Defunctland: The Failure of Disney's Arcade Chain, DisneyQuest

on September 28th 1995 the video game developer Sega announced plans for a new ambitious project their goal was to create location-based themed entertainment centers a hybrid of amusement parks and arcades and place them throughout the United States the concept was simple enough instead of putting arcades into malls they wanted to put malls into our caves in order to do this they would create state-of-the-art games and attractions and insert them into complex is complete with small shops and food courts Sega had tested the idea in Japan in the mid 80s and reactions had been positive the industry seemed promising in the United States as well with chains such as dave & buster's finding success with a similar concept Sega had the resources to physically build the indoor amusement centers but it couldn't hurt to partner with a company that could drive the project creatively they would find a partner in a familiar entertainment company that starts with a D that's right DreamWorks Sega and DreamWorks announced their partnership to create a chain of indoor amusement centers named game works with filmmaker Steven Spielberg providing significant creative input game works would grow over the next two decades opening over 30 locations both in the United States and around the world the chain sounds a lot like another venture attempted by an even larger creative force the Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary Disney regional entertainment would develop an indoor entertainment center for families named Disney quest that would debut in 1998 however Disney regional entertainment was not even created until over a year after the game works announcement so two disney copy the idea it's certainly not the first time they've mimicked concepts under the helm of CEO Michael Eisner the question is why out of all of the entertainment concepts sprouting up in the 90s why game works most of the locations and attractions the Eisner imitated posed a direct threat to the amount of tourists that would be visiting Disney's parks but game works wasn't stealing any business from Disney the locations hadn't even been announced so why expand into an emerging volatile market and take on a company that has more experience and resources in that field that risk does not seem to make sense from a business perspective but it makes perfect sense if you will get it from a completely different angle who founded game works Sega and DreamWorks who founded DreamWorks Steven Spielberg David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg the former head of Walt Disney Studios that had constantly butted heads with Eisner and had been ousted from the company a year prior Disney regional entertainment was in part created as an easy way to expand the Disney parks experience to smaller cities throughout the United States but there was something bigger going on here Eisner was spiraling and he was taking the Walt Disney Company down with him [Music] Marrs take a trek through a prehistoric jungle tore a house that has not yet been built it's called virtual reality as Jane found out all it takes is a special helmet you're gone it's a computer-generated world where you see and move and feel the real life ever be the same though it had been implemented into specialized use for fields such as medicine and engineering since the 1970s virtual reality technology wasn't seen as ready for consumers until the 1990s one of the first commercial uses of the technology would be the insertion of virtual reality pods into arcades malls and movie theaters these had horrible graphics constrained movement high costs and generalized filth the system in one game could easily cost around $50,000 to purchase and generally cost the consumer around five dollars to play which would be closer to $100,000 to purchase and ten dollars to play when adjusted for inflation with a high cost involved VR cafes began to open across the country allowing patrons to try out the latest in VR technology while excitement around VR remained the boom of VR arcade games tapered off by the mid 90s by then the idea of VR and caught the attention of video game console producers such as Sega and Nintendo both of which attempted to create VR headsets for home use both meeting less than ideal results by the late 90s the future of the medium was bleak but game works and therefore Disney saw potential and virtual reality games and simulators would be the main attractions of both of the plant complexes On June 20th the 1995 Disney announced that the Walt Disney World Resort shopping district the Disney Village Market Place would receive a major renovation in September of 1997 it would be renamed to Downtown Disney in its 20-year existence the marketplace had already undergone a few major expansions the most notable of these was the addition of Pleasure Island in elaborate themed nightclub district that debuted in 1989 this divided the complex and two with the other section being named the marketplace these two sections saw their theming slightly adjusted in order to fit the Downtown Disney renovation in a new area named Downtown Disney Westside opened as well this new section would include a Cirque du Soleil show a Planet Hollywood and a ginormous indoor theme park Disney quest opened its doors on June 19 1998 there was a little build up to its debut and the structure was nearly finished a year prior to its opening with Disney refusing to confirm or release any information not even announcing its official name until a few months before the public and the press were confused on what exactly would be inside of the large building when it opened and Disney regional entertainment seemed to the most confused of all the subsidiaries president art Levitt acknowledged that the team was having a difficult time describing Disney quest it was more than an arcade but it wasn't really a theme park either when questioned in the months leading up to its opening Levitt and other executives referred to the complex as the ultimate interactive adventure which means almost nothing if you think about it Disney provided a few press releases and promotional material but overall the debut of Disney regional entertainments flagship concept was surprisingly quiet still in the summer of 1998 a large crowd gathered to enter Disney quest for the first