A Spirited Valentine ...

[brb1006]

Good thing you didn't go in July, their parade gets everyone drenched (followed by a nighttime foam party with water guns), their small stage shows had people getting drenched, their best selling merchadise is Universal branded water shooters, and their big replacement for water world gets half the audience wet.

Wait that actually sounds perfect for Florida in the hottest month of the year.

Space Fantasy is pretty neat, the VR overlays it gets are just as good as the regular ride and I love how interactive the ride itself is as you go up the lift hill you are trying to collect as much stardust to keep the sun from dying. (while you are riding cameras are watching your body movements and use that to tell you are collecting stardust etc) but I actually enjoy all the small stuff a lot more.

Tokyo even has two shows that allowed guests to get sprayed with gallons of water. Tokyo Disneyland has Cool The Heat ran during the Summer while Tokyo Disneysea has a show starring Chip N Dale that also sprays water onto visitors (In winter they have fire to warm up guests).

 

[rushtest4echo]

Space Fantasy is pretty neat, the VR overlays it gets are just as good as the regular ride and I love how interactive the ride itself is as you go up the lift hill you are trying to collect as much stardust to keep the sun from dying. (while you are riding cameras are watching your body movements and use that to tell you are collecting stardust etc) but I actually enjoy all the small stuff a lot more.

I haven't done the VR version of the ride, but that gives me hope if you think it's pretty good. I'm still not a huge fan of VR on rides (though I must admit that I've only done the kiddie coaster at Fun Spot during IAAPA with VR). But taking that specific ride's qualities and covering them up with VR still makes me sad. At least with Japanese efficiency, they probably didn't end up murdering capacity on the ride like what's happened here in the States and in Europe (oops was that offensive to point out how much better they are at that stuff? ). I'm happy to see Iger said "NO VR, DON'T EVEN LOOK INTO IT".

Since we're on the Spirit thread I'll go back to something he's talked about:

Is it possible that VR could actually improve DCA's Tower/Guardians if they're going to cover most of the traditional sets with screens and Sci-Fi junk and not give the view out the doors anymore? At that point, I think VR may be an improvement despite the NO VR directive. One of the few rides I could see it working well on to be honest. It would be a travesty at Tokyo or WDW, but at Paris and DCA VR might not be so bad.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Here's the thing about GOTG: Mission Cashgrab. No one has been on the actual ride itself. They don't know how good it is and we don't know how bad it could be. It could very well be a fun and good attraction (I'm going to guess maybe no ...) shoehorned into the wrong place (and believe me, it was and is in the wrong place), like many things. None of us have gone on it. I can't really seem to get through that thread in the Disneyland forum and while some of them may genuinely be excited for it (and, as wrong as it appears to many of us, many WILL like it, we all have different tastes), it comes off as trolling because they know it's hated so they praise it endlessly regardless of whether they've been on it or not.

I anticipate it will be a better ride than the Tower of Terror that it replaced. However it changes that entire park and further emphasizes what was already a visual intrusion with something uglier than the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

 

[Absimilliard]

I haven't done the VR version of the ride, but that gives me hope if you think it's pretty good. I'm still not a huge fan of VR on rides (though I must admit that I've only done the kiddie coaster at Fun Spot during IAAPA with VR). But taking that specific ride's qualities and covering them up with VR still makes me sad. At least with Japanese efficiency, they probably didn't end up murdering capacity on the ride like what's happened here in the States and in Europe (oops was that offensive to point out how much better they are at that stuff? ). I'm happy to see Iger said "NO VR, DON'T EVEN LOOK INTO IT".

Since we're on the Spirit thread I'll go back to something he's talked about:

Is it possible that VR could actually improve DCA's Tower/Guardians if they're going to cover most of the traditional sets with screens and Sci-Fi junk and not give the view out the doors anymore? At that point, I think VR may be an improvement despite the NO VR directive. One of the few rides I could see it working well on to be honest. It would be a travesty at Tokyo or WDW, but at Paris and DCA VR might not be so bad.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu XR -- The Ride that I rode last year was the seasonal VR overlay of Space Fantasy. I was expecting the usual terrible VR experience and got a full blown E ticket that I would rank above Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts. Kyary is a very wacky J-Pop singer and you are visiting her dream factory... Here is the first segment of the ride in this video:



The song was specially composed for the ride and is called "Cosmetic Coaster". How do they run the ride? They lock the car spinning so you do the whole ride in a forward direction and use the forward looking seats. You sit in, operators put the VR helmet on your head and secure it to the seat. That's it! Capacity is around a 1000 people per hour, which is way more than what Six Flags and everyone else do with their VR rides.

This year, I am going back to Osaka and the chosen theme for this year's XR overlay is litterally calling my name... Evangelion. Alas, it is a stopover this time and I am instead planning on attending a Japanese wrestling PPV in Osaka.

