The Frozen 'Initiative' ...

stevehousse

Well-Known Member
It just seems so crazy if they just recently updated the ride! Of course they could easily re-theme it to a generic kind of space flight in order to have it still fit the theme of TL. I don't want to think about it being shut down and just left to rot like they did with Bodywars.
I have no idea how big or little amount of space Star Tours takes up in DL, but would they be able to replace it with a brand new ride utilizing the space?

(And not another simulator but an actual ride?)
 
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Mike S

Well-Known Member
I can't imagine them getting rid of Star Tours. It's a solid ride especially after that great update. @stevehousse, you might have been on to something with Iron Man. I could see that as a relatively cheap replacement if they did get rid of Star Tours in DL.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the clarification. I know it seems like Parks & Resorts largely aren't his 'thing', but I'm a bit surprised Iger isn't pushing even harder for a large-scale launch while he is still with the company. Of course, DCA 2.0 did launch under his watch, but that isn't quite the same as the grand opening of a castle park.

I would also have thought that Disney would want the world media present for the launch of this park. Having a staggered opening might work for a land in an existing park that's primarily being covered by bloggers/new media, but I don't think it works for a theme park that you want to receive serious, significant attention. Even if 99.999% of Americans will never step foot in it, I'm sure Disney wants this covered in the mainstream media and trade publications just for the cachet of opening something on this scale in Shanghai.

I think that I may not have been as clear as I should have. There's no way this park/resort won't launch before Iger leaves. I say likely opening in April of 2016, but I'm supposed to speak to someone who is close to the situation early next week. ... It just may open without a few attractions that will come later in the year (I strongly doubt it will debt without all its headliners, but I don't know that for certain).

And Disney will have a huge media presence for this, mostly not from this side of the world unless Disney can convince those dirty, Godless, pinko Commies to pay for bringing over lots of American/western reporters. I don't see it. The big names like the NYT, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle etc will be there along with the networks and the trades. That's it. And for all the bloggers and Lifestylers, let me bottom line it for you: no free trips to China even if your last name rhymes with jello.

As for my comment about the park being pristine, that had everything to do with my concerns about the Mainland Chinese economy being a bubble about to burst at any time, and what the ramifications might be for the park. If the money isn't coming in, how quickly might the corners be cut on some of those lavish details and artifice?

I can only tell you from my own experiences living and working there on major projects like this that you have nothing to worry about in that department.

I'd worry about the new bubble here first ... and the recovery that never was and, with Wall Street's blessing, never will be.

I don't know enough about the Mainland Chinese to know whether to give credence to the common sentiment to which you were referring. I have heard that sentiment from a number of Hongkongese, but I suspect there's a bit of a 'rivalry' between Mainland and Hong Kong. Regardless, I'll defer to you on that as you have lived there and I have not. I think many things people find problematic about other cultures are really nothing more than thinly-veiled ethnocentrism. I don't find Parisians to be rude, so I doubt I'd be bothered much by the Mainland Chinese.

There is certainly a healthy 'rivalry' between HK and the mainland. And the HK folks feel about their brethren in the mainland kinda like the way residents of Newport Beach and Laguna Niguel feel about their neighbors in say Garden Grove and Artesia.

Oh, and in MANY visits to Paris, I've only encountered one of the stereotypically rude Parisians ... and he was a bus driver on the shuttle from CDG to DLP. That's it. Generally, I've found the people in Paris to be far friendlier than most folks here in Florida.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@WDW1974 what's your opinion on the sneak peek videos of the Paint the Night Parade headed to Hong Kong? Any current news on the length of DL's version? I know last time you said they seemed to be very similar.. I'm hoping it changed..

I've heard very similar, but with two more elaborate additions.

I haven't watched any video other than the brief one from the media preview and I liked it ... the music and the floats.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
And we should care why?

Both myself and others broke this news a long time ago. I confirmed it in May with someone who is actually working on the new attraction and said this to an audience of about 150 people on the Disney Wonder's Panama Canal voyage.

I've already said my piece on it belonging in a giant COLD snow palace in MK. But this is Disney ... the company that was afraid it was losing money on soda syrup while it regularly, and as part of policy, allows people to steal products of value from them. They are run so poorly, yet Wall Street simply looks at stock heading for $100 a share and thinks Iger, Rasulo and Staggs and Co are brilliant.
I'm starting to think he may be stuck in some sort of time vortex where it is perpetually 2006.

I have no idea how big or little amount of space Star Tours takes up in DL, but would they be able to replace it with a brand new ride utilizing the space?

(And not another simulator but an actual ride?)
Star Tours replaced the original Omnimover rider, the Adventure Thru Inner Space.
 

stevehousse

Well-Known Member
I've heard very similar, but with two more elaborate additions.

