Tokyo's Beauty & the Beast... Better than Ratatouille?

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
Based on videos alone, I would rank the trackless attractions as follows:

1. Rise
2. Mystic Manor
3. Runaway Railway
4. Pooh
5. Rat
6. BatB

Rat is the better fit for Epcot, BatB would have been a better fit than Mermaid, a modified version of the Mystic Manor story/attraction as a replacement for Imagination could still be the second best trackless ride on property...

Ohhhhh a figment ride that takes you through a mystic manor type ride where instead of the monkey you get Figment showing you what happens when you use your imagination?!? Sign me up, yes please!
 

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Ohhhhh a figment ride that takes you through a mystic manor type ride where instead of the monkey you get Figment showing you what happens when you use your imagination?!?

Yup, replace the Lord Henry Mystic character with Dreamfinder. For the finale as things start to get crazy/bad, instead of Albert closing the box, you have Dreamfinder calling through the darkness telling Figment to wake up, lights come on to see Figment waking up and Dreamfinder commenting that he must have been having quite a dream...
 

Parker in NYC

Well-Known Member
Not that there's any narrative I can see where Disney brings this attraction to the states, I will advocate against it. Surely, I have that sort of influence. :p This is more of a backlot tour to me than a dark ride. It feels more artificial and "theatrical" than it does immersive. I respect the point of view, I just don't like it.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Original Poster
Not that there's any narrative I can see where Disney brings this attraction to the states, I will advocate against it. Surely, I have that sort of influence. :p This is more of a backlot tour to me than a dark ride. It feels more artificial and "theatrical" than it does immersive. I respect the point of view, I just don't like it.

I remember when the artist concept of the Be Our Guest room came out, and then again when we saw the Belle AA (with the lantern) in motion; the whole board was frantically salivating over how much they wanted this ride.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Not that there's any narrative I can see where Disney brings this attraction to the states, I will advocate against it. Surely, I have that sort of influence. :p This is more of a backlot tour to me than a dark ride. It feels more artificial and "theatrical" than it does immersive. I respect the point of view, I just don't like it.

I can't imagine not wanting it at WDW. It may not be a home run the way Rise of the Resistance is (it definitely isn't), but it's a heck of a lot better than Frozen Ever After or Journey of the Little Mermaid in terms of dark rides.
 

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
I remember when the artist concept of the Be Our Guest room came out, and then again when we saw the Belle AA (with the lantern) in motion; the whole board was frantically salivating over how much they wanted this ride.

Yeah I followed this ride from the beginning and had such high expectations. I am so saddened that it did not turn out better. Beautiful but repetitive and lifeless.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Soaring: Fantastic Flight seems like a gigantic miss/waste to me. They built this really cool building and queue and then the ride itself seems completely unconnected to everything else because it's just the same video from the Disneyland and WDW versions of Soarin'.

They should have created a whole new video of fantasy worlds or something like that, more along the lines of Flight of Passage, to really tie it in to the theme. Or even something more history based. The actual ride video doesn't seem to fit anything else about the experience.

In general, though, while BatB may not be truly outstanding, it and the surrounding village dwarfs anything WDW has added in that realm. It's far more impressive than the WDW Fantasyland type rides from this decade (7DMT, Little Mermaid, and Frozen Ever After). It's the kind of thing that should have been built for New Fantasyland (although ideally with some of the flaws ironed out) instead of what was actually built.

Soaring over Italy would have been nice, unique and relevant to the area. Focusing on landscapes and historic sites would have made it both timeless and a convincing period piece.

The BatB village area is really nice and feels way more like a village than that little corner MK ended up getting. Plus the forced perspective is actually convincing and the buildings are not overly cartoon-y in colour palate and shape. It has a similar feel to EPCOT's Germany or Fantasyland West when it still had the Skyway Chalet.
 

Magicart87

No Refunds!
Premium Member
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand then the ride turned out to be a massive letdown.
The upside to all of this is that (maybe) Imagineering will finally see that the newer "LPS in a box" standard for modern dark ride design isn't all it's cracked up to be. There is no "one size fits all" universal vehicle. If anything, this attraction shows that LPS vehicles don't work as well in a slower, meandering presentation where direction, focus and pacing are inconsistent. LPS isn't effective for passive storytelling.

LPS seems to be at it's strongest when the attraction's premise requires frantic action or some form of interactivity using the vehicle in a more "active" roll.

It's in this key aspect that makes Rat better than BatB and RotR better than MMRR.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Original Poster
Actually, I think I would like BatB ride. It focuses on the music, and that's fine with me. It's why I like the Frozen singalong (along with the comedians). That's why people see go to see the abbreviated musical plays/performances of BatB, Little Mermaid, Nemo, and FotLK in WDW.

The ride takes the music of the musical and does something that the stage performances don't: make a ride out of it.

It's unfortunate that some of the attractions at WDW which are stage musicals are discounted by some people precisely because it's not a ride. Well... this is a ride.

Could the ride have done more? Yes. A lot more. "Something There" is disappointing from a staging perspective. If it were a stage musical with two singers on opposite ends of the stage just singing their parts (without any virtuosity... it's a pretty simple song), it would be a blunder for a staged musical. So, that's a blunder for the ride, too.

But, for me, it doesn't fail simply because it's focused on the musical numbers. It's OK for me that it's just musical numbers (except for the pre-show). It's OK for me that it's not telling a story or rehashing all the plot points of the movie. People go to concerts where the music of a musical is sung with an orchestra without all the staging... just for the musical numbers. That's an art form.... a concert.

It has some strengths and weaknesses. A perfectly cromulent D-Ticket (by my estimation... imagineers might disagree).
 

Raineman

Well-Known Member
4gxe5p.jpg
 

HongKongFooy

Well-Known Member
Spinning inside a warehouse looking at a sprinkling of set pieces and few AAs is not ideal.


I see you're one of those types.

The one who can take something that many deem worthwhile and/or stellar and reduce it, dismiss it or trivialize it to the point of absurdity.

Indiana Jones:
"a bumpy ride in the dark........no thanks!"

Tower of Terror:
"it's just an elevator ride........boring!"

Star Tours:
"they put you in a box and shake you.........waste of time"

Flight of Passage
"just a large warehouse where you watch a short movie about birds and they have you sit on a very uncomfortable seat that moves..........nothing special"
 

Parker in NYC

Well-Known Member
I can't imagine not wanting it at WDW. It may not be a home run the way Rise of the Resistance is (it definitely isn't), but it's a heck of a lot better than Frozen Ever After or Journey of the Little Mermaid in terms of dark rides.

Well, a Mickey Balloon is worth more than Journey of the Little Mermaid. And those prices are unreasonable!
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Well, a Mickey Balloon is worth more than Journey of the Little Mermaid. And those prices are unreasonable!

🤣

Seriously though, when looking at everything that's been built at Disney World in the past 20 years, I think BatB would probably be a top 5 ride. Flight of Passage and Rise of the Resistance are definitely better, and a fully functioning Expedition Everest is too. MMRR is arguable. I think that's basically it.
 
Last edited:

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Actually, I think I would like BatB ride. It focuses on the music, and that's fine with me. It's why I like the Frozen singalong (along with the comedians). That's why people see go to see the abbreviated musical plays/performances of BatB, Little Mermaid, Nemo, and FotLK in WDW.

The ride takes the music of the musical and does something that the stage performances don't: make a ride out of it.

It's unfortunate that some of the attractions at WDW which are stage musicals are discounted by some people precisely because it's not a ride. Well... this is a ride.

Could the ride have done more? Yes. A lot more. "Something There" is disappointing from a staging perspective. If it were a stage musical with two singers on opposite ends of the stage just singing their parts (without any virtuosity... it's a pretty simple song), it would be a blunder for a staged musical. So, that's a blunder for the ride, too.

But, for me, it doesn't fail simply because it's focused on the musical numbers. It's OK for me that it's just musical numbers (except for the pre-show). It's OK for me that it's not telling a story or rehashing all the plot points of the movie. People go to concerts where the music of a musical is sung with an orchestra without all the staging... just for the musical numbers. That's an art form.... a concert.

It has some strengths and weaknesses. A perfectly cromulent D-Ticket (by my estimation... imagineers might disagree).
Oh goodness . . . I was basically with you until that last line. A D-TICKET??? Come ON. Even with its shortcomings this is CLEARLY an E. It's an E on the order of magnitude we have seen but once in WDW in 2 decades.

Staging and pacing issues for sure, but let's not kid ourselves. This is an E-Ticket Attraction.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom