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News ► Hashimoto discusses possibility of Disney Park collaboration at Annual Shareholders Meeting



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Timpani

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Realistically I don't expect it to come to any of the other parks besides Tokyo Disneyland right away and they'll definitely get it first, but that being said all I want is for it to come here.

(And for them to actually care about the theming. I would die if they opened up anything Kingdom Hearts at WDW but please Disney, please put it in the right park and don't do what you're doing with Guardians and place it in Epcot. That's just a bad idea and I don't want to have to be salty about my favorite thing being added to Disney World.)
 

Recon

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Wasn't Kingdom Hearts at Disneyland or Magic Kingdom before ? My memory is fuzzy, but long ago I was at one of the two and there was a giant dome building where you could play Kingdom Hearts. I could never find pictures of the event ever since...

It was definitely Tomorrowland at Disneyland. I want to say Tomorrowland Expo Center, but not 100%. I'm still looking for images. I recall it being right near the Submarine Voyage and at the time it was based on The Little Mermaid before it was changed to Finding Nemo.
 

Luminary

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KH definitely needs more presence in Disney Park merchandise and I’d love to see the characters wear their KH outfits more. Maybe Sora could even appear in one of the nighttime shows or something. Unfortunately, Kingdom Hearts 3 would need astronomical sales to warrant a full attraction of land, especially outside of Japan.

I think our best hope for something of that caliber is if Universal is successful with their Nintendo themed land and Disney decides to create their own video game themed land. They could theme it to Game Central Station with attractions based on Wreck It Ralph, Kingdom Hearts, Epic Mickey, and maybe even licensed properties. However, the odds of this happening are incredibly slim and would be impossible to realize until well into the 2020’s.

We’ll have to see how much Disney cares about the franchise through their participation in the marketing campaign. I’m still hoping for a Sora cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet. That would show they’re taking the series seriously and it would get Sora’s face in front of a more mainstream audience.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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I also remember KH2 inside of Disneyland around 2006.

I freaked out and my friends laughed and went off to play the orther games while I fought Xemnas' final form for like all of 5 minutes because it was set to Beginner. The Disney cast member there was trying to tell me about the game and the final fight. I didn't have the heart to tell him I had already beat the game two months prior to that trip to Disneyland and I could probably quote the cutscenes in my sleep.

I also remember very vividly that they had a celebrity event in that area to unveil the game stations with a bunch of younger kids as guests. David Gallagher was there and I believe HJO as well?
 

Sora2016

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I also remember KH2 inside of Disneyland around 2006.

I freaked out and my friends laughed and went off to play the orther games while I fought Xemnas' final form for like all of 5 minutes because it was set to Beginner. The Disney cast member there was trying to tell me about the game and the final fight. I didn't have the heart to tell him I had already beat the game two months prior to that trip to Disneyland and I could probably quote the cutscenes in my sleep.

I also remember very vividly that they had a celebrity event in that area to unveil the game stations with a bunch of younger kids as guests. David Gallagher was there and I believe HJO as well?

Oh yeah I have seen videos of that on Youtube I think? I think Brittany Snow was there also??
 

Chaser

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Oh yeah I have seen videos of that on Youtube I think? I think Brittany Snow was there also??
She thought she was late but she was the first one there. And because she didn't know the full story, only that her character interacts with Roxas the most, she thought he was the protagonist throughout the entire game.

[video=youtube;3ZOIDNl4lNs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZOIDNl4lNs[/video]

I love Meaghan Jette Martin but I do miss Brittany Snow :'(
 

Sora2016

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She thought she was late but she was the first one there. And because she didn't know the full story, only that her character interacts with Roxas the most, she thought he was the protagonist throughout the entire game.

[video=youtube;3ZOIDNl4lNs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZOIDNl4lNs[/video]

I love Meaghan Jette Martin but I do miss Brittany Snow :'(

Okay I'm glad I wasn't misremembering, I thought she made a mistake about something plot related that annoying fans are probably still reaming her about in the comments lol.

