DisneyQuest to close in 2008

[Macaluso]

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... /2051.aspx

Then earlier this year, when Walt Disney Company officials announced their plans to begin "freshening up" Pleasure Island by shutting down various stores & restaurants there that were under-performing ... DisneyQuest workers, realizing that this West Side facility hadn't ever met any of its attendance or financial projections in years, knew that DQ would soon be on the chopping block.

So, when I called a couple of DisneyQuest employees earlier this week looking for comment of the upcoming closing, most folks were sad but not surprised. Some even tried to be a bit upbeat. As one cast member told me:

"At least we're getting plenty of advance notice about the closing. Plus if they stick with this 18 months timetable, we'll still be able to celebrate DisneyQuest's 10th anniversary. That should be one hell of a party."

So just a "heads up" here, folks. If you're a big "CyberSpace Mountain" fan, make sure that you drop by WDW's DisneyQuest in the coming months and get in a couple of rides. For -- come January of 2008 (Reportedly right after the Christmas crowds go home) -- DisneyQuest will close its doors forever. And then -- after several months of extensive construction -- this distinct structure will eventually re-emerge as Downtown Disney's new EZPN Zone.

Disney PR types are hoping that this new sports dining and entertainment experience will be ready to open by October 1, 2008 (Just in time for Disney World's annual press event). But those who are familiar with all the work that will need to be done in order to change the old DisneyQuest building into a state-of-the-art ESPN Zone say that the proposed construction schedule is overly optimistic. And that -- more than likely -- it won't be 'til the late winter or early spring of 2009 'til this revamped West Side facility is actually ready to serve its first customer.

[PixarVixen]

Ohh noo! Now the one in Florida is gonna be gone too!

I had some great times there. The best thing there was the alien game where you get in the yellow spider thing and pick up your men before the planet explodes. I have keychains of all the aliens and a T-shirt. I could do that ride all freakin' day.

I told my brother about this, and he said the ESPN Zone would be much better than DisneyQuest. I can understand why because he's a sports nut, but not everyone is...like me.

~~=oP

[Ben]

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... /2051.aspx

And then -- after several months of extensive construction -- this distinct structure will eventually re-emerge as Downtown Disney's new EZPN Zone.

EZPN???

See...hill can't even get his names right! The other day he said something about "Enchanted" starting to shoot "soon", but we got word a few days ago that the first shoot date was last week. That's right, they're making the movie right now and it passed right by Hill.

[James]

To be fair Z and S are close on the keyboard and it could easily be a typo. Also, who knows when he wrote the article - maybe he wrote it and posted it later.

Or it was all errors, who knows!

[PixarVixen]

I think the reason DisneyQuest isn't doing so well is because they didn't promote it enough. I've never seen any commercials for it, and when I checked out the website for it, it didn't go into much detail about the place. I've talked to so many people before that didn't even know what it was.

~~=oP

[Macaluso]

It's a shame.

Me and my friends kick ASS at the PotC ride.

We have one person who always drives, because he's perfect at getting us to the sea dragon, where we can rack up the most points. Then the rest of us blast the hell out all the pirates and dragons and ghost pirates and oh god. Then after all the fighting, our victory consists of yelling victory yells really loudly, while pulling ont two of the cannon string things really really fast, shooting tons of cannons up into the sky with lots of fireworks and we get the highest rank possible and the crowd outside the game is cheering and oh god i love that game.

[GeorgeC]

I think the reason DisneyQuest isn't doing so well is because they didn't promote it enough. I've never seen any commercials for it, and when I checked out the website for it, it didn't go into much detail about the place. I've talked to so many people before that didn't even know what it was.

~~=oP

Nope,

I don't think promotion is the problem, here.

The problem is that when you get down to it DisneyQuest is just a glorified videogame arcade. Arcades are DEAD (with few exceptions) worldwide.

Blame it on the increased processing power of game console systems the past 8 years (Dreamcast era and later) as well as the shrinking entertainment dollar. There's no reason to go to an arcade anymore when home system can give you the same experience and you don't have to deal with rude people and standing in line in places that may not be in the best part of town.

DisneyQuest just doesn't make much sense any more. It's cheaper to buy a game system and rent games or buy a game a kid will play over and over again instead of paying $20 a person to go to DisneyQuest. (That's a guesstimate -- I haven't been to DisneyQuest since I left Chicago in 1999. I did go to the DisneyQuest there once but wasn't impressed enough to repeat the experience when I moved to Orlando.)

[PixarVixen]

That does make a lot of sense. Good point, GC. Darn you, XBOX!

I guess DisneyQuest should have gone and made the rest of the facility "DisneyQuest games", like Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam, or CyberSpace Mountain, rather than arcade games like Galaga (although I could play that all day). You can get your hands on games like that for XBOX or Playstation, but you can only experience Disney games at the park. Having the arcade games there makes DQ less special, now that I think about it. On the other hand, I loved playing the games there.

...I don't know which side to take. I love DisneyQuest so much.

~~=oP

[Ben]

DQ should have perhaps simply upped the ante...made it special and essential to get to DQ to play games in resolutions and ways that you simply couldn't re-create at home.

[PixarVixen]

This was an article my dad found for me today in our local newspaper, The Vindicator. Most of the info is what we've already heard about, but it's a recap for anyone just tuning in to the situation at hand.

Disney World replaces ride after two deaths
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Walt Disney World said Tuesday that it will offer another, tamer version of its Mission: Space attraction, less than three weeks after a woman because ill on the ride and later died. The $100 million ride spins tourists in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. The alternative ride will open this summer and will run next to the original. It will not have a centrifuge, said Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty. The current version is so intense that some riders have been taken to hospitals with chest pain. Two of its 11.8 million riders have died since it opened in August 2003. German tourist Hiltrud Bluemel, 49, died April 12, one day after she went on the ride. A preliminary medical examiner's report showed Bluemel died of brain bleeding.

~~=oP

[Dacey]

Well, it's about time.

[Thalia-is-Crazy]

My parents took me and my sister to Disneyland when we were 4 and 6...
But I haven't been south of the border really since that.

Maybe someday... *giggle* Me in Disneyworld, Dude that'd be awesome.

[PixarVixen]

Oh dude, if you've been to Disneyland, you'll love Disney World even more!

And if you get the chance to go to DisneyQuest before it closes, do it. Brandon and I went a few weeks ago, but I was so sad after we left. It really is a shame that it'll be gone in about a year.

~~=oP

[Sullivan]

There's no reason to go to an arcade anymore when home system can give you the same experience and you don't have to deal with rude people and standing in line in places that may not be in the best part of town.

Dude, name me ONE videogame where you can wield a lightsaber that appears in your own hands! Name me one game where the pirates are 3-D and coming out of the walls!


MAN that stuff is great. It's GREAT. No videogame system can match the quality of playing with your friends in a shared virtual environment.

I do get what you're talking about the cost.

I really, REALLY want that aladdin rig in my home, vr headgear and all.