I haven't watched any video other than the brief one from the media preview and I liked it ... the music and the floats.
I really like the music for the new parade! With that said does anyone here know when the 60th anniversary "officially" begins? I keep hearing April or May. I am currently trying to plan our trip out there and want to make sure we get to see it! I haven't been to DL in 25 years and my wife and kids have never been! The only time I am able to go is mid April or mid May which is why I am asking!
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I know "it's a small world" isn't your answer unless I'm willing to self deport... Where would you place Frozen in Fantasyland? The options I see are as follows:
  • Remove Pinocchio's Village Haus
  • Create a pathway between Ariel's Grotto and the Circus Tents
  • Remove the Circus tents, especially the Fastpass+ ones
  • Remove Tomorrowland Speedway.

There are two viable options above. But I don't want to play armchair Imagineering. I'm probably one of the few rabid Disney fans here who never dreamed of growing up and having that name tag and playing with awkward fanbois with social phobias.

The reality is (much like with Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express at UNI and with replacing Toontown in Anaheim with Star Wars) that Disney could very easily make a workable giant show building with all the space they have at MK. They just don't give a blank about doing so.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Frozen belongs in DHS if only to spread the crowd away from MK.

Mk already drawns 50/60k+ a day.... No need to add more. Other parks (DHS/DAK) need the help.

I'd disagree. The MK needs added capacity to deal with the crowds it gets and, possibly as this is not a given, a few million more a year if things get better. Disney hasn't done much of anything to ADD capacity at MK. They have replaced it and used FP+ to better distribute crowds.

Other parks need the help and they're getting it ... very, very, very, very ... someone type 'very' out here about 657 times ... slowly.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The newest update on Miceage is a shameless ripoff of WDW1974's updates here. They even added a bogus rumor about a Marvel e-ticket in DCA to try and throw off the scent.

I appreciate the support, believe me. But I don't think anyone ripped me off here (and it happens enough so I tend to tell when it does). A lot of this stuff (Frozen and SDL has been out there ... and if I knew the SW news back in early spring, then maybe their source did too!)

As to the Marvel rumor, while I haven't heard about it, it does make sense. They are looking for a more permanent Marvel presence and they aren't even close to talking about a third gate. RnRC was supposed to be a Phase II DCA addition opening in 2006 where the empty Millionaire building is now (source: take a look at the Disney Springs video!) and there are plans to retheme the ride in Paris to Spideyman. So, no, I don't think that is made up.

But thanks for the support!
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As much as we all love all of the information and inside scoops that @WDW1974 provides for us here, to be fair the latest MiceAge Update fleshed out a lot more details and included new information than the Spirit offered here the night before.

For example, WDW1974 said this on Monday the 18th at 7:06 P.M. Eastern time:

"Both DCA and HKDL (and looks like DLP can be added now thanks to a kind source) will be getting temporary attractions that will very likely be there for years. And I use the word 'attraction' very liberally here. Think meet-and-greet-and-gropes and singalongs and things of that nature. They will not be replacing anything right now, just utilizing existing and or new real estate." - WDW1974

That was a scoop, and we loved it! But that's all the information he was able to share in this thread, in order to protect his sources and/or honor his friendships within Disney. And for that we respect him and thank him. :)

About eleven hours later, at 3:00 A.M. Pacific time on Tuesday the 19th, a MiceAge Update was posted to their website. Here's the more fleshed out and specific information MiceAge offered eleven hours after Spirit shared what he did:

"Taking a cue from the successful Frozen Summer Fun promotion they pulled together very quickly out at Walt Disney World, a new Frozen offering will be shoehorned into DCA for this Christmas season. Setting up in, you guessed it, the backlot area of DCA’s Hollywoodland, the characters from Frozen will be moving in for the holidays. An indoor ice rink and character meet n’ greet will be installed in Stage 17, while next door the Muppets will go on hiatus (again) and the MuppetVision theater will be repurposed for a small stage show and Frozen sing-along. Frozen décor and set pieces will be plopped down around these two venues and take over some of the existing Mad T Party facilities, and the existing Studio Store nearby will be turned into a Frozen merchandise headquarters. This will create a Frozen miniland of sorts in DCA, and should help take the pressure off the Frozen frenzy currently found in Fantasyland." - MiceAge Update

So there's a whole bunch more information there than what WDW1974 was able to offer. From MiceAge we got the exact location, the planned offerings, the venues to be used, a timeline aimed at the Christmas season, and the scope of the overall project.

