News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I should have fit Mania into that to pay homage to the ride's origins at DCA. Still lamenting the loss of that attraction concept in favor of more Toy Story shooters in the parks.

There are currently 9 Toy Story shooters in the parks! And I constantly hear people clamoring for Midway Mania at Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai with the strong possibility that at least one, if not all, of those resorts eventually receive them. :mad::(:oops::rolleyes::arghh::bawling::banghead::cry::depressed::devilish::facepalm::grumpy::hungover::in pain:
Crazy people clamoring for clones of popular rides.

Who still wants Mystic Manor? And Indiana Jones Adventure? And Journey to the Center of the Earth? And Tron Light Cycles? And Cars Land?

Shall I continue?
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
Crazy people clamoring for clones of popular rides.

Who still wants Mystic Manor? And Indiana Jones Adventure? And Journey to the Center of the Earth? And Tron Light Cycles? And Cars Land?

Shall I continue?

No, because I personally love clones. I hope to see straight up clones of Disney's best offerings scattered around every resort. I'm not the sort of person to disparage a well done clone. I'd love nothing more than for them to do it everywhere, and often. And that's coming from someone who visits most of the intl parks every couple of years but can recognize the value in-reusing a ride concept that is successful in different markets. ;)

But Toy Story? And the quality of the Toy Story offerings that Disney already has demonstrated around the globe? No, I don't really care for more of that.

There are currently 6 more Toy Story rides, with another 5 currently under construction. So that makes a total of 20 Toy Story attractions before any other Manias might be built. No mas! What's the next most represented property at Disney parks as far as ride count? Star Wars (it'll be that in a few years right)? And even after SWL opens at the two parks, that'll be 8 total attractions and 2 lands. Toy Story will have 20 rides across 5 lands. Enough.

Every single Disney Resort is well represented in parades, shows, lands, shops, dining, meet & greets and rides as far as Toy Story is concerned. If people want that trend to continue, I guess Disney should continue to offer it. Personally, I think Toy Story has enough visibility. It's BY FAR the most represented thing at Disney Parks, unless you count the Princess line (though I think at this point, the collective representation of Toy Story beats all of the princess offerings!)
 
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ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
No, because I personally love clones. I hope to see straight up clones of Disney's best offerings scattered around every resort. I'd love nothing more. ;) But Toy Story? And the quality of the Toy Story offerings that Disney already has demonstrated around the globe? No, I don't really care for more of that.

There are currently 6 more Toy Story rides, with another 5 currently under construction. So that makes a total of 20 Toy Story attractions before any other Manias might be built. No mas!
It's an extremely popular IP. Look at the wait times on each of those rides. They'd plop a 4th and 5th Midway Mania track behind France if they didn't have another option to CTRL+C, CTRL+V.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
It pains me to say I may have ridden my last GMR.

As things stands at the moment, when I return in the fall the attraction should be closed.
It pains me too. When I was at WDW last month, I really wanted to see it, but, my age got to me and after a full day I just couldn't crank up the energy to make a stop at DHS just to see it. I kinda figured that it would be gone before I could get back again. In spite of the massive denial aging truly sucks. We may keep our 20 year old mentality, but, the body's in charge.
 
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rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
It's an extremely popular IP. Look at the wait times on each of those rides. They'd plop a 4th and 5th Midway Mania track behind France if they didn't have another option to CTRL+C, CTRL+V.

No doubt, adding a 4th or 5th track would finally bring that ride in line with the capacity of the other attractions around the park. (and people still struggle to figure out why the waits are so out of control at Tokyo and DL where the capacity is still that of a minor dark ride). ;)

It's obviously an extremely popular IP, but for all of the hand wringing that goes on about Frozen or Star Wars, I always wonder why people don't loathe the (over) representation of Toy Story in the parks. I know people criticize the quality of the offerings (as they should, it's carny rides, shooter rides and a really poor offering of a screen based shooter that barely qualifies as a ride regardless of its popularity), but I'm also about tapped out as far as quantity too which I don't see many people taking issue with (Toy Story specifically). Luckily I don't think they could cram any more Toy Story into the parks if they tried (I shouldn't say that, I could see them dumping it into Fantasmic, Pyro Shows and other areas, ugh).

Back to GMR though. If it's trackless and Mickey then count me in. I'd love to see a "Mickey through the ages" trackless dark ride like what Midway Mania was originally supposed to be. I just hope it's done well and it's done before Star Wars Land opens.
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
Sure. But, it is popular. Guests like it. Even Tokyo wanted one. How often in recent memory has Tokyo asked for a copy of an American ride?

