Help me out a bit here, I didn't mention Cars Land, and as I did say before, everything that was added to the park (that includes Cars Land) in the run up to the 2012 reopening were great additions that helped transform the park. I'd go as far as saying the thing that single handedly saved the park was Cars Land! I'm not just bashing the use of IP's here.
Guardians of the Galaxy, the way the ride looks, its theme, storyline, literally everything about it simply doesn't fit in with California Avdentures's newfound concept as a whole. The park have spent years trying to re-establish their shallow present day California theme into a park that depicts historic California in a romanticised, fantasised style.
They are now literally pulling apart that concept by adding "crowd pleasing" attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy: MISSION BREAKOUT and the cheaply rethemed Pixar Pier, which bear absolutely no relevance to the overall theme of the park. What they should be doing is working to further refine the current themes and attractions to make the park's Californian idedntiy even more apparent, not diluting it by adding irrelevant and intrusive themes and attractions on such a monumental scale.
Disneyland Resort
-
Swarm Chris
Just saying they're unlikely to be going cheap on anything in the park is all. Also Cars land isn't Californian, but it fits really well within the park. 
I'm with you on the wishing it retained more of its Californian charm, as it is a fantastically relaxing park, especially compared to Disneyland. But with Marvel they've got a very big brand that they want to squeeze somewhere into California (and really the US as a whole given the difficult contracts with Universal on the east coast) and sadly DCA is the only place with space. I'd have preferred a separate park for Marvel, but they only have so many parking lots that they can turn into theme parks! And I did hear a rumour that it was being considered to turn the remote parking lot into a park
I believe they'll make it all work in the end. The classic California aspect will live on in its Main Street area. The outdoor California aspect will live on with Grizzly River and Soarin'. The pier should hopefully still look good from across by Little Mermaid. Whilst Marvel land can sit on the other side of the park and do it's own thing. Coincidentally I only walked through that area once on my last trip!
If Marvel land eats up some of the crowd from Disneyland then I'm all for it!
But if I'm wrong and Marvel land encroaches on other parts of the park and gives it an overall tacky feeling, then I'll be picking up my pitch fork!
Edit: skipped Pixar land. I'll reserve judgement until I see fully what's happened to California Screamin'. An increased focus on the animation side would have been good. Yes, Senior Burrito Buzz does look fairly horrific.
I'm with you on the wishing it retained more of its Californian charm, as it is a fantastically relaxing park, especially compared to Disneyland. But with Marvel they've got a very big brand that they want to squeeze somewhere into California (and really the US as a whole given the difficult contracts with Universal on the east coast) and sadly DCA is the only place with space. I'd have preferred a separate park for Marvel, but they only have so many parking lots that they can turn into theme parks! And I did hear a rumour that it was being considered to turn the remote parking lot into a park
I believe they'll make it all work in the end. The classic California aspect will live on in its Main Street area. The outdoor California aspect will live on with Grizzly River and Soarin'. The pier should hopefully still look good from across by Little Mermaid. Whilst Marvel land can sit on the other side of the park and do it's own thing. Coincidentally I only walked through that area once on my last trip!
If Marvel land eats up some of the crowd from Disneyland then I'm all for it!
But if I'm wrong and Marvel land encroaches on other parts of the park and gives it an overall tacky feeling, then I'll be picking up my pitch fork!
Edit: skipped Pixar land. I'll reserve judgement until I see fully what's happened to California Screamin'. An increased focus on the animation side would have been good. Yes, Senior Burrito Buzz does look fairly horrific.
-
Swarm Chris
Attractions Magazine have released two videos from Incredicoaster.
The first is the highly polished preview, which shows the pretty fun launch effect with Dash running alongside the train. It also shows the tunnel effects in their best light.
The second video is the actual on-ride POV, which is a little different. Not sure the effects work quite so well, particularly in the second tunnel and the Jack-on-a-stick throughout the latter part of the ride. The ride also seems to be running slower than California Screamin' throughout the section after the loop. One video I've seen shows it almost coming to a stop in the final helix.
