Avengers Campus - Reactions / Reviews

[D.Silentu]

Sources suggest a re-utilization of the Midway Mania ride system.

I beg pardon for coming off like the proverbial broken record, but do they really? Here is the quote that inspired this line of thought:
"The old It’s Tough To Be A Bug theater building will be repurposed for a new Spider-Man attraction, but not the swinging roller coaster ride that was rumored. This attraction is screen-based (likely 3D) like Toy Story Midway Mania, with guests employing web-shooters to catch criminals in New York City."

The author is stating that the ride is screen based and is referencing Midway Mania as an example of another screen based attraction. The ride system is not speculated on or hinted at. The article is even unsure whether Spiderman will use 3D or not. Naturally, I have no idea what the actual ride will look like, but my point is that presuming Midway Mania is coming to an out of context conclusion.

 

[shortstop]

No argument there, but how do you know for certain it won't be compelling? You've reached that conclusion from a single rendering?

I haven’t made up my mind by any means. But that said, there’s nothing terribly exciting about the concept art, and it’s not unreasonable to think the entire land will look similar. The problem with Marvel is that it’s mostly set on earth in ordinary settings. There just isn’t much to work with.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Outside of more alienesque like GotG:MB (not that you wanted that but just saying) what would you have liked to see for Marvel Land?
What would a SuddenStorm Avengers campus look like?

Glad you asked. To start, it's worth noting that I'm not a fan of the "one IP land" approach, and I expect it to start losing popularity in the 2020's when these companies are tasked with updating the lands they built in the 2010's.

Marvel is a character driven universe. It's environments are far less memorable than the heroes- which creates problems when designing an area for an amusement park. It works great for singular attractions within more generalized lands, but to develop architecture, shops, attractions, and shows into a land without the ability to draw from other IP's? That's a tough challenge when relying solely on Marvel.

Another issue with Marvel is how frequently it changes and rewrites itself, both on film and on paper. Disney isn't going to constantly rebuild the land to keep up with whatever phase the MCU is in- and I expect it will look very different a decade from now.

Another challenge? The land has to appeal to Marvel fans and Disney park fans. It can't be so Disney that it doesn't seem like genuine Marvel, or vice versa. This is something the Imagineers are failing to grasp from what we've seen.

I'd chuck anything we've heard or seen about the new land. Nothing that's been announced or rumored excites me.

Instead of an Avenger's campus- I'd set the land in some kind of expo or World's Fair type thing, which would allow them to integrate architecture and attractions from all of the Marvel heroes, as well as provide good enough reason for it to take place in California. A Wakanda exhibit would be stunning. This could also allow from all types of food and world culture to be integrated into the land.

This would also allow them to have an everchanging series of exhibits to help keep the land fresh as Marvel grows and changes.

Instead of a Spider Man C ticket? I'd do a 2010's Adventure Thru Inner Space tied to Ant Man. Using whatever tech and ride system would best achieve the effect of traveling through the quantum realm.

An Avenger's coaster is also problematic. To start, the roster of who's an "Avenger" is ever expanding in the MCU. Another issue? Roller coasters aren't story driven or character driven experiences. They're environmental and experiential. The Avengers relies on the characters, which would be a detriment.

The Avengers are associated with comedy, action, cool powers, and cool villains- not high speed races. An Avengers attraction needs to be a dark ride, not a coaster. A high speed, thrilling dark ride (think Indy on steroids) that breaks new ground.

Obviously, I'm not a designer. I couldn't tell you exactly what needs to be done differently, but from what I've seen, the Imagineers aren't hitting the mark.

 

[Disney Irish]

Glad you asked. To start, it's worth noting that I'm not a fan of the "one IP land" approach, and I expect it to start losing popularity in the 2020's when these companies are tasked with updating the lands they built in the 2010's.

Marvel is a character driven universe. It's environments are far less memorable than the heroes- which creates problems when designing an area for an amusement park. It works great for singular attractions within more generalized lands, but to develop architecture, shops, attractions, and shows into a land without the ability to draw from other IP's? That's a tough challenge when relying solely on Marvel.

Another issue with Marvel is how frequently it changes and rewrites itself, both on film and on paper. Disney isn't going to constantly rebuild the land to keep up with whatever phase the MCU is in- and I expect it will look very different a decade from now.

Another challenge? The land has to appeal to Marvel fans and Disney park fans. It can't be so Disney that it doesn't seem like genuine Marvel, or vice versa. This is something the Imagineers are failing to grasp from what we've seen.

I'd chuck anything we've heard or seen about the new land. Nothing that's been announced or rumored excites me.

Instead of an Avenger's campus- I'd set the land in some kind of expo or World's Fair type thing, which would allow them to integrate architecture and attractions from all of the Marvel heroes, as well as provide good enough reason for it to take place in California. A Wakanda exhibit would be stunning. This could also allow from all types of food and world culture to be integrated into the land.

This would also allow them to have an everchanging series of exhibits to help keep the land fresh as Marvel grows and changes.

Instead of a Spider Man C ticket? I'd do a 2010's Adventure Thru Inner Space tied to Ant Man. Using whatever tech and ride system would best achieve the effect of traveling through the quantum realm.

An Avenger's coaster is also problematic. To start, the roster of who's an "Avenger" is ever expanding in the MCU. Another issue? Roller coasters aren't story driven or character driven experiences. They're environmental and experiential. The Avengers relies on the characters, which would be a detriment.

The Avengers are associated with comedy, action, cool powers, and cool villains- not high speed races. An Avengers attraction needs to be a dark ride, not a coaster. A high speed, thrilling dark ride (think Indy on steroids) that breaks new ground.

Obviously, I'm not a designer. I couldn't tell you exactly what needs to be done differently, but from what I've seen, the Imagineers aren't hitting the mark.

I agree that Marvel is character driven and that its hard to develop architecture around that. That is why, in my opinion, they went with a generic looking "business park" feel of an Avengers campus instead of a specific area described in Marvel. To me, a generic superhero world's fair theme just wouldn't feel very "Marvel", and at this point I think we have to just stop trying to make things tie back to California. And if you went with a Stark Expo type of theme it'd feel too much like a copy of HKDL, which is what they are trying to prevent.

In my opinion, I think we're starting to see that roller coasters can be story driven. Just because a specific ride system hasn't been used previously to tell a story doesn't mean it can't. It just means no one has successfully done it yet. And we'll see if GotG in Epcot will expand what can be done with a roller coaster. If it successfully executes as a way to tell a story, then I think we'll see Disney do more of that.

I actually would have liked an Ant-Man style ATIS, who knows maybe we'll get one someday.

 

[TP2000]

I made a more realistic version of this artwork. It is what it is; a basic facade for a C Ticket Spiderman dark ride with an interactive pre-show. I toned down all the overly dramatic lighting that tried to make it look more exciting, and I erased the flying Spiderman guy who will obviously not be flying overhead on opening day. In short, I made the artwork look more realistic.

And with that you can see what it is. A basic Office Park building, vaguely themed to some sort of scientific use owned by Stark Industries.

The ride inside may be really fun, but that exterior looks pretty basic. Not nearly as bad as the Stucco Cheapness of DCA 1.0, but not nearly as good as Cars Land or Star Wars Land. Sort of a generic Office Park version of Pixar Pier's "good enough" aesthetic. With banners!

 

[Californian Elitist]

When it comes down to it, some of us have standards and expectations, and others don’t.

If you enjoy this basic, boring concept art, fine. Let those of us who aren’t impressed have our opinions and let us be.

 

[fctiger]

I made a more realistic version of this artwork. It is what it is; a basic facade for a C Ticket Spiderman dark ride with an interactive pre-show. I toned down all the overly dramatic lighting that tried to make it look more exciting, and I erased the flying Spiderman guy who will obviously not be flying overhead on opening day. In short, I made the artwork look more realistic.

View attachment 326839

And with that you can see what it is. A basic Office Park building, vaguely themed to some sort of scientific use owned by Stark Industries.

The ride inside may be really fun, but that exterior looks pretty basic. Not nearly as bad as the Stucco Cheapness of DCA 1.0, but not nearly as good as Cars Land or Star Wars Land. Sort of a generic Office Park version of Pixar Pier's "good enough" aesthetic. With banners!

Personally to me it looks fine,, but I don't know what other people expected. But the second it was rumored it was going to be campus style land there is only so much you can do with that so this feels right.

But yes maybe they should've just came up with a more exotic idea from the beginning. Or just something more tied into the MCU. I always thought SHIELD headquarters would be cool or what someone else suggested, the Stark science expo which was rumored to go into TL for a few years. I can't blame them for not wanting to do a specific locale from the movies like Asgard or Wakanda though because the idea is to make wide enough to tell any story they want. SWL works because that entire universe is telling one story end of the days so any locale works. MCU is wide open but I do hope they make it feel like it's in the supehero world.

