A Spirited 15 Rounds ...

C

choco choco

Well-Known Member
nevol said:
Am I the only person who hates Forbidden Journey? The land is great obviously but that's where the whole wizarding world project shines.

I've been on Forbidden Journey dozens of times and I've never liked it, never thought about it after the fact, the way I replay and desire to experience again HM, Indy, SM, Soarin, Pirates. Jurassic Park and Transformers are both, in my opinion, better attractions at USH than forbidden journey.

The sets are terrible. It is just an oversized haunted house with unrealistic halloween decor-looking animated figures, and they shove you right up against the walls 90% of the time to hide the rest of the ride system from you, while exposing their terrible production design quality in the process. The womping willow is one example, where you can see the top of the tree and the ceiling and the lack of success in the creation of this scene didn't lead the team to throw it out altogether, as it should have. The motion is terrible. The animation is terrible. the kuka arm does NOTHING to deliver the sensation of flight (it is a terrible simulator for screen-based ride sequences, and performs better I think with practical sets). The think just jerks around in ways that match up with messy, unrealistic motion paths on the screens. You can see the edges of the domes, the images curve in the dome and it doesn't produce a 3d effect in doing so. "Theyre flying!" is one of the first lines in the ride, and there is such excitement in the voice. I should feel elated that I'm flying. Instead, I am 3 seconds away from a migraine from the crappy green wormhole and being jerked around in a practical set a fraction as interesting as the queue. They literally took the biggest human aspiration: flying-and made it terribly boring, the least memorable part of the ride, a transition rather than a focus, the act of flipping pages in a book. The practical effects and screens are so blatantly unrelated that you never get to suspend disbelief for one or the other. You can see the other ride vehicles, which is the best part, except you aren't supposed to. I would rather sit on an omnimover through the queue than ever ride KUKA forbidden journey ever again.

Clearly not a fan of the ride or the ride system, but I think the ride system would really shine in a ride in which it was diegetic. The flying bench excuse doesn't cut it because once on board there is no emotional relationship with or awareness of the vehicle. It should be more visible, INCLUDING the track. The entire ride vehicle structure should be emphasized, which would allow for ginormous, kinetic show rooms like the temple in Indy in which several vehicles are observed along different parts of the scene, becoming part of the show beyond the show and effects immediately related to your vehicle. One example I thought up the other night was for this ride system in a wonka-like candy factory, with the ride system and vehicle being part of a massive industrial assembly line. Perhaps the "benches" are dispensing ingredients like sugar on different scenes/ candies, pushing us toward a variety of scenes that give us a variety of room scale, set decor, and play with light vs dark as well. It would also insinuate that the riders are sweet, which is kind of charming. Or we are a stamp, pressing the [wonka] logo into different candies, which would make an aggressive stamping motion that lunges riders right up into the show scene's envelope and back out again a repetitive, funny, 100% diegetic head-chopper-type gag along the way. Or, less, oddly, we are on an elaborate tour, with an elaborate transportation system, with no more ambitious or risky exposition. But in this case, the thrill of seeing these technologically sublime tracked robots flying around a beautifully-decorated room would be encouraged and leveraged, rather than suppressed the way it is in Forbidden Journey, where the scale of the show building and the scale of the vehicles are both irrelevant.
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The cheap sets is one of the reasons I think Forbidden Journey didn't really take here in Southern California. Nobody is particularly impressed with it. We're used to really high quality in our showbiz fantasies, be it in Halloween mazes, escape rooms, entertainment theming (Las Vegas) or just copycat architecture in general (Getty Villa). Forbidden Journey wasn't remotely good enough. I clearly remember my first ride-thru, when I heard people in the ride vehicles next to me laughing at the dementors: these chintzy black shrouds with a cheap LED flashlight poking out through some holes, like some five-year-olds idea of a blanket ghost costume, clearly bouncing around on a piece of string. It was completely amateur, and deserved to be laughed at. There are people making simple house haunts in the LA area who could have done something much better.
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
If anyone wondered about a relocation of Dragon Challenge, wonder no more.

559B93B8-A098-428B-A56D-176E35E1A347.jpeg
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
choco choco said:
The cheap sets is one of the reasons I think Forbidden Journey didn't really take here in Southern California. Nobody is particularly impressed with it. We're used to really high quality in our showbiz fantasies, be it in Halloween mazes, escape rooms, entertainment theming (Las Vegas) or just copycat architecture in general (Getty Villa). Forbidden Journey wasn't remotely good enough. I clearly remember my first ride-thru, when I heard people in the ride vehicles next to me laughing at the dementors: these chintzy black shrouds with a cheap LED flashlight poking out through some holes, like some five-year-olds idea of a blanket ghost costume, clearly bouncing around on a piece of string. It was completely amateur, and deserved to be laughed at. There are people making simple house haunts in the LA area who could have done something much better.
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Yet they increased attendance by almost a million.
 