They've kept the countdown from 5 at the start, but I will miss Neil Patrick Harris' voice over.
The first is the highly polished preview, which shows the pretty fun launch effect with Dash running alongside the train. It also shows the tunnel effects in their best light.
The second video is the actual on-ride POV, which is a little different. Not sure the effects work quite so well, particularly in the second tunnel and the Jack-on-a-stick throughout the latter part of the ride. The ride also seems to be running slower than California Screamin' throughout the section after the loop. One video I've seen shows it almost coming to a stop in the final helix.
They've kept the countdown from 5 at the start, but I will miss Neil Patrick Harris' voice over.
-
Dungeon-X-Smile
- Member
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:20 pm
- Location: Ministry of Joy
Wow... that video makes it look so bad. The models they used looked really cheap, it centred around the most boring character in the Incredibles universe and there was a clear overuse of speakers to tell a rather ridiculous story, constantly bombarding riders. I was very disappointed by the Tower of Terror retheme, thinking that Guardians of the Galaxy was an IP that would outdate itself fast... But I think this has truly taken the cake for the worst IP pairing. I haven't seen Incredibles 2 but I hear the baby humour gets annoying fast, and the baby humour sure got annoying fast in this. After this, it's safe to say I'm not going to go to California Adventure any time soon.
-
Robert.W
- Member
- Posts: 1200
- Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 12:38 am
I was expecting it to be crap. It didn't disappoint. Since the theme doesn't fit in with the theme of California Adventure, it would have been reasonable to expect that they'd try and execute the retheme a tiny little bit better than this. Does anyone know how much of Pixar Pier wasn't finished in time, or did they actually manage to get it all completed?
-
ThemeCrafter264
All the non open parts of Pixar Pier:
- Carousel retheme
- Sweet Shop
- Luxo animatronic
-
Swarm Chris
And World of Color.
They managed to destroy some of the electrics for it whilst completing the refurbishment. Apparently they flooded something that really should never have had water near it.
They managed to destroy some of the electrics for it whilst completing the refurbishment. Apparently they flooded something that really should never have had water near it.
-
lewis97
- Admin
- Posts: 4374
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:41 am
- Location: Hertfordshire
Night POVs of Incredicoaster have now also begun to emerge - here's one from LMG Vids:
[/center]
It's still nothing spectacular, but the whole lighting package does make it look at bit nicer, and it's easier to appreciate the theming/effects that are in the tunnels and at the start/end of the ride, including the Dash water jets that are lit up in red.
[/center]
It's still nothing spectacular, but the whole lighting package does make it look at bit nicer, and it's easier to appreciate the theming/effects that are in the tunnels and at the start/end of the ride, including the Dash water jets that are lit up in red.
-
Swarm Chris
It's back running at the correct speed!
Shame once they fix World of Color it won't run very often in the dark.
I fear the sound track might become irritating on this. California Screamin' was a fairly calm and relaxing coaster.
Shame once they fix World of Color it won't run very often in the dark.
I fear the sound track might become irritating on this. California Screamin' was a fairly calm and relaxing coaster.
-
abigsmurf
- Member
- Posts: 450
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:01 am
The lighting is beautiful at night but it would also be beautiful without the Incredibles stuff. If they had to do this retheme they should have gone all out with experimental tech to produce more neat effects like Dash's running or just properly converted non-front facing parts into more fully developed dark ride sections.
-
lewis97
- Admin
- Posts: 4374
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:41 am
- Location: Hertfordshire
It's today been announced that Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway will also be added in the Mickey's Toontown area of Disneyland in 2022, with the first installation of this attraction due to open at WDW's Hollywood Studios next year.
-
Swarm Chris
I'm intrigued as to where this will go. I didn't think Mickey's Toontown had that much space available to it, especially with the Star Wars expansion next to it.
