It comes out nearly a whole month after Dory. It'll be fine. Animation in the summer nearly always does well. I'll be amazed if this does less than 500 million worldwide, which is what the Cars movies did, and they got a whole land and possibly the most expensive ride of all time.
To be entirely fair, Cars Land was greenlit based on insane merchandise sales, not box office receipts.
As for the release, Universal originally had it slated for July 6th, so now it's not quite as close to FD. Yet, still there are few 100% guarantees with the box office with original films, animated or not. I'm not stomping my feet and claiming that it WILL bomb, I'm just saying that it
can happen. (for the record, we should probably wait for a full trailer before using it as evidence that it's a sure bet) It's a factor that not many IP-based attractions have to deal with, and so with that it's entirely fair to discuss that possibility.
And that's exactly what makes this one so fascinating to discuss, because it's a risky, bewildering move that both makes no sense and total sense at the same time. That's what Disney is missing, that sort-of "balls to the wall" attitude towards creating attractions. I think the concerns about the IP being unproven are mostly stemming from being conditioned to the way that Disney has conditioned us. We get a Little Mermaid ride over twenty years after the film came out, Star Wars Land is coming out a year AFTER the NEW trilogy has finished, and Frozen is getting its own attraction after two-and-a-half years, but it's just an overlay of a tiny flume attraction. Disney acquired Marvel six years ago and is finally opening a ride based on one of those properties next year, in Hong Kong, using dated flight simulator technology.
But Universal can plainly see a ride like Splash Mountain endures despite the history of what it represents, because Splash Mountain is
fun. People don't think of "Song of the South", they think about Splash Mountain. In order to divert risk, Universal Creative has to take a full measure. They need to prove that this ride can stand on its own just in case. If so, its a lovely icing that can be covered by the proven F&F and Fallon properties, along with VB. People can discover it and fall in love with it, if they do their job right.
And in the likely situation the movie is a hit, then Universal gets to put billboards all over Florida telling kids that they already have an awesome ride based on the funny Pets movie that they keep watching on DVD while their parents vaguely recall seeing that 3D James Cameron film that was a hot thing for a few months before they got married and settled down.