Staying Relevant

"Toy Story Mania . . . reflects the larger pressures and challenges facing [Disney's] $10.6 billion parks and resorts business. To stay relevant to younger, digitally savvy visitors while also delivering growth to investors, Disney, the company that invented the modern theme park, knows that it has to devise a new era of spectacular attractions rooted in technology . . . The quickening pace of daily living, advances in personal technology and the rapidly changing media landscape are combining to reshape what consumers expect out of a theme park, Disney executives say . . . Consumers' fixation on instant gratification and personalization has been reshaping the entertainment industry for some time, but it has finally caught up to the theme park business in visible ways. For instance, Disney has spent much more effort - and money - developing ways to entertain people as they stand in line for Toy Story Mania. An animatronic figure with an estimated $1 million price tag will sing songs and interact with guests as they wait. Employees dressed as 'Toy Story' characters will stroll among the crowds."
- Brooks Barnes, "Will Disney Keep Us Amused?", The New York Times, February 10, 2008