-
abigsmurf
- Member
- Posts: 450
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:01 am
Reviews are floating around for smugglers run.
General consensus is that the themeing and immersiveness is incredible but the ride itself is massively dependent on what role you get. You have a great time as one of the two pilots but as an engineer or gunner, you have a restricted view and have to choose between seeing what's going on and performing your role. The "your pilot is a little kid who flied you into a wall the whole time" also seems to be a big issue.
Given how insane the queues are going to be for this ride, you may not get a chance to ride lots and experience most of the roles.
General consensus is that the themeing and immersiveness is incredible but the ride itself is massively dependent on what role you get. You have a great time as one of the two pilots but as an engineer or gunner, you have a restricted view and have to choose between seeing what's going on and performing your role. The "your pilot is a little kid who flied you into a wall the whole time" also seems to be a big issue.
Given how insane the queues are going to be for this ride, you may not get a chance to ride lots and experience most of the roles.
-
Swarm Chris
Nothing in the on-ride footage has done much to alleviate my concerns about Smugglers Run. It looks like something that needs to be experienced in perfect conditions, otherwise you may very well come away disappointed. It's concerning that only 2 of the 5 (I believe) seats are worthwhile, and that being focused on your role could lead you to missing the majority of the experience.
The rest of the land looks amazing though!
The rest of the land looks amazing though!
-
Owen
- Member
- Posts: 2552
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:25 pm
- Location: South East
Reviews don’t seem to be getting any better for Smugglers Run, or the area for that matter.
Many claiming the area holds no nostalgia besides the Falcon and the whole area and ‘planet’ of Batuu seems extremely bland due to the overuse concrete and complete lack of music (another contender for the “too much immersion” debate perhaps?). There’s also reports of the cantina being far too small with approximately 18 bar stools, a few tables and standing space being available whilst 2 bartenders struggle to keep up with orders - remembering this is only during the lands preview period which has been fairly quiet all in all, with Smugglers Run not peaking above 45 minutes. I’ve also seen reviews in which people have seen guests getting angry at the silly script stuff have to follow, calling annual passes ‘credentials’ and referring to Smugglers Run as Hondo’s Workshop, which is causing issues for people understandably not having any idea what they’re being asked for. The food options also seem to be being panned, along with the disgustingly overpriced merchandise which you aren’t allowed to open until you have exited the theme park - a far cry from the original “be a part of the world” vibe that was pushed originally.
As far as Smugglers Run goes, the ride has been described as frustrating, poor and boring with some reviewers even mentioning that Star Tours is a far more enjoyable experience - regardless of where you sit. Issues being that in the back 4 seats (2 engineers and 2 gunners) you simply mash a button when an overhead voice yells at you and those piloting can have an extremely frustrating experience with being yelled at by other passengers if not doing good enough. On top of this, there’s been reports of the motion in the cabin bring somewhat uncomfortable and jerky, something that can hopefully get smoothed out. Surprisingly there’s also been more than a few comments about the actual quality of the footage being questionable which to me seems slightly shocking when we live in a world where a ride based on Jimmy Fallon uses a 16K projector (allegedly). It’s also been mentioned that The Void VR experience, Star Wars: Secrets of The Empire, is a far superior experience, a claim that having personally experienced SoTE I can see being likely.
Besides that though other (mainly younger) reviewers seem to love the ‘gaming’ aspect of the ride and the queue and build up to the ride is fantastic. The land has been praised for its scale and also how crowds are currently being handled too. There’s been praise for the Droid workshop and animal area where merch shopping has been made an experience all on it own, as well as the occasional roaming character that can be seen around the land. Just overall the main thing being said about that land behind the initial hype that I’ve seen can really just be summed up with one word - underwhelming.
