davidfarley
Member
don't forget the deadly jellyfish
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Animal Kingdom Needs Attention
- Thread starter Model3 McQueen
- Start date
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Everest is still a really good ride without a working yeti. Those who say otherwise are cynical and jaded. I did experience the ride several times with the working yeti and it simply didn't make the ride that much better. Losing the Na'Vi shaman is a much bigger blow because that ride has so much less to offer in terms of excitement. Everest is first and foremost a roller coaster, and a good one.
DAK just opened an entire new land. Africa was expanded only a few years prior. Oh, and Rivers of Light, like it or hate it. The park does still need perhaps another land, and a few more major attractions, which it has a massive plot for.
As many times as I've been to DAK, I never stop being amazed at how beautiful and immersive it is, aside from Dinorama it is on a higher level than essentially all other theme parks except perhaps TDS. I frankly don't see how someone can consider themselves a theme park enthusiast and not recognize this.
DAK just opened an entire new land. Africa was expanded only a few years prior. Oh, and Rivers of Light, like it or hate it. The park does still need perhaps another land, and a few more major attractions, which it has a massive plot for.
As many times as I've been to DAK, I never stop being amazed at how beautiful and immersive it is, aside from Dinorama it is on a higher level than essentially all other theme parks except perhaps TDS. I frankly don't see how someone can consider themselves a theme park enthusiast and not recognize this.
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justintheharris
Well-Known Member
Okay I'm sorry but this blabber about the Yeti is getting old. The Yeti not working at the end of Everest hardly effects the experience as a whole. Especially when many of the average guests may actually be convinced the animatronic moves. So your argument boils down to Pandora's lines are too long (Hmm.. wonder what that means) and a broken animatronic on a roller coaster has ruined the roller coaster.
Dead2009
Horror Movie Guru
It's not a flawed comparison because it's focusing on one sequence of a ride. That AA is seen for all of 5 seconds, so I can't see why people would get so upset over something that's a blink and youll miss it moment.
Damon7777
Well-Known Member
Terribly flawed.
That one sequence is designed to be the climax of the attraction......and you know this but continue to trivialize.
Too many people get caught up with how many attractions they can ride in a day and they let it eclipse what could otherwise be a great time. AK offers so many wonderful experiences that do not require entering a queue. The performers in various areas of the park that get entire crowds dancing and moving, a flock of MaCaws coming out of nowhere and flying a few feet above you, turning a corner and seeing a walking plant/tree (Divine), and an excellent variety of restaurants and if you like adult beverages they have plenty to offer.
You can enjoy the time with your family (or even by yourself) without having to constantly be heading towards your next ride of the day.
You can enjoy the time with your family (or even by yourself) without having to constantly be heading towards your next ride of the day.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
Agree... I've always been able to spend an entire day at AK, with enough to keep me satisfied, even before Avatarland was constructed. AK was never meant to be the thrill kind of park that MK is. But people more and more seem to need that constant action/thrill/activity to get their moneys worth out of a park and never see the unique details and entertainment that AK has and can deliver.
bubbles1812
Well-Known Member
Neither Nemo or The Lion King is an hour long. Nemo is approx 45 minutes. Lion King is barely a half hour. Not knowing this suggests to me that you’ve never given AK much of a chance to begin with.Good response. I'll try my best to catch your points as i'm short for time.
- We coincidentally walked by UP while it was just starting, so we thought "why not". Nemo and Lion King are like Frozen at Hyperion in DCA correct? They're over an hour long?
- Yeah, Harry is better then yeti. Sorry to say
Harold works, and he looks real good while doing so. The disco light on Everest Yeti is bad. Everest is amazing and has some wonderful features.
- Dinosaur isn't good, and it's definitely not in the same league as Indiana Jones Adventure. Indy uses many elements to make the attraction that much better. Dinosaur uses a few animatronic dinosaurs whom hardly move, and a few static figures that are meant to be scary? It's very dim as if the imagineers are trying to hide most of the attraction. For the record I don't want Dinosaur! or the Dino theme to go away, I just think it needs work.
- I think you have some fantastic counter points. I'm sort of rating the park as if it were more than just a zoo, and it is, but the stuff that's "more than a zoo" could arguably use some TLC.
The Lion King is an excellent show... this is coming from someone who isn’t even a fan of the movie. You’re missing out. It’s one of the best across all the parks. As for Nemo, more kid geared, but I think it’s cute to watch once or twice. I find it a bit hypocritical that you’re criticizing AK but aren’t given these two attractions a chance, particularly one that is one of the most popular in the park [Again, Lion King.]
Regarding Dinosaur, you state your opinion like it’s fact. I’ve been on Indy in DL. I’ve been on Dinosaur. I probably like Indy better overall but that doesn’t negate that I enjoy Dinosaur. I’m not sure what you have against the Carnatorous but it’s worked just fine every time I’ve been on it. I don’t mind the simple AAs either for some of the dinosaurs. If I did, I should/would probably hate most AAs in the MK too. Peter Pan moving his head ain’t all that. Neither is a ghostly bride moving back and forth.
Dinosaur is a fun fast paced slightly scary ride. I love when there are kids in my car because their reactions are always great. I don’t mind that it’s dark because uh...it’s supposed to be nighttime. It creates a great atmosphere to my eyes. You seem to think it’s dim because the imagineers were lazy. I doubt it.
I’ll agree that Chester & Hester’s can go the way of the dinosaur. Definitely an area that needs a revamp.
So, in conclusion, I won’t totally disagree with you that AK could use some work. A few more headliner attractions would never hurt any of the parks. AK just got a new immersive land with two new rides. I can understand and respect that Disney is going to focus on the other parks for a little while because of it. IMO, Epcot is the park most in need of some upgrades, particularly Future World. So I’m glad it’s getting some love vs more at AK.
Last thoughts... as someone who has experienced the Yeti moving and disco Yeti, it honestly doesn’t bother me that much. You see it for all of three seconds and I don’t let it ruin my Everest experience or let it take away from a really amazingly built ride. And the average guest probably doesn’t know that it ever moved. Seems to me that people enjoy it still.
As someone who has experienced the Yeti and Harold, with acknowledgement that again, opinion is subjective, not fact...I felt the Matterhorn, while cute, felt as old as it looks. That also includes Harold. Perhaps that’s sacrilege to some on the board but I wasn’t that impressed and only felt a need to ride it once. Your mileage obviously varies
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I fear if Disney tried to “fix” DAK, they’d actually ruin it. I think it is the best THEME park in America. It could use something more compelling in Dinoland, which honestly could have been a perfectly acceptable kid land if it didn’t have a coaster with the highest height requirement in the park. But even with that, there is more than enough enjoyable content in this park to fill a day. Many of its queues are so impressive that it honestly is enjoyable to wait 30 min or so to ride and get the full experience. I was shocked to find that my 50 min wait for FOP first thing in the morning felt shorter than my 30 min wait for Barnstormer.
DAK is a gem and any fixes it needs would be pretty straightforward.
DAK is a gem and any fixes it needs would be pretty straightforward.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Ooh, shooting personal insults at someone for stating an opinion, eh? That's quite the rebuttal. But hey, live and let live, ya know - I can play too! If some people are really that impressed by meh "atmospheric" landscaping, a lame animated video of the shadow of a non-animated AA on which the Microsoft logo occasionally appears, a fake bird on a stick, and a roller coaster that OMG GOES BACKWARD REAL FAST, then more power to ya. But I won't apologize for having high standards regarding attractions in a park that charges as much as WDW does. Go ahead and drool over the landscaping or whatever. But may I point out that the Yeti figure is the CLIMAX of the Everest ride, that it is the story element the whole ride revolves around, including and especially the queue, and it is basically the whole ride's reason for being.
If you're willing to settle for less, then you're the reason Iger has been able to cut corners and raise prices. Enjoy, suckers!
If you're willing to settle for less, then you're the reason Iger has been able to cut corners and raise prices. Enjoy, suckers!
Raineman
Well-Known Member
Question-if you don’t find anything at DAK impressive, I’d like to ask you what things do impress you at WDW, and how are those things any different, as far as being enjoyable and impressive to you, than the attractions/theming at DAK?
bubbles1812
Well-Known Member
shrug I feel like this is an argument that gets made a lot. I set high standards for my vacations. I also try to set realistic expectations.
The Yeti hasn’t been fixed in years. The likelihood that it’ll ever get fixed is fairly low. Look how long it took them to remove the freakin’ hat in DHS. I refuse to let something like one broken AA ruin my enjoyment of a good ride, even if it’s the ‘climax.’ If I did this with everything that isn’t perfect at Disney, well, I wouldn’t be going to Disney.
Disney is still a value experience to me (I’m not talking about actual cost here) so I still go. When it’s not, I’ll stop. Even if I stopped, there’s about 50 more people behind me to take my place. Most of those probably don’t visit a Disney forum. They just wanna have fun and likely don’t have these ‘standards’ you speak of. [Ignorance is bliss? Most people haven’t been going since the 70s/80s]. Bob Iger ‘wins’ either way.
AK needs some work. All the parks do. None of them are perfect. That’s the nature of the beast. And yet...95% of this board probably still goes to Disney so I guess from you’re perspective, we’re all rubes and suckers.
But at least I’m having fun. I hope wherever you choose to now spend your vacation dollars, you are having fun too (I mean this sincerely, since Disney clearly doesn’t do it for you anymore.)
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Piebald
Well-Known Member
I love AK. It's probably my second favorite park after TDS. In fact, it comes closest to TDS in truly immersive theming (although in fairness AK is lucky that a lot of the theme is a bit more of a natural setting). I'd like to see some attractions fixed i.e. the Yeti and Dinosaur to have all its effects (although I've rarely ridden it where I noticed a key component missing over a long period of time). To me it's a complete park, and I havent even seen RoL yet. I'd love to see one more land or E ticket to round it out but it has great attractions, the best food by far and just a cool vibe.
bubbles1812
Well-Known Member
Beyond minor show improvements or minor attractions? Probably low. Pandora does have an expansion pad but I doubt they’d do anything with it before the new movies are released. And even then, I’m truthfully not sure they’d utilize it. But I can’t see them putting in another E ticket so soon, especially with what is being built in other parks.
Damon7777
Well-Known Member
Ouch! That one stings something bad.
I think you just launched the nastiest insult against a Disney park feature I have ever read.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
I've ridden Everest probably over 100 times and have never once seen an error on the shadow projection. I know exactly which YouTube video you're basing this off of. I have actually seen error messages pop up on screens/projections on other rides but I didn't bash the entire ride for such a small, temporary error. Also, the backwards portion of Everest is perhaps the most intense moment on any WDW ride, so yeah it is noteworthy.
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Actually, there is a hawk at the top of the mountain where the tracks end, it flies up and than back down with a loud screech, I am not sure how new it is, I noticed it for the first time in December of 18. I have ridden this ride countless times and that was the only time I noticed it. I have also photographed this ride and this was the only time I captured a photo of it.
The strange part of the non moving Yeti, it still will scare my wife once in awhile, go figure, she is such a wimp.
justintheharris
Well-Known Member
Nobody insulted you.
KDM31091
Well-Known Member
I think we are going to have to wait awhile before anything substantial happens at AK. Not that Disney doesn't have the money to pour into all the parks at once, but with everything else going on, I'm sure they are not allocating large rehab budgets to the AK at this time.