There’s been much discussion over the years about Disney’s Intellectual Properties being the driver of choosing new attractions being built in the parks. And with recent openings like World of Frozen at the new Disney Adventure World there has been a lot of speculation that Disney is focused more on single IP offerings rather than “lands” as has been in the past. We study attractions previously built and those soon to come to see if “worlds” with single intellectual properties are the way of the future over lands. And then we note something we call Relations, which consist of Twins, Siblings and Orphans. We’ll introduce these terms and how these relate to each other in terms of deciding what to build, where to build it, and the scale by which it is built. From this we’ll identify what the most likely paths forward for Imagineering as it tries to build its future forward with the most options possible–particularly at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Adventure World. Join us for How Disney Lays Out Theme Parks: IPs, Lands, Worlds & Relations.

This podcast is produced by myself and Performance Journeys, which offers training, development and consultant support to organizations big and small and entrepreneurs new and established. With a wide variety of resources and long-time in-the-trench experience, we offer workshops, online learning, coaching and more to organizations that want to build their teams, raise organizational excellence, improve leadership and create customer loyalty. Check us out at PerformanceJourneys.com.

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Overview

To understand our discussion, let’s define a few words.

• An IP is an intellectual property, in this case, one that Disney has created usually from its films like Tangled, The Mandalorian, The Incredibles, or Captain America.
• A Land is a place where many park experiences and/or IPs coexist to include attractions, entertainment, character meet ‘n’ greets, retail and food & beverage.
• A World is a place where only one experience and/or IP singularly exists offering the same things a land does but only themed to one singular intellectual property. Note that this term is being used for purposes of our discussion today, and doesn’t reflect larger uses of the word like World Showcase or Walt Disney World. It means themed lands based on one IP such as Toy Story Land, World of Frozen, and Pandora: World of Avatar.
• Relations stands for one of three things: Twin, Siblings or an Orphan
• A Twin is a nearly identical attraction brought from one park or resort to another. We will especially outline those “worlds” that are twins to each other, like Toy Story Land or Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.
• A Sibling is an IP that is represented in more than one park at any given resort.
• An Orphan is an experience and/or IP that is outside any World or Land
• All of these relate to each other in terms of deciding what to build, where to build it, and the scale by which it is built.

From all of this, let’s construct how Imagineering is approaching their work when it comes to adding new attractions and experiences to the parks.

Disneyland Paris Resort

Let’s look first at the resort that has made this discussion of “Worlds” come alive. It is the Disneyland Paris Resort. The original park is very much a “Land” park if any. But last week the former Walt Disney Studios became the Disney Adventure World. Both parks are a stark contrast to each other.

Disneyland Resort

Like Disneyland Paris, the two parks of the Disneyland Resort are also complete opposites of each other, and are growing very differently with one as a “Land” based park and the other as a “World” based park.

We spoke about this park last week as I introduced my new Disneyland Insights: Inspiration, Ideas and Magic for You and Your Organization. Having sunk his teeth into just a little bit of this new multi-media-style book, his description was “dense”. To me that feedback was complimentary. If you like the kind of deep-dive, nerdy Disney stuff I put out there, and if you want to apply it then to your life or to your work, then this is just right for you.

Tokyo Disneyland Resort

No resort sits more firmly as a “Land” (or in this case “Sea”) based park than Tokyo Disneyland Resort. There are very few exceptions, but they are exceptions many don’t think about.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Honk Kong and Shanghai is seeking to find a balance between “Land” and “World”. And they’ve been doing it for some time. A guest to either has no appreciation what Tomorrowland or Fantasyland means. But they get World of Frozen.

Shanghai Disneyland

Same with Shanghai. They like Hong Kong seem to be creating a bigger number of “lands” and “worlds” to market with moving forward.

Curiously, a map came out this week, very fuzzy, showing a second park, which I knew of someone who was working on that park, but then ended his time on it. It looks a little Epcot like, but who knows what may yet be announced. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Disneyland all have room to build another park. That would make a huge announcement at D23.

Walt Disney World

Putting all that we talked about earlier, let’s see how these concepts play out at Walt Disney World, which is challenged–and benefitted–by having twice as many parks as any other Disney park. Let’s see how this played out.

Key Messages:

• Lands and Worlds work for Disney. While more Worlds are emerging, there are 42 Lands to 21 Worlds. Lands are not going away anytime soon.
• Lands allow smaller IPs to have a place under a large thematic umbrella while offering space to creating an entire world for larger, more successful IPs. 
• Lands will not be going away, but a Land will always be looking for IPs to justify itself. There will never be a land for its own thematic offering moving forward.
• Worlds allow one park to stand more distinctly from another such as with Disney Adventure World in Paris, Disney California Adventure in Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World.
• Disney has created a number of twins. Toontown, Toy Story Land, World of Frozen, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

Disneyland Insights: Inspiration, Ideas & Magic for You and Your Organization

For over a year I’ve been capturing and sharing stories of Disneyland, while creating a new online tool for you to explore all of them in one place. It’s called Disneyland Insights: Inspiration, Ideas & Magic for You and Your Organization and it’s an interactive, multimedia experience. This is truly designed for those who are seeking to find new ideas that will guide you to 

1. Provide Individual & Organizational Leadership Excellence
2. Create Employee Engagement & a Team Culture
3. Offer a Superior Customer Experience

Not only does the content through examples, stories and models play to these themes, but each section provides “Souvenirs for You and Your Organization”. They are reflective questions that may be used to better the work or operation you may be lead or be part of. And in that instance, it is more of a business focus. In fact, many may utilize funding set aside in their organization for training and development to purchase this volume.

Click here to order Disneyland Insights: Inspiration, Ideas & Magic for You and Your Organization. It’s also available on the show notes page of our podcast. Whether you’re on a comfy sofa at home or on Main Street, U.S.A. this experience allows you to navigate through all nine lands to explore some 100 locations where you can find Disney insights that will be inspire and guide you and your organization. 

Books From Your Host at Disney Insights

Also, if you’re looking to grab something today, go to Amazon where you will find four of my books available for purchase. Three explore Disney at length, and one explores world class businesses to include Disney. Check them out!

My newest book, A Century of Powerful Disney Insights, Volume I 1923-1973, The Walt & Roy Disney Years is available! 

Also, check out my two of my other books, The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney and Disney, Leadership and You. 

Also, for those examining other business benchmarks beyond Disney, check out Lead with Your Customer: Transform Culture and Brand Into World-Class Excellence.

Thanks for joining us for this podcast. Know that as in the title of my organization, Performance Journeys, it’s as much about the journey as it is about performance. Find the second star to the right, and keep going straight on till you reach it. Follow the compass of your heart, and know that with a smile and a song, a little faith, effort and pixie dust, your dreams can come true. After all, if we can dream it, we can do it. Until next time, bright suns, we’ll see you real soon!