DHS Monster Inc Land Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

[CosmicDuck]

Going to be there in a week for our annual trip. Just wish I knew if we need to say bye to MV3D forever or not.

 

[bwr827]

I don't know, as someone who has spent his whole life watching Transformers cartoons and reading Transformers comics I would argue the ride is a horrible representation of the IP. A worse version of Spider-Man featuring forgettable music and visuals that are hard to decipher isn't what I want in Transformers.

On Rise I get to be right next to a Mon Calamari animatronic as we ride a shuttle to what feels like a full scale Star Destroyer before we ride through one of the most visually impressive things ever done in themed entertainment. If it was Darth Vader instead of Kylo this would be universally considered the most incredible thing in American theme parks. Until next year, that is.

Imagine if they’d tapped into the ferocity of the Vader hallway scene from Rogue One.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I don't know, as someone who has spent his whole life watching Transformers cartoons and reading Transformers comics I would argue the ride is a horrible representation of the IP. A worse version of Spider-Man featuring forgettable music and visuals that are hard to decipher isn't what I want in Transformers.

I grew up with the Transformers. What I mean by that is I remembered when the 1984 toyline came out, the 1980s Transformers Cartoons, and the 1986 animated movie. All of that first came out during my childhood.

The problem with Transformers: the ride is the fact its based on Michael Bay's Transformers movies and you need to blame Michael Bay as a result. A lot of people felt Michael Bay didn't do the Transformers IP justice.

 

[bwr827]

Going to be there in a week for our annual trip. Just wish I knew if we need to say bye to MV3D forever or not.

Just pretend you do — that way you’re covered.

 

[erasure fan1]

I don't know, as someone who has spent his whole life watching Transformers cartoons and reading Transformers comics I would argue the ride is a horrible representation of the IP.

Yup. As a child of the G1 cartoons, I couldn't agree more.

 

[doctornick]

In tech, true... Resistance is much more complex.

But Transformers is more fun and a MUCH better representation of the IP. Outside of the thrill of the escape pod unlatching, Resistance is more something to be admired then enjoyed, especially repeatedly. It sums up a lot of what's wrong with modern Disney Imagineering- impressive tech (some of which fails where less impressive tech would have achieved the same effect more reliably) but an overall experience that adds up to much less then the sum of its parts because of underwhelming design. See also Guardians and Tron and Pandora River and...

I mean, I would agree that Transformers is a great representation of the IP - much like the Bay films, it's a chaotic mess of suckitude. It's a terrible theme park attraction though - all you do is get jostled around and the film is so erratic that you can't really tell who is who and what is going on.

A Transformers ride based on the cartoon where the characters are so much more visually interesting and distinctive would be a massive improvement. The Spider-Man ride despite a virtually identical ride pattern is easily one of the greatest theme park rides in history - which is the perfect illustration that ride mechanics isn't the key, what you do with the ride is what matters.

Edit: for that matter, I think RotR and Cosmic Rewind are absolutely phenomenal rides and would welcome Disney building a lot more things like them.

 

[CalebS]

If they’re shuttering the monsters inc ride in DCA they should bring some of the stuff over and put a monsters inc dark ride in hollywood studios for the extra capacity boost. ( I know it won’t happen )

 

[doctornick]

FWIW and a bit ironic, Disney hasn't confirmed the closure of the Monster's Inc ride at DCA either. We also don't officially know where the Coco ride is going.

So, Florida's lack of official confirmation isn't unique.

So, a little off topic but not too much... I really hope that if Disney brings that Coco ride to WDW (and I hope they do) that they bring it to DHS. It seems like the perfect kind of ride that DHS needs and I wouldn't mind having a Mexico-ish miniland at DHS even though it would be repetitive with the other parks. I know it is more likely to go into MK as part of a later BTMRR expansion (but who knows) but it was definitely the "thing" at D23 that strikes me as the best fit for DHS's needs.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I mean, I would agree that Transformers is a great representation of the IP - much like the Bay films, it's a chaotic mess of suckitude. It's a terrible theme park attraction though - all you do is get jostled around and the film is so erratic that you can't really tell who is who and what is going on.

A Transformers ride based on the cartoon where the characters are so much more visually interesting and distinctive would be a massive improvement. The Spider-Man ride despite a virtually identical ride pattern is easily one of the greatest theme park rides in history - which is the perfect illustration that ride mechanics isn't the key, what you do with the ride is what matters.

