“Something major” coming to DHS???

[fgmnt]

I agree. An elaborate boat ride themed to Moana in the same vein as Splash Mountain sounds very interesting on paper. But if it's just some video screen garbage again, no sale.

I think the only ride at Magic Kingdom featuring screens is Tron? I think “car sits in front of a video board” attractions can and have been done to very poor results but I think the flying theater attractions, the Star Wars drop pod sequence, and Shanghai Pirates are some of the best attractions WDI has put out in the 21st Century.

I would be critical of a ride that was more like transformers, but Flight of Passage is an absolute triumph. I think the Moana rode would more closely relate to the latter than the former.

 

[Skibum1970]

I think the only ride at Magic Kingdom featuring screens is Tron? I think “car sits in front of a video board” attractions can and have been done to very poor results but I think the flying theater attractions, the Star Wars drop pod sequence, and Shanghai Pirates are some of the best attractions WDI has put out in the 21st Century.

I would be critical of a ride that was more like transformers, but Flight of Passage is an absolute triumph. I think the Moana rode would more closely relate to the latter than the former.

Agreed. The screens can be used effectively to establish the setting/background (like River Journey) but with physical sets/animatronics to be the focal point. Rides like Remy or MMRR are good enough for what they are/do but another great boat ride with high capacity would be awesome for Moana.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Nothing is stopping Disney from using the same ride system in two different parks.

While technically true, the rumors from 5+ years ago when there was speculation about the Shanghai Pirate Tech coming to WDW was that the 4 parks were "fighting" over which park would get the tech - the underline being that TDO only wanted 1 version of the ride system in WDW, money may have been a factor, but it also seemed like they simply didn't want 2 of this very elaborate ride system in WDW to avoid diluting the uniqueness of the ride system. But in this point in time I suppose anything can happen until we find out otherwise. If one of the new rumored expansions includes a version of the Shanghai Pirates tech, I'd be willing to bet it would be the only one you see in WDW, and minimum for a very long time.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think the only ride at Magic Kingdom featuring screens is Tron? I think “car sits in front of a video board” attractions can and have been done to very poor results but I think the flying theater attractions, the Star Wars drop pod sequence, and Shanghai Pirates are some of the best attractions WDI has put out in the 21st Century.

I would be critical of a ride that was more like transformers, but Flight of Passage is an absolute triumph. I think the Moana rode would more closely relate to the latter than the former.

I think the heavy use of screens with the exclusion of anything else diminishes Shanghai Pirates -- it's great in places, but gets dragged down by the number of times you just watch a movie (the recent Zootopia attraction has a similar problem, although it's definitely nowhere as good as Shanghai Pirates). I think Disney could build a better ride using that system, and don't think Shanghai Pirates is as good as classic POTC.

Flight of Passage is about as good a ride as you can build using solely screens, and it is very good. That said, I actually enjoy NRJ more now than FoP. FoP was stunning the first time, but after riding each a handful of times (not dozens of times; I've been on FoP four times and NRJ 5 times), NRJ is more immersive for me because you're actually inhabiting a physical space.

That doesn't mean I want to wait an hour to ride NRJ, but I don't want to wait an hour to ride FoP either.

 

[ppete1975]

i just hope that whatever they build has super high capacity, has decent length and quality throughout.

We dont need a super short attraction, or something where the capacity is super small.

We need something that will eat people and leave them smiling. And something that can utilize a standby line. I sadly dont think guardians or tron will be seeing standby lines for a long time if ever. And thats just not what I expect in a theme park experience.

 

[Andrew25]

Realistically, how much space do they have to work with? Just Launch Bay space & the little piece of parking lot in between it and RNRC? Or do they also knock own all those offices/TMs space back there?

I like Walt Disney Presents, but I think it'll be better to knock out two birds with one stone and move it to the Mickey Shorts theater and then use WDP for expansion.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Realistically, how much space do they have to work with? Just Launch Bay space & the little piece of parking lot in between it and RNRC? Or do they also knock own all those offices/TMs space back there?

I like Walt Disney Presents, but I think it'll be better to knock out two birds with one stone and move it to the Mickey Shorts theater and then use WDP for expansion.

If it's a full "land" replacing Launch Bay, I think they would have to use the buildings behind it too. Using just the Launch Bay building, it looks like it's probably a large enough space to build one large ride. But not enough for a full legit land with a ride or two in addition (unless it's just spinners or something quite small).

 

[Andrew25]

If it's a full "land" replacing Launch Bay, I think they would have to use the buildings behind it too. Using just the Launch Bay building, it looks like it's probably a large enough space to build one large ride. But not enough for a full legit land with a ride or two in addition (unless it's just spinners or something quite small).

Yeah, Launch Bay is a huge space... but ideally that entire backstage area is prime for a massive land that can then connect to Sunset Blvd to remove the dead end design of that area of the park.

 

[Gusey]

I like Walt Disney Presents, but I think it'll be better to knock out two birds with one stone and move it to the Mickey Shorts theater and then use WDP for expansion.