thejester

thejester

New Member
choco choco said:
The cheap sets is one of the reasons I think Forbidden Journey didn't really take here in Southern California. Nobody is particularly impressed with it. We're used to really high quality in our showbiz fantasies, be it in Halloween mazes, escape rooms, entertainment theming (Las Vegas) or just copycat architecture in general (Getty Villa). Forbidden Journey wasn't remotely good enough. I clearly remember my first ride-thru, when I heard people in the ride vehicles next to me laughing at the dementors: these chintzy black shrouds with a cheap LED flashlight poking out through some holes, like some five-year-olds idea of a blanket ghost costume, clearly bouncing around on a piece of string. It was completely amateur, and deserved to be laughed at. There are people making simple house haunts in the LA area who could have done something much better.
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Each Dementor's motion is driven by a Kuka robotic arm, just like the ride vehicles. Not a piece of string. I agree that there is a lot left to be desired in FJ's physical sets, but they did do some things right.
 
bclane

bclane

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
Actually, mid-2019 is after Anaheim's SWGE opens. It's before Orlando's.
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Good point. Was there some indication that it might be delayed though until they get the parking situation resolved at DL or was that just the voices in my head again? It's hard to tell these days lol!
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
bclane said:
Good point. Was there some indication that it might be delayed though until they get the parking situation resolved at DL or was that just the voices in my head again? It's hard to tell these days lol!
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I've not heard any insider say the parking issue would delay Anaheim's SWGE.

If there's no new garage, Disney will do what is always does: throw more buses at it.
 
bclane

bclane

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
I've not heard any insider say the parking issue would delay Anaheim's SWGE.

If there's no new garage, Disney will do what is always does: throw more buses at it.
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Ok, it must have been the voices in my head then. Thank you for confirming that I am either a) senile at the ripe ol age of 47 or b) crazy. Thanks Obama.

Edit: I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat...so I use the thanks Obama meme in jest only. Don't hate me!
 
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BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time for when Iger plans to leave. The setup is blatant.

It's no wonder the lead up to mid 2019 includes the final Avengers, Aladdin, Toy Story 4 and Lion King. Formerly Star Wars IX.

Sandwiched by Frozen 2 and Galaxie's Edge on two sides of his departure.

He wants to go out on a bang and keep the good times rolling for 6 months afterwards as he cashes out into the sunset.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
thejester said:
Each Dementor's motion is driven by a Kuka robotic arm, just like the ride vehicles. Not a piece of string. I agree that there is a lot left to be desired in FJ's physical sets, but they did do some things right.
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I have come to the conclusion that people will only enjoy things they WANT to enjoy regardless of quality. And once they form their negative opinion, no amount of facts will change their mind.

Just try and convince a Disney fan that the colored visible slides at Volcano Bay are actually in theme. That FACT is irrelevant to them. They cover their ears and scream, "Na, na, na, na, I can't hear you. Slides are ALWAYS tan, na, na, na. Disney said so, na, na, na!" All you can do when one of them goes off on Universal for sucking at theming because of the visible colored slides is shake you head and write them off as hopeless Pixie Dusters. Once a narrative has taken hold in their head they are done thinking about it. So, many of the folks who soil themselves with glee from seeing this,

Disneys-All-Star-Movies-Resort_Full_7567.jpg


Are beside themselves with apoplexy at how cheap, tacky, and epic fail in theming this is.

Volcano-Bay-43.jpg
 
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BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I have come to the conclusion that people will only enjoy things they WANT to enjoy regardless of quality. And once they form their negative opinion, no amount of facts will change their mind.

Just try and convince a Disney fan that the colored visible slides at Volcano Bay are actually in theme. That FACT is irrelevant to them. They cover their ears and scream, "Na, na, na, na, I can't hear you. Slides are ALWAYS tan, na, na, na. Disney said so, na, na, na!" All you can do when one of them goes off on Universal for sucking at theming because of the visible colored slides is shake you head and write them off as hopeless Pixie Dusters. Once a narrative has taken hold in their head they are done thinking about it. So, many of the folks whole soil themselves with glee from seeing this,

Disneys-All-Star-Movies-Resort_Full_7567.jpg


Are beside themselves with apoplexy at how cheap, tacky, and epic fail in theming this is.

Volcano-Bay-43.jpg
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And this is Universal fandom 101... skirt the issues by comparing and contrasting to Disney's garbage.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
How is it skirting the issue? It is flat out saying the many Disney fans are blinded by their bias and absolutely unwilling to analyze what is actually presented because it doesn't fit in their preconcieved notions on how it should be.
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You’re not doing any different. You’re arguing the same preconceived argument you’ve argued before that ignores everything that doesn’t align with that preconceived argument.
 

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