Edit: found a short video showing this year's XR content:

 

[Absimilliard]

I think it's actually the IP that brings the crowds to USJ. All those anime/video game based events and soon a full land based on Nintendo.

That park is going to be even more of a monster attendance wise.

Interesting point, but I view it as a mix of both. Think back to the original days of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom: you came in to see Mickey Mouse and the castle... and stayed for the amazing non IP rides like Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean. At Universal Studios Japan, they came in to see the AKB48 concert or the Evangelion 4D movie... and fell in love with Hollywood Dream, Flying Dinosaur (it has a very lightly applied IP, yes) and the rest. At 14.6 million guests, we're approaching the legit attendance numbers for Disneyland and who would have ever though we'd see a Universal park approach Disneyland in attendance?

The same theory can happen in every media too as I was reading a fun story about how a Japanese promotion is pushing very hard a particular guy "as the face of the company". He appears in everything from cartoons to cooking shows and he has quite a marketable look. They've had a nice surge in event attendance, but guess who is everyone's favorite once they've sat through a show? The guy in black trunks, black boots and the fiercest personality seen since Stone Cold Steve Austin. The "face of the company" brought them in and they are staying for the guy who is viewed as non marketable to the marketing guys.

 

[Ag11gani]

Tokyo even has two shows that allowed guests to get sprayed with gallons of water. Tokyo Disneyland has Cool The Heat ran during the Summer while Tokyo Disneysea has a show starring Chip N Dale that also sprays water onto visitors (In winter they have fire to warm up guests).

Acctualy none of those exist anymore. In TDL they have Sairyokabu, in which two massive floats armed with water cannons park themselves in the hub and Mickey and Co show off their Japanese dance moves.


And over in TDS they have Minnie's Tropical Splash, which is being replaced this year with a Pirates of the Carribean themed event. In this show Minnie invites all her friends to a fruit festival, and then Jose and Panchito bring bananas.

 

[nor'easter]

This is an ACTUAL NON-SARCASTIC QUOTE:

"It's incredible how much they think through this stuff.

When all is said and done, this may actually be the most meaningful attraction in Disney California Adventure. This ride is bringing the park to levels of detail and thought previously unseen. Unlike the fluff filled Radiator Springs Racers that is all about essentially nothing, this attraction's meaning is starting to come into focus.

A commentary on rejecting normal. Being willing to circumvent bad systems. The power of an individual to overpower the collective. The idea is to "Breakout." Breakout of conformity.

This is a ride with a message."

I like Joe Rodhe's take on it better.... "KA-BAM!"

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Concept Art/Models for TDL's Fantasyland Expansion

 

[Kman101]

I get it was a design choice, but it's nice to see Tokyo getting the full Beast's castle, not what we ended up with in Florida

 

[wdisney9000]

I get it was a design choice, but it's nice to see Tokyo getting the full Beast's castle, not what we ended up with in Florida

Florida got, "Failed Force Perspective Castle"

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

And the video:

 

[Kman101]

Florida got, "Failed Force Perspective Castle"

"But it's supposed to look like a painting out of a storybook"

Um, no

 

[wdisney9000]

"But it's supposed to look like a painting out of a storybook"

Um, no

Ya,.....I never really understood what that is supposed to mean. Wouldnt everything look like a painting out of a story book? Seems like they just made up a ridiculous phrase to fill the void of actual quality and detail. They used frog DNA to fill the gaps in the gene sequence, but, .....Life, uh, ...uh...uh.....finds a way. Wait,.. wrong IP, wrong theme park.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

"But it's supposed to look like a painting out of a storybook"

Um, no

The inconsistent scales of the buildings, not just the Beast's Castle, in NFL is so infuriating.

 

[brb1006]

And the video:

Now I'm looking forward for how the ride will look like outside of concept art.

 

[brb1006]

Concept Art/Models for TDL's Fantasyland Expansion
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This is what New Fantasyland at WDW should had been.

 

[Sped2424]

This is what New Fantasyland at WDW should had been.

Cannot agree more. It's a shame at what was possible. Heck I would have taken them fully making this vs the mine train area (especially if that meant keeping snow whites scary adventures).

 

[HMF]

Concept Art/Models for TDL's Fantasyland Expansion
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So essentially what ours would look like if it had a nice budget.

 

[rushtest4echo]

So essentially what ours would look like if it had a nice budget.

You're right, $300+ million is just such a paltry budget.

 

[HMF]

You're right, $300+ million is just such a paltry budget.

It cost a pretty penny but considering what they got out of it. A grand total of two rides, two restaurants, A glorified meet & greet and a re-dressed kiddie area just reeks of fiscal irresponsibility.