Of all the forms of creative entertainment, theme parks might be the most dynamic. With attractions opening and closing, theme parks remain in a constant state of development.
Yet this change typically happens over long periods of time. It’s rare that a park changes its entire identity at once. But that has happened twice already this month, with two notable parks announcing or completing name and identity changes.
In Paris, Disney announced that its Walt Disney Studios Park will change its name to become Disney Adventure World. The name change will become official upon the opening of the park’s World of Frozen land, whenever that happens. Disney has not announced a date for that yet.
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The name change reflects Disney’s abandonment of the “studio park” concept that it introduced with the former Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in 1989. Even Universal — the original home of the studio theme park — now recognizes that fans prefer walking into immersive themed worlds based on their favorite movies than visiting fake soundstages that simulate a behind-the-scenes look at movie production. If it’s not a real studio, don’t bother.
In addition to the new Frozen land, Disneyland Paris’ Disney Adventure World will offer an Avengers Campus, a Toy Story Land and a Ratatouille land — all of which are now open in Walt Disney Studios Park — plus an additional themed land, yet to be announced and now under development. The park also will redesign its entrance to look less like a fake studio lot and more like a celebration of Disney’s Hollywood history.
Unlike the name change of the Florida studio park, which was driven by the end of a licensing deal, Disney is making the change in Europe in an attempt to drive attention — and attendance — to what has been one of its least popular theme parks. That goal also is driving a theming switch at Dubai Parks and Resorts in the Middle East.
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This month, the former Bollywood Parks reopened as Real Madrid World. The Bollywood theme park has been the least popular of the three parks in the Dubai resort, which also includes a Legoland and the Hollywood-themed Motiongate Dubai park. Bollywood movies might be popular throughout much of the world, but that popularity did not drive attendance at the Dubai park, which I visited during its opening. I found the Bollywood park charming, but small and lacking a world-class ride that would draw the attention of casual fans.
Real Madrid is one of the world’s most popular and successful soccer clubs. Will that name be enough to draw visitors? Initial reports from visitors say that Dubai Parks did little to change the park, save to rebrand its flat rides and install Real Madrid displays and interactive soccer skill games in former show theaters. However, it did also open a long-awaited Great Coasters International wooden roller coaster — the Middle East’s first.
Ultimately, it’s not the name on a park that matters as much as the investment and commitment to immersive storytelling within it. That is what need to improve to help any struggling theme park succeed.