Avengers Campus: E-Watch! (Waiting on the new ride)

[Professortango1]

At the time it opened, it was the only attraction in the U.S. with an S-Tier, DisneySea level exterior, and a like-Test-Track-but-better-than-Test-Track interior. Those three that you mentioned...

POTC: Funnily enough, I only think of Pirates as an interior. It has no exterior at all! New Orleans Square just happens to be on top of it! I personally think the ride itself, while a classic, is not aging very well. But that's another story.

HM: Excellent Interior and Exterior. This is peak WED. The only possible demerit is that the exterior is so good at being unassuming, that it sort of excuses itself from the competition with other fantastical theme park buildings.

IJA: I think this has the edge on RSR because the interior ride is better, but that's the extra benefit of having a story that takes place in a strange building (like HM does too). You don't have to worry about "no, you're in a field" or "no, you're at sea" scenarios. The Indy exterior is excellent too, but I concede, it's not trying to pull off the "you're in the middle of a Southwestern U.S. valley" like RSR is.

The point is; these are all E-tickets. RSR has a great facade that mostly works (waterfall moment tries) and an interior that is pretty good (paint/tire room gag is pretty mediocre.) albeit a bit quick and presented more like a C-Ticket on steroids

I don't think RSR surpasses anything from Disney's Golden Era or 90's Renaissance, but it certainly can stand toe to toe with a lot of them. The problem is that we have been used to getting really mediocre "E-tickets" like GRR, Soarin, Mission BO, FEA, Cosmic RW, etc. so RSR feels much better compared to these subpar Disney attractions.

My three favourite Disney attractions are still Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror 2.0, and Indiana Jones Adventure with an honorable mention for Big Thunder and RSR.

 

[Professortango1]

I would consider all of those to be “super E+” tickets, nowhere did I claim RSR is superior to any specific ride.

The ticket system is obviously very subjective and dubious, but for me I’m describing a tier of attractions that are truly park defining showstoppers on a grand scale not just something that modern Disney call an E ticket like MMRR, or Tron, but don’t rise to the level of RSR or Rise

This is all in the context of trying to project my expectations for how AID will stack up, not litigate the pecking order of existing attractions

Yeah, I think AID will fall between MMRR and Rise in the Big Boxy projection-based "spectaculars." The best thing about Rise is the pacing and physical sensations, so I think we'll be getting that aspect, just with more vague locations.

These new big box spectaculars are impressive the first few times and are people-pleasers for the most part. They just lack the charm and re-rideability of the rides which were made in the late 60's-90's.

 

[BrianLo]

My three favourite Disney attractions are still Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror 2.0, and Indiana Jones Adventure with an honorable mention for Big Thunder and RSR.

Semantically, these are all the F tickets of their respective days. RSR did something on a scale that Disneyland Resort had never seen before.

Definitionally it's clearly loose and made up. Basically - is this a park defining attraction and something that stands out globally... my bet is no for Avengers but yes for the Pandora boat ride (if it happens). They'll both be E-tickets in the classic sense regardless.

In that sense RSR did stand out globally and clearly is DCA's park defining attraction.

 

[Professortango1]

Semantically, these are all the F tickets of their respective days. RSR did something on a scale that Disneyland Resort had never seen before.

Definitionally it's clearly loose and made up. Basically - is this a park defining attraction and something that stands out globally... my bet is no for Avengers but yes for the Pandora boat ride (if it happens). They'll both be E-tickets in the classic sense regardless.

In that sense RSR did stand out globally and clearly is DCA's park defining attraction.

F Ticket? I always understood E Ticket as the top tier of Disney attractions. Now they being reclassified as F Tickets? By who? When did someone try and to retroactively change the tiers?

As for RSR, I don't see it as a game changer. It's test track with a better theme and execution, but it's not anything new. Splash had the indoor/outdoor extensive themeing with more elaborate show scenes. The track is wider, leading to a wider outdoor portion, but I wouldn't call RSR the best attraction in the lat 20 years, much less even at the DLR. So it couldn't have been that game changing.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I think the point being is that what is or is not an E Ticket has sort of been rendered meaningless by time, both literally (ticket system doesn't exist anymore!) and otherwise.

What is or is not an E also can change over time. The monorail opened as an E Ticket. Would anyone call it an E Ticket ride right now? I doubt it. Yet probably everyone here would still call Haunted Mansion an E Ticket.

Since the ticket system doesn't officially exist anymore and hasn't for some time, I don't see the harm in getting the point across that some attractions were/are such a step beyond what existed before them that they seem to be a step beyond the E Ticket.

Even if RSR was not a game changer in a technological sense, it is clearly at a level beyond everything else in that park, so calling it an F Ticket or similar within its context isn't really incorrect.

 

[BrianLo]

F Ticket? I always understood E Ticket as the top tier of Disney attractions. Now they being reclassified as F Tickets? By who? When did someone try and to retroactively change the tiers?

As I said it's simply fan made-up.

Whatever you want to call the very best E-ticket that at the time they spent oodles of money on compared to other also very big attractions. It was just a short hand another poster was using to ask me a question.

 

[mickEblu]

I think the point being is that what is or is not an E Ticket has sort of been rendered meaningless by time, both literally (ticket system doesn't exist anymore!) and otherwise.

What is or is not an E also can change over time. The monorail opened as an E Ticket. Would anyone call it an E Ticket ride right now? I doubt it. Yet probably everyone here would still call Haunted Mansion an E Ticket.

Since the ticket system doesn't officially exist anymore and hasn't for some time, I don't see the harm in getting the point across that some attractions were/are such a step beyond what existed before them that they seem to be a step beyond the E Ticket.

Even if RSR was not a game changer in a technological sense, it is clearly at a level beyond everything else in that park, so calling it an F Ticket or similar within its context isn't really incorrect.

While I agree with the sentiment and have in the past referred to attractions as Super E tickets ( not F’s) I can also see his point. Even though the whole ticket classification and the way we use it these days is completely subjective, coming up with a new ticket classification like Super E or F ticket is an egregious example of that as Disney has never used such terminology. As far as I’m aware E ticket is still the top ticket classification in Disneys lexicon and they have never referred to any tiers within that class of attractions.

 

[BrianLo]

While I agree with the sentiment and have in the past referred to attractions as Super E tickets ( not F’s) I can also see his point. Even though the whole ticket classification and the way we use it these days is completely subjective, coming up with a new ticket classification like Super E or F ticket is an egregious example of that as Disney has never used such terminology. As far as I’m aware E ticket is still the top ticket classification in Disneys lexicon and they have never referred to any tiers within that class of attractions.

Yup exactly; I don't really care about the short hand, that wasn't really the point.

I do think there was some weird classification internally that was being used for Rise. I'm curious to see if I can find legitimate sources about what that was. There was a clear intention that both attractions were E-tickets, but Rise was even more-so. The same phenomenon is occurring in Villains and I'm sure they are using a short-hand means of acknowledging that.

They do still use ticket classifications internally at WDI though to communicate scope and scale.

Maybe now they are like this is gonna be our big money maker, lol.

 

[wityblack]

I mean, Smugglers Run is totally an E-ticket in my book.

 

[Professortango1]

I mean, Smugglers Run is totally an E-ticket in my book.

It's a D ticket with a decent preshow. I'd they gave the queue some droids and things to enjoy, I might be more inclined to call it yet another discount E (GRR, Soarin, Incredicoaster, Mission BO, Cosmic RW, etc) but is very much a mini Star Tours,,so D is very apt. No shame in D tickets. RR Cartoon Spin is a killer D ticket.

As for RSR, I just don't see how anyone can say it's a step up from POTC or HM. I get being a stan of rockwork and thrills, but there's no way you compare the indoor portion to Pirates and say that RSR is better and an evolution on these classic E's. And I love the first half of the indoor section with Doc and the double Mater.Butvthecdetail and level of depth and design is nowhere near the older E tickets.

 

[britain]

It's a D ticket with a decent preshow. I'd they gave the queue some droids and things to enjoy, I might be more inclined to call it yet another discount E (GRR, Soarin, Incredicoaster, Mission BO, Cosmic RW, etc) but is very much a mini Star Tours,,so D is very apt. No shame in D tickets. RR Cartoon Spin is a killer D ticket.

As for RSR, I just don't see how anyone can say it's a step up from POTC or HM. I get being a stan of rockwork and thrills, but there's no way you compare the indoor portion to Pirates and say that RSR is better and an evolution on these classic E's. And I love the first half of the indoor section with Doc and the double Mater.Butvthecdetail and level of depth and design is nowhere near the older E tickets.

