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Even the happiest place on Earth can have some very unhappy surprises when it comes to budgeting. Join us as we explore the biggest financial fiascos and project nightmares that plagued Disney's theme parks worldwide, from ambitious attractions that flopped spectacularly, like the ill-fated Galactic Starcruiser, to entire resorts struggling to find their magic. Prepare for some shocking figures and head-scratching decisions that cost the Mouse House millions and left some projects in ruins.
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00:00Lots of things I've started, and if I just felt it wasn't natural, if I was not too deep, I
00:05abandoned the thing and started something else.
00:08You can tell when it's wrong, you know.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the biggest financial fiascos in the history of Disney theme parks.
00:17Euro Disney Paris, the most spectacular holiday in Europe.
00:23Number 10, California Adventure's underwhelming launch.
00:26This project started out a little bit risky. We took a chance, in a sense that we were going to
00:32come now down to Disneyland and try to compete with that.
00:36When news broke that Disneyland would be getting a neighboring park with a price tag of roughly $600 million, it
00:42was the biggest development the Anaheim location had seen since 1955.
00:46Despite the immense hype, California Adventure only saw an estimated 5 million guests during its first year, less than twice
00:54what Disneyland brought in.
00:55Ooh, nice limo.
00:57Is there a prince inside?
00:59Sorry, girls, but any interest in a very large bear.
01:03Introducing Disney's California Adventure.
01:06Guests were put off by the lack of Disney characters at a Disney park.
01:10With many attendees being local, a California theme wasn't that enticing.
01:14Well, you've got quite a little park here.
01:16Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:17This is hardly a little park, Mr. Boswick.
01:22Disney's California Adventure covers 55 acres and has 22 rides, shows, and attractions.
01:28Each one is different.
01:29Plus, for every well-received attraction like California Screamin', there was a superstar limo.
01:35Prices were cut, but it wasn't until Disney invested another $1.1 billion in revisions that California Adventure started to
01:43turn its fortunes around, becoming a worthy companion to Disneyland.
01:47All this reinvestment was triggered by Bob Iger, and he had to admit that there were flaws in the park,
01:55and this is a very public admission of that.
01:59Number 9.
02:00Extra-Terrorrestrial Alien Encounter.
02:02Try to contain your enthusiasm.
02:03Are you guys scared?
02:04No.
02:05There's no reason.
02:06It's the future.
02:07It's science.
02:08Let's go.
02:08Come on, we've all had our shots.
02:10This Tomorrowland attraction was meant to be based on the 1979 film Alien.
02:15Disney ultimately decided that a xenomorph was too scary for the Magic Kingdom, but they stuck with the idea of
02:21a haunted ride revolving around an alien.
02:30Ironically, when Extra-Terrorrestrial Alien Encounter had its soft opening in December 1994, Disney CEO Michael Eisner felt it wasn't
02:38terrifying enough.
02:39Disney thus put down an additional $10 million to make the pre-show and overall experience darker.
02:45Here in the new Tomorrowland at Disney World, scientists and Disney engineers have brought to life a possible scenario that
02:52helps acclimate the public to their inevitable alien encounter.
02:56While the creepy tone helped Extra-Terrorrestrial Alien Encounter gain something of a cult following, it alienated Disney's target demographic.
03:03Kids were traumatized, and their parents were angry.
03:07After less than a decade, Extra-Terrorrestrial Alien Encounter closed in October 2003 to make way for Stitch's great escape.
03:15Keep that thing away from me!
03:18I don't want to be here!
03:22I'm out of control!
03:24Number 8.
03:25The Rise and Fall of Horizons
03:27Horizons is the newest facility, handling more than 2,500 visitors an hour.
03:32It's quite a ride, and it boggles the mind that science and technology are so close to making dreams of
03:37living in outer space or underwater come true.
03:40Picking up where the Carousel of Progress left off, this Omnimover dark ride opened at Epcot in 1983, providing guests
03:47with a gateway into the 21st century.
03:50With a vast scale and multiple endings, Horizons was ambitious for its time.
03:55Step into the future in Epcot Center's newest adventure.
04:05It was also expensive, costing $60 million, almost $200 million after inflation.
04:12With a budget like that, not to mention maintenance costs, an attraction needs the longevity of something on par with
04:18Pirates of the Caribbean.
04:19Big-name corporations have spent a bundle to give visitors an eyeful of the future.
04:24Even though this is a Florida showcase, it took some California ingenuity to make the Horizons Pavilion a reality.
04:31After only 10 years, though, General Electric backed out as Horizons' sponsor.
04:35In 1994, the ride shut down for almost a year.
