Just prior to the official public announcement of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the upcoming land inside Universal’s Islands of Adventure (IOA), I shared my enthusiasm that it will be an interesting time to be a theme park fan. Disney, I was confident, would not let this concept from Universal go unanswered. What with Wizarding World, the Simpsons ride, and the new Blue Man Group show, Universal was really shaking up the marketplace. I devoted a little time over ensuing columns to arguing that Disney should court Lucas more heavily and really increase the Star Wars presence in the parks.

While I don’t discount the possibility of a Lucasland in the future, and certainly hope Disney keeps pursuing the idea, it looks like Disney’s main response to Potter will come in the form of Pixar. Specifically, to a Pixar land at the Disney-MGM Studios. The idea has been floated before in a few message forums—I’m not the first to break this news—but the full extent of this addition may not have been obvious to readers of these posts.

At first, it looked like we were talking about the former Mickey Avenue (the zone from Who Wants to be a Millionaire over to Meet Mickey) would be re-themed to Pixar once Toy Story Mania opened up. That made sense. The area is kind of non-descript right now anyway, so why not flesh it out with some additional decorations to look like Pixar, and change out the meet and greet opportunities to include Pixar characters? (There’s already a meet-Mike and Sully over by the ABC Commissary).

Except what I’ve heard recently goes much, much further. Imagine the Backlot Tour closing, and that entire land space given over to the Pixar land (or Pixarlandia, as I wish they would call it, in honor of Disneyland’s original moniker during the planning stages. Actually, the true name is Pixar Studios, as was detailed on paperwork filed with the county a few weeks ago testifies). If they demolish the rest of Mickey Avenue, except the new Toy Story Mania, that would open up some land. If they tear down the queue buildings and prop warehouse for Backlot Tour, that would open up even more.

Time to squeeze in a few more rides on the Backlot Tour before it glows away forever.

They could tear down Catastrophe Canyon and harvest even more space, including the land going out to there, especially if they veer into currently-backstage areas off to the side. The unload and post-show areas of Backlot Tour also eat up a lot of space, and as long as you’re demolishing those buildings, why not kill off the Honey I Shrunk kids play area and the Studio Catering Company eatery also? And as long as you’re making a gigantic land, why not start off earlier than Toy Story Mania, and use the area occupied by Narnia and One Man’s Dream to be Pixar-themed too? That way, there could be a seamless blend from Disney animation on one end, in the form of the Mermaid show, the Animation building, and the Playhouse Disney stage that really should be turned in to something else befitting Disney animation (after all, as one of you readers pointed out to me, most of the shows celebrated in the current stage show no longer air on Playhouse Disney!) After the Disney section, the Pixar section could pick up instantly. While they will keep the buildings housing One Man’s Dream and Narnia, I hope they repackage that space to make it Pixar-related.

The rest of Pixar Studios could well look very different from what we see now. With the exception of the Toy Story Mania building, which isn’t even done yet, I’m hoping they end up razing everything and building from scratch. All that land they harness could even exceed the touted 20 acres of Potter’s Wizarding World. Universal is taking pains to point out that Wizarding World will be a "park within a park." They don’t mean that it will have a separate admission ticket, but they mean there will be zones or regions to the Wizarding World (specifically, Hogwart’s, the Forbidden Forest, etc.) If Disney follows Universal’s lead, expect Pixar Studios to be a "park within a park" also. That could be as simple as creating lands for each of the Pixar movies. Toy Story is obvious, given the Toy Story Mania. Does that mean Pizza Planet will move from its home by the Muppets?

The Earful Tower(s) and the practice ground for Lights Motors Action currently
occupy this space. I wonder how many other precious acres could
be reclaimed if they ditched the car show, too?

But why not have other "lands" here? The kids playground could easily be themed to A Bug’s Life, and probably utilize many of the same sets with some modifications. You’ve got Monsters Inc. offering the chance to build a miniature Monstropolis. Why not use the Soarin’ technology to simulate the chase atop doors through the factory? If the wait times are any indication, Soarin’ is the most popular ride at Walt Disney World, and Disney-MGM could certainly use a ride with that technology.

The Incredibles would be neat to see here, perhaps on the island. I would squeal with delight if they found a way to build the pod monorails scooting about the place. That would yield some kinetics to Pixar Studios to rival Walt’s 1967 Tomorrowland. With the loss of the Kuka arm technology to Universal, we may not see an E-Ticket thrill ride on the Incredibles, but I’d opt for a monorail pod tour of Pixar Studios any day anyway.

Cars is a no-brainer: just bring over the Carsland concept from DCA for a desert racetrack that uses the Test Track technology. Voila, instant E-Ticket. You’d need a lot of land for this, and they’d have to dig deep into the infrastructure behind the park to find room. Frankly, that would mean tearing down the producer-bungalows out back, and really giving up on the idea that movie and TV production could take place at this park. It would mean, essentially, throwing in the towel on the conceit no one buys any more anyway. Obviously, it would be worth it in my book. I’d even demolish the parking structure they have back here and yield even more space.

The parking garage and some backstage buildings.

The park’s footprint is too small for much expansion, UNLESS they are willing to move/demolish some of this infrastructure in the back. And if they do, suddenly there is tons of space. Including enough for Carsland. Nemo is equally easy: just bring over the well-received indoor wild-mouse coaster from Disney Studios Paris, themed to Crush and his EAC. Then flesh out the area with a themed indoor kids zone, not unlike Mermaid Lagoon from Tokyo Disney Sea, and the small rides to match.

And here’s an idea that is in violation of the "hub" concept and will result in more tired feet by the end of the day: what if Pixar Studios was only accessible from Animation Courtyard, meaning they close access from the Streets of America side? Yes, there would be less mobility and more of a bottleneck. But you’d gain a real sense that Pixar Studios is a "park within a park," because it would have only one entrance/exit.

The unload area (above) and the Villains post-show (below) also take up precious space.

The specific rides outlined above are not rumors that have been passed on to me; they are me speculating. That a Pixar land is coming is more certain, however. Interestingly, we may all have gotten the name change of the park wrong. Disney recently insisted to the press that the park name will remain Disney-MGM Studios, though one land was going to be renamed for Pixar. That jibes with paperwork filed with the county recently, too. But I have a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this than meets the eye. The park’s name really was slated to be changed.

If indeed the park’s name is now remaining, could it be that someone high up on the food chain doesn’t want to lock in the park’s identity as just Pixar... and wishes to leave room for something else? Something like... Lucas?

It’s fairly well-known that Iger got the strained relationship with Steve Jobs fixed, and Disney landed Pixar. Eisner had managed to distance George Lucas as well, and could it be that Iger (or perhaps Lasseter?) is now wooing Lucas the way Jobs was courted? Are they leaving room for the park to take on a dual identity: Pixar on the one side of the park, and Lucas on the other? We can but hope. And send our support to this way of thinking. Should the studios park become half Pixar and half Star Wars (while leaving the front sections and the thrill rides off to the side themed to 1930s Hollywood), they’d honestly have to build a parking structure out front, because the parking lots would be full by noon. I’d be here every week.

More backstage area on the way out to Catastrophe Canyon.
The Backlot Tour occupies a lot of acreage!

Moving away from the Lucas future, which is not yet certain, and looking back to the Pixar update that we know is coming, we can see another interesting concept. Not content to merely answer Universal’s volley of Potter with their own "park within a park," Disney may even be thinking of having an answer to the Blue Man Group. I admit the idea seems wacky to me, but I’ve heard it floated that they may be looking at a separate-admission Broadway-caliber show in (or next to) Pixar Studios to be themed to the Pixar characters. I have a hard time seeing a musical revue of these characters really coming together for a compelling show, but I’ve learned to trust John Lasseter implicitly. If this goes forward, I’ll know to expect quality.

Disney is probably keen to duplicate the idea of a separate-pay show right next to the theme parks. Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba at Downtown Disney will likely be closing soon, and though it was hardly a business failure, it never really attracted the kind of ticket sales that would have been hoped. This is partly the fault of location: Downtown Disney was a good concept on paper and as it was expanded it seemed to make sense that 100,000 people per night might descend on this place, but the crowds which materialize to this day are more modest. Having a separate-admission show right next to a theme park might actually capture more tourists, since they wouldn’t have to travel far to be enticed to come sit and watch after their tiring day in the park.

Look for all of this to be announced in February or March of 2008, when Toy Story Mania has its press opening. Disney can then leverage the Pixar topic to maximal benefit, and loudly trumpet that a whole new Pixar "park within a park" is on its way.

Al Lutz's April Fools piece this year had a Latino-themed Pixarlandia debuting as
Anaheim's third park. Even Ratatouille got retooled for that demographic.

On Disney message boards, one occasionally encounters vitriol about the Pixar characters; there are purists out there who would rather see the Disney parks only use characters from Disney-branded movies. Apart from the argument that Disney now owns Pixar, I would point out that the source matters less than the format. I object (mildly) to Star Wars and Indiana Jones encroaching on the Disneyland/Magic Kingdom concept because those parks were originally meant to be realistic—based on locations and epochs, not specific movie backstories. The only exception was Fantasyland, where Disney animated films provided the inspiration. These days, I conflate Disney and Pixar as merely animated films, and I find it OK to have animation provide the backstory. That’s doubly true in a studio-themed park. Heck, good stories are good stories, and Pixar outshines modern Disney, in my mind.

Will Pixar Studios be enough to outshine Wizarding World’s "park within a park"? As always, it depends on execution, and I mean that for both sides here. If Universal executes with tremendous panache and high-level theming AND provides more than just one new ride, Pixar Studios’s task will be much harder. Even then, Lasseter can succeed in building something better. If Pixar Studios offers completely immersive environments (please please PLEASE let it not be the fake-Hollywood-we’re-filming-today variety), it could be... pardon the pun... Incredible. But if they skimp on costs, it will show. If they keep existing buildings and just try to repurpose them, it will be unconvincing.

For now I trust in John Lasseter (some folks are calling him Uncle John), as he’s never yet disappointed a single time, and has the industry’s current best batting average. After all, Pixar Studios does have the box office receipts to defeat Potter. When I put up some box office comparisons a few weeks ago to argue for Star Wars as an answer to Potter, I was thinking of single movies alone. The Pixar canon, meanwhile, does collectively offer enough firepower to take on Potter. If—and this is a big if—they do it right. Everything depends on execution.

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© 2007 Kevin Yee