Think of it as an E-ticket walk-through attraction with a surprise flight simulator tacked onto the end. But yes, the garage part is a little dead.

 

[mickEblu]

It's a D ticket with a decent preshow. I'd they gave the queue some droids and things to enjoy, I might be more inclined to call it yet another discount E (GRR, Soarin, Incredicoaster, Mission BO, Cosmic RW, etc) but is very much a mini Star Tours,,so D is very apt. No shame in D tickets. RR Cartoon Spin is a killer D ticket.

As for RSR, I just don't see how anyone can say it's a step up from POTC or HM. I get being a stan of rockwork and thrills, but there's no way you compare the indoor portion to Pirates and say that RSR is better and an evolution on these classic E's. And I love the first half of the indoor section with Doc and the double Mater.Butvthecdetail and level of depth and design is nowhere near the older E tickets.

Agree on Smugglers Run

Rode Roger a few months ago for the first time in years and I was reminded how it leaves me cold. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my favorite movies of all time. Top 3 maybe but the attraction doesn’t showcase anything I love about the movie - the classic Hollywood setting, the film noir vibe, Judge Doom or the excellent soundtrack. Nor does it showcase toons interacting with humans or Eddie Valiant but those are understandable. Love the queue. Particularly the first half of the queue. Love the ride vehicles. I think they did some clever stuff here and there but overall the ride experience leaves me cold with the warehouse dominating what feels like half of the attraction and that off putting sound track. Jessica Rabbit in a trenchcoat doesn’t help. The last half (or maybe last 1/3) of the attraction just feels sterile and unpleasant. It kind of makes me feel a good chunk of Pinocchio makes me feel - Pleasure island to Monstro.

 

[J4546]

Hows GRR a discount E ticket? Its a great river rapids ride throughout

 

[mickEblu]

Hows GRR a discount E ticket? Its a great river rapids ride throughout

It’s not.

 

[MistaDee]

As for RSR, I just don't see how anyone can say it's a step up from POTC or HM. I get being a stan of rockwork and thrills, but there's no way you compare the indoor portion to Pirates and say that RSR is better and an evolution on these classic E's. And I love the first half of the indoor section with Doc and the double Mater.Butvthecdetail and level of depth and design is nowhere near the older E tickets.

Again, who is making that claim? I feel like you’re jousting at straw man windmills and have completely derailed the discussion about the scale/grandeur of Avenger’s Infinity defense.

To attempt to bring this conversation back to its original context: I’m hoping AID can reach the scale/storytelling/significance of “the best E-tickets/Super E/E+/F” but I’m concerned that by recycling a 27-year old SCOOP/Peter Pan ride system after initially attempting something more innovative, the best Disney can accomplish will be those “lesser E/E-“ experiences like Soarin’ or MMRR.

All that said, I do sincerely hope to be proven wrong, and through some combination of pre-show experiences a la Rise, animatronics, animated show elements, and other “pixie dust” that AID can redeem Avenger’s Campus and justify its inclusion in the park.

 

[Professortango1]

Hows GRR a discount E ticket? Its a great river rapids ride throughout

Calico Rapids down the road has for more to see. Disney took log rides and made Splash Mountain. Disney took rapid rides and made Kali River and GRR, two very basic and bare bones attractions which essentially give us a very traditional experience but with better looking scenery.

If you want an example of a well-executed rafting adventure, look to Popeye and Bluto's at IOA. The layout is really fun to navigate through, filled with story elements and gags, great use of ride features to build and release tension throughout.

If Disney would add music and animatronics to the adventure, you'd have something better fitting a Disney park. I'd kill for a version that felt like DCA's answer to WRE. Instead, we got a quiet spin through trees and rockwork, like every other rafting ride around.

Agree on Smugglers Run

Rode Roger a few months ago for the first time in years and I was reminded how it leaves me cold. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my favorite movies of all time. Top 3 maybe but the attraction doesn’t showcase anything I love about the movie - the classic Hollywood setting, the film noir vibe, Judge Doom or the excellent soundtrack. Nor does it showcase toons interacting with humans or Eddie Valiant but those are understandable. Love the queue. Particularly the first half of the queue. Love the ride vehicles. I think they did some clever stuff here and there but overall the ride experience leaves me cold with the warehouse dominating what feels like half of the attraction and that off putting sound track. Jessica Rabbit in a trenchcoat doesn’t help. The last half (or maybe last 1/3) of the attraction just feels sterile and unpleasant. It kind of makes me feel a good chunk of Pinocchio makes me feel - Pleasure island to Monstro.