I'm just curious how the rest of the land will look.

 

[Disney Irish]

When it comes down to it, some of us have standards and expectations, and others don’t.

If you enjoy this basic, boring concept art, fine. Let those of us who aren’t impressed have our opinions and let us be.

Personally I don't think its fair to say that those that like this or any other product you dislike don't have standards and expectations. They just don't have standards and expectations that line up with yours, which is ok. They have their own standards and expectations for their own personal taste, just as you have yours. Its why I love theme parks and specifically Disney parks, everyone gets something out of it that is unique to them.

Now is the single piece of concept art basic and somewhat boring, admittedly yes. But that is ok, in my opinino not every land is going to have visuals that pop. And to be honest we don't know if the end product of Marvel Land will or not based on this single piece of concept art. What I gather from this concept art is that they want the attractions to be the main driver of the land, not the land itself. Which to me harken back to the original lands when it was the attractions that drew guests in not the land itself. I mean look at the original FantasyLand, outside of the castle its was rather boring and bland with no real detail or themed facades to speak of, especially by today's standards. It reminded me of a cheap medieval fair with its plywood facades. Anyways I think we'll need to wait and see if as more concept art and details comes out if things improve or stay the same. And if it stays the same, that's ok, then we know they want the attractions to be the focal point not the land itself.

In the end we all have opinions on it, no one is right and no one is wrong.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Personally I don't think its fair to say that those that like this or any other product you dislike don't have standards and expectations. They just don't have standards and expectations that line up with yours, which is ok. They have their own standards and expectations for their own personal taste, just as you have yours. Its why I love theme parks and specifically Disney parks, everyone gets something out of it that is unique to them.

Now is the single piece of concept art basic and somewhat boring, admittedly yes. But that is ok, in my opinino not every land is going to have visuals that pop. And to be honest we don't know if the end product of Marvel Land will or not based on this single piece of concept art. What I gather from this concept art is that they want the attractions to be the main driver of the land, not the land itself. Which to me harken back to the original lands when it was the attractions that drew guests in not the land itself. I mean look at the original FantasyLand, outside of the castle its was rather boring and bland with no real detail or themed facades to speak of, especially by today's standards. It reminded me of a cheap medieval fair with its plywood facades. Anyways I think we'll need to wait and see if as more concept art and details comes out if things improve or stay the same. And if it stays the same, that's ok, then we know they want the attractions to be the focal point not the land itself.

In the end we all have opinions on it, no one is right and no one is wrong.

Based on the comments I continuously see from specific posters, at this point, I would say it’s fair.

Comparing the original look of the lands to what we have now is unfair. There are multiple factors to consider if we are going to compare, including time period, time in general, and budgets.

This concept art is not okay and it is not okay if it stays the same. Why would it be okay? They bought Marvel nearly a decade ago and this is the best they’ve come up with? This is not okay, this is pathetic. And both the attractions AND the land aesthetics should be main focal points. It should be both. This is what I’m talking about when I say some of us have standards and others don’t.

But as long as people think it’s “okay,” we will continue to get okay/mediocre crap.

 

[truecoat]

Ugh, an office park. They should have taken the aesthetic of Mission: Breakout and extended it throughout the entire land.

WDI originally went outside and hired a talented artist named Pam Beasley but her concept was too much of the "office park" look even for what Disney was going for.

 

[DanielBB8]

“some kind of expo or World's Fair type thing”

This is described as raising the bar, but it’s actually lowering the bar. World’s Fair may look spectacular, but they are temporary structures that fall apart soon after the exhibit is over.

 

[britain]

WDI originally went outside and hired a talented artist named Pam Beasley but her concept was too much of the "office park" look even for what Disney was going for.

View attachment 326869

Is that Dwight swinging up there?

 

[Disney Irish]

Based on the comments I continuously see from specific posters, at this point, I would say it’s fair.

Comparing the original look of the lands to what we have now is unfair. There are multiple factors to consider if we are going to compare, including time period, time in general, and budgets.

This concept art is not okay and it is not okay if it stays the same. Why would it be okay? They bought Marvel nearly a decade ago and this is the best they’ve come up with? This is not okay, this is pathetic. And both the attractions AND the land aesthetics should be main focal points. It should be both. This is what I’m talking about when I say some of us have standards and others don’t.

But as long as people think it’s “okay,” we will continue to get okay/mediocre crap.

Agree to disagree, but I do appreciate your opinion as I hope you can appreciate mine and others here.

I'm not saying this is the best they could do but its also not the worst, and I personally wouldn't call it crap. Disney is going to do what Disney is going to do, it doesn't matter what you, I, or anyone else on this forum thinks of it. It would take a huge loss of revenue (which we both know isn't going to happen) for them to make a change.

Also I wasn't comparing the original lands to this, I was just saying it reminds me of how the original lands made the attractions the focal point not the facades. And it wasn't until decades later that it changed to what we have now.

I'll end with what I said before, is this what I would have come up with, no. But at the same time I can see what they were going for, the less is more method of designing. All we can hope for is that they modify it more and add more "pop" to it before construction starts.

 

[TP2000]

A reminder that this is what Hong Kong Disneyland is getting for their Marvel ride. It looks more exciting than an Irvine office park to me.

 

[Disney Irish]

A reminder that this is what Hong Kong Disneyland is getting for their Marvel ride. It looks more exciting than an Irvine office park to me.

Yes which as I understand it is suppose to further expand what is already part of the Iron Man Experience attraction in a Stark Expo theme. Which is why as I said in the other post I don't think the world's fair/expo would work here, it be seen as a copy and is something that Disney/Marvel is trying to prevent with the Marvel themed lands.

Anyways, I agree its more stylish, futuristic, and exciting looking. And I hope the "Irvine Office Park" as you call it gets some more style added to it like this concept.

 

[Burgower1994]

A reminder that this is what Hong Kong Disneyland is getting for their Marvel ride. It looks more exciting than an Irvine office park to me.

It sure does. Let hope the second phase of Marvel Land looks better than the office park. Let not forget that Hong Kong is getting a shooter ride in the theme of Ant-Man and it has a boring facade too. Let hope that we will get a better building in phase two. It feels like Disney formula for marvel land is- One big E-Ticket, a unique ride (Iron Man in HKDL, Guardians at DCA ETC.) & a shooter base attraction (Ant-Man in HK & Spiderman going to DCA & Parris)

 

[mickEblu]

A reminder that this is what Hong Kong Disneyland is getting for their Marvel ride. It looks more exciting than an Irvine office park to me.

This would be a great look for Tomorrowland but I’m not sure how it would look in DCA off the main artery through the park. Of course they could alter it to make it blend better or have the really futuristic stuff start off a little more tucked back near Fliks Fun Fair.

Then again GOTG: MB is towering over the park.

Anyway, maybe just maybe, they are saving this aesthetic for Tomorrowland. If that’s the case I’m all for not “wasting” it at DCA.

 

[fctiger]

A reminder that this is what Hong Kong Disneyland is getting for their Marvel ride. It looks more exciting than an Irvine office park to me.

To be fair though this is a huge E ticket. If you look at the smaller Marvel rides in the park like Iron Man and the upcoming Ant-Man ride they don't really stand out anymore than the concept art for the SM ride does.

And its not to say DCA can't get that in time, but my guess is this is probably an exclusive for the park when it opens, at least for a little while. But yes it does look stunning and proof they can certainly go bigger with the theme if they want to.

 

[mickEblu]

Yes which as I understand it is suppose to further expand what is already part of the Iron Man Experience attraction in a Stark Expo theme. Which is why as I said in the other post I don't think the world's fair/expo would work here, it be seen as a copy and is something that Disney/Marvel is trying to prevent with the Marvel themed lands.

Anyways, I agree its more stylish, futuristic, and exciting looking. And I hope the "Irvine Office Park" as you call it gets some more style added to it like this concept.

It’s not bruh. I get that you love Marvel and that you re optimistic but the writing is on the wall. We have the concept art for Spider-Man and we know what GOTG:MB looks like. What could they do to fill in the blanks that could save it?

 

[Disney Irish]

It’s not bruh. I get that you love Marvel and that you re optimistic but the writing is on the wall. We have the concept art for Spider-Man and we know what GOTG:MB looks like. What could they do to fill in the blanks that could save it?

Ok, ok. I now agree with all of you. It will be a meh looking land with some meh attractions in Phase 1 with a potential but not likely exciting coaster in Phase 2. Yep so there you go, I'm on board with you.

Sorry for being such an optimist about it.

So now what.....