They've cloned from everyone including the US parks quite heavily. That's always been the case except for DisneySea's opening lineup which was largely clone free. Tokyo Disneyland itself was probably the most "cloned" park of any of Disney's offerings when it opened. I know you're saying in recent memory so I'll discount all of that. But still, before TDS, almost every ride at TDL was a clone of an American counterpart and since TDS has opened, it's also been largely clones from the US or other parks too:

Since TDS opened:

Turtle Talk (Cloned from EPCOT, DCA and HKDL)
Buzz Lightyear (originated at WDW, was upgraded for Tokyo, then cloned everywhere else)
Tower of Terror (in concept arts, it was intended to be WDW's version, instead ended up an updated clone of DCA's, which was supposed to be in Paris originally- but Tokyo ASKED for a Tower of Terror, then made the decision in conjunction with Disney to use the cheaper ride system along with a new theme, since Twilight Zone was largely unknown in Japan)
Raging Spirits (Cloned/updated ride from Paris, which itself is a clone of a carny coaster)
Toy Story Mania (Cloned from the stateside parks as you mentioned)
Philharmagic (Cloned from WDW and HKDL)
Star Tours II (Cloned from the stateside parks)
Stitch Encounter (Cloned/updated from Paris and Hong Kong)

The only unique rides I can think of is Monsters Inc, and now the BatB dark ride. It's been literally all clones otherwise. Am I missing something (I may be, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head)? Of the attractions that Tokyo's done in the last 15 years, they've all been clones and many of them have been from original US attractions. They've added some bells and whistles, but more than half of those rides originated in the states and the other half are still just clones.

I love Tokyo's parks and many of their attractions are unique and spectacular. But plenty are also just clones. Some from the US parks, some from elsewhere. Lets be real about that (aside from TDS's original lineup) while still acknowledging that there's a great deal of things that set Tokyo apart from other properties.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
They've cloned from everyone including the US parks quite heavily. That's always been the case except for DisneySea's opening lineup which was largely clone free. Before TDS, almost every ride at TDL was a clone of an American counterpart and since TDS has opened, it's also been largely clones from the US or other parks too:

Since TDS opened:

Turtle Talk (Cloned from EPCOT, DCA and HKDL)
Buzz Lightyear (originated at WDW, was upgraded for Tokyo, then cloned everywhere else)
Tower of Terror (in concept arts, it was intended to be WDW's version, instead ended up an updated clone of DCA's, which was supposed to be in Paris originally- but Tokyo ASKED for a Tower of Terror, then made the decision in conjunction with Disney to use the cheaper ride system along with a new theme, since Twilight Zone was largely unknown in Japan)
Raging Spirits (Cloned/updated ride from Paris, which itself is a clone of a carny coaster)
Toy Story Mania (Cloned from the stateside parks as you mentioned)
Philharmagic (Cloned from WDW and HKDL)
Star Tours II (Cloned from the stateside parks)
Stitch Encounter (Cloned/updated from Paris and Hong Kong)

The only unique rides I can think of is Monsters Inc, and now the BatB dark ride. It's been literally all clones otherwise. Am I missing something (I may be, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head)? Of the attractions that Tokyo's done in the last 15 years, they've all been clones and many of them have been from original US attractions. They've added some bells and whistles, but more than half of those rides originated in the states.
Guess I missed all those lol. I don't view ToT as a clone. Or Raging Spirits. Either way, your point stands. My bad.
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
I forgot Jasmine's Carpets too! :p

It took me by surprise too though. I was about to just say that they were cloning before TDS came into the fold, but the more I thought about it, they're back to doing that again. No problem with cloning at all though. When Tokyo clones stuff, you often get the best version of said clone/concept. Tower, Spirits, Star Tours, Thunder (at the time), Indy, Pooh, Buzz, (at the time) and others I'm probably forgetting were the best of their type when they opened, all being "upgrades" of an earlier concept/ride. The only thing smarter than cloning is doing "cloning plus" like they've done with Thunder, Tower and Splash. Took superior attractions and made them even better! I'm all for it!

Don't try to "upgrade" Fantasmic though, that failed badly. ;)
 

DisneyFan 2000

Well-Known Member
Tower, Spirits, Star Tours, Thunder (at the time), Indy, Pooh, Buzz, (at the time) and others I'm probably forgetting were the best of their type when they opened, all being "upgrades" of an earlier concept/ride.
Tokyo's Pooh is in no way a clone. No, no, no. Neither is it just an "upgrade". This is like comparing ToT to your local Six Flags free-fall ride.
 

goldenstate5

Active Member
@marni1971 or anyone that can answer: is the plan still to keep the Chinese Theatre facade? That's literally all I care about in any of this going away. I love GMR but it's dated and the death of Robert has managed to make the recent update woefully dated yet again, in an offsetting way.

I'm totally cool with this. Ride sounds like a fantastic idea, and long necessary.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I believe that's the current plan. There was talk a while ago of an option to change it but I've not heard anything since, or connected to the new ride. Not that that means anything or everything of course.
I would bet they keep it because of timing. If they want this open with SWL, I know they also want to keep fireworks at least during all of the construction. They need a backdrop for the fireworks. They are going to have to hustle a bit to get this ride open 2 1/2 years from now as it is.
 

YodaMan

Well-Known Member
I would bet they keep it because of timing. If they want this open with SWL, I know they also want to keep fireworks at least during all of the construction. They need a backdrop for the fireworks. They are going to have to hustle a bit to get this ride open 2 1/2 years from now as it is.

^this. So much of their nighttime show hinges on projections on the Chinese Theater. Any change to the facade would require re-programming of the protections. Any any lengthy return of the facade would result in a lengthy down-time of the nighttime show. I think the facade is at least safe until they have a new Fantasmic to send crowds to, and/or indefinitely.
 

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