time not sure what to expect from the new experience I'm here in the virtual reality studio but Disney Imagineers are creating a whole new world of storytelling tiny TV screens inside this headset actually allow you to step into the world of Aladdin on a magic carpet ride it's called virtual because it's a world which only exists inside a computer reality because unlike film or television you see not just what's on the screen but what's above around and behind you and you control when you return to the real world I went away the accident oh well welcome to the wonderful world of Disney the building was a huge five-story 100,000 square foot blue box on the front and back of the building there was a large set of Mickey ears with DisneyQuest and large print the building had no windows adding to the mystery surrounding its contents concept art for the complex gave the building a slightly different more three-dimensional style also incorporating a proposed monorail track to the Downtown Disney complex exterior ticket booths were located to the left of the entrance guests would enter on the ground floor a simple yet elegant Lobby there were bronze busts of famous Disney characters placed throughout the room the centerpiece was an artificial sky with supercalifragilistic expialidocious surrounding the trim of the faux window this was the setup to the illusion that the elevators were actually flying you to a new land it was a subtle and fun touch at the end of the lobby were the turnstiles to get on the elevator once through guess boarded the highly themed lifts named the cyber ladders these featured an in route show starring the genie from Aladdin this 45-second video explains to guests that they are being transported not just to the next level but to a new location entirely after this the elevator doors opened and guests enter Disney quest like the classic Castle parks around the world Disney quest was designed with a central hub known as a venture port upon entering the main area guests could see a structure that appeared to be a futuristic telescope connected to vents report were for bridges known as gateway branches leading out to each themed zone these were replay zone score zone create zone and explore zone the replay zone located on floors three four and five featured midway on the moon a classic arcade where guests could play games like pac-man air hockey skee-ball and Tron an attraction called Buzz Lightyear's Astro blasters also resided in this area this was much different than the Buzz Lightyear dark rides that can be found at Disney parks throughout the world Disney quest version was an attraction that combined bumper cars with dodgeball each vehicle contained two guests one would drive the car and the other would fire dodge balls at the other vehicles the next zone was score zone also located on Forest three four and five the main game in this area was the Mighty Ducks pinball slam guests would stand on platforms and leaned in different directions controlling a virtual pinball on a large screen another game in the score zone was one of Disney quest premiere VR tractions ride the comics yes would dawn large visors and hold motion detecting sabers swinging them violently as they fought villains in a digital superhero world there were multiple Bay's made to look like spaceships the last attraction in the score zone was invasion an extraterrestrial alien encounter in extension to the Magic Kingdom attraction that had opened three years prior invasion continued the world-building the extra-terrestrial alien encounter began in the game's story a space outpost filled with American colonists is being invaded by alien monsters in a moment of desperation the President of the United States enlists the help of Elsi clench the chairman of excess tech played once again by Jeffrey Jones in a pre-show video clinch describes his new military technology the excess 5,000 that requires a pilot and multiple gunmen to operate after the pre-show players would enter the excess 5,000 and be teleported to the planet operating two joysticks the gunman had the ability to shoot lasers or missiles as well as capture colonists the pilot would navigate the ship around and eventually back to the teleporter and also trigger the ship to jump to get out of tough situations the immersive experience use 3d graphics and a variety of multi angled screens during the four-minute game players would run into some familiar looking monsters with grotesque design similar to those found in the Magic Kingdom attraction the third theme zone was the create zone located on the second floor this area featured the animation Academy an interactive demonstration similar to those found at other Disney parks in that participants were given a tutorial on how to draw Disney's animated characters one difference was the Disney quest version utilized digital touch screens while the others used paper due to this difference the Disney quest attraction was only able to accommodate 18 guests at a time other attractions in the creative zone included Radio Disney song maker which allowed guests to create their own original song by mixing different styles sounds effects lyrics and more Sid's create a toy a toy story inspired area that let guests combine different toy parts to create a new one and magic mirrors which allowed guests to take a picture of themselves and manipulate it into a cartoon the most popular attraction in the create zone was cyberspace mountain cyberspace mountain was a simulator ride and which guests could design their own rollercoaster it began with a tutorial presented by Bill Nye the Science Guy explaining to riders how to properly construct their coaster Space Mountain a lab guess to ride their creations in a simulator car capable of tilting turning and even flipping them upside down a more advanced version of this concept would later appear in Disney parks as the sum of all thrills a 2009 addition to interventions in Epcot the last zone was the Explorer Zone located on floors 1 & 2 guests could get to the area either by the stairs or from the third floor Aladdin themed Cave of Wonders slide however this was closed after less than a year of operation the explore zone had three large attractions that were technological marvels for their time the first attraction was Aladdin's magic carpet ride this attraction was another VR game that