Honestly it’s such a shame to see such mixed reviews abort everything in the land, I still believe that opening without the star attraction (and arguably only enjoyable attraction for many) was a terrible idea. I still feel as though Disney need some time to really crack the formula that Universal has found in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which based on what is being said and how polarising Galaxies Edge seems to have been thus far, hasn’t been ‘topped’ - let alone completely destroyed like some thought.
That being said, this initial divided opinion (of the land at least) hasn’t really lowered my excitement about it. I was never that interested by Smugglers Run and it seems to be exactly what I anticipated and so no disappointment there from me. That being said, I really hope that these issues are ironed out and of course the land has only just opened and so I expect as foliage grows and staff get used to the land and how people manoeuvre it will improve greatly over the next year. At least I hope... as I plan on visiting the Orlando edition of Batuu in just over a year!
Many claiming the area holds no nostalgia besides the Falcon and the whole area and ‘planet’ of Batuu seems extremely bland due to the overuse concrete and complete lack of music (another contender for the “too much immersion” debate perhaps?). There’s also reports of the cantina being far too small with approximately 18 bar stools, a few tables and standing space being available whilst 2 bartenders struggle to keep up with orders - remembering this is only during the lands preview period which has been fairly quiet all in all, with Smugglers Run not peaking above 45 minutes. I’ve also seen reviews in which people have seen guests getting angry at the silly script stuff have to follow, calling annual passes ‘credentials’ and referring to Smugglers Run as Hondo’s Workshop, which is causing issues for people understandably not having any idea what they’re being asked for. The food options also seem to be being panned, along with the disgustingly overpriced merchandise which you aren’t allowed to open until you have exited the theme park - a far cry from the original “be a part of the world” vibe that was pushed originally.
As far as Smugglers Run goes, the ride has been described as frustrating, poor and boring with some reviewers even mentioning that Star Tours is a far more enjoyable experience - regardless of where you sit. Issues being that in the back 4 seats (2 engineers and 2 gunners) you simply mash a button when an overhead voice yells at you and those piloting can have an extremely frustrating experience with being yelled at by other passengers if not doing good enough. On top of this, there’s been reports of the motion in the cabin bring somewhat uncomfortable and jerky, something that can hopefully get smoothed out. Surprisingly there’s also been more than a few comments about the actual quality of the footage being questionable which to me seems slightly shocking when we live in a world where a ride based on Jimmy Fallon uses a 16K projector (allegedly). It’s also been mentioned that The Void VR experience, Star Wars: Secrets of The Empire, is a far superior experience, a claim that having personally experienced SoTE I can see being likely.
Besides that though other (mainly younger) reviewers seem to love the ‘gaming’ aspect of the ride and the queue and build up to the ride is fantastic. The land has been praised for its scale and also how crowds are currently being handled too. There’s been praise for the Droid workshop and animal area where merch shopping has been made an experience all on it own, as well as the occasional roaming character that can be seen around the land. Just overall the main thing being said about that land behind the initial hype that I’ve seen can really just be summed up with one word - underwhelming.
Honestly it’s such a shame to see such mixed reviews abort everything in the land, I still believe that opening without the star attraction (and arguably only enjoyable attraction for many) was a terrible idea. I still feel as though Disney need some time to really crack the formula that Universal has found in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which based on what is being said and how polarising Galaxies Edge seems to have been thus far, hasn’t been ‘topped’ - let alone completely destroyed like some thought.
That being said, this initial divided opinion (of the land at least) hasn’t really lowered my excitement about it. I was never that interested by Smugglers Run and it seems to be exactly what I anticipated and so no disappointment there from me. That being said, I really hope that these issues are ironed out and of course the land has only just opened and so I expect as foliage grows and staff get used to the land and how people manoeuvre it will improve greatly over the next year. At least I hope... as I plan on visiting the Orlando edition of Batuu in just over a year!
