Better ideas for fixing/replacing Alien Encounter

[PatchOBlack]

And there again we come up against something that I just do not understand. It's Disney, it's a theme park with kids and adults, the endings are always predictable. I can understand a kid, unable to think out of the box and possess abstract thought might find it scary, but adults? Really? Can we really classify them as grown ups when they can't differentiate between real and make believe?

Whoa, hold on there! I think you are confusing "allowing one's self to be swept up in a well told story" with "losing touch with reality entirely". I doubt that many folks, deep down, entirely forget that it is a show, but it isn't surprising for even the most mature among us to suspend our disbelief. So, yes, we can call someone a grown up even if they do get scared by something like Alien Encounter.

Of course, it all could be blamed on the fact that I am dead on the inside, but there hasn't been a single Disney attraction that didn't make me laugh. Except ToT and it's not the build up, it's the actual fall...I don't like the sensations of falling...that physically scares me. I do it anyway, but that's not the point. I would never complain that it's too scary, change it.

You may have nerves of steel, but from the reports I've read, in general, guests found Alien Encounter much darker in tone and much more intense than any other attraction found at the various Disney resorts. Now, once again, I'm not putting down very intense, dark, or scary shows. However, Disney, in general, aims to try and make most of the attractions fun for the whole family. While that doesn't mean targeting toward the kids, it does mean that they do have to take younger guests into account.

I've never heard the Alien Encounter was "bad", just that it was very intense, scary, and dark (both senses of the word).

[Goofyernmost]

Whoa, hold on there! I think you are confusing "allowing one's self to be swept up in a well told story" with "losing touch with reality entirely". I doubt that many folks, deep down, entirely forget that it is a show, but it isn't surprising for even the most mature among us to suspend our disbelief. So, yes, we can call someone a grown up even if they do get scared by something like Alien Encounter.

You may have nerves of steel, but from the reports I've read, in general, guests found Alien Encounter much darker in tone and much more intense than any other attraction found at the various Disney resorts. Now, once again, I'm not putting down very intense, dark, or scary shows. However, Disney, in general, aims to try and make most of the attractions fun for the whole family. While that doesn't mean targeting toward the kids, it does mean that they do have to take younger guests into account.

I've never heard the Alien Encounter was "bad", just that it was very intense, scary, and dark (both senses of the word).

Oh, I know it did scare some people, but like I said, I am dead inside and although I can suspend reality to an extent and enjoy the show, I cannot get myself to be scared by it...simply entertained both by content and mechanics. Sorry, it wasn't my intent to put anyone down, it was just how I do not understand how it can happen. I explained that with my second paragraph, I thought. I can completely understand how kids would have the crap scared out of them...just not adults who in the back of their minds know it isn't real and they are in no danger.

I even have an example of how easy it is to get caught up in the story. I used to escort folks that were mentally challenged to Florida. One time, at Universal, I was with two brothers, both with problems. One functioned on a 12 year old level and the other about 10. They were actually both nearly 50 years old. I usually tried to explain before hand that it was make believe but I guess seeing that they were older, I didn't think to that time. I took them on the King Kong ride and when it got to the part where King Kong is in your face, along side the tram. I happened to glance over at them and I was sure that they were going to die from fright. I quickly told them it wasn't real just a machine and there was no danger and fortunately they believed me as the the color started to come back to their faces.

I enjoyed the excitement and the surprise of those types of things but I never felt even a little scared by them, just amused and impressed. Sorry for the shoddy communication on my part. I know it exists, I am not putting anyone down for it...I just don't understand it. That fact is true for a lot of things like TV...I don't have a clue how it works but I watch it just the same. I don't need to understand it to enjoy it.

[drcorey]

make a scary pirate themed ride with a fish restaurant in it.
slogan can be, Beware, this will scare the carp out of you.

[Zazu]

Guests seemed to have three starkly different reactions to Alien Encounter:

Some came out laughing, as they thought it silly;
Some came out shaking their head, as they thought it stupid; and
Some came out crying and shaking, as it triggered just too many scary reaction.

This last group is, IMHO, the primary reason it was changed. While we all like to thing of ourselves as rational beings, and well able to tell the difference between reality and a theme park attraction, we're talking about fears that are deeply rooted in our psyches. Fear of the dark, fear of restraints, fear of the monster under the bead, all seem silly in the light of day, but when they gang up on you when you're already overexcited and perhaps a bit dehydrated, they can trigger a profoundly unpleasant reaction.

After all, Disney did station CMs inside the theater with IR goggles to release and escort out guests with such reactions, which suggest this was not a tiny group.

Me, I was in the "stupid" camp. Of course, I think Stitch is stupider yet, but that's just an opinion, and everybody's got one.

I have no doubt that there's a shelf at Imagineering full of different treatments for this facility. Some day, they'll pull them all down and pick one. Until then, all I can do is to avoid spinning the turnstiles, as low attendance is the only thing that is guaranteed to trigger a change.

[TiggerHappy]

Would it be too much work to have Stitch for the rest of the year and then do the original Alien Encounter overlay for the Halloween season? Then again, this IS TDO we're talking about.

once the haunted mansion was to be a scare the carp out of you attraction. then walt said to add in the comedy stuff and tone it down. the ghosts didnt always smile...

Making ghosts frown on Halloween...

I like it! :D: I have a friend who loves scary things and the Haunted Mansion is her most favorite attraction at any Disney park.

[WEDFan]

Would it be too much work to have Stitch for the rest of the year and then do the original Alien Encounter overlay for the Halloween season? Then again, this IS TDO we're talking about.

I have no real idea about the mechanics of the change, but I expect it would be pretty difficult for that big of an overlay. That said, I think there is a PR problem with a seasonal overlay for WDW that changes things significantly. It really opens you up to guest disappointment. Since the majority of WDW visitors are not local and may not be able to completely control the time of year they come, they could expect one version and get the other, thus creating guest dissatisfaction.

[DonutGoddess]

Wonder if the original Alien Encounter would have done better at Universal?

[PatchOBlack]

I think we can argue whether or not Alien Encounter should have been removed/changed forever. However, that really wasn't what I had in mind when I started this thread (topic drift? In SGT? IMPOSSIBLE! :) ).

So, let us assume for the sake of this discussion that keeping Alien Encounter as it originally was is not an option. The make-over as Stitch's Great Escape is, for the most part, a disappointment in most cases. So, what suggestions would you make to fix the original Alien Encounter or what would have been a better option as a replacement?

[Goofyernmost]

I think we can argue whether or not Alien Encounter should have been removed/changed forever. However, that really wasn't what I had in mind when I started this thread (topic drift? In SGT? IMPOSSIBLE! :) ).

So, let us assume for the sake of this discussion that keeping Alien Encounter as it originally was is not an option. The make-over as Stitch's Great Escape is, for the most part, a disappointment in most cases. So, what suggestions would you make to fix the original Alien Encounter or what would have been a better option as a replacement?

Heck...if someone had a clue...it would probably be changed already. It is a uniquely shaped building and I, for one, am surprised that they were able to work with it three times since the original Journey to the moon. There has been Journey to Mars and then Alien Encounter and now Stitch. I'm thinking that the Imagineers are all imagined out.

[BRWombat]

... I'm thinking that the Imagineers are all imagined out.

Never! Maybe after the upcoming invasion it can be turned into something welcoming our new insect overlords. :p: