it comes to action and horror. You said so yourself. Miramax, Touchtone, all owned by Disney but not associated with the Disney brand.
I see Disney and Universal existing in a weird sort of symbiosis. Where Disney falters, Universal shines. Where Universal struggles, Disney succeeds. Neither one is better than the other and neither one will truly outperform the other. Choosing one over the other is like choosing heads vs tails. Myself? I enjoy both parks, understanding that they both offer fundamentally different entertainment.
By the way sorry for the long post. I just have a real fascination with the psychology of theme parks and how they evolve over time. Thanks for reading! 😊😊
Each time I go to the parks, I feel like i see more of people who are in their late teens, 20s, 30s and 40s with no children, either with a group of friends or their couple go to these parks than the nuclear family. Is it a risk for Disney to start making scary Halloween mazes, shows, and zones? Yes but heck if the current higher ups what to get rid of their label of being “safe, generic, and not original” than I think this is a best option to consider. And they could make a deal with other studios not universal to use their IPs to make these mazes like with Sony or Warner Bros
Just dropping by to help with the algorithm
For years there was talk of making a Halloween event at MGM that was supposed to be a scarry Halloween event with all the villains. I think it would be awesome if they ever did it but i don't think they will because of the new people in charge.
I love the Dinosaur ride
At Disneyland Paris, during a few years we had Terrorific Nights.
Such a well researched doco 👍
Honestly, most of this was off the top of my head.
They did my boy Mad Hatter dirty
Didn’t japan or hung Kong have a scary event they did in the past?
Bring good back original star tour
i honestly forgot this video was about halloween halfway through
If current Disney leadership attempted a Disney version of Halloween Horror Nights, you can bet it would be over priced and offer a cheap experience that would probably be a let down.
I had my issues with Eisner, especially the cheapskate version from the 90s, but there is no denying he was much more creative than current management and did introduce some attractions that are among my favorites to the park including Tower of Terror, Alien Encounter, and (I think this was the Eisner era?) Expedition Everest.