DAK “Zootopia” is being created for the Tree of Life theater

[mickEblu]

Tiana is an enjoyable ride in a vacuum despite the nothingburger story. It’s the specter of what preceded it that throws a real wrench in the works. If they built something similar in scope and narrative as a new attraction rather than a reskin, absolutely no one would reasonably rate it a D-, to reference your original post.

Except that it still wouldn’t be doing the IP any justice and people would still be disappointed with the lack of Facilier and the nothing burger story. In a vacuum it would actually be much worse without the ride system (and connection to Splash) because you know that if they built this thing from the ground up there is no way it would be a flume ride. So now you have a boring story and a ride system that would undoubtedly be less exciting than Splash’s.

 

[No Name]

My theory is this was planned to be an Encanto show back when Zootopia was replacing Dinosaur, then they switched things for the better once Bruce came back, so this is just a smaller causality of sorts. Sort of like what happened with New Fantasyland. I have no evidence for this.

 

[Agent H]

Here’s a look at the meet-and-greet space:

View attachment 891618View attachment 891619

So what happened to Russell? Is he free roaming with Doug now?

 

[Joel]

It also has the advantage of no one having ever cared about Primeval Whirl.

How dare you!

 

[MrPromey]

She's a popular celebrity, she gets voice acting jobs tossed her way left and right. So, no, she's not desperate for work.

Did they get EVERYBODY from the film back? I know Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman came back, so I'm guessing everyone else is back too but I haven't found official confirmation...

I'd guess the recordings were done while each was on site doing audio for the upcoming movie so unless there was a contract problem with someone, this was probably really easy and relatively cheap (practically found money for the actors, assuming they were paid separately/extra for it) to put together due to the timing.

 

[MrPromey]

AP’s form lines for popcorn buckets and pins…. They just don’t want to see this.

Are you a Disney shareholder?

I am but I agree with him on this. Most of Disney's shares are held by institutional investors who absolutely don't care about anything that fans care about except to the degree that it noticeably hurts the stock.

Steve Jobs was the largest single shareholder after Disney acquired Pixar. His shares went to a trust managed by his widow who's since sold off about half. I think the estate still owns around 4% of the company. I don't know that even them complaining if they cared enough to, would do anything.

Good luck getting anyone managing a retirement fund fired up enough to do something about a bad attraction at one of their parks.

This kind of thing is a problem with modern day "big" business - not just Disney. The people that "matter" are no-longer the customers (or employees). We're now a commodity the same as what we spend money on. I remember when people used to be bothered by the idea of being treated as just a "number" at work or maybe in the medical system. Now we're treated as just a number by modern society as a whole.

Like statistics, we're easy to manipulate.

The punchline here is those big retirement funds with all the power? They're using your money and my money and the money of millions of other people, some of which absolutely do care about this stuff like you and me but who have no individual power anymore because our relatively small stock ownerships are dwarfed by the funds managing most of our money.

 

[MrPromey]

Except that it still wouldn’t be doing the IP any justice and people would still be disappointed with the lack of Facilier and the nothing burger story. In a vacuum it would actually be much worse without the ride system (and connection to Splash) because you know that if they built this thing from the ground up there is no way it would be a flume ride. So now you have a boring story and a ride system that would undoubtedly be less exciting than Splash’s.

Hard to say. A whole lot of effort went to making this as non-thrilling of an attraction as possible, starting with making the mountain look less like a mountain and getting rid of the tree to reduce the overall height perspective so the perceived height of the drop would seem less. I'm fairly certain the choices for everything with that final lift hill were intentional to reduce tension rather than ratchet it up like the original did, specifically to make the drop seem less scary and I'm sure that at least in part informed the rest of the "story", too.

They took a thrill ride and attempted to turn it into a low-stakes "princess" attraction. Facilier might have been able to make an appearance (probably still in a way that wouldn't completely satisfy us) with a slightly better plot if they hadn't had to fall all over themselves trying to make a thrill ride system seem not like a thrill ride.

 

[Brer Panther]

"The best thing I can say about Zootopia: Better Zoogether is that it’s completely avoidable"

I can say the same thing about It's Tough to Be a Bug. Well, that and the animatronics were good...

 

[WorldExplorer]

I can say the same thing about It's Tough to Be a Bug. Well, that and the animatronics were good...

ITtBaB was much funnier than this, even if you don't find the screams of everyone around you funny.

"Bring in the next act!"

"He refuses to come out of his cocoon!"

 

[rd805]

IttbaB was at least witty and dry humor in a Muppets Sense, mixed with mild thrill and shrieks (the spiders, crawlers, 3D effects meant to make you jump) - it was not something that needed skipping, and was a well thought out full attraction. Nothing from Zootopia matches that sentiment, except at least it can be open while this park is in construction for 2-3 years? Ick.