required a headset guests would sit on a motorcycle like seat and after putting on the headset would find themselves magically transported to Agrabah guests would ride on the magic carpet while attempting to release the genie who was trapped in the Cave of Wonders the second attraction her Huey's in the underworld was a 3d attraction that took guests on an adventure with the characters from the film groups of players each with their own joystick steered Pegasus and the heroes in an attempt to defeat Hades the third immersive attraction was the virtual Jungle Cruise guests would board an inflatable raft sitting on top of a large pad in front of a screen the game started in the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom before a virtual skipper sends guests to the age of the dinosaurs the skipper accidentally drops the device that controls the time machine and guests paddle down the river in an attempt to grab it the pad below reacted to the player's paddles and the flow of the water to maximize realism a less immersive attraction and explore zone was treasure of the Incas which had guests drive toy trucks through a maze in order to win prizes the drivers operated the vehicles on a screen in a teammate that could see the top of the maze would yell directions at them DisneyQuest also had a few restaurants that guests could eat at these counter service eateries were food quest the Wonderland cafe and the Cheesecake Factory Express a smaller scale Cheesecake Factory concept exclusive to Disney quest once guests had explored the entire complex they would walk down a spiral staircase and exit to the first floor gift shop despite the lack of marketing Disney quest at Downtown Disney was a success sucking tourists and shoppers through its shiny new gates however Disney regional entertainment was not surprised or impressed by the crowds that initially drew after all it was located within the Walt Disney World Resort catering to a dedicated if not captive mark in fact it seems that Leavitt and Disney regional entertainment didn't view Disney classed Orlando as the chain's official debut it was a mere test for the planned regional complexes in the next Disney quest to open would be given the fanfare one would expect from Disney hi everybody I'm Janet Davies and I'm Jim rose and welcome to one of the most incredible places in Chicago this year it's called Disney quest it's located on the corner of Ohio and Rush in Chicago just one block west of Michigan Avenue jr. right behind us is a five-story building that is an indoor interactive theme park it is full of high-tech virtual reality games and gadgets tree I tell you it is 90,000 square feet of pure fun good family fun and I guarantee there is no place in the United States like this except in Orlando where the original Disney Quest is before Disney quest Orlando opened DisneyQuest Chicago was announced this would be the first of hopefully many Disney quest throughout the world with Disney projecting around 30 locations Disney quest Chicago opened a year after Orlando's debuting on June 16th 1999 the complex located on the corner of Russian Ohio was given a large opening celebration with an entire television special documenting the ceremonies the building was similar to Disney quest Orlando in that it was 5 floors but it was slightly smaller at 90,000 square feet as opposed to Orlando's 100,000 having Disney quest in Chicago was an ambitious step for Disney but it was also a decision that made perfect sense Chicago was the third most populated American city and it was also the birthplace of Walt Disney it was far enough away from both Orlando and Anaheim to deliver Disney to an entirely new market and gameworks was set to open a location just outside of the city in the summer of 1999 as well but that was probably just a coincidence the main goal of Disney quest Chicago was to become the Magic Kingdom of the Midwest due to the lack of space for the Chicago location some of the features and games were forced to have fewer stations but the main layout and attractions remain the same while many locals were excited to have a Disney theme park come to their backyard experts and journalists were more skeptical apart from the criticism of the complexes cheesy architecture not fitting in with the surrounding area they weren't sure whether Disney would see a return on the investment interest in both game works and Disney quest was dwindling fast the ever-changing landscape of technology was diverting consumer focus to the internet and home consoles and while the public was eager to experience both indoor amusement center concepts the chances of locals becoming regulars was falling by the minute this meant that DisneyQuest Chicago would have to rely more on tourists which did not bode well for a large-scale regional expansion while critics lacked confidence and Disney quest Disney had far too much the head of attendance calculating at the Walt Disney Company estimated that around 3 million guests would visit Disney quest per year however this would have been nearly impossible as proved by this quote from a 1999 article from the Chicago Tribune the average length of stays in the two and a half to three hour range so to cram in 3 million visitors a year while maintaining some crowd control Disney quest would have to stay open about 17 hours a day every day and remain at full capacity the entire time apparently no one had learned anything from the opening of Club Disney which were nothing from the opening of Euro Disneyland in late 1998 Disney had announced that a third Disney quest would be built in Philadelphia this location would have been located on the popular Market Street as part of an ambitious redevelopment of the area the city was thrilled to be chosen by Disney and by the time of Disney quest Chicago's debut the space was being cleared in preparation for construction and was set to open in the summer of 2000 however production delays pushed the project back to the summer of 2002 in late 2000 both Disney quest Orlando and Disney quest Chicago received a brand new attraction Hercules in the underworld was replaced by parts of the Caribbean battle for Buccaneer gold which featured large screens surrounding a miniature pirate ship that guests would board each player would have a physical cannon that would fire digital cannonballs at enemy ships a more advanced