-
abigsmurf
- Member
- Posts: 450
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:01 am
There are already news articles floating around saying how people are buying the stupidly expensive robes then being told they can't wear them in the park. It seems like they were a bit selective about what they learnt from Universal's Harry Potter lands. I've seen a droid building video and that looks pretty fun (especially if you were doing it with a kid) but as with so much in Disney, there's a focus on getting as much money from as many people as possible that you don't feel like you get at Universal. There's a general feeling that despite Disney throwing insane money at this, Universal still did it better:
Disney: no using your expensive new purchases in the park
Universal: put on your robes, get the wands out and use them to interact with everything
Disney: Buy the disgusting sounding milk drink from one of the most hated scenes in The last Jedi for $8
Universal: buy the mysterious, delicious sounding butterbeer for $7
Disney: We don't want you sitting in our themed places, taking in the atmosphere unless you go into our expensive full service restaurants
Universal: We've plenty of seating in our heavily themed counter service places and they're typical theme park prices for the food
Disney: We've created an area not seen in any of the movies and themed it mostly around the less fondly looked at newer films
Universal: We wanted to make you feel you were in one of the movies as much as possible.
Disney: you can build your own lightsaber but there are only 8 combinations and only single bladed weapons available
Universal: you can literally choose the unique wand used by any character in the film, even minor side character's ones
The land looks fun but it's not a gamechanger and Smugglers fun looks like what it is, a B-ride with lots of money spent on it (I think it's be something looked favorably on if you never waited more than 30 minutes). Still really really looking forward to Rise of the Resistance though, if that's even half as good as it's been hyped up, it'll replace Spider-man as my favourite dark ride.
Disney: no using your expensive new purchases in the park
Universal: put on your robes, get the wands out and use them to interact with everything
Disney: Buy the disgusting sounding milk drink from one of the most hated scenes in The last Jedi for $8
Universal: buy the mysterious, delicious sounding butterbeer for $7
Disney: We don't want you sitting in our themed places, taking in the atmosphere unless you go into our expensive full service restaurants
Universal: We've plenty of seating in our heavily themed counter service places and they're typical theme park prices for the food
Disney: We've created an area not seen in any of the movies and themed it mostly around the less fondly looked at newer films
Universal: We wanted to make you feel you were in one of the movies as much as possible.
Disney: you can build your own lightsaber but there are only 8 combinations and only single bladed weapons available
Universal: you can literally choose the unique wand used by any character in the film, even minor side character's ones
The land looks fun but it's not a gamechanger and Smugglers fun looks like what it is, a B-ride with lots of money spent on it (I think it's be something looked favorably on if you never waited more than 30 minutes). Still really really looking forward to Rise of the Resistance though, if that's even half as good as it's been hyped up, it'll replace Spider-man as my favourite dark ride.
-
abigsmurf
- Member
- Posts: 450
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:01 am
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/star-wars-land-crowd-predictions/
Been hearing lots of rumours from cast members but seems some news sites are picking up on it too: the reservation system has been dropped and it's ramping up for peak summer but the mega crowds everyone was expecting haven't happened.
Could it be everyone expected it to be packed so they decided to wait or they're just waiting for Rise of the Resistance? At the time of writing, it's a 45 minute queue which is very suprising compared to the insane Hagrid queues.
Been hearing lots of rumours from cast members but seems some news sites are picking up on it too: the reservation system has been dropped and it's ramping up for peak summer but the mega crowds everyone was expecting haven't happened.
Could it be everyone expected it to be packed so they decided to wait or they're just waiting for Rise of the Resistance? At the time of writing, it's a 45 minute queue which is very suprising compared to the insane Hagrid queues.
-
Swarm Chris
Park attendance on a whole based on queue times appeared to have been down since opening. Only thing I can think is people are staying away because of the predicted crowds. Although, Disneyland gets a massive amount of its visitors from the LA area as opposed to relying solely on fly-in tourists, and you would think locals would be watching the queue times and then realising it's quieter than expected.
Very strange.
Very strange.