Subscriber Andres Gutierrez says, “I’d like to ask for your thoughts on the changes
coming to One Man's Dream?
Is this change for the better or worse?”
So this week I wanted to talk about One Man’s Dream or what will soon be known as Walt Disney
Presents.
One Man’s Dream was great, but it’s gotta go.
Walt Disney was one of a kind.
So it’s important there remains a place in which we can all go to remember and learn
about his life.
Beyond his legacy of films, animation, and television, he was the direct driving force
behind Disneyland.
It’s not only an American classic, but I’d go as far as to say a global classic as well.
And while he didn’t live to see Walt Disney World realized, his brother Roy O. was the
one who selflessly put off his own retirement to make his little brother’s dream a reality.
I mean, even if you want look back at the Disney decade of the 1990s and the resurgence
of the company brought on by Eisner and Wells, there was even a Disney behind that too.
It was Walt’s nephew Roy E. who lead the charge in ousting Miller in order to get new
leadership in place.
Even after Eisner lost his touch and the company needed new leadership, it was Roy E. again
who worked to make that change a reality.
One way or another a Disney had been involved in the entertainment empire for over 80 years.
That’s the kind of history that deserves a museum.
Beyond that the fandom surrounding the Disney theme parks is unmatched.
Sure you have a lot of Universal fans, but let’s be honest, no other theme park fandom
comes close to the passion and heart that Disney park fandom holds.
It makes sense too.
If you read about the history of the parks and imagineering, you can tell that genuine
love of storytelling goes into these rides.
It’s not just a matter of throwing up something new to make a buck.
These attractions by all measures, are art.
So there’s little doubt in my mind that the world deserves a comprehensive museum
dedicated to not only Walt, Roy, and other important members of the Disney family, but
to the resorts as well.
However it doesn’t belong in a theme park.
I’ve spoken to this in past videos, but over time our collective preferences for what
we do and don’t find entertaining at a theme park has evolved.
Sure individually there are still people with particular tastes, but overall the idea of
a walk-through museum or exhibit as an entertaining theme park attraction is kind of dead.
Furthermore, with the lack of ticket books, Disney measures the effectiveness of an attraction
based on how many guests it can entertain on an hourly basis.
Omnimover attractions with a nearly non-stop onboarding and offboarding ensures that thousands
of guests can enjoy the ride every hour.
Even longer rides like the recently closed Ellen’s Energy Adventure, at a 45 minute
run time, was able to fit 500 people in each show, resulting in an hourly capacity of nearly
2,500 guests.
Attractions today are built with the goal in mind of getting as many people through
the attraction as possible.
A museum however doesn’t fit within that mold at all.
Museums are designed so that individuals can work through the exhibits at their own speed,
hopefully at a pace that allows them to take in everything it has to offer and teach.
Lastly, for as much as I love One Man’s Dream, I think it’s fair to say that the
size of the venue is a really poor fit for a legacy as grand and detailed as Disney’s.
If the east coast is going to get a museum dedicated to Walt, it should be closer in
size to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, not the small walk-through we have
in Hollywood Studios today.
So if not Hollywood Studios, where should it go?
I say Disney Springs!
Now I’ve spoken to this idea before, but ideally the perfect place for a multi-level
Walt Disney and Disney World museum would have been the Disney Quest building that is
currently in the process of being turned into an NBA experience.
While that options is no longer out there, Disney Springs is still a pretty big place.
Get rid of the Rainforest Cafe or something.
I mean really, does the world need it?
Overall the museum experience has become a supplemental one, not an essential one.
That goes beyond One Man’s Dream.
Look at the fate of Innoventions.
So it seems fitting to put a Disney museum where other supplemental Disney experiences
go, and in it’s own spot where guests would be encouraged to take their time and really
experience everything it would have to offer.
It would also open up the experience to Florida locals who might not have annual passes to
the parks, or even school trips who aren't looking to go to a Disney theme park during the day.
I think it’s safe to say that a museum dedicated to Disney is a fantastic idea.
It’d be beneficial not only to guests, but to Disney as well, for new generations to
have the opportunity to learn about the creativity and passion that the Disney brothers put into
the company.
For Disney is could serve to continue to fuel Disney fandom.
To Andres question, the upcoming changes to One Man’s Dream seem to be a reduction in
the museum concept by introducing previews for things like Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land.
While I don’t mind the idea of them transitioning out the Walt exhibit out of the parks, I really
hope we eventually get to see it put somewhere else.
Somewhere where we can all take the time to celebrate Walt’s legacy, hopefully in a
venue large enough to match his character.
Time to hear what you think!
Would you rather see a Disney museum in the parks, or outside of it?
What part of his life and the company should it entail?
Let me know in the comments below, and if you have a question for a future Q&A, be sure
to leave that in the comments as well.
Thanks for watching!