04:39While Horizons briefly reopened, its future remained in limbo.
04:42Disney closed Horizons for good in 1999, ironically kicking off the new century with its demolition.
04:49Easy living has always been just around the corner.
04:53Well, some ideas were a little hair-raising right from the start.
04:57Number 7. Constantly gutting Peter Pan's Flight.
05:00We've got all kinds of new magic added to this attraction here.
05:04Since its opening at Disneyland in 1955, Peter Pan's Flight has been a perennial favorite.
05:09When it wasn't closed for maintenance.
05:12As one of the oldest rides in Disney history, few have undergone more refurbishments.
05:17The Peter Pan ride, for instance, they had one whole warehouse building over there filled
05:24up with the overhead rails and the cars, and we did the dips.
05:30One of the most significant overhauls came in 1983 with the expanded New Fantasyland.
05:36Peter Pan's Flight had its exterior demolished, although the interior tracks remained mostly
05:41the same.
05:42Fast forward to 2015, Peter Pan's Flight got another makeover.
05:46It was still the ride we loved, albeit with updated animatronics, effects, and scenes.
05:51We have a whole new London town.
05:53We've added all kinds of new magical effects in there that I think are really going to
05:58surprise the guests.
05:59We've got a new moving river.
06:01Its Magic Kingdom counterpart has also gone through its fair share of updates.
06:05For all the renovations, though, the ride really hasn't undergone that many changes, leaving
06:10us to wonder if the time and money invested were justified.
06:14You can buy, you can buy, you can buy.
06:17Number 6.
06:18Expedition Everest's Disco Yeti.
06:25This Yeti is the single biggest dynamic figure that has ever been built.
06:30There is nothing that is this big that moves this fast in the world of animation.
06:36Costing around $100 million, Expedition Everest once held the Guinness World Record for the
06:42most expensive roller coaster ever constructed.
06:44But be warned, those attempting to reach the summit must face him.
06:51For all of the money thrown at this Animal Kingdom thrill ride, Disney struggled to work
06:55out the kinks in a crucial component.
06:58The 25-foot animatronic Yeti, which was designed to move five feet during the climax.
07:03The arm forward, the wrist, the elbow.
07:06When I first ran it, you know, I stood in front of it and, you know, he just came right
07:10in
07:10front of my face.
07:11And I was just like, oh my gosh, this is, you know, really amazing.
07:13This is going to scare people.
07:15Shortly after the ride opened, Imagineers realized that if the Yeti continued to operate
07:19at full power, it could lead to a disastrous malfunction.
07:23Imagineers thus used a strobe effect to suggest the illusion of movement, earning the animatronic
07:29the nickname of Disco Yeti.
07:30Considering how much was spent, it's kind of embarrassing that the ride's centerpiece
07:34doesn't work, despite failed attempts to repair it over the years.
07:46Number 5.
07:48Rocket Rods Fails to Take Off
07:50The adventure begins with a high-speed journey aboard the Rocket Rods, the fastest ride in
07:54Disneyland.
07:55The People Mover was a Tomorrowland staple since 1967.
07:59With the new Tomorrowland revamp in the 90s, the People Mover came to a halt to pave the
08:04way for Rocket Rods, a futuristic drag race ride.
08:07Blast off on Rocket Rods, a unique experience in speed.
08:11Wow, exactly.
08:13An estimated $20 to $25 million would be reportedly spent on Rocket Rods.
08:18Although to save money, Disney decided to repurpose the People Mover track without significant
08:23adjustments.
08:23This cost-cutting measure would turn Rocket Rods into a money pit.
08:28The People Mover was a laid-back ride that wasn't built for fast-paced thrills that Rocket
08:32Rods promised.
08:33This is pure excitement.
08:34I want to do it again.
08:36It's one of the new rides that uses high-torque electric motors.
08:39We've got some great new attractions here.
08:41We've got Rocket Rods, which is the fastest ride at Disneyland.
08:43This contributed to various mechanical issues, with Rocket Rods closing for three months after
08:49its debut.
08:49Rocket Rods barely lasted two years before Disney cut their losses.
08:53The track remains unused to this day.
08:56Hardly what we'd call progress.
08:58And you know what?
08:59Rocket Rods, this ride, Ron, is one of the big stars of the new Tomorrowland.
09:03And I, for one, am ready to rocket into the future.
09:07And I am ready to scream into the future, Robert.
09:10Are you ready for that?
09:11Number four.
09:12Light Magic Parade lasts one summer.
09:14Dream our dreams forever.
09:17Dream our dreams forever.
