EPCOT Announced: Mary Poppins Attraction in UK Pavilion

[No Name]

A.S.S. is mostly a variation of The Whip.

So, I think it’s slightly weird that Disney has two omnimovers where you sit in a shell. I think it’s slightly weird that they have two boat rides with similar dolls. But it would be very weird to build a nearly identical ride where you sit in a giant teacup and spin. It was such a bizarre idea.

 

[FigmentJedi]

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:

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On a similar note of leveraging outsider properties they have some distributional involvement in, what they should be doing with the Japan Pavilion. Like the fact that Ultraman sales are wiping the floor with every Disney brand in China right now according to Tsuburaya Productions's own earnings reports should be cause enough to at least consider growing the partnership beyond Marvel books.

 

[OSUBMac555]

I’m sure a different kind of rice would have been a more creative choice but a well-themed family friendly C-ticket is frankly more of what Epcot needs so I would have liked this a lot. Fingers crossed it eventually gets done.

 

[MisterPenguin]

On a similar note of leveraging outsider properties they have some distributional involvement in, what they should be doing with the Japan Pavilion. Like the fact that Ultraman sales are wiping the floor with every Disney brand in China right now according to Tsuburaya Productions's own earnings reports should be cause enough to at least consider growing the partnership beyond Marvel books.
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Not all IP transfers well across cultures. WDW couldn't make Duffy and Friends a thing in the states.

 

[retr0gate]

I was originally underwhelmed by these plans but the more I thought about it, the more I would've liked to have seen this get built. It seems like the general consensus is that the Poppins IP deserved more than just a spinner, but true as that may be, it's not like building this prevents them from ever building another Mary Poppins experience in the parks again. This is the kind of small people eater that EPCOT needs and I fail to see how all the extra theming is a bad thing. As others have said, would you prefer if this was completely exposed? This is the "Disney difference" we always complain about never seeing. It's not the ride system that diminishes the overall experience, but rather, the theming that enhances the ride system and improves the experience. It's a glass half empty vs glass half full scenario.

Also, this may be me reading too much into it, but I think the whole concept of transporting you into a royal doulton bowl is a cute way to tie the ride (small as it may be) to the overall UK pavilion. It's a subtle yet effective way to celebrate english art and not just the Mary Poppins character herself. If we were going to get a spinner in World Showcase, this is the kind of theming I'd like to see.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Not all IP transfers well across cultures. WDW couldn't make Duffy and Friends a thing in the states.

Tsupro's been making a pretty active push for the brand in the West the last few years ever since they won back their international distribution rights from Chaiyo and its been picking up a lot of steam. The Marvel book was only a small part of their expansion strategy and admittedly, there's multiple fingers in the pie in the West given Netflix's animated movie plans and Shout Factory/Mill Creek holding the streaming/physical rights respectively for the back catalog, but if Tsuburaya wanted to try another live-action western co-production, adapting the Marvel books with Disney might not be a bad way to go.
I mean it's not like Disney's getting all of Doctor Who with their "Let's co-fund the new seasons" thing.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Also, this may be me reading too much into it, but I think the whole concept of transporting you into a royal doulton bowl is a cute way to tie the ride (small as it may be) to the overall UK pavilion. It's a subtle yet effective way to celebrate english art and not just the Mary Poppins character herself. If we were going to get a spinner in World Showcase, this is the kind of theming I'd like to see.

I disagree.

It's nice that they gave the United Kingdom the honor of not setting it's ride in a sewer, and picked a property that actually originated there.

But entering the bowl just happens in the movie, so I don't think they're trying to celebrate anything. Even if they are, it's a tea cup spinner; they could cover those walls in the most lovingly made, accurate tribute to a specific kind of art possible and it would be utterly pointless because the very nature of tea cup rides forces you to look inward and not focus outside of the cup.

(And culture is supposed to be the point in the countries, not a subtle nod.)

If this was forty years ago, and it was a carousel, then I could see the argument that it might be a good way to celebrate the artwork.

But it's now and it's a tea cup spinner.


(Yes I realize the horse left the barn a decade ago. But I'm still watching it from this hill I shall die on.)

 

[MrPromey]

Look at the Little Mermaid ride. While the biggest problem there is that it's just not a good attraction in general, the facade and queue also set expectations that you're about to ride a major E ticket. That exacerbates the issue. Having that sort of build up for a flat ride would almost certainly hurt guest satisfaction due to the expectations game.

I think we have data to back this up, too because they took a very different approach for it in California Adventure and that exterior does seem to set expectations more clearly up front.

It's still the not-exactly-great ride* out there that it is here but people out there at least seem to better appreciate it on the merits of what it was meant to be than they do here in FL and I'm entirely certain that has to do with the different approach to the exterior and queue leading to it.


*Yes, I'm trying to be kind.

 

[ppete1975]

And we're back to...

I agree more c tickets are needed, but thematically there should be a fit. Teacups doesnt scream mary poppins to me. There are other C b or even A ticket ride systems that would fit better. The carousel was historically an A ticket.
Look at 3 cabs a ride i love, is great because its its a walkon in a busy area that needs more rides. Thematically though it fits the pavillion, and the 3 cabs story. My opinion only.

I think where peoples frustrations lie is the fact that build time takes forever, nothing new has been announced in forever, and we know disney CAN be innovative.

OF course if you go back in your way back machine when this was announced we were supposed to be getting in a 5 year realm 2019-2024 a mixture of everything. With more that would be announced yearly.

Then the pandemic happened.
Had mary poppins not been cancelled with everything that we opening at the same time, and stuff that would have been announced, it would have been great especially with cherry tree lane.
Instead things were cancelled, took too long to build, nothing new has been announced, so it seems more lackluster than it would have if the pandemic and other changes hadnt occurred.
A ticket
new films for china canada and france
B ticket
play pavillion
C mary poppins
D ticket mickey and minnie runaway railroad
ratatouille
E ticket guardians of the galaxy
Tron


Also epcot broken into 4 neighborhoods and reinvented moana walk through, space ship earth rebirth,
(we got the neighborhoods and a construction zone)

Dont forget...
space 220
galactic starcruiser
main street theater
skyliner
galaxy edge

And I might be forgetting things.

This should have been a 5 years of rebirth with continuous improvements and announcements yearly. Instead things were cancelled, took too long, and there is crickets on what is next.

 

[Drdcm]

The jokes on all of us. The real ride was going to rely on a trick floor, it looks like regular old spinning teacups, but when the ride starts up, the walls and floor drop out with a reverse 70mph launch into a remote show building.

 

[ToTBellHop]

What if you had a trackless teacup ride that started out as expected and then the room transformed like in MMRR thanks to Mary Poppins and then the cars moved out of their circles and into a fantasy world?

Anyone have $300 million lying around?

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

What if tea cups were umbrellas? Would that sway anyone's opinion?

Same ride type, but umbrella vehicle with talking parrot handle. At center sits a large weathervane that shifts (Winds in the East) causing ride vehicles to change rotational directions. Admiral Boom cannon fire at start.

 

[JustInTime]

You don't get to take your concepts with you when you leave Imagineering.

Not ones you've developed on company time, at least.

I thought the same thing but then shouldn’t he be in trouble for posting the concept art? I feel like he commented on this a few months ago.

 

[No Name]

What if tea cups were umbrellas? Would that sway anyone's opinion?

Same ride type, but umbrella vehicle with talking parrot handle. At center sits a large weathervane that shifts (Winds in the East) causing ride vehicles to change rotational directions. Admiral Boom cannon fire at start.

I prefer the irony of it being an exact copy of the other ride but with slightly different-looking teacups. It’s so uncreative it’s kind of funny. For example, I’d like TriceraTop spin better if it were “Bing Bong the Flying Elephant” instead!

 

[gorillaball]

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.

Same person probably thinks the cheeseburger they get at McDonald's will look just like the picture.

 

[Rich Brownn]

China is getting a new movie... eventually... last I heard sometime in 2023. (The "seamless" CircleVision)

 

[MisterPenguin]

China is getting a new movie... eventually... last I heard sometime in 2023. (The "seamless" CircleVision)

They've been getting that movie for years now.

But I don't see it ever happening in today's geopolitical situation. Rightly or wrongly, Disney will be pilloried for cooperating with all the bad things that China is doing if they update the movie. It will be seen as propaganda.

Disney is also belt-tightening right now to appease Wall Street. There's little to be gained for the expense of refitting that theater.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

They've been getting that movie for years now.

But I don't see it ever happening in today's geopolitical situation. Rightly or wrongly, Disney will be pilloried for cooperating with all the bad things that China is doing if they update the movie. It will be seen a propaganda.

Disney is also belt-tightening right now to appease Wall Street. There's little to be gained for the expense of refitting that theater.

Maybe if it’s a TicToc video…

 

[Bocabear]

Umbrellas would make a nice change... And I think this "little attraction" has merit...but they need more for this pavilion. An Alice ride and M&G would flesh it out...

 

[abaker1975]

As cheap as this addition looks I can't believe this was cancelled. Not cancelled for something better but cancelled with nothing replacing it. How cheap can they go?