version of the games technology would later be used in Toy Story Midway mania players would also encounter a serpent that looked very similar to the lego model that opened at the Downtown Disney Lego store in 1997 guess playing the game would have to defeat the Jolly Roger which was not an easy task and the majority of players would lose the game with their boat sinking into the water it is worth noting that both the parts of the Caribbean and Aladdin Disney quest games were designed by Randy Pausch a virtual reality specialist and professor famous for his talk and book the last lecture which he produced before passing away in 2008 the new pirates of the carribean game temporarily reinvigorated excitement in the Chicago location which had already waned it's 18 months of operation unfortunately it was too late DisneyQuest Chicago surprisingly did not live up to Disney's unrealistic expectations and Disney announced that it would close the location on September 4th 2001 the official reasoning was that the complex was simply not generating enough revenue for the company to justify paying the expensive rent of downtown Chicago also the complex was diverting a massive amount of time and money that Disney and the Imagineers could be spending on more promising and more profitable projects on top of this reviews of the Chicago location had not been stellar the lines were long the price of admission $16 for two and a half hours of games was too expensive for many and the complex did not deliver the Disney magic that the theme parks could Disney quest Orlando compliment of the resort well but Disney quest Chicago alone in the heart of a busy city felt cold and corporate rather than warm and colorful along with the announcement that Disney quest Chicago would be closed Disney regional entertainment announced that Disney quest Philadelphia would be scrapped Disney essentially abandoned the prime real estate in the middle of construction leaving only a large pot of dirt locals coined it the disney whole into this day has not been developed further than a paved parking lot this along with the closure of Chicago slightly tarnished Disney's reputation in both regions despite the cancellation of all future plans for Disney quest Disney quest Orlando remained open receiving little attention from the company and little to no updates apart from the closure of the cable wonder slide and the addition of Pirates of the Caribbean battle for Buccaneer gold the treasure of the Incas interactive maze game would be closed after a few years of operation cellphone frequencies caused interference with the remote-controlled trucks and on one occasion one of the vehicles burst into flames which is terrifying considering that this occurred in a building that had no windows in a main transportation system of a magic elevator the space was eventually filled with let's go Jungle arcade games the magic mirrors attraction closed in 2005 and was replaced with additional seating and perhaps the most disappointing removal was the Cheesecake Factory Express around 2008 in 2011 the cyber later screens were turned off and they became just regular elevators a few years after this to help promote the film wreck-it Ralph a large structure of the title character as well as multiple fix-it felix games were added to the complex these along with the minor additions and a few major closures toward the end of its lifespan we're the only changes DisneyQuest Orlando saw the subsidiary Disney regional entertainment lasted until 2010 when it closed five ESPN zones and sold two more the branch dissolved with Disney quest being absorbed into Disney Parks and Resorts the indoor theme park was left to die with Disney giving discounts on tickets and sometimes offering them for free with certain vacation packages finally on June 30th 2015 it was reported that Disney quest was going to close at the end of 2016 to be replaced with a new NBA themed attraction however 2016 came and went with Disney quest staying open the entire year it wouldn't be until January 30th 2017 that Disney would announce that Disney quest final day was to be July 2nd to commemorate the closing pass holder discounts made ticket prices which had increased slightly in its nearly two decades of operation exactly $19.98 as a tribute to the year that had opened after 19 years of operation Disney quest closed its doors the building sat abandoned for one month until demolition began in August Construction has begun on the MBA experience which is set to open in the summer of 2019 the closure of Disney quest Orlando along with the recent closure of Anaheim's ESPN Zone brought an end to the ventures of Disney regional entertainment with every location of all three chains now defunct but what about Michael Eisner you seem to be largely absent from the development and debut of Disney quest unlike other projects such as Euro Disneyland and Disney's America where he was on the front lines promoting and explaining the new parks he did endorse Disney quest in newspapers and a few television interviews but it seemed to be less of a priority for him and certainly not one of his passion projects when the initial concept was pitched to him in the mid 90s he told the Imagineers to quote kill the project why should we go forward with it so what if we can make money the exact reasoning for the strong reaction and what eventually changed his mind is hard to say maybe it was as selfish as the announcement of game works in his desire to take on his former partner and new rival maybe was as innocent as the Imagineers strengthening the concept and presenting the promises of the new technology either way the lack of attention on Disney quest was typical of Eisner second era 1994 was the watershed Frank Wells passing Eurodisney lands failure the defeat in Virginia and his own health issues had turned to the ambitious creative executive into an unfocused fickle and often angry CEO the development of DisneyQuest was indicative of the state of the company after the tumultuous seven years since Euro Disneyland's opening and it was a mere preview of the mind-boggling creative choices and shocking business decisions that the next seven years would bring their Renaissance was over and Disney was about to enter the 2000s buckle up this is going to be a bumpy ride [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Defunctland

Views: 2,285,188

Keywords: defunctland, kevin perjurer, theme park, extinct, abandoned, defunct, history, disney, disneyland, disney world, previous, attractions, on ride, lights on, disneyquest, disney quest arcade, disneyquest chicago, downtown disney, disney quest games, disney virtual reality games, disney video games history, walt disney world, disney springs, euro disneyland, disney's america, disney theme park history, defunctland michael eisner, california adventure superstar limo, extraterrorestrial

Id: UZQGtnEL2xs

Length: 24min 9sec (1449 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 04 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/rivercountrybears]

Great video, as always.

I’ve only been to Disney Quest (Orlando) once. I felt rather underwhelmed, and would’ve rather spent the time in the parks. I guess it’s a good alternative for a rainy day, but on a sunny Florida day (being from canada), it’s the last place I wanted to be.

[u/neebick]

I loved Disneyquest as a kid. My parents would drop my brother and I off there while they shopped and dined. It was perfect for two teenage boys. Gave us freedom while my parents were happy knowing we were in a safe environment.

Even cooler was that we actually were part of a focus group at Epcot for the magic carpet ride. It always was special to me because we saw it before it opened to the public.

I’ll miss that place. It was sad that they let it languish and die.

The one thing he didn’t mention that when it originally opened there was a point system with a card instead of tokens, like Dave & Busters. At some point they dropped that and switch to free games with price of admission.

[u/dekdekwho]

Chicago chain could have survived for many years if they chose the right location like the Suburbs and not the Loop

[u/sypwn]

OMG /u/KevinPerjurer where did you get the footage of people playing Descent like at 1:00 and 1:28-1:32? I first saw that footage in the History of Volition years ago, and have been dying to see the full source.

[u/The-Bigger-Fish]

Shame I never got to experience this, I love me some old school cheesy 90's tech and CGI. Also, I have a friend who was in the Disneyworld area shortly before it closed and he unfortunately didn't know about its existence until I told him about it when he came back. He's a huge technology guy and has a major soft spot for old computer tech.

Seeing how far both Disney and VR tech has come over the past few years, I'd really like it if they gave something like this another shot, maybe on a smaller scale though. Also, if they do try the VR theme park again, I sincerely hope they open one in Minnesota because that's where me and my friend live. :)

[u/sushithighs]

I loved Disney Quest, but even years ago it was clear how dated it was. With a proper investment it could have been amazing.

[u/buttassbitch]

I really have to know where he got that 8-bit rendition of the Fantasmic theme!!! It was so awesome!!

[u/[deleted]]

Wonderful as always. That Alien Encounter game was very hard and gave you almost no direction.

[u/keebatoast]

Great video! I worked at Disney Quest in 2012 and I kept thinking when watching this “but will he cover THIS!” And you did. You covered pretty much everything.