Hot take: the case with maelstrom. WHO CARED about it until it was gone? Don’t even get me started on Ellen’s energy adventure. Anyone who says they genuinely was a big fan of it is a liar. It’s ok to be a fan of it post closure announcement, but don’t pretend you were always a fan.
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News 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Starship824
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Us as fans always think our favorite thing is untouchable until it isn't. History has shown us again and again that no matter how we feel about a ride it doesn't matter. What we think is untouchable almost never is. They removed the signature attraction in the icon of DHS, Mr. Toads, 20k. Nothing has ever been untouchable and it never will.
WeNamedTheDogIndiana
Well-Known Member
...I mean, I have always made a point to ride it AT LEAST once per trip. Maybe I'm the odd one out but it's one of my personal favorites, and always has been. I don't think the fans speaking up for it are all just change-haters.
Ain’t that the truth. Two of my favorite attractions were OG Bears and Splash mountain. I thought “Blood on the saddle” would forever ring out through grizzly hall. I’m sad I was wrong. It’s a cannon event as a fan to lose one of your favorites. I am fully prepared to do it again as someone who also loves tower of terror and muppetvision 3.D.
At least my all time is space, one that will never go away fully. And it’s not like they’d close the PeopleMover
WorldExplorer
Well-Known Member
The normal act of being a fan is going on a ride and enjoying it. Of course people are going to be more vocal when it leaves; why do they need to be vocal BEFORE it leaves? They're just enjoying a ride. They might buy a shirt.
What performative rituals must be done in order to be considered a fan now?
At this point I just hope they have the decorum to not his decapitated body visible while they work.
They're not going to move him, but they've been doing this exact thing with a dragon and the unicorn lot for decades.
What performative rituals must be done in order to be considered a fan now?
At this point I just hope they have the decorum to not his decapitated body visible while they work.
They're not going to move him, but they've been doing this exact thing with a dragon and the unicorn lot for decades.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
I always loved Maelstrom. And I know my kids were really upset that “the ride with the trolls” was gone.
I was actually pretty surprised by the number of folks who seemed apathetic towards its closing. Most of the complaints were geared towards the appropriateness of Frozen as opposed to the big loss of Maelstrom.
I’m not saying the people who loved maelstrom genuinely didn’t exist, just the amount of frozen people greatly outnumbered them.
rle4lunch
Well-Known Member
fixed that for you. don't put lipstick on a dead luau pig. it once was great, but the lack thereof to keep it relevant and not looking dingy has been apparent for at least a decade. the word 'rad' captures the timeframe in when that word, and the ride, were any good.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
How would be know if the trailers are there or not?
NOOOO!!! MAH CHILDHOOD DESTROYED!!!
Starship824
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
BioReconstruct photos. The last DAK overhead photos he posted showed they weren't set up yet but I think that was about month ago.
I agree that dinosaur has been kinda limping along. While some closures of rides recently were 100% premature and those rides couldve lasted (COUGH COUGH GMR), sometimes it’s just time for a ride to go. Even if a ride is good, like DINOSAUR, it’s been kinda decaying, and it isn’t connecting with guests as much anymore. It had a good respectable run, it will be missed, but it’s time for a change. Even if it was to stay Dino themed, a massive overhaul still would’ve been needed. I still feel like dinosaurs could’ve worked at dak, but idk. I feel like even though we dislike change a lot as parks fans, i feel this category of closures in recent years is bigger than we’d like to acknowledge. Now replacements are a whole other category. The fact that it was time for a change could mean less if the change isn’t good.
You're the president of Animal Kingdom! You can save Triceratops Spin for
rle4lunch
Well-Known Member
I think the biggest disappointment I had with DINO was when I eventually got to ride Indy at DL (I had ridden DINO first, before my first visit to DL). From that point on, every time I rode DINO all I felt was how many opportunities WDO missed when developing essentially the same exact ride system/track. There's ZERO fun felt on DINO in comparison to Indy, no matter how far they crank up the soundtrack (last few times riding DINO it's been excruciatingly loud). All I feel, is, well, nothing. To date, I've road both Indy and DINO a lot, but Indy still has the kinetic fun, frantic pace and good set pieces (when it's not in B mode). On DINO, it's like, ooohhh, look, a vegetarian dino... oooh no,,,, the pterodactyl is gonna get us.... ooohh, no,,, not our dinosaur... picture time with the carnotaurus... now let's scurry before the asteroid hits.. it's all so blasé
I can't. Bob ordered it. It's a little know fact that he suffers from ornithoscelidaphobia.
Please don't tell him I'm one.
So I first visited Animal Kingdom a few months after it opened and my favorite ride was Countdown to Extinction, on the next visit it was called Dinosaur but it was still my favorite ride. Living only a 2 and half hour drive away I made frequent visits to the parks in the 90's through the mid/late 00's and when it came to Animal Kingdom it was all about Dinosaur. As the years went on though I became aware that out in California there was an Indiana Jones ride that was similar to Dinosaur and this became a bit of a dream ride for me, a combination of one of my all time favorite rides with one of my all time favorite film series, and in 2019 I finally got to go to Disneyland and ride Indiana Jones Adventure... and I was disappointed. It's not a bad ride for sure but after around 15 years of building it up in my mind I was certainly disappointed, it lacked the energy, thrills and scares of Dinosaur and it was also a bad representation of Indiana Jones without Ford's likeness and a bad impression buried in the quiet audio mix.