 

[bmr1591]

I think we can all agree ITTBAB has run its course. I think we can also all agree that Zootopia makes no attempts to fit not only in the Tree of Life Theater, but into the guiding milestones of Animal Kingdom. What we may not agree on, but should probably just embrace, is that this was the concession to not have a full blown Zootopia land overtaking Dinoland. The reason for the timing is to give something 'new' for people to want to come see at the park over the next two years while Central Americas is constructed. Maybe, just maybe, after it's all said and done and they don't need an advertisement for Zootopia 2, they'll come back and redo the show to fit better into Animal Kingdom.

 

[rd805]

I think we can all agree ITTBAB has run its course. I think we can also all agree that Zootopia makes no attempts to fit not only in the Tree of Life Theater, but into the guiding milestones of Animal Kingdom. What we may not agree on, but should probably just embrace, is that this was the concession to not have a full blown Zootopia land overtaking Dinoland. The reason for the timing is to give something 'new' for people to want to come see at the park over the next two years while Central Americas is constructed. Maybe, just maybe, after it's all said and done and they don't need an advertisement for Zootopia 2, they'll come back and redo the show to fit better into Animal Kingdom.

New attractions / Updated attractions will instantly spur some life into something that had shorter waits, it's just a shame it wasn't "good" all around. Kids will like it - cool.

 

[JohnD]

I can’t decide if it’s a Wednesday morning and APs are generally at work or if there’s that little excitement for this show. Both?

I had a pre-planned trip last week so missed the previews. If my trip was this week, I would do the preview just because I'm there. Maybe there will be a pickup in the evening as local APs get off work? AK closes at 8pm.

 

[JohnD]

How dare you!

 

[celluloid]

Tiana is an enjoyable ride in a vacuum despite the nothingburger story. It’s the specter of what preceded it that throws a real wrench in the works. If they built something similar in scope and narrative as a new attraction rather than a reskin, absolutely no one would reasonably rate it a D-, to reference your original post. I’d wager Encanto will at least be similar because it’s basically too large to be an abject failure. It can miss on both park theme and narrative and will still be a draw because it will be massive and technically impressive. It also has the advantage of no one having ever cared about Primeval Whirl. By comparison, a 4D show like Zoogether will never have the scope, thrill, or complexity necessary to be enjoyable in spite of its content.

This points out the situation that has been going on and while people continue to lose trust in the next project.
Yes, you can give the starving chicken and get away with calling it a steak for awhile.

 

[lazyboy97o]

With how "uneven" Imagineering has been recently it really makes me wonder what's going on behind the scenes. Was this an old project from before the Bruce days and they were forced to roll it out despite it being objectively terrible? Same with Cars Land, etc. Were these forced upon Bruce? Or is Imagineering/Bruce still laughably incompetent as a whole but with a few people who still know what they're doing? There have been a few recent pretty solid additions (such as Test Track and Astro Fizz), but also a lot of dumb/embarrassing/head scratching additions that make no sense and should have never gotten out of early development. Someone had to have realized how dumb and terrible this show was, right???

My theory is this was planned to be an Encanto show back when Zootopia was replacing Dinosaur, then they switched things for the better once Bruce came back, so this is just a smaller causality of sorts. Sort of like what happened with New Fantasyland. I have no evidence for this.

The project was announced after Bruce was brought back. That means he was likely there as it went through its final concept and feasibility reviews before it received the official green light. That’s relatively early in the design process. Even if the project was green lit an inordinate amount of time before it was announced and before Bruce returned, there was still time to make changes.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Does anyone think Bruce “cool sh**” is a good thing for WDI? Are you just hoping that he had nothing to do with this so cars of the frontier isn’t a disaster?

 

[Brer Panther]

ITtBaB was much funnier than this, even if you don't find the screams of everyone around you funny.

"Bring in the next act!"

"He refuses to come out of his cocoon!"

Plus, it had Jason Alexander in it, if nothing else.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Ooohh hoo hooo I'm lovin everyone's reviews they are bringing up about this show....

 

[Ayla]

Sounds like ITTBAB got the Alien Encounter retheme treatment-sanitized and cute and cuddly for all of the little pixie dusters! Can't have the scary spiders, wasps, and the big scary grasshopper frightening little Tommy and Jenny, can we? I am concerned what effect this mindset is going to have on the Mansion at some point. "Vampirina's Spooky Mansion Adventure!"

LOL Tommy and Jenny are the Gen X grandparents. Now we have little Jaxson ( ) and Ava.