DAK 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[lazyboy97o]

Little Mermaid? I'm not sure what would have made it significantly better but it's underwhelming for me. I think the Fantasyland dark rides tend to have snappier ride feel: tight turns, zipping around, into and out of scenes quickly. The omnimover is a slower pace and lacks imparting energy. You have too long to look at the scenes which don't necessarily impress upon longer inspection.

The Little Mermaid was both quite expensive and is physically large. It was also considered a D Ticket and not a C Ticket like the small Fantasyland dark rides.

 

[Brer Panther]

Why was Tropical Americas not just a true expansion, along with improving Dinoland?

Because replacing stuff is cheaper, apparently?

How would they have done the underwater sections?

From what I recall, the idea of the Tony Baxter pitch was for the attraction to be two-level, with the underwater scenes on the lower level. There was no way Iger's Disney was gonna do that, though - too expensive and probably too complicated for them as well.

 

[lazyboy97o]

From what I recall, the idea of the Tony Baxter pitch was for the attraction to be two-level, with the underwater scenes on the lower level. There was no way Iger's Disney was gonna do that, though - too expensive and probably too complicated for them as well.

They went with a bigger, more expensive ride…

 

[DrStarlander]

The Little Mermaid was both quite expensive and is physically large. It was also considered a D Ticket and not a C Ticket like the small Fantasyland dark rides.

Yeah I don't think they'll be building 10,000-12,000-sq.ft. dark rides anymore (sadly, because I'd rather have 8 of those instead of a Shanghai Pirates or Fantasy Springs Frozen), but Little Mermaid was the closest I could think of.

 

[Gremlin Gus]

Coming from the Disney newssite that we cannot speak of, the Encanto showbuilding has grown even larger!

 

[James Alucobond]

Because replacing stuff is cheaper, apparently?

It costs money to operate everything. Endless expansion without any thought to utilization or existing operational costs is unwise. That doesn't mean their mix of expansion versus replacement is right at the moment given attendance, but the answer shouldn't always be holding on to things as they were forever and just ringing the parks with more and more clutter, all of which has to be staffed and maintained.

From what I recall, the idea of the Tony Baxter pitch was for the attraction to be two-level, with the underwater scenes on the lower level. There was no way Iger's Disney was gonna do that, though - too expensive and probably too complicated for them as well.

What do you mean that it would be too expensive or complicated? Both the proposed ride and the current ride made use of known systems, and the final design still has you changing levels with the omnimover, going underwater at the beginning and emerging after Ursula. As @lazyboy97o said, they actually went with the more expensive and less compact option.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

The closest we got recently to a classic dark ride might’ve been Mary Poppins in the UK pavilion, before it was changed to a spinner then ultimately cut. I also remember Brave as a rumored theme for the dark ride

 

[jah4955]

Bigger doesn't always mean better. I've ridden LM at least a few times and it's "nice" but nothing that WOW'd. By comparison, just watching the old computer generated mockup video still amazes me.

I can litanize many particulars about the charming "classic" set-up, but far more so it's this intangible I can't 't put my finger on that takes it "over the top" imo.

 

[jah4955]

It costs money to operate everything. Endless expansion without any thought to utilization or existing operational costs is unwise. That doesn't mean their mix of expansion versus replacement is right at the moment given attendance, but the answer shouldn't always be holding on to things as they were forever and just ringing the parks with more and more clutter, all of which has to be staffed and maintained.

Implicit in their various metrics on their 1987 report (disneydocs.net....based on 1986 activity), seems to be a constant evaluation of the performance of each attraction, shop, restaurant, and [even!] cart based upon a plethora of factors.

Can't help but believe it's become even more complex 4 decades later.

 

[jah4955]

The closest we got recently to a classic dark ride might’ve been Mary Poppins in the UK pavilion, before it was changed to a spinner then ultimately cut. I also remember Brave as a rumored theme for the dark ride

Attraction-wise, I only knew of the spinner no one wanted.

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

Honestly, Tropical Americas would have been the perfect setting for a classic dark ride. I like to imagine something in the vein of The Emperor’s New Groove for a hypothetical Phase 2. If only Disney still knew how to deliver that bus-bar style experience. It feels like they’ve completely lost the blueprint and the concept eludes them.

 

[Mike S]

They went with a bigger, more expensive ride…

Was the version we can find on that old DVD never seriously considered?

 

[Gremlin Gus]

Coming from the Disney newssite that we cannot speak of, the Encanto showbuilding has grown even larger!

View attachment 904816

View attachment 904817

 

[HMF]

Honestly, Tropical Americas would have been the perfect setting for a classic dark ride. I like to imagine something in the vein of The Emperor’s New Groove for a hypothetical Phase 2. If only Disney still knew how to deliver that bus-bar style experience. It feels like they’ve completely lost the blueprint and the concept eludes them.

It also probably would have been better as a World Showcase pavilion rather than randomly being thrown into DAK. EPCOT is about human culture while DAK is supposed to be about animals, right?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Was the version we can find on that old DVD never seriously considered?

It’s the ride that was announced for Disneyland Paris as an expansion that was supposed to follow shortly after opening.

 

[Brer Panther]

So now extra capacity in parks that desperately need it is bad because it's too expensive to operate more than, like, ten attractions? Say, doesn't Disney repeatedly raise prices every few months? Surely that alone gives them enough money to operate these hypothetical new attractions that don't replace anything.

Knowing when to take the less expensive route when it comes to new attractions would probably help, too. Not every attraction needs to take up that much space, nor does every single new animatronic need to be a fancy A1000.

 

[Nickm2022]

I don't think today's Disney knows how to do small scale dark rides.

My biggest issue with modern day Disney ^^^^

 

[James Alucobond]

So now extra capacity in parks that desperately need it is bad because it's too expensive to operate more than, like, ten attractions? Say, doesn't Disney repeatedly raise prices every few months? Surely that alone gives them enough money to operate these hypothetical new attractions that don't replace anything.

You just summarized something I didn't say. In fact, I explicitly said that the current mix of new capacity and replacement is wrong. I just said that endless new build with no assessment of existing capacity for timely replacement is also wrong, which is what it seems many here would rather have.

 

[Nickm2022]

My biggest issue with modern day Disney ^^^^

Honestly I think that's my favorite thing about Runaway Railway is that it shows how good a ride Disney can make in a limited space. Personally wish instead of a Monsters inc show in the future monsters land we got a second monsters inc ride in that space for families. Or even a ride replacing stitch or Laughfloor. And don't get me started about every single EPCOT would showcase pavilion. All of those smaller areas I wish had rides in them.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

It'll be really interesting to see how the "green hills facade" will look.

DAK has some of the best "geology" in all of WDW. Although this doesn't seem like it'll be Zsolt Hormay rockwork, I hope it creates a sense of depth that makes the land feel more real.