I miss her too tbh, though I do enjoy Meghan's performance especially in Re:CoM
 

Chaser

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Okay I'm glad I wasn't misremembering, I thought she made a mistake about something plot related that annoying fans are probably still reaming her about in the comments lol.

I miss her too tbh, though I do enjoy Meghan's performance especially in Re:CoM
Like, I feel bad for the fan base ripping into her. She only knew things that related to her part, and Naminé interacts with Roxas for 95% of the game, and the other 5% is in The World That Never Was with Kairi.

I just watched Jesse McCartney's interview on the carpet, though, and he was struggling to answer the questions. He didn't know what to say and it was awkward to watch. Hopefully, now that he has grown with the series, if they hold a new launch event then he will be able to answer with more confidence aha.
 

Sora2016

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Like, I feel bad for the fan base ripping into her. She only knew things that related to her part, and Naminé interacts with Roxas for 95% of the game, and the other 5% is in The World That Never Was with Kairi.

I just watched Jesse McCartney's interview on the carpet, though, and he was struggling to answer the questions. He didn't know what to say and it was awkward to watch. Hopefully, now that he has grown with the series, if they hold a new launch event then he will be able to answer with more confidence aha.

Oh yeah for sure, for something like this unless a character is really involved the VA's probably don't have any idea whats going on unless they play themselves. People don't like to think about stuff like that though...

And ah, yeah being with the series long enough and being more into VAing in general I would hope he is more confident as well? I would love another release event *sighs*
 

Chaser

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He really tried, and I love that. It's just clear that no one from the PR team or anyone really gave them a crash course in how to answer questions relating to KH3.

Here's the video for those who want to reminisce, or who haven't seen it:

[video=youtube;ap_caIokVpA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap_caIokVpA[/video]

A launch event would be grand. It'd be great to hear people like Willa Holland, Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore etc. speak about their time with the franchise.
 

Recon

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I also remember KH2 inside of Disneyland around 2006.

Now that I think about it, it might have been KH2. I also remember a Sora statue similar to the one in Tokyo for Re:Coded. I'm surprised no footage of this exists. Then again, this was an era before smartphones.
 

AmaryllisMoth

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Man, one of the cringiest moments of my life was when I found the KH booths at Epcot and I was just completely in my zone (I would have been...12 years old, I think?) and while I was in the middle of the final boss fight this older kid came up to the free station next to me and was failing really hard at the controls (I forget what part of the game he was trying to do) so I was trying to help him while fighting Ansem at the same time. I was like "you need to lock on! It's easier!" so I told him which button to press but he kept double hitting it, turning it on and off, so I eventually got fed up and reached over and did it for him. He was like "whoa! calm down its just a game!" and stormed off.

I felt really bad because I just wanted him to not die. But now I feel bad because he probably got turned off trying to play the game after that. Soooo...yeah not a great moment there haha.

But I still had an absolute BLAST seeing it in the park. Made my entire day. I really hope they integrate something again.

Perhaps they can actually brand the sea salt ice cream they sell at Disney Sea. At the moment the shell case it comes in just has various main cast characters in sailor costumes (at least the last time I got it anyway). I think people would LOVE getting a case with kingdom hearts characters in cute beach themed outfits or something. I think having a KH float in one of the parades would be fun, too. Or maybe having some Destiny Islands stuff on the little tom sawyer island thing in the center of the park. There is a cave bit there they could put some of the Island drawings in. Make it a photo spot or something.
 

Alpha Baymax

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Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media did merge with Disney Parks and Resorts to form Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products. So basically, Disney's video game division and theme park division is under one division.

So yeah, a Kingdom Hearts theme park collaboration can happen. The Disney division merger is the reason why the Toy Story Land collaboration is happening!
 

Sobek

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I would love to see a ride like Star Tours where there's a "car" that holds a good amount of passengers and there's a screen at the front where it simulates you going on a Gummi ship mission, potentially it could be 3-D and it would be on a track and be a moving ride where it twists and turns to really feel like you're on the ship, heck I could even see them putting animatronics of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. If they wanted to ramp up the thrill factor they could make it like the Harry Potter ride inside Hogwarts where it almost flips you upside down or just have a VR roller coaster like they have at Six Flags. Also fun fact, the Keepers of the Magic Kingdom card game that's in Disney World was called "Codename: Kingdom Hearts" in its beta stages. So close, yet so far...
 
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Ballad of Caius

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It's high time SE started recognizing KH more in the sense of it being an integral part of their business model. KH is basically on par with FF and DQ as SE franchises. We've been getting KH games almost on a yearly basis. That said, they should put the same push with KH as they do with FF and DQ, and this meaning actually pushing for a broader collaboration with Disney. Hashimoto said it himself: "KH in the park would extend the consumer base", well, then start doing it! The same way KH served as a bridge for non-fans of FF to give the franchise a try, could be said the same towards KH at the park: use Disney as a bridge to the franchise.
 

Alpha Baymax

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Honestly, I'm guessing the reason as to why Disney are not doing much Kingdom Hearts related stuff in the theme parks is because Square Enix doesn't directly profit off anything Kingdom Hearts related outside the games. You see, Square Enix only has development credits for the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Disney owns it. A lot of Kingdom Hearts merchandising is unaffiliated with Square Enix legally.

However, anything Kingdom Hearts related has to be approved by Nomura. Nomura works for Square Enix, so naturally, a lot of his decisions would be to benefit Square Enix. Clearly, if Kingdom Hearts is to be in Disneyland, Square Enix would try to get directly involved to profit in some way. However, that's just my two cents.
 

Wallflower3582

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At the very, very least they should put some more merchandise in the park. I've been to WDW four times and counting, and I've scoured the park for anything KH related. I found a T-shirt in the Japan store in Epcot, (which is actually not a Disney owned store...) and a trading pin of Mickey in his black coat. (I may have freaked out a bit when I did find that... :rolleyes:) That's it. I can definitely see them introducing some Sora and Co. toys/action figures or something, especially in the Toy Story world now that it's in KH3, and I most CERTAINLY want to try sea salt ice cream, it would be so easy for them to introduce it to one of the many ice cream shops they already have if they aren't willing to start a new one. Character meet-and-greets wouldn't be too hard either, they actually already have the costumes for Donald and Goofy in their KH attire already, they just keep them for special occasions. I missed them by a few weeks when I was there last and a cast member told me about it. Actually, a lot of the cast members I met down there were already KH fans, and when my sister was wearing a t-shirt with Sora on it she got comments on it from a lot of them. Multiple I talked to were hoping just as hard as we were that something would make it into the park. I want more than anything for a section of the park to be devoted to the series, but I don't think that will be happening anytime in the near future. I almost imagine a movie adaptation of something Kingdom Hearts - to increase public knowledge of the game to people outside of the gaming community - before we could even consider an actual themed park area/ride for it. But the chances of that aren't great either, so I'm just gonna keep my fingers crossed for sea salt ice cream and maybe an KH themed event.
 

Knuxpyro56

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i do remember back in the day that Disney had big launches for KH1 and KH2 and they were advertised heavily, but i do remember this for a strange reason.

Former CEO and Man who almost destoryed the Disney Co, Micheal Eisner was very disappointed from how little the sales of KH were in the parks. From what i heard, that is the reason why Square Enix has most of the merchandising rights for the series. We also got Sora, Donald and Goofy Meet and Greet characters (which only Donald and Goofy are used sparingly). And we just recently got KH Mickey as a meet and greet, but he is the rarest of the 4.

But lets be real, the only park that would really get KH stuff would be TokyoDisney/Sea. Funny enough did you guys know that earlier this year when rumors were spreading of a third gate for Tokyo it was rumored to be named TokyoDisney Sky under the name Project Sora (of course this rumor would die off as Tokyo Disney Resort decided only to expand TokyoDisney Sea)
 
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