My assumption with the delay was just that they anticipated both it and Cars would be poorly received, hence the non-mention of the former and the lack of clarity around what exactly the latter would replace until the more detailed art came out later. Even with the obfuscation, some lady in the audience let out a massive darthvaderno.gif at the Cars announcement.
True, but that once more conjures up the problem of why we should assume more sincerity in the sudden mention of a direct Muppets replacement show then we do in the intentional obfuscation of the location of Monsters Land at D23. Disney has demonstrated a willingness to deceive regarding this project.
For Rockin Muppet Coaster how long do you think the overlay would take? Tiana and Frozen took around 18 months each give or take a few months. I kinda feel this could be quicker but I am still thinking a year of down time. So if Muppet Coaster is ready to debut in 2026 they will have to take RNRC down some time this year. I’m thinking if anyone visits DHS to see one final show at MV3D you may want to hit RNRC too.
Announcing the show at D23 wouldn’t have been a dead giveaway as to the location. Venues can be built, but the Animation Courtyard area also has three existing facilities that could be utilized to hold a show of some sort.
In my opinion, TWDC does not care about backlash about anything.
Creating a new business unit or product is always going to have losses up front but how Wall Street responds depends on the current metrics. If you remember, all streaming was being measured by number of subs so that is what all streaming companies were focused on. Doing so drove all of them up with DIS topping off over $200 a share despite parks closures, capacity restrictions, theaters being closed, linear still dying, etc.
Oh, I read “Muppets replacement” in that post as referring to the Muppet coaster replacing RNRC. My bad. I should’ve read upthread a bit farther.
See? Peltz was not going to be a savior he would have made it worse.
Depends how ambitious the overlay wants to be. I can see an 18 month turnover but also a much shorter frame if they're preparing stuff off-site and already have stuff filmed for it. I definitely think RNRC closes before the year is up though.
I have a feeling it will be more like the DCA Tower of Terror to Guardians retheme, which took about 6 months. Although that was ridiculously fast compared to anything else they’ve done recently.
I agree 100%. Disney stopped caring about backlash long ago. Disney is of the mindset whatever they do, the fans will just eat it up. No matter if it's prices, ride closures, rethemes, removing items or experiences... they just do what they want. And for the most part they've been right, people still flood the parks for the most part.
What would be considered an ambitious overlay for attraction ?
Good question.
I think both Frozen and Tiana were pretty ambitious. They both kept the ride systems but the interior was mostly gutted. Something like the holiday overlays they do at DLR would be very basic and quick. I think this falls in the middle of those 2 options. The main difference I see here is most of the overlay will likely be in the queue/pre-show and maybe post ride. The ride itself has limited show scenes anyway so that probably won’t change. Frozen and Tiana both had large show scenes added to the ride itself.
Wow, I didn’t know that was done so fast. It was mostly the lobby but they did add some stuff during the drops. I would not expect Rockin Muppet Coaster to be done that fast, but now we have a point of reference to show that if they wanted to they could make it happen in even less than a year.
I think I’ve asked this before but is there actually a plan for spaceship earth after test track? Or is that just speculation since it’s been long overdue for an update?
It’s going to get refurbished. But, like Big Thunder, it could always get deferred further. But, the ride system itself needs extensive work. You can only defer that so long. They could theoretically decline to touch show scenes to save money, but that’s very unlikely given the scope of work necessary. It will need to close for over a year, so they are likely to renovate the show scenes as well.
Yeah I was surprised when I looked it up too. It closed in January 2017 and reopened in May.
It sounds like something similar to Test Track's refresh, which is set ti be a 1 year turn-around. So, Muppets RNRC could likely open 2026 if they start this Summer (when Villains and Mermaid opens to take on some of the capacity)
Yeah and for Rockin Muppets Coaster they could do the same with any changes to the outside of the building. That work could start while the ride is still open. I don’t imagine anything done outside will be nearly as extensive as Guardians ToT but they at least need to take Aerosmith’s name off of the front.