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So... why are there no Disneyland Attractions/Merchandise/presence for Kingdom Hearts?



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MrFranklin95

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Its a question I've always wondered for a while but I don't think I got a clear answer or discussion for it.

Why are there no attraction rides at any park, not even Toyko Disneyland for Kingdom Hearts? Why is Kingdom Hearts' presence seem to be downplayed by Disney at its parks or just in general? Where's all the merchandise for the series besides just being online or overseas? Surely, I feel like Disney is missing out on a potential goldmine since Kingdom Hearts is a pretty well known series. Maybe not its most famous but enough to be given attention considering that it pormotes almost all its films while providing its own original story and chatacters with there own popularity like Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Xehanort etc (who are all btw owned by Disney, not sqaure)

So why is all this? And do you think Kingdom Heatts 3's success will helps its chances in the future?
 

Face My Fears

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I swear I came across an image of Sora in his KH 3 costume (and keyblade) in what appeared to be Disneyworld. I'm not sure if it's real or not.
 

LostArtist

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I swear I came across an image of Sora in his KH 3 costume (and keyblade) in what appeared to be Disneyworld. I'm not sure if it's real or not.

wait what? was it a full on costume like in the video I shared, or was it more like a cosplay/actual person?
 

AdrianXXII

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My guess is that as primary a Film studio they're a bit hesitant to dedicate a part of their Parks to something that's not from a film they own, a bias of sort. Not sure if they've ever included something in the parks that wasn't either original or from one of their movies.

I was also going to bring up that they might not want to promote something they don't completely own, but then remembered that they created a Avatar (blue cat people) part in their animal kingdom, before the Fox deal. Also by now other than maybe the Moogles I can't think of anything in KH that they down own.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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I’d say it is a mix of things.

1) Doesn’t have a high enough saturation rate among a mass audience. It’s certainly popular and has carved out its own corner of the video game market, but it doesn’t have the mass appeal us fans like to think it has. Most people think it is this mess of a series with a convoluted storyline and “anime boys”. With those sorts of perceptions, the game has a hard time really attaching itself to new fans young or old, which means the value of the brand is not THAT high which means giving it any sort of space at the parks would be risky.

2) Disney doesn’t have full control over KH. As the IP holder, they definitely can take control anytime they want but they have a lot of respect for Nomura, and that means if they wanted to do anything with KH they have to get approval through Nomura. I don’t think they necessarily want to deal with that.

3) Disney doesn’t understand video games, which means they completely underestimate the popularity of the series. I know I just talked about how the series doesn’t have mass market appeal, but there are always two sides to these things. The series IS popular. There isn’t a doubt about that, but time and time again Disney has proved that they don’t exactly understand why it is popular or really how to work with it to market it.

4) Merchandise-wise, SE holds the rights to it. Disney can license out the IP wholesale with their other licenses but I don’t think they have direct access to create merchandise for the series. They would have to renegotiate their really convoluted contract with Square and from what I’ve been told, nobody on either side at Disney and Square wants to. This is what I’ve been told by a reputable staff member at Disney back in 2015, though, so perhaps things have changed. Who knows.

5) Perhaps of the Imagineers that work on attractions and other aspects for Parks & Resorts, none know of or care about KH, thus they don’t bother making or pitching ideas for it, thus the cycle continues. 8D

So, in conclusion, who REALLY knows but it’s probably because Disney is stupid. KH fans are wild and loyal enough to spend big bucks to go to Disney Parks & Resorts just to get special KH stuff. I think we are moving in the right direction considering this:


Maybe in the next 10 years we can hope for something. KH3 was the big proving ground, so to speak. I think it’s on Disney’s radar more now than ever, and it’ll be up to SE and the fans to keep the momentum so Disney actually does something about it.

I think we would need to see a TV show or a film adaption to really get the ball rolling, but LOL that’s an impossible task.

@Face My Fears, whatever you saw was not an official Disney costume. I know that for a fact.
 
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I did see an Organization XIII Mickey Pin at Disneyland a few years ago. It may not have been much, but it was something.
 

Face My Fears

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I’d say it is a mix of things.

1) Doesn’t have a high enough saturation rate among a mass audience. It’s certainly popular and has carved out its own corner of the video game market, but it doesn’t have the mass appeal us fans like to think it has. Most people think it is this mess of a series with a convoluted storyline and “anime boys”. With those sorts of perceptions, the game has a hard time really attaching itself to new fans young or old, which means the value of the brand is not THAT high which means giving it any sort of space at the parks would be risky.

2) Disney doesn’t have full control over KH. As the IP holder, they definitely can take control anytime they want but they have a lot of respect for Nomura, and that means if they wanted to do anything with KH they have to get approval through Nomura. I don’t think they necessarily want to deal with that.

3) Disney doesn’t understand video games, which means they completely underestimate the popularity of the series. I know I just talked about how the series doesn’t have mass market appeal, but there are always two sides to these things. The series IS popular. There isn’t a doubt about that, but time and time again Disney has proved that they don’t exactly understand why it is popular or really how to work with it to market it.

4) Merchandise-wise, SE holds the rights to it. Disney can license out the IP wholesale with their other licenses but I don’t think they have direct access to create merchandise for the series. They would have to renegotiate their really convoluted contract with Square and from what I’ve been told, nobody on either side at Disney and Square wants to. This is what I’ve been told by a reputable staff member at Disney back in 2015, though, so perhaps things have changed. Who knows.

5) Perhaps of the Imagineers that work on attractions and other aspects for Parks & Resorts, none know of or care about KH, thus they don’t bother making or pitching ideas for it, thus the cycle continues. 8D

So, in conclusion, who REALLY knows but it’s probably because Disney is stupid. KH fans are wild and loyal enough to spend big bucks to go to Disney Parks & Resorts just to get special KH stuff. I think we are moving in the right direction considering this:


Maybe in the next 10 years we can hope for something. KH3 was the big proving ground, so to speak. I think it’s on Disney’s radar more now than ever, and it’ll be up to SE and the fans to keep the momentum so Disney actually does something about it.

I think we would need to see a TV show or a film adaption to really get the ball rolling, but LOL that’s an impossible task.

@Face My Fears, whatever you saw was not an official Disney costume. I know that for a fact.
A dark ride that tells the story of KH 1 would be amazing! You'd start in Destiny Islands, then Traverse Town, then the Disney worlds, then Hollow Bastion, then End of the World! As you exit, Simple and Clean plays.
 

Absent

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I mean I love Kingdom Hearts but I wouldn’t invest a ton of money to make a ride out of it. That’s not good business, that’s why all new rides and attractions focus on recognized brands that bring people.

I do believe the merchandise should be more commonly found in the parks and resorts than in 1 store found in the Japan Pavilion in EPCOT.
 
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