I can certainly understand that criticism. The falling sequence is my least favourite aspect, but the ride would benefit to having less gag factory and more streets of Toontown at the end, but the final scene (back when the dip gun actually shot) was a great finale and I LOVE the power plant section.

Also, Pinocchio is my favourite FL Darkride now that Snow White has been handicapped. Toad is the most fun, but Pinocchio is a masterpiece in design and storytelling.

 

[J4546]

I disagree on GRR. I think its one of the best RR ive ever been on. KRR is terrible imo. Popeye and Blutos is great I love it so colorful as well. But overall I think GRR is def an e ticket and adds a massive beautiful tree covered space to CA with a cool peaceful pathway with geysers and scenery that cuts through it. I love GRR, still my fave ride in DCA. RSR is a very close 2 though, im just partial to water based rides.

 

[britain]

Agree on Smugglers Run

Rode Roger a few months ago for the first time in years and I was reminded how it leaves me cold. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my favorite movies of all time. Top 3 maybe but the attraction doesn’t showcase anything I love about the movie - the classic Hollywood setting, the film noir vibe, Judge Doom or the excellent soundtrack. Nor does it showcase toons interacting with humans or Eddie Valiant but those are understandable. Love the queue. Particularly the first half of the queue. Love the ride vehicles. I think they did some clever stuff here and there but overall the ride experience leaves me cold with the warehouse dominating what feels like half of the attraction and that off putting sound track. Jessica Rabbit in a trenchcoat doesn’t help. The last half (or maybe last 1/3) of the attraction just feels sterile and unpleasant. It kind of makes me feel a good chunk of Pinocchio makes me feel - Pleasure island to Monstro.

I haven’t bothered to ride Roger in 20 years. I appreciate that it adds another dark ride to DL’s impressive roster, but yeah. Great Movie Ride had more “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” vibes than Car Toon Spin.

And since this particular IP is withering from neglect, the ride seems to ONLY continue to exist as a consolation prize for when MMRR is closed.

I predict that within the next 20 years, there will be some new “toony” hit franchise that will take over that space. (I could almost see Zootopia there, but Z works better when it has a land of its own.) Yes, Toad may be even less culturally relevant, but MTWR has a smaller footprint - not much would fit in that space with modern, inefficient space requirements.

 

[mickEblu]

I haven’t bothered to ride Roger in 20 years. I appreciate that it adds another dark ride to DL’s impressive roster, but yeah. Great Movie Ride had more “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” vibes than Car Toon Spin.

And since this particular IP is withering from neglect, the ride seems to ONLY continue to exist as a consolation prize for when MMRR is closed.

I predict that within the next 20 years, there will be some new “toony” hit franchise that will take over that space. (I could almost see Zootopia there, but Z works better when it has a land of its own.) Yes, Toad may be even less culturally relevant, but MTWR has a smaller footprint - not much would fit in that space with modern, inefficient space requirements.

The rumor was they were thinking about replacing it with a Ducktales 2.0 ride during the Toontown update. It tracks as there was that post that left out RRCS from the concept art that said “exciting things were coming soon.” At some point they backed out.

I have 0% faith that modern WDI would create a better attraction. Especially within the existing building and all its constraints. So for all my complaints I guess I better shut up. But the truth is the truth. I only really get Roger vibes in the first half of the queue.

I don’t think it’s long for this world. I think it’ll be replaced within the next 10 years. The ride will be worse but I guess it’ll be more relevant.

 

[britain]

The rumor was they were thinking about replacing it with a Ducktales 2.0 ride during the Toontown update. It tracks as there was that post that left out RRCS from the concept art that said “exciting things were coming soon.” At some point they backed out.

I have 0% faith that modern WDI would create a better attraction. Especially within the existing building and all its constraints. So for all my complaints I guess I better shut up. But the truth is the truth. I only really get Roger vibes in the first half of the queue.

I don’t think it’s long for this world. I think it’ll be replaced within the next 10 years. The ride will be worse but I guess it’ll be more relevant.

We can hope that whatever it is, they keep the track and build new sets around it.