DHS Disney Confirms Muppets Take Over Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios

[James Alucobond]

Do they? Sunset Blvd is 30s Hollywood and RnRC is a modern day soundstage - or am I missing something?

Inside and in some of the radio/music decor. I'm talking about the architecture of the buildings.

 

[Incomudro]

This is an insane take, but I'm also happy you think so. This world would be boring if everyone liked the same thing as much as the next person.

Still an insane take though.

Insane how?

 

[Incomudro]

I just don’t know what better option exists to retheme this. You can’t really keep it Aerosmith forever because they only get less relevant with each passing day (do teens still listen to Love in an Elevator?)
There aren’t really any new major rock groups with a catalog well-known enough to anchor a ride. Nor is there a great fictional equivalent (no, Powerline is not better).
I think the best way to go is a randomized playlist of rock hits from all eras, which seems to basically be what we are getting only with a Muppet twist. I can’t be mad at this .

Could have been much worse, just look at Paris.

I do understand that it couldn't last forever, and that this is probably the only route Disney could take.

 

[JAB]

Do they? Sunset Blvd is 30s Hollywood and RnRC is a modern day soundstage - or am I missing something?

It starts in the '30s, but progresses through time the further down you go. The music and theming transitions into the '40s (Rosie's All-American Cafe is a reference to "Rosie the Riveter", and there's a victory garden and signs for war bonds - all WW2 theming), so by the time you get to RnRC and ToT, it's modern day (or at least the '90s). The Tower incident happened in '39 and the hotel has clearly been abandoned for decades, and the '30s music in the queue is a "ghostly echo" of the past.

ETA: Twilight Zone didn't premiere until late 1959, so that's the earliest it could exist, putting it, for certain, later than the '30s and '40s theming, meaning there are at least three clearly definable time periods on Sunset, so regardless of exactly when ToT is set, it still wouldn't be totally out of place for RnRC to be set in the '90s.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Do they? Sunset Blvd is 30s Hollywood and RnRC is a modern day soundstage - or am I missing something?

This was a bad thematic decision WDI made in the 90s that everyone kinda just shrugs off because Rockin’ is a good coaster. But it has definitely never fit sunset (or honestly DHS as a whole).

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

The arch is behind trees around a corner from sunset blvd. You can't even see it until you directly face it. And the car's paint job is also something you can't really see until you are far far closer to it because the car faces forward. Very little of the body panels are visible from a distance, and the entire thing is very small in your field of view period. And all of this requires LOOKING at the entrance road - which is completely tangent to Sunset Blvd... screened from the main drag until you reach it.. and is virtually over your shoulder when getting drawn to ToT by it's visible structures.

View attachment 913374

Now if they went hippy colors all over the entire arch.. you might have a concern. The signage itself is also TBD. The car itself? Inert to the larger land.

I am aware of these factors (the car facing forwards so you don’t see the body from further back an thus it taking up a small part of your field of view, the archway being set back and having a design language that fits Sunset Blvd) and I listed them several times in earlier posts as examples of the care that WDI put into integrating the entrance. (It’s completely understandable that you wouldn’t be going through all that discussion, so this isn’t a criticism of you.)

I then argued that one of the factors in the entrance’s integration was likely also the color scheme of the car, and I said it remains to be seen whether a new color scheme causes it to draw more attention when it’s in one’s periphery during the final stretch of approaching ToT. I was optimistic that it wouldn’t, for reasons including what you cited. However, I also do not think it’s impossible for it to have that effect, because it is visible in your periphery when looking around as you walk down the street (rather than requiring one to be looking directly at it on purpose) for approximately the same stretch of walk that the arch is visible.

The crux of what I wrote at the beginning of all this discussion, and have been repeating and clarifying since, remains: “I hope the new color scheme won’t be distracting, and I don’t think it will, but we’ll have to see.”

 

[phillip9698]

In what way is this not what you’d expect from the Muppets? It matches the aesthetic of the Electric Mayhem bus and their repaint of Fozzie’s studebaker from the Muppet Movie.

The electric mayhem bus looks spray painted and not painted all at the same time. It looks as if it was painted once, it faded, and then they just spray painted by hand some designs they thought were cool. It doesnt look professionally finished at all. Same thing with the Studebaker.

This car looks professionally finished and designed by an artist. Look at how crisp the lines are on the music notes, laser precision, thats not the style of the Electric Mayhem.

 

[NelsonRD]

In…what way, may I ask? It’s not like it was high art to start with. Very fun but hardly a shining beacon of Disney’s accomplishments.

Because the Muppets does not fit the attraction, other than having a band. Their image, character, and dynamics does not fit what Rockin' Rollercoaster was.

You took a cool rollercoaster, with an intense 2.8 second launch, Rock Music, theming that teenagers and adults were attracted to, and turned it into a classless, juvenile, immature, and childish look with unlikable characters.

This is the same as changing Pirates of the Caribbean to Pirates and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

I find it interesting how accepted this is. Considering this is the same forum that has been complaining about a motionless animatronic for years, crying about the loss of Dreamfinder and the original Journey into Imagination, how Frozen doesn't fit EPCOT, losing Splash Mountain, to name a few, but any distain to this change is "wrong"?

Everybody I discuss this with in person is disgusted. Do people argue just to argue, or is this something you are genuinely excited about?

 

[ChrisFL]

Because the Muppets does not fit the attraction, other than having a band. Their image, character, and dynamics does not fit what Rockin' Rollercoaster was.

You took a cool rollercoaster, with an intense 2.8 second launch, Rock Music, theming that teenagers and adults were attracted to, and turned it into a classless, juvenile, immature, and childish look with unlikable characters.

Wow, are you serious now or just trolling?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Because the Muppets does not fit the attraction, other than having a band. Their image, character, and dynamics does not fit what Rockin' Rollercoaster was.

You took a cool rollercoaster, with an intense 2.8 second launch, Rock Music, theming that teenagers and adults were attracted to, and turned it into a classless, juvenile, immature, and childish look with unlikable characters.

This is the same as changing Pirates of the Caribbean to Pirates and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

I find it interesting how accepted this is. Considering this is the same forum that has been complaining about a motionless animatronic for years, crying about the loss of Dreamfinder and the original Journey into Imagination, how Frozen doesn't fit EPCOT, losing Splash Mountain, to name a few, but any distain to this change is "wrong"?

Everybody I discuss this with in person is disgusted. Do people argue just to argue, or is this something you are genuinely excited about?

Your icon is Alf.

 

[UNCgolf]

Because the Muppets does not fit the attraction, other than having a band. Their image, character, and dynamics does not fit what Rockin' Rollercoaster was.

You took a cool rollercoaster, with an intense 2.8 second launch, Rock Music, theming that teenagers and adults were attracted to, and turned it into a classless, juvenile, immature, and childish look with unlikable characters.

This is the same as changing Pirates of the Caribbean to Pirates and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

I find it interesting how accepted this is. Considering this is the same forum that has been complaining about a motionless animatronic for years, crying about the loss of Dreamfinder and the original Journey into Imagination, how Frozen doesn't fit EPCOT, losing Splash Mountain, to name a few, but any distain to this change is "wrong"?

Everybody I discuss this with in person is disgusted. Do people argue just to argue, or is this something you are genuinely excited about?

You understand the Muppets aren't a children's IP, right? Comparing them to the Cabbage Patch Kids is nonsensical.

I also don't think any teenagers care about Aerosmith (not that I think any care about the Muppets either).

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Because the Muppets does not fit the attraction, other than having a band. Their image, character, and dynamics does not fit what Rockin' Rollercoaster was.

You took a cool rollercoaster, with an intense 2.8 second launch, Rock Music, theming that teenagers and adults were attracted to, and turned it into a classless, juvenile, immature, and childish look with unlikable characters.

This is the same as changing Pirates of the Caribbean to Pirates and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

I find it interesting how accepted this is. Considering this is the same forum that has been complaining about a motionless animatronic for years, crying about the loss of Dreamfinder and the original Journey into Imagination, how Frozen doesn't fit EPCOT, losing Splash Mountain, to name a few, but any distain to this change is "wrong"?

Everybody I discuss this with in person is disgusted. Do people argue just to argue, or is this something you are genuinely excited about?

Calling The Muppets unlikable is really something. They are some of the most charming fictional characters ever created.

I am genuinely excited about it. The Muppets are wonderful, the coaster doesn’t have to get the axe, and I don’t have to listen to the music of a child predator at Disney. I really personally have no downside in this.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Your icon is Alf.

LMAO I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE.

The call is coming from inside the house.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Right?! Like the call is coming from inside the house.

I suspect Puppet Envy.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I suspect Puppet Envy.

Men will do anything except go to therapy

 

[mattpeto]

I can’t believe it took Steven Tyler aka “Alf” troll to unite us, but it’s a win for the community.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Considering this is the same forum that has been complaining about

Ehh… that’s kind of the thing. This isn’t great but compared to everything else it’s whatever. I’m pretty sure it was this or Incredicoaster and this seems more fun that that.

I just hope it’s successful enough they finish out the area to be muppet studios - then it can be a true win potentially

 

[Tom Morrow]

The electric mayhem bus looks spray painted and not painted all at the same time. It looks as if it was painted once, it faded, and then they just spray painted by hand some designs they thought were cool. It doesnt look professionally finished at all. Same thing with the Studebaker.

This car looks professionally finished and designed by an artist. Look at how crisp the lines are on the music notes, laser precision, thats not the style of the Electric Mayhem.

The upside down car was and is supposed to be a visual icon, an abstract representation of the ride, and not literally one of the vehicles you ride in. Therefore I don't understand the complaints that it doesn't look like something The Electric Mayhem would have painted. It isn't actually their car.

Also, this is still G-Force Records Presents Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring The Muppets, is it not? It's not a Muppet record studio, it's a studio in Hollywood that the Muppets are currently occupying.

 

[NelsonRD]

Your icon is Alf.

Alf isn’t the planned face of any Disney Attractions.

 

[NelsonRD]

You understand the Muppets aren't a children's IP, right? Comparing them to the Cabbage Patch Kids is nonsensical.

I also don't think any teenagers care about Aerosmith (not that I think any care about the Muppets either).

Maybe not, but they care about music, and Aerosmith is a better band.