News Announced: Mary Poppins Attraction in UK Pavilion

[Bill Cipher]

I don't hate this idea...in fact I think it is rather charming and sweet...if it is the #2 of 2 attractions added to the UK Pavilion... This on one side and a lovely fresh version of the Alice dark ride and maze on the other.... adding a C and D ride and making the UK Pavilion live up to it's potential....
Next up, Coco in Mexico, an attraction in the Germany pavilion, A promise to add an attraction to all other country pavilions every two years until they all have something, and an additional new Country/ Region Pavilion....then EPCOT will start being the park it was meant to be...

I agree with this mindset. A Poppins teacup B or C ticket sounds like a fantastic idea when its being used as an extra capacity supplement to another new dark ride, but in isolation it just seems like a waste of potential. There's plenty of room to add a decently sized ride in the old Millennium Village building and they could reroute the gift shops in the UK if they need the attraction entry to be in the back of the pavilion for better guest flow. The Millennium Village is currently used as a sort of flex events space but that seems to also be the purpose of the new Communicore and Odyssey so it wouldn't be a huge loss imo.

The only way this makes sense in my head is that potentially much earlier in the timeline this project was planned to open either the same day as or a few months after Ratatouille.

 

[drew81]

And we all thought the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow walk-through was bad…..

 

[JohnD]

Why are you opposed to another spinner ride but not another carousel?

I already commented on that. One is vomit inducing and would be the third such ride in WDW. The carousel, if done right, would have a fresh, well, spin on the concept.

 

[co10064]

I actually really like this concept. EPCOT is lacking in B - C ticket rides, and I think this would really help flesh out the park's offerings, especially in World Showcase. Ultimately there wasn't enough space to do much more here anyway unless they took out the festival tent.

I would have had concerns about capacity though, especially at it's opening. Disney markets everything these days, and I can't imagine they wouldn't overhype a simple ride like this, leading to long lines and disappointed guests.

 

[jeanericuser001]

Just leave it to cheap chappy to make a very cheap ride. A very cheap ride. A very cheap ride. Just leave it too cheap chappy to make a very cheap ride. With the most pathetic theme. Sure it may look fun but this ride has been done. You been on it and its at mk. But a hour you may have to wait for the cheapest ride to date. A spinner ride that is kept inside. Just leave it to cheap chappy to make a very cheap ride. A very cheap ride. A very cheap ride. Just leave it to cheap chappy to make a very cheap ride. With the most pathetic theme.

 

[ppete1975]

I already commented on that. One is vomit inducing and would be the third such ride in WDW. The carousel, if done right, would have a fresh, well, spin on the concept.

And fits the story better I mean theres a freaking carousel as part of the story...

although i think it would be amazing to start as a carousel and then the horses with poles unlock and take you through a dark ride kind of like the movie.

 

[Fear]

How embarrassing that the world's supposed "leader" in theme park experiences could only conjure up a boring teacup ride for one of their film division's greatest achievements. Lol!!

you literally just described Mad Tea Party, only for the Animated film department

 

[kaos]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks a spinner is a bad option- I was extremely disappointed when I saw it was a tea cup spinner and not a carousel. We all know that it's going to be a flat off the shelf, but a carousel makes MUCH more sense than a tea cup spinner does!

 

[Fox&Hound]

I don't hate it but agree that it needs to be a second ride and not the only addition. I think one problem is many adults (and some kids) can't handle the spinning of a ride such as this. You already have Mission Space which many cannot handle- not sure another spinner is needed. But Epcot needs more C-ticket rides.

 

[MrPromey]

I agree. Another spinning ride no parent wants to ride vs. a carousel ride with hydraulics under each horse, pushing it up and down. The top of the horse pole isn't attached to the ceiling so its like one of the horses in the movie. Children and adults wouldn't mind that ride as much.

View attachment 705434

And if they had done something like basic projection mapping effect on the walls to make the "animated" environment alive (not talking Kong or FATF, here, just simple calm/cute stuff, would that have made this too interesting to still be a C ticket?*

That said, though, imagine if they'd had the horses with the up-and-down, and in reality, it didn't even need to spin? Just use mapping - fairly cheap, still unique and near 100% accessibility since the majority of it would have been a kind of horizontal variation of the spinning/vortex tunnel effect so perfectly flat loading options would have been simple.

*I suppose it's possible something like this was planned and can't really be seen in that concept art but given the nature of spinners like this, it seems like that effect used with this kind of ride would have helped induce nausea even if it was subtle.

 

[gorillaball]

Imagine:
Open the Disney app at 7am to spend $10 on a Lightning Lane thing
Rush to park at open
Wait in line for like a half hour
Go through one preshow
Get excited
Go through a second preshow
Start thinking it's going to be on the same level as most recent attractions
Doors open
It's a teacups spinner you just spent money on and lost 2 hours of your morning rushing to get to
Magical

And who's fault would that be to have expectations like that?

 

[Fear]

Now that this is gone, we can focus on another British property that currently doesn't have any theme park presence that Disney is now throwing money at:

 

[MrPromey]

Whilst it would be nice if every pavilion had a ride there's two major things that prevent that ever being possible.

The first one is obviously money. The second is space - Japan and Italy for example have a fair bit of service infrastructure around them, which would need to be relocated, which comes back to costs.

Personally I'd rather they add extra countries into some of the gaps that were left for them between Germany & Italy & China. That comes back to money again though.

Japan was actually built with an attraction building. It was to house something that was to work like a reverse carousel of progress with guest sitting in the middle and rotating to views around them.

My understanding is it's currently some form of storage.

 

[SaucyBoy]

you literally just described Mad Tea Party, only for the Animated film department

Mad Tea Party works well for Alice, imo. Of course it's execution varies between parks but overall it's a solid concept that represents the film.

 

[MrPromey]

Why are you opposed to another spinner ride but not another carousel?

He's not talking a real regular carousel but if they'd gone with a real carousel, it wouldn't have even needed to have been hidden.

It would have actually fit the theme if placed back inside the pavilion a bit and been more accessible than a teacups style ride and also worked directly as a part of the environment.

 

[trainplane3]

And who's fault would that be to have expectations like that?

Partially the company, partially the guests. You'd be surprised how much guests don't know even with the level of marketing Disney does. Disney sets a high expectation (or used to) with everything it does so someone that doesn't follow them close enough just thinks it'll be amazing.

 

[JohnD]

And fits the story better I mean theres a freaking carousel as part of the story...

although i think it would be amazing to start as a carousel and then the horses with poles unlock and take you through a dark ride kind of like the movie.
View attachment 705438

I had a post about that a year or more ago. I would prefer a dark ride but if there isn't much space it doesn't even have to be in a carousel. As another commented, you could be single file with projection mapping on either side of you. You go up and down with the images moving past.

 

[Disney Analyst]

They didn't use the D23 stage to announce *this*.

They announced some sort of Poppins attractions along with all the other EPCOT renewal initiatives at the same time as one big package.

At the time of D23 they didn't even say what the attraction was.

Announcing a “Poppins attraction”, and then designing this is the issue. If they had gone through with this after the vague announcement…

I agree the parks need more small attractions, but Disney also has to be careful by how they announce and approach.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I agree. Another spinning ride no parent wants to ride vs. a carousel ride with hydraulics under each horse, pushing it up and down. The top of the horse pole isn't attached to the ceiling so its like one of the horses in the movie. Children and adults wouldn't mind that ride as much.

View attachment 705434

I imagine this, trackless, in an indoor (looks outdoor) setting. Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadster style, dancing around to Jolly Holiday.

Can still keep it as a “flat” ride, but more creative then a teacup ride…

 

[Magenta Panther]

Well, big surprise, Chapek was going to cheap-*ss the Mary Poppins "attraction". That just demonstrates yet again the contempt the suits at "Disney" have for Walt's crown jewel and for the park guest. This is the kind of "just-put-a-strobe-light-on-the-broken-yeti" mentality that has earned "Disney" its once-devoted Disney fans' rightful scorn.

As I've mentioned, the original Mary Poppins film deserves an entire LAND. So much potential to be authentic Disney and truly magical, immersive and enjoyable. But hah! Be happy with yet another spinner, you peasants. Pathetic.