09:22Those imaginative wizards at Disneyland in California are rolling out quite an eye-popping
09:27spectacular.
09:28Or street-tacular, as they call it.
09:30After 24 years, Disneyland retired its Main Street Electrical Parade.
09:35Its successor would be Light Magic, a nighttime performance with a reported budget of $20 million.
09:41Annual pass holders paid $25 for a sneak preview of this much-anticipated spectacle in May 1997.
09:48Disneyland makes the night come alive with light magic.
09:53Come see this majestic spectacular of light and sun.
09:57Many were left asking for refunds after witnessing the parade's numerous technical issues and missed cues.
10:03You're going to see fiber optics, which I don't think that a lot of people have even seen used.
10:08Certainly never seen used this way.
10:10The public reception wasn't much better when Light Magic officially debuted later that month,
10:15only to close the following September.
10:17While the Main Street Electrical Parade has made sporadic comebacks over the years,
10:21Light Magic never did, despite reports of returning in 2000.
10:28Light Magic has been on the drawing board for four long years.
10:31The largest number of performers ever for a Disney Main Street show, 96, were recruited.
10:36Infrastructure changes made for Light Magic are still present in Disneyland,
10:40but that hardly vindicates the $20 million price.
10:43Number 3.
10:44Sailing Ship Columbia Tragedy.
10:46She was from an earlier era than the Mark Twain.
10:50The Columbia is a replica of the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe.
10:54Sailing Ship Columbia is a hallmark of Frontierland,
10:57as well as a key element of the nighttime sensation Fantasmic.
11:01It also resulted in one of Disneyland's most infamous accidents.
11:05On Christmas Eve 1998, a metal cleat from the ship's hull came undone,
11:09resulting in the death of a guest, in addition to injuring his wife and at least one cast member.
11:14Disney employees reportedly started cleaning up before the authorities arrived.
11:18The ship supposedly wasn't in the best condition, and the employee in charge of docking wasn't properly trained.
11:25Not only would Disney receive a maximum safety fine of $12,500, but a lawsuit would be brought against them.
11:31It's unclear exactly how much Disney settled for, although it's estimated to be around $25 million.
11:38Board the Columbia, the newspaper and television reporters were out and forced.
11:42Number 2.
11:43Euro Disney's Rough Start.
11:49All of a sudden, the eggs start flying and the flower.
11:53Disneyland Paris, formerly known as Euro Disney Resort, is now regarded as one of the mouse's premier parks.
11:59When it opened in 1992, though, the park was largely regarded as a disappointment.
12:04Not necessarily due to its quality, but because of low attendance.
12:08I hate to think what's happening in Euro-itchy and scratchy land.
12:15Hello?
12:17Itchy and scratchy land open for business!
12:19Euro Disney was expected to bring in 60,000 guests out of the gate, yet failed to attract even half
12:25of that estimate.
12:26Between employees quitting over working conditions, a plummeting stock price, and other unforeseen struggles,
12:32Euro Disney reportedly lost $905 million during its first fiscal year.
12:37It's at a cost of more than £2 billion, but the opening ceremony looks set for a bumpy ride because
12:42of traffic chaos and the threat of strikes.
12:45Disney would be $3 billion in debt by summer 1994, although the park would avoid declaring bankruptcy.
12:51With the arrival of Space Mountain the following year, Euro Disney took its initial steps towards profitability.
12:57Even though the main thrill attraction opened a few years later, the early plans for Discoveryland always included a version
13:05of Space Mountain.
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13:21Number 1. Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser
13:25Punch it!
13:29So we've really focused on making sure we have some of the best entertainment in the galaxy on board.
13:34An immersive Star Wars-themed hotel sounded like it couldn't possibly fail.
13:39Until you consider that the Galactic Star Cruiser cost anywhere between an estimated $250 million and $1 billion.
13:46But hey, it would surely turn a profit as long as the average Star Wars fan could afford the entry
13:51fee.
13:52A minimum of $4,800 for two guests over two nights.
13:56$10,000?
13:59We lost by our own ship for that.
14:01That's not even taking into account travel costs, as well as the other expenditures on your trip to Disney World.
14:06While ambitious, the Galactic Star Cruiser was better in theory than it was in practice.
14:11Your personal data pad keeps you busy and on mission practically every minute.
14:17Still, Disney must have known the road to profitability would be a long-term investment.
14:21It was too long for Disney, though, opting to close the cruiser after only a year and a half.
14:26This ship is now under the command of the First Order.
14:31What do you think Disney's most expensive theme park disaster was?
14:34Let us know in the comments.
14:35Let us know in the comments.
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