Avengers Campus - Reactions / Reviews

[Californian Elitist]

Yes, but as with DCA 1.0, Disney showed "hip and edgy" is something they can't pull off. So, I'd rather have a film based fantasy world instead.

As far as graffiti goes, in the real world, I think it destroys the look and feel the architect and designers intended. But I'm biased as my two best friends are architects and interior designers. I'd take elegance and style any day over painted murals on brick or stucco surfaces.

I think you’re confusing urban culture in terms of ethnicity and urban culture in terms of settings.

I’ve seen gorgeous graffiti art in Los Angeles, but tastes differ.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I think you’re confusing urban culture and urban settings.

I’ve seen gorgeous graffiti art in Los Angeles, but tastes differ.

Maybe so. But I'm really discussing an urban setting like a big city. Just not interested in being in that world as I live in a big city. But then, who wants to be in a theme park that has a section that looks like the suburbs? Not me. That would be another bad design choice.

I've seen beautiful graffiti art- but to my eyes, it's few and far between and usually disrupts the art of the architect. Tastes do differ, certainly.

 

[Professortango1]

the California version has no real build up in the ride. *boom* you're in the drop shaft. Everything in Florida was designed to keep building a sense of unease ,, from the pre-show, to the red lights and low throbbing bass in the boiler room, to the "rickety" elevators and then the whole 5th dimension sequence (even if it was unfinished) leading to that spectacular wash of "stars" opening up into blackness and then a pause in total darkness.... and then the drop

I do love the wash of stars opening up. But the rest of the 5th Dimension room is a bust for me. And the awkward jostling of the car in silence while it positions in the drop shaft kills all momentum for me. As does the slow silence after the window shatter. I much prefer seeing the car drop and then we have a drop scare. With DCA's faster lifts, it feels scarier, as if the Tower itself is pushing us through into the ghost realm, watching as we vanish from the real world. As for build up, while the queue isn't as good as Florida's, it still does effectively build up the tension and suspense. And when that car pulls back out of the shaft at the start, its a great opening moment. It reminds me of the disorienting horror pullbacks in film. And having the same Bellhop at the start/end of the ride is a perfect bookended experience vs the elevator moving past a silent projection screen and into an unload area.

I get people like Florida's, but for me and many others, DCA's was an overall improvement on the original concept.

 

[Professortango1]

This surprises me. When the car leaves the elevator for the drop shaft, it’s an unexpected “Wow!” moment of Disney magic that sets the ride apart. And Florida’s version looks and feels more like a real elevator than a ride vehicle.

Yep, and you still get a similar effect at the start/end of the DCA version. We load into an elevator and suddenly, instead of going vertical, the car seems to pull away from the elevator doors horizontally and the real world begins to melt away inti inky blackness and stars. At the end of the ride, we drift back into the real world as our car moves from the abyss and back to the doors of this normal elevator shaft.

 

[FruitSaladAndApplePie]

Dr. Strange's “Ancient Sanctum”.

Isn't that a show though?

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Yep, and you still get a similar effect at the start/end of the DCA version. We load into an elevator and suddenly, instead of going vertical, the car seems to pull away from the elevator doors horizontally and the real world begins to melt away inti inky blackness and stars. At the end of the ride, we drift back into the real world as our car moves from the abyss and back to the doors of this normal elevator shaft.

Similar but to me, the elevator car doesn't look like it with the large gap in the doorway. And the pulling back of the ride vehicle has no build up or story purpose. That's why I like these boards- different opinions help us see things differently.

 

[smooch]

I don't understand why stuff like this bothers people? Its just FOR FUN!!! And also think many people here don't have kids, at least young ones because this is really who this stuff is aimed for. My kids love this stuff. It makes them feel more involved in the story even they don't actually do anything. My little girl nearly peed in her pants when she was chosen as the spy in Star Tours lol. I've never seen anyone more excited to be hunted down by an authoritarian regime, but it made her feel important for four minutes even if she had no idea what being a spy actually meant to the story.

Heck, I'm 21 and when I went on a trip to Disneyland with my friends I was genuinely excited to be the spy on Star Tours. It didn't change the ride experience at all, but it was fun and my group got a good laugh out of the picture of me on the ride. Sure these things are corny, and I even complain about corny stuff like on Mission: Breakout where you raise your hands for the scan thing, but that's also probably still because I miss ToT and Guardians can't live up to my favorite ride that's now gone.

 

[Professortango1]

"An improvement upon the original design". Interesting than you liked DCA's version than Hollywood Studios when the latter has an entire dark ride portion while the former goes directly into the drop sequence.

Both have the same number of show scenes and experiences. The only difference is DCA's starts with the horizontal rather than saving it for the midpoint. By having everything in the drop tower it not only solves tons of technical problems, but it means the ride has a much more aggressive feel as we travel between the two show scenes, ramping up tension until we get our drop scare. We laugh, phew, that was little release. And then the tower kicks into high gear with the real drops.

If the 5th Dimension room was an actual show scene, it might sway my mind. But as of right now, it doesn't work for me. The trackless element is a footnote as the ride path is still very clear. As I've said, I love the starfield door effect, but the rest of the room is laughably bad to me. The mirror scene isn't mindblowing, but its a fun practical effect and helps sell the feeling of us becoming trapped in this dimension of spirits.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Maybe so. But I'm really discussing an urban setting like a big city. Just not interesting in being in that world as I live in a big city. But then, who wants to be in a theme park that has a section that looks like the suburbs? Not me. That would be another bad design choice.

I've seen beautiful graffiti art- but to my eyes, it's few and far between and usually disrupts the art of the architect. Tastes do differ, certainly.

I understand. I personally don’t mind seeing urban settings in theme parks if they work and match what the area is trying to convey.

When I say graffiti, I mean graffiti art on walls that were intended to have graffiti. When people specifically hire graffiti artists to design their buildings, walls, etc. with art. I should have been more specific.

 

[Mac Tonight]

I do. Don’t ask.

Why does it seem like WDI "can't" do certain things because they're "too expensive"... yet they have no problem turning right around and blowing big wads of money on things that are of lesser quality? Make it make sense!

 

[Sbk1234]

I understand. I personally don’t mind seeing urban settings in theme parks if they work and match what the area is trying to convey.

I actually like the idea of an Avengers training facility. I personally go to theme parks to get away from modern city settings. The idea of a training campus allowed them to create a new environment that would make sense to feature the super heroes, within the context of their story.
As others have stated, I'm just not too excited about the Web Slinger ride because any way you slice it, it's just another version of Midway Mania.

 

[WDWTrojan]

The 5th Dimension room is when you're transitioning into the Twilight Zone as opposed to just observing it in the other scenes. Then boom, you're in the new Twilight Zone elevator shaft. In DCA's ToT, you're in the TZ while also observing it. That's a bit lazy.

It's small but I could never get past having to walk through elevator doors open to a hallway. I know why they did it, but it totally broke the illusion of boarding an actual elevator.

 

[Professortango1]

Similar but to me, the elevator car doesn't look like it with the large gap in the doorway. And the pulling back of the ride vehicle has no build up or story purpose. That's why I like these boards- different opinions help us see things differently.

I'll be honest, I didn't notice the gap with the exit hallway the first dozen times I rode. When those elevator doors opened, my attention was on the car and moving into it and getting a seat. Its not perfect, but it only stands out if you look for it. And the ride feels like a classic horror beat.

You go into a haunted hotel and an unsettling bellhop shows us to a dilapidated service elevator. The doors close, and it feels like we're being pulled backwards into an abyss. The doors before us, pulling away and floating surrounded by blackness until they too fade away. We rise and thank God, it was just our imagination. A normal hotel hallway with a mirror. But wait, the hallway is changing and we're seeing ourselves vanish. Will we become invisible spirits too? Another hallway, but I don't trust it. The ghosts of the lost elevator passengers appear and beckon for us to join them. The hotel vanishes and we're focused on this floating elevator door at the other end of the hall. The ghosts appear there, almost a mirror to ourselves. Suddenly, we see the elevator drop to its deadly conclusion. And then we drop. But we're safe. Not yet, the Tower itself is pushing surges of power to push our elevator higher and higher! It drops us and catches us before we crash on the floor, only to push us up even higher! The Tower is toying with as a cat does with a mouse. Finally, the doors open to reveal a very real world, the Tower maliciously salting our wound before it delivers the death blow. But somehow we survive. We fall forward, the elevator doors coming back into focus. The doors open to reveal the same unsettling bellhop. Had I really not moved this entire time? Was this all a dream? Did my imagination get the better of me? Perhaps, but the bellhop does have that knowing smile. All I know, is I'm not messing around with a haunted hotel again!

I think that's why I loved DCA's TOT as it was a cerebral experience for me. It wasn't this linear overly explained story.

 

[The Aracuan Bird]

Other than Mysterio and Vulture, the MCU hasn't created any of the other Spidey villains yet.

So did the ride come too early then? Considering they’re allegedly adding most of the main Spider-Man villains in the next movie, perhaps they should’ve waited. Nevertheless, Mysterio would have been better than no villain.

 

[britain]

I'll be honest, I didn't notice the gap with the exit hallway the first dozen times I rode. When those elevator doors opened, my attention was on the car and moving into it and getting a seat. Its not perfect, but it only stands out if you look for it. And the ride feels like a classic horror beat.

You go into a haunted hotel and an unsettling bellhop shows us to a dilapidated service elevator. The doors close, and it feels like we're being pulled backwards into an abyss. The doors before us, pulling away and floating surrounded by blackness until they too fade away. We rise and thank God, it was just our imagination. A normal hotel hallway with a mirror. But wait, the hallway is changing and we're seeing ourselves vanish. Will we become invisible spirits too? Another hallway, but I don't trust it. The ghosts of the lost elevator passengers appear and beckon for us to join them. The hotel vanishes and we're focused on this floating elevator door at the other end of the hall. The ghosts appear there, almost a mirror to ourselves. Suddenly, we see the elevator drop to its deadly conclusion. And then we drop. But we're safe. Not yet, the Tower itself is pushing surges of power to push our elevator higher and higher! It drops us and catches us before we crash on the floor, only to push us up even higher! The Tower is toying with as a cat does with a mouse. Finally, the doors open to reveal a very real world, the Tower maliciously salting our wound before it delivers the death blow. But somehow we survive. We fall forward, the elevator doors coming back into focus. The doors open to reveal the same unsettling bellhop. Had I really not moved this entire time? Was this all a dream? Did my imagination get the better of me? Perhaps, but the bellhop does have that knowing smile. All I know, is I'm not messing around with a haunted hotel again!

I think that's why I loved DCA's TOT as it was a cerebral experience for me. It wasn't this linear overly explained story.

I prefer FL ToT, but it's pretty subjective. I don't think it's as cut and dry as DL Pirates vs. WDW Pirates, and even WDW Pirates has that great queue.

It's probably more comparable to DLP Pirates vs. Shanghai Pirates.

 

[Bob Harlem]

Web Slinger is missing the villains, but in it's place you have merchandise you can buy to use with it to fight against other merchandise (Spiders). The Chapek retail obsession factor is strong here.

 

[britain]

So did the ride come too early then? Considering they’re allegedly adding most of the main Spider-Man villains in the next movie, perhaps they should’ve waited. Nevertheless, Mysterio would have been better than no villain.