Walt Disney Presents and The Little Mermaid share a showbuilding, and with Little Mermaid returning in the Fall, I doubt they'd announce Walt Disney Presents. If anything, Launch Bay would become the entrance path to a new land, like how the Captain Jack walkthrough was knocked down to make Toy Story's entrance

 

[BrianLo]

If Launch Bay project is a real thing... I'd imagine we should be on the lookout for signs/permits of them relocating the M&Gs to SWGE proper?

I'd personally anticipate we could be upwards of an entire 12-18 months out and DHS would still be the second in line project after DAK. The Big Thunder Project is going to require a ton of site and water management prep for build suitability. Permitting this year would be interesting as it would almost imply they are planning to open two major projects in the same year... which I just don't see them wanting to do.

More likely DAK Indy/flip is 2026, Encanto 2027, DHS 2028, Big Thunder ?2029.

Not precluding 'other things', but these seem to be the tentpoles of their strategy. Maybe there is more overlap than I'm expecting, but I'd expect the overlap to come from the bonus attractions (if they stick) like Moana or a 3rd DAK addition. Or something in Epcot I guess.

 

[Brer Panther]

it also seemed like they simply didn't want 2 of this very elaborate ride system in WDW to avoid diluting the uniqueness of the ride system.

Fear of "diluting the uniqueness of the ride system" didn't stop them from adding, like, three trackless dark rides.

 

[Magicart87]

i just hope that whatever they build has super high capacity, has decent length and quality throughout.

We dont need a super short attraction, or something where the capacity is super small.

We need something that will eat people and leave them smiling. And something that can utilize a standby line. I sadly dont think guardians or tron will be seeing standby lines for a long time if ever. And thats just not what I expect in a theme park experience.

What's the capacity for Shanghai pirates?

 

[EricsBiscuit]

What's the capacity for Shanghai pirates?

Big

 

[MagicHappens1971]

What's the capacity for Shanghai pirates?

I’m not sure of what it is exactly but I believe it’s pretty high

 

[castlecake2.0]

Realistically, how much space do they have to work with? Just Launch Bay space & the little piece of parking lot in between it and RNRC? Or do they also knock own all those offices/TMs space back there?

I like Walt Disney Presents, but I think it'll be better to knock out two birds with one stone and move it to the Mickey Shorts theater and then use WDP for expansion.

I just don’t see them knocking down the feature animation building/parking garage/and all the back of house operations buildings for a new land. The easier expansion would be the echo lake area.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I just don’t see them knocking down the feature animation building/parking garage/and all the back of house operations buildings for a new land. The easier expansion would be the echo lake area.

I’ve been in the feature animation building once or twice and it doesn’t seem to have much going on it. The Ops building definetly does though. It may be easier to relocate that than redo the parking lot, again. (I know they didn’t completely redo it, but did reconfigure things)

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

They've got plenty of new office space over at the Starcruiser, knocking a few of the buildings down behind Launch Bay shouldn't be any concern.

 

[castlecake2.0]

I’ve been in the feature animation building once or twice and it doesn’t seem to have much going on it. The Ops building definetly does though. It may be easier to relocate that than redo the parking lot, again. (I know they didn’t completely redo it, but did reconfigure things)

They have quite a few departments operating out of FA, the building is at capacity. However they’re not the most exciting groups so the building is pretty quiet most of the time.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

They've got plenty of new office space over at the Starcruiser, knocking a few of the buildings down behind Launch Bay shouldn't be any concern.

The Ops building is used by custodial and outdoor vending so does need to be in an accessible spot.

 

[Sam Magic]

If we're talking about a Rock 'n' Roller Coaster retheme... I dunno if he's considered a rock star, but a Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Weird Al Yankovic could be cool.

I'm late on these, but please be serious. No one who has graduated from high school since 9/11 still knows or cares about Al Yankovic.

There’s potential for several districts. Duckburg, Mickey’s Neighborhood , the Downtown Core with Roger Rabbit, an Oswald Trolley line, etc. So much potential.

Guys. I am begging y'all to stop suggesting Roger Rabbit. Some folks here talk about newer IPs not "aging well", then turn around and suggest Disney spend capital on building an attraction for an IP released almost 40 years ago and has little to no modern reach/relevance.

The biggest question in this area is not what would cause Universal to completely relinquish the Marvel rights, but what would be necessary to give up the exclusive rights to Marvel east of the Mississippi.

As it stands, Universal is sort of in stasis with the Marvel section. They really can't add anything new (as Disney may be loathe to approve), but have to maintain what exists to keep their rights. And their attractions are based on four main categories: Hulk, X-men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-man. Two of those segments should have major films coming in the next several years. Could Disney offer access to the film versions of those characters in exchange for the right to build Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, etc attractions in addition to what is at Universal?

That's a more interesting question that could reap benefits for both parties.

Hot take, I think Universal played Marvel brilliantly.

I think it's fair to say we are past the Marvel Era of the 2010s. Disney has been slow to realize this, but popular culture has largely moved on. Universal prevented Disney from striking when the iron was hot, and now, I'm unsure what Disney would gain from planting an Avenger's Campus in DHS.

Note: This is more a comment on the lackluster nature and weak placemaking of Disney's Marvel attractions than on the long-term appeal of Marvel superheroes. They will always retain a degree of popularity, but we are no longer in the peak moment of their cultural saturation.