Edit: for that matter, I think RotR and Cosmic Rewind are absolutely phenomenal rides and would welcome Disney building a lot more things like them.

Honestly, I understand that the action in the Transformers films is confusing, but that’s due largely to constant camera movements and rapid edits. The action in the ride absolutely doesn’t feature these problems at all. The character design can be confusing, but it’s clear who the goodies and the baddies are and who Optimus and Bumblebee are, and that’s all you need. If you care beyond that, the ride very clearly SAYS THE NAME of each character as they appear. I’m perplexed by folks having so much difficulty following the action.

In fact, a lot of the criticism of the ride seems to be thinly veiled criticism of the films. The films are bad, yes. But I’ve always dismissed criticisms of Resistance based on the quality of the sequel trilogy, but if those are the rules folks want to play by, Disney’s attraction should be faulted for being shamelessly derivative of the far superior original trilogy and relying entirely on two incredibly pathetic, uninteresting villains in Hux and Kylo.

I’m not claiming Transformers is great. It isn’t. I’m claiming Resistance is MASSIVELY over-praised because of how important it is to MGM and the Disney Company.

And Guardians is a fine coaster and an utter failure as a Disney attraction.

 

[Quietmouse]

Honestly, I understand that the action in the Transformers films is confusing, but that’s due largely to constant camera movements and rapid edits. The action in the ride absolutely doesn’t feature these problems at all. The character design can be confusing, but it’s clear who the goodies and the baddies are and who Optimus and Bumblebee are, and that’s all you need. If you care beyond that, the ride very clearly SAYS THE NAME of each character as they appear. I’m perplexed by folks having so much difficulty following the action.

In fact, a lot of the criticism of the ride seems to be thinly veiled criticism of the films. The films are bad, yes. But I’ve always dismissed criticisms of Resistance based on the quality of the sequel trilogy, but if those are the rules folks want to play by, Disney’s attraction should be faulted for being shamelessly derivative of the far superior original trilogy and relying entirely on two incredibly pathetic, uninteresting villains in Hux and Kylo.

I’m not claiming Transformers is great. It isn’t. I’m claiming Resistance is MASSIVELY over-praised because of how important it is to MGM and the Disney Company.

And Guardians is a fine coaster and an utter failure as a Disney attraction.

Guardians is easily the top 5 attractions in Disney world. No cap.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Guardians is easily the top 5 attractions in Disney world. No cap.

My favorite of the additions is Ratatouille (haven’t ridden tron yet) - I’m waiting for guardians to be old news and the coaster is rethemed to universe of energy!

 

[Weston Wallace]

Honestly, I understand that the action in the Transformers films is confusing, but that’s due largely to constant camera movements and rapid edits. The action in the ride absolutely doesn’t feature these problems at all. The character design can be confusing, but it’s clear who the goodies and the baddies are and who Optimus and Bumblebee are, and that’s all you need. If you care beyond that, the ride very clearly SAYS THE NAME of each character as they appear. I’m perplexed by folks having so much difficulty following the action.

In fact, a lot of the criticism of the ride seems to be thinly veiled criticism of the films. The films are bad, yes. But I’ve always dismissed criticisms of Resistance based on the quality of the sequel trilogy, but if those are the rules folks want to play by, Disney’s attraction should be faulted for being shamelessly derivative of the far superior original trilogy and relying entirely on two incredibly pathetic, uninteresting villains in Hux and Kylo.

I’m not claiming Transformers is great. It isn’t. I’m claiming Resistance is MASSIVELY over-praised because of how important it is to MGM and the Disney Company.

And Guardians is a fine coaster and an utter failure as a Disney attraction.

My wife and I are doing universal for the first time and quite literally just got off transformers. We both had absolutely no clue what was happening. We also rode rise this week and while it for sure has its issues it was much easier to follow from just a story telling standpoint. We clearly knew who we where supposed to be and what we where doing.

Not really fair comparing the two in my opinion though, as one is a world class headlining attraction in my opinion, and one is a filler attraction for a ride that similar to DHS seems to desperately need attractions.

To add, seems like this should be nipped in the bud as it has nothing to do with muppets or monsters

 

[Casper Gutman]

Guardians is easily the top 5 attractions in Disney world. No cap.

We all have opinions. I don’t think it cracks the top 15 (Rise does). It’s in the top 5 at EPCOT, I suppose.

What Guardians offers, other non-Disney and non-Uni parks do better and in more volume. The theming adds very little to it.

And to bring this back to Monsters, the last thing Disney needs after GotG and Tron is another coaster-in-a-box with an IP loosely slapped on top.

 

[Casper Gutman]

My wife and I are doing universal for the first time and quite literally just got off transformers. We both had absolutely no clue what was happening. We also rode rise this week and while it for sure has its issues it was much easier to follow from just a story telling standpoint. We clearly knew who we where supposed to be and what we where doing.

Not really fair comparing the two in my opinion though, as one is a world class headlining attraction in my opinion, and one is a filler attraction for a ride that similar to DHS seems to desperately need attractions.

To add, seems like this should be nipped in the bud as it has nothing to do with muppets or monsters

Have you seen any of the Transformers films? I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. I’ve only seen a couple, but the ride plot is pretty straightforward - baddies want magic thing and goodies and guests don’t want them to have magic thing. The goodies win.

Honestly, the silliest, most unclear element in either Transformers or Resistance is “mega-powerful evil space wizard gets smacked in face by loose ceiling tile and is no longer a threat.”

 

[hopemax]

Re: Transformers

They explain a lot in the queue videos. The line is usually not long enough to watch all the videos in the course of your wait, but they have it open so you can watch the queue videos at your leisure. They're probably on YouTube somewhere. Rise would be a lot less understandable if people bypassed the shuttle and Rey's video every time they rode too.

I had to have Spider-Man explained to me, because I don't know comic book Spiderman Villains. I did know Doctor Octopus, and DH's favorite Hobgoblin. I do know who Megatron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are, without needing explanations.

 

[ParkPeeker]

And to bring this back to Monsters, the last thing Disney needs after GotG and Tron is another coaster-in-a-box with an IP loosely slapped on top.

But unlike Gotg and Tron this isn’t a coaster in a box with IP loosely slapped on top. It’s quite literally the inside of the factory. The art and model point to a very accurate replica of not only the door vault, but also the scare/laugh floor. Everything is a recognizable and specific location. The ride concept art/model makes it clear that it’s not just some arbitrary indoor factory space with monster themed doors, there’s nothing loose about it.

 

[ChrisFL]

But unlike Gotg and Tron this isn’t a coaster in a box with IP loosely slapped on top. It’s quite literally the inside of the factory. The art and model point to a very accurate replica of not only the door vault, but also the scare/laugh floor. Everything is a recognizable and specific location. The ride concept art/model makes it clear that it’s not just some arbitrary indoor factory space with monster themed doors, there’s nothing loose about it.

I'm going to wait until the final product. GOTG was supposed to have a LOT more than we got

 

[DarkMetroid567]

We all have opinions. I don’t think it cracks the top 15 (Rise does). It’s in the top 5 at EPCOT, I suppose.

What Guardians offers, other non-Disney and non-Uni parks do better and in more volume. The theming adds very little to it.

I’ll bite: I’m not the biggest Cosmic Rewind fan and prefer TRON, but what are some examples of better attractions re: what Guardians offers?

My go-to thoughts are Time Traveler and Ride to Happiness, which are incredible rides but understandably would never fly at a Disney park.

 

[GoofGoof]

But unlike Gotg and Tron this isn’t a coaster in a box with IP loosely slapped on top. It’s quite literally the inside of the factory. The art and model point to a very accurate replica of not only the door vault, but also the scare/laugh floor. Everything is a recognizable and specific location. The ride concept art/model makes it clear that it’s not just some arbitrary indoor factory space with monster themed doors, there’s nothing loose about it.

Yeah, this ride sorta had urban legend status around here. Lot of people talked it up all the way back to the Spirited days.

 

[doctornick]

I'm going to wait until the final product. GOTG was supposed to have a LOT more than we got

It’s interesting but based on details on the ride and even ride photos/video, the ride might seem only okay at best. But it truly is way more than the sum of its parts. It’s just such an actual phenomenal experience when it doesn’t seem like it should be. And going in I thought it really missed the vibe of the Guardians (captured quite well in Mission Breakout), but Cosmic Rewind actually fit the property really well. It really doesn’t deserve to be as good as it is. Even my non thrill ride favoring elderly mother loves CR.

It’s certainly more expensive that it should have been, but I can easily say it’s the best coaster Disney has ever built and it just perfectly hits a balance the level of intensity for a Disney park. It knocked Everest off the top spot for me for favorite Disney coaster.

I just wish they would take it off VQ so you can ride it repeatedly if desired and willing to wait.