The rest of Tuesday's MiceAge Update was so Disneyland-centric on stuff coming in the next eight months, focusing on the new night parade, new fireworks, dark ride upgrades, breaking the news that Toontown would become a "show building" for a Star Wars E Ticket accessed from the Big Thunder Ranch area, plus fleshing out the rumor of the new Marvel Land coming to California Adventure behind Tower of Terror that MiceAge already leaked a couple months ago, that I'm not sure much else could be compared to anything @WDW1974 has posted here.

I love me some juicy global gossip from @WDW1974 threads on wdwmagic.com, but the MiceAge Updates have been fleshing out the Anaheim details for over a decade. This latest update from MiceAge is no different.

Just to be clear, I put out the Frozen stuff as simply as possible because I don't view any of it as significant in the big picture. This isn't what is happening in EPCOT or what might in Tokyo.

But also, I did break the news on the Toontown site for Star Wars here a few weeks ago. Again, they fleshed things out a bit more than I did, but I sometimes don't have that luxury. Sometimes, I need to throw the 'evildoers' off the scent ... or sacrifice up a fanboi here or there. You do what you have to do!

The only items that they had that I hadn't already touched upon here were Marvel coaster at DCA and new Muppets film. I wasn't aware of either.

And, again, I have nothing against the Micechat guys. They care and are passionate about what they do. They aren't Al Lutz, though.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
All of these arguments for "do it right and the property doesn't matter" completely negate the whole point of limiting oneself to a specific property.

Absolutely.

But I am afraid that battle has long since been lost with a few exceptions (mostly in China!)

Disney (and UNI) ... they're going to grab onto IP that is successful and that is all you'll see in parks for many, many years to come.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Why should Disney reflect on their own culture when it clearly continues to work so well? Disney's fans do not want creativity. They want ornamented and overly referential to what they already know, not creative, not new, not different. The problem is ultimately that those who should be first to defend the legitimacy of themed entertainment are in fact the first to dismiss it as an inferior medium. And this is not a problem limited to Walt Disney World fans or even just Disney fans. Disneyland Resort fans are probably the worst when it comes to the love of ornament over substance.

Probably your best post ever here (my opinion, obviously!)

Today's Disney BRAND-ed fans are absolutely toxic to what Disney created and nurtured over four decades of creating and running theme parks. They have very little clue as to what made Disney what it was ... and people my age (how old am I @englanddg ? :D) are just viewed as relics when we try and explain why toons don't belong in World Showcase or why the WL is themed, but the AoA is decorated etc. Or why Disney always played on nostalgia, but not self-reverential nostalgia for itself or for guests prior visits! Etc ...
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Agree...though I bet they are willing to take the hit once in awhile if the rest of the time they can wave the "we were first" flag. Bummer the subs at Disneyland aren't going to open up again...oh, wait.

The devil is in the details on that one... but I'm sure it will be hung on them forever now. Everyone will gloss over how it's a 9m refurb for which they basically did nothing for 5months

No, no, Disney had to lots of work and we don't know what they had to look at and figure out! Only Disney knows how long it takes and they needed time to figure out what needed to be done. :banghead:

The facts were right when the Micechat bois put them out (you may recall that I got increasingly skeptical, BUT they were right -- for a time!)

People don't like hearing things that don't pan out, but if we all just waited to see what actually opened, then really where would the fun be?

And plenty of times things are designed, approved and even have land prepped (sometimes announcements to the media and general public) and don't happen.

So ... WRE was going to be built at MK in the 70s ... EPCOT was going to add an Africa pavilion in the 80s ... MK, EPCOT and MGM all were going to get the Matterhorn at various times ... and, yes, DL was closing the subs for Star Wars ... until they weren't.
 
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WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
A quick comment on the Avatar at DLR rumours: not unless a third gate and, even then, highly unlikely -- ever.

When Avatar was announced the plan was for it to go to DAK first, followed by Studios Paris ... and who knows after that ... but that was just long range hopes. I'd be surprised if Avatar goes anywhere but DAK.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I really like the music for the new parade! With that said does anyone here know when the 60th anniversary "officially" begins? I keep hearing April or May. I am currently trying to plan our trip out there and want to make sure we get to see it! I haven't been to DL in 25 years and my wife and kids have never been! The only time I am able to go is mid April or mid May which is why I am asking!

They haven't announced an official date, but it will be sometime in May.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
A quick comment on the Avatar at DLR rumours: not unless a third gate and, even then, highly unlikely -- ever.

When Avatar was announced the plan was for it to go to DAK first, followed by Studios Paris ... and who knows after that ... but that was just long range hopes. I'd be surprised if Avatar goes anywhere but DAK.

Even as a Disneyland Paris Resort fan that seems super ambitious and could cost a pretty penny and a long time building...but hey the French are a fickle bunch if only their was some easy( read: Political) way of getting more French in the parks or Europeans in general :eek:
 

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