"Hey Mickey, gather your Disneyland friends together and come over here. I want you to meet someone. Yes, get Donald, Goofy, Snow White, Grumpy, Belle, and anyone else you can think of - this is important."
"Disney friends, this is Tony Stark. He is coming to join you here in the Happiest Place on Earth. He's a bit of an egomaniac, a wise guy, maybe even a bit of alcoholic but he's incredibly smart and incredibly rich. He built this metal suit in which he can actually fly. Occasionally, he is called upon to save the world. He is Iron Man."
******
Well, if you believe in the rumors of MiceAge's Al Lutz, Tony Stark and Iron Man are coming to Disneyland with a big time E-Ticket attraction to be primarily built on the site of the poorly utilized but massive Innoventions attraction in Tomorrowland. And the forums and chat rooms have been buzzing ever since Al made his proclamation Marvel superhero characters in Disneyland? Get used to it. Disney CEO Bob Iger spent 4 billion dollars buying Marvel characters. He's already pocketed a substantial amount of cash from The Avengers movie and now he gets a chance to move the popular characters, sometimes with dubious backgrounds, into his California theme park (and other Disney properties around the world) . Sorry WDW, you will be spared a visit from Marvel since Universal has the character licenses locked up in Florida for years.
So on what side does The Disneyland Traveler fall on the great Marvel character in Disneyland debate? If done smartly and the Iron Man attraction delivers the goods, well then, I'm all for it. It is time to shake things up a bit. Disney fans threw fits when George Lucas brought in his Star Wars and Indiana Jones characters into Walt's park, but those attractions are hugely popular and keep guests delighted, entertained, and best of all - returning again and again. You don't see Darth Vader or Indiana Jones in parades or places where they would appear out of place. So I would think the same for Marvel characters. Give them their piece of real estate in the park without trying to overrun the place and all will be fine.
What about the further convolution of Walt's Tomorrowland theme since, while Iron Man is high tech for sure, he is a character of the present? Well, Walt's Tomorroland is basically shot. It may be a thematic mess but couple of the rides in there are some of the most popular in the park as I'm sure Iron Man the ride will be. Iron Man replacing Innoventions isn't going to make the place any worse than it already is if you are one of the those who believes that everything must fit to a Walt Disney theme.
"Welcome Tony Stark. Now put on the suit and let's fly....."
I think an Iron Man ride/exhibit in the place of Innovations is an excellent idea. Innovations is starting to become outdated and not very many people visit. I was wondering about Universal owning the rights to the Marvel characters in their parks, so it makes sense to have them only in Disneyland first. Exciting to see where this all goes!
ReplyDelete