Well here’s some interesting theme park news we can sink our teeth into.
Per the following link…
…Disney has officially announced the Iron Man Experience coming to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2016.
I have actually been very impressed with how cautious Disney has been in releasing its Marvel acquisition into its theme park domain, given how rampant the exposure of the heroes have been on the big screen. Of course, the temptation is to prematurely oversaturate the parks with all things Marvel, but Disney has been exercising a tremendous amount of patience en route to something, perhaps, bigger?
And now, interestingly, we have this announcement, and there’s a whole lot of insight we can extract from this news.
First, most notable, there doesn’t appear to be any presence of Robert Downey, Jr. as far as incorporating his movie version of Iron Man into this ride. We can assume, therefore, the ride will be similar to the Spider-Man attraction at Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando. That ride’s visuals are intentionally not real-world, in favor of a more exaggerated comic book animated feel brought to life via computer graphics. I would guess the Iron Man Experience will be similar, putting a more CGI-animated version of Iron Man and his foes in the midst of a real Hong Kong city experience. Just speculation, of course, but you’d have to imagine Downey, Jr.’s involvement if this was something other than an animated incarnation of the superhero.
Hong Kong Disneyland’s launch has been a bit of a mixed bag as far as global perception is concerned. On the one hand, it did not open to the extreme negativity the formerly named Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) had in France. On the other hand, the park was conservatively built, with far fewer E-Ticket rides than typically expected from a traditional Disneyland park. Always, the best way to generate an amazing publicity buzz for a theme park is to have a one-of-a-kind mega ride, completely unique, without any replica incarnations at any other park in the world.
With the Iron Man Experience being the first Marvel attraction to be launched inside a Disney park, decidedly placed in Hong Kong, that park is sure to reap fantastic PR benefits and the launch will be huge. At the same time, Disney clearly is saving the truly big whammy, a Robert Downey, Jr.-infused ride experience, for one of its American parks. A win-win all-around.
Hong Kong’s Iron Man Experience utilizes the Star Tours simulator ride experience, so the technology itself isn’t innovative in the slightest. What is interesting here, however, is that Disney is intentionally choosing not to do the obvious – introduce Star Wars via the traditional Star Tours found throughout the sister Disneyland parks throughout the world. Instead, they are using a tried and true ride platform in Star Tours to introduce Iron Man. This still leaves Star Wars non-existentent as a presence in Hong Kong. If rumors about a Star Wars re-theming of Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim prove to be true, then Disney may be intentionally keeping a Star Wars infusion in Hong Kong at bay for now, in favor of what could be a massive dedicated Star Wars land expansion at this park, complete with its own unique rides and attractions. Really interesting.
None of this is negative, mind you. Just as Disney California Adventure in Anaheim desperately needed an experience not found at any other park throughout the world to bring tourists and locals through its gates in Radiator Springs Racers and Cars Land, Disney is doing its part to give Hong Kong a great shot at capitalizing at an untapped market right now in this very particular, and immensely powerful, Marvel acquisition. In the very near future, we will most likely see Marvel attractions throughout every Disney park in the world. For now, Hong Kong can have the distinguishing characteristic of being the only one. That is a very special quality indeed.