R. I. P. Tower of Terror -- You Can't Compete With The Power of Cross-Promotion

One of my favorite memories of our honeymoon at Disneyland was when my husband and I rode the Tower of Terror. It's my favorite ride in all of Orlando (I think it's my husband's second favorite? "Escape From Gringotts" at Diagon Alley in Universal might be his new top pick...) and there was no way we weren't going to ride it.

Like many rides in Disneyland, Tower of Terror is just different enough to keep you on your toes. The first time we rode it, we didn't know that of course -- we assumed the ride itself would be just the same. NOPE.

We were sitting in the front row, just hanging out, when the doors open.
In Orlando, you move forward -- to the front of the ride and it's all dark with sparkly stars. THEN the drops start.
In Anaheim...everyone behind and around us was fidgeting and giggling and we were all, "Um, guys? Chill. We've still got a few seconds here."
And then we dropped.
And we screamed.
And then we laughed because OF COURSE they knew better than we did, but it was almost better that way because it was a new ride experience for us and that was awesome.

Great anecdote, Lisa -- but what does this trip down memory lane have to do with anything? 

ComicCon was this weekend -- a BFD in the world of pop-culture for all the trailers that drop, panels that are convened, and exclusive information that's released. Much of the Disney related news (a new Doctor Strange trailer, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Once Upon A Time's foray in Agrabah) isn't really relevant to my thoughts here (maybe the OUaT news). What is of interest, though, is this news about Disneyland Park:

via D23

The iconic Hollywood Tower Hotel -- a.k.a. the Tower of Terror ride -- isn't going to be the Hollywood Tower Hotel anymore.

Nope. Instead, it's going to be "Guardians of the Glaxy Mission: Breakout!" or some such nonsense.

Look. I get it. Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge success for Disney -- given the fact that it starred a talking raccoon and a tree -- proving that films outside of The Avengers franchise were worth the investment. I also get that they're looking at this as part of a new expansion to California Adventure, like Marvel-land or whatever. Which...cool. Awesome. You want to expand, Disney Imagineers? I believe you're up to the challenge. (My map-obsessed-husband says you have the space to expand, so I'll believe him.)

But, to me, that is simply not enough to warrant taking a successful attraction and imposing a new narrative on an existing ride track (I assume) just to benefit from some cross-promotion (Guardians 2 will hit theaters in May of 2017, after all) and merchandizing (but will you be able to buy any Gamora merchandise?)
Maybe if the ride/attraction was struggling, it'd be a different story.
Maybe if it was a temporary overlay, like the Star Wars' themed HyperSpace Mountain at Disneyland, it'd be a different story.

As one of my friends pointed out on Facebook:

"What bothers me is that they are stripping away what makes going to the parks a unique and different experience than the movies. As a kid I wanted to go to Disney because it was something I couldn't get from the movies or tv network. They had rides and attractions that you could only get there. Tower of Terror was one of those rides I remember opening and being excited because I had to go there to experience it. I find some of the new rides like The Little Mermaid, Nemo, and probably Frozen annoying because it's just the movie. I've seen your films, give me something different."

Eloquently, and succinctly put. It's exactly what bothered me about replacing Maelstrom with the Frozen ride -- especially since the ride itself doesn't wow me. It's not the movie, but it's nothing overwhelmingly unique and special either. Like my friend, I'm disappointed with Nemo whenever I ride it (that's it? really? the line to the ride is more engaging) and I think I only enjoy the Little Mermaid ride so much because I love the music and the movie. While it's true that some of the "classic," older rides at the Disney Parks are basically "just the movie," there's still something unique about them -- or maybe that's the nostalgia talking. Take "Peter Pan's Flight" for instance: that basically just recaps the highlights of the film...but you're on board a "flying" boat. 

But when a ride outlives its attraction-potential, it simply gets rebooted. (Why are we all about the reboots these days?!) "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" became "Winnie The Pooh." "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea" became "Finding Nemo" at Disneyland and New Fantasyland in the Magic Kindgom. Maelstrom became the Frozen ride. I can't attest to the first two--but Maelstrom was still popular (or, at least, popular enough for EPCOT; not nearly as popular as Frozen is, that's for sure). And so was Tower of Terror. 

We're already planning our next (tentative) trip to Disneyland -- it might be before, but we definitely want to go for the 75th Anniversary: our daughter will be 14 then and it hurts my heart to think that we'll ride this Guardians ride and explain that, once upon a time, it was the Tower of Terror ride which she knows and (hopefully!) loves in Orlando. 

Please don't take away my Tower of Terror in MGM, Disney. I'm not sure even my loyalty will stretch that far.