Coast to Coast Similarities: Walt Disney World & Disneyland Attraction Copycats

I visit both parks annually and completely agree with you on the leaving Cars Land a DLR specialty. There are plenty of more ideas that the Imagineers can develop as additions to DHS that would be just as good, if not better than what Cars Land is today. However, I think my opinion would change if I never go to DLR, and only go to WDW because I would want to see everything that the Imagineers develop.

Classic attractions, like Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It’s a Small World, are okay to replicate, even though I like the original versions better, not only because they are more authentic “Walt Disney” attractions, but because, in my opinion, tell the story better. I actually wish DLR had Carousel of Progress.

Bottom line is that I think people need to realize that the Imagineers have a lot in their arsenal to use as major E-ticket attractions and lands. For example, they could make an UP themed land with Paradise Falls and an attraction as the house on its journey. The possibilities are limitless.

I don’t agree at all. We live in Utah and drive to Disneyland regularly. We will be visiting WDW for the first time this year. I love that there are some unique things to each park, but honestly, we can’t afford to go to WDW all the time, so really, the only way we will normally experience these things is if they are at DLR. If it’s a good ride, let a greater number of people experience it by having it in multiple places because most of us can’t visit multiple locations in a year.

Sorry, but I think this story is way off base. Even though there are many of the same attractions on both coasts many of the attractions have different experiences and feels to them. Space Mountain in DL is a different ride experience than in WDW. We prefer the DL version. The Haunted Mansion is also a different feel – we prefer the WDW version. Pirates of the Caribbean is also very different from DL to WDW. We think the DL version is a much better attraction. And while on the subject of Pirates – the Imagineers were not going to put Pirates in WDW. When the park opened many, many visitors kept asking, “where is the pirates attraction?” After constant questioning, the Imagineers put the attraction in WDW. The two castles are very different. So, while it may seem that Disney might be “cheating” by placing “copycat” attractions in all the parks in more cases than not it’s because guests demand these attractions and want them.

What it really boils down to is money. The company spends millions of dollars in developing and building a new attraction. They can duplicate an attraction on the opposite coast for much less than it costs to create completely new and unique attractions for each resort. If you think about it, Disney has been doing this for years with its entertainment, specifically the parades. I’m sure there are many fresh ideas sitting around in Imagineering that would thrill Disney fans, but most of them will never be built because of the cost. It was the same back in Walt’s day, the same with Marc Davis and Tony Baxter and their generations of Imagineers.

Toy Story does to the extent that it’s part of Pixar’s “studio”. Other than that the theming of the park has been lost since the mid-90s.

Ms. Mancini,

I can sympathize with you in that ideally each resort should offer
unique entertainment. In a realistic business world, though, it makes
sense to condense both financial and mental resources. By developing a
single idea and introducing it in two locations, such as what was done
for the relatively new Little Mermaid attractions, Disney improves its
efficiency. Isn’t it simpler to build two of the same successful
attraction rather than spend the resources to develop a whole new set of
concepts? And by staggering the openings by a year, Disney had insight
on the successes and problems from the first Little Mermaid attraction
in Disney California Adventure so that improvements could be made for
the almost identical ride which officially opened four months ago at the
Magic Kingdom in Florida. Disney is still in the business of making
money. Where one views the cutting of costs as a loss of creativity
another may see that decision as a method of efficiently allocating
scarce resources for the overall benefit of the company.

I also think there needs to be a sense of humility in that on a
Disney fan site there is a larger than normal percentage of people who
have visited both domestic Disney resorts. I, myself, have spent a
decent amount of time on Disney property in both California and Florida,
yet I recognize that a great majority of guests have not had this
privilege. Do you think that there is a significant enough population
that has visited both resorts and complains over attraction
homogeneity? With The Disneyland Resort pulling its attendance heavily
from local California and surrounding state residents, presumably, very
few will have the opportunity to travel across the country to visit the
Walt Disney World Resort, and even if they do, there are still enough
unique attractions to satisfy a Disney veteran. The reciprocal is true
for a guest more accustomed to frequent trips to Florida who decides to
visit California. The identical attractions are not large enough in
number to bar an avid Disney fan from having a unique experience when
they visit another Disney Park. I understand that if Disney continues
to go in this direction, the percentage of unique attractions may
decrease, but I have faith that Disney will continue to roll out new
ideas for each of its respective resort areas.