DisneyQuest: Should Disney try again?

Walt Disney World: Do you think that Disney should try again and create a new kind of park designed to large urban areas?

From Flavio de Souza
Posted November 12, 2010 at 11:44 AM
I have been twice to the Chicago's DisneyQuest, before its closure, and really appreciate it. And I definitely would like to have such a park in Sao Paulo, near my home.
My question is: What went wrong with DisneyQuest? Do you think that Disney should try again and create a new kind of park designed to large urban areas? If yes, how would you imagine this park should be?

From Anthony Murphy
Posted November 12, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Well, speaking of the one in Chicago, it was in an extremely high real estate area with really high rent. The park did not make as much money as Disney wanted it to be.

The issue is, Disney sometimes has a hard time controling the value of thier magic when outside of the parks.

I would like to see it come back! Its alot of fun!

From Joshua Counsil
Posted November 12, 2010 at 1:53 PM
What went wrong? More importantly, what went right?

The atmosphere is loud, congested, and uninteresting aesthetically. The attractions were mostly unimpressive - the Wii packs more of a punch than most of the games there. The price of admission was far too high. The VR attractions were pretty lame, not to mention dizzying for many people. And why would they put a cheesecake factory in an arcade environment? Blecch.

From Carrie Hood
Posted November 12, 2010 at 2:57 PM
It would be a kind of novel approach to it and possibly a way for people who otherwise couldn't afford a Disney Vacation to visit something of Disney's. However you have to figure there are already things out there like Dave and Busters as well as other type "Adult Arcades" floating around and that's a good potion of what DisneyQuest is aimed at. The Adult and Teenagers are the major targets, little kids would be more entertained with a Chuck E. Cheeses (Yes, I've tested this with my Goddaughter when she was 6).

There is also the fact some major cities have already told Disney where to "Stick it" for lack of a better word. I know they wanted to put a DisneyQuest in Philadelphia and the city flat out shot it down. They didn't want to deal with Disney's rules and regulations, I can see other cities doing the same.

It's hard to say really but it'd be interesting to see but they'd have major competition.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted November 12, 2010 at 10:39 PM
Well Josh, I finally found a disagreement with you on Disney (we usually agree).

Disneyquest predates the Wii so it was a novel concept when it came out. Disney seems to want a captive audience that will pay the money to go. Disneyquest, from all purposes, seemed successful, but with high rent and not extremely high money coming in (high money was coming instead), they scrapped the idea.

Well, if you think about it, Disneyquest pretty much had items, admission, and food stay the same price. Because you are on a longer vacation at Disney World, you will dump the $10 for the hamburger, but not on a daytrip in Chicago. You would go to McDonald's down the street (a very nice one btw).

From Joshua Counsil
Posted November 16, 2010 at 8:21 AM
Yes, you're right, Anthony. It wasn't making enough money. How often does that happen at Disney? Most concepts they incept make tonnes of money. Why? Because they're a heavily sought-after name for vacations. They really have to screw something up (e.g., California Adventure, DisneyQuest) to make insufficient money off it. Downtown Disney is plenty popular, so all signs point to a failure for DisneyQuest.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted November 16, 2010 at 9:41 AM
No, it was one of the top destinations in Chicago, but it wasn't making ENOUGH money.

The Disneyquest in Downtown Disney, on the other hand, makes a TON of money! Of course, they have a captive audience of guests that will pay pretty much any price for anything.

I like Disneyquest. There, I said it! I also liked DCA!

From Mark Hollamon
Posted November 17, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Disney Quest at DTD is not a real good value for the money and from what I heard attendance was down and there aren't a bunch of 2nd time visitors. There was information that the world's largest espn zone was going in there and there was actually a close date that I beleive was discussed on TPI, however the plan must have been shelved and when you ask Disney peeps about it now they act as if it was never going to happen.

That's a shame because THAT would bring the people in BIG time both dads on vaca and locals.

From Joshua Kirkpatrick
Posted November 18, 2010 at 11:13 AM
I went back in 2000, and it was fun from what I remember. I don't think they have made many changes since then, so maybe they should do a major renovation.

From Rob P
Posted November 23, 2010 at 3:36 AM
No matter how many times we passed by DisneyQuest we just kept on walking. I can't say that I like video games that much ( although I do like Wii ) but I think I would have given D/Q a go if it had been marketed a little better. The additional cost , if you've already forked out on a Disney hopper, is the biggest factor. Some ticketing incentive needs to be introduced for existing ticket holders to encourage them through the doors.
The concept is probably a sound one. There are a lot of people out there who do love this sort of entertainment so I think a price reduction would get them in and, ultimately, increase revenue.

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