This disappointment with Indy was so at odds with conventional fan wisdom that in 2021 I decided to go back to Animal Kingdom to see if my memory was cheating, but no Dinosaur still blew me away and even with the new Avatar additions it was still my favorite ride in the park, and as soon as I got off I immediately got back in line to ride it again. On my 2nd visit to Disneyland in 2022 I re-rode Indy, and now with my expectations in check enjoyed it more, but my opinion on which is the better ride has not changed.
I believe that Tropical Americas will be an overall improvement for the park from a lot of metrics. but I can't help but predict that my personal enjoyment of the park will be greatly reduced by the removal of Dinosaur.
I hope Disney proved me wrong.
This disappointment with Indy was so at odds with conventional fan wisdom that in 2021 I decided to go back to Animal Kingdom to see if my memory was cheating, but no Dinosaur still blew me away and even with the new Avatar additions it was still my favorite ride in the park, and as soon as I got off I immediately got back in line to ride it again. On my 2nd visit to Disneyland in 2022 I re-rode Indy, and now with my expectations in check enjoyed it more, but my opinion on which is the better ride has not changed.
I believe that Tropical Americas will be an overall improvement for the park from a lot of metrics. but I can't help but predict that my personal enjoyment of the park will be greatly reduced by the removal of Dinosaur.
I hope Disney proved me wrong.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
I can say that I was a fan of Ellen's Energy Adventure. I really loved that ride and how it kept evolving throughout the ride time. Maelstrom...I liked the trolls a lot, but the rest of the ride was just okay. Frozen isn't a well-crafted ride, but the effects and sets look better now. Even if it lacks the fun of the previous attraction.
Marc Davis Fan
Well-Known Member
This is really interesting. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences in such detail.
I think one of the issues is that Dinosaur and Indy should be judged on their own merits, as completely different experiences, just like different omnimovers (e.g., Haunted Mansion "vs" Spaceship Earth).
I grew up loving Dinosaur and it's still (even it its lessened form) among my favorite WDW attractions. At the same time, when I first went to DL and rode Indy without the knowledge of its relationship to Dinosaur, and without knowledge of the comparisons/hype, I was absolutely blown away.
However, I took my father to DL a few years back, and we went on Indy after I'd told him that it's the same ride system as Dinosaur (which he also loves)... and he was disappointed just as you were!
(This comparison game has also been unfair to Dinosaur, because the fan community knows it as derivative of Indy - which undersells it by preventing it from being viewed on its own merits.)
This creates a problem: unlike most Indy riders in DL who usually judge it on its own merits, many/most will be like you and my father - having gone on Dinosaur and knowing this is the same ride system and layout.
The good news is our insiders (e.g.,. @Moth) have suggested this will be an improved variation on the existing Indy rides. I hope it's improved enough to clearly exceed Dinosaur even for those making the comparison, but that won't necessarily be as easy as many think...
rle4lunch
Well-Known Member
I will say that Indy has a frustratingly large amount of downtime, and for about 5 years (and directly after covid sanctions were lifted), the ride had about 50% of the effects turned off for about a year or so after the parks fully opened. We've been about 10 times (San Diego to Anaheim is 99 miles) in the last 3 years, and while many of the effects are back up and running, the ride is starting to feel it's age. I will die on the hill though in the opinion that it carries so much more energy than DINOSAUR ever did. DINO is so cheesy. Hell, even Mission Space got more love in a shorter amount of time that DINO ever has/did. The writing has been on the wall for it for a long long time.
WorldExplorer
Well-Known Member
I love Dinosaur because it gives me, someone who is terrified of rollercoasters, a chance to have a really big thrill. I've descensitized myself to it by now, but when I was still new to it it was a HUGE rush.
Not because the car rocks a lot, which, yes, it will also do in Indiana Jones. That's important, but it combines with the ride's setting and animatronics to make it really scary. I don't think it gets enough credit for that; this is a ride that, by all rights, is relatively tame on the actual physical thrill element (no drops or loops or anything), and yet it has a reputation for being one of the scariest things in the parks. It's because of its show elements. Nothing else in the park is like that.
We're never getting a ride with this tone again. I think that's sad.
Yes, I understand they used to be better, and I really wish I could've experienced them when they were (the whole implied carnotaurus chasing you sounds amazing), but until I saw someone on here mention that it I had no idea and was very sufficiently scared by what it is now.
Not because the car rocks a lot, which, yes, it will also do in Indiana Jones. That's important, but it combines with the ride's setting and animatronics to make it really scary. I don't think it gets enough credit for that; this is a ride that, by all rights, is relatively tame on the actual physical thrill element (no drops or loops or anything), and yet it has a reputation for being one of the scariest things in the parks. It's because of its show elements. Nothing else in the park is like that.
We're never getting a ride with this tone again. I think that's sad.
Yes, I understand they used to be better, and I really wish I could've experienced them when they were (the whole implied carnotaurus chasing you sounds amazing), but until I saw someone on here mention that it I had no idea and was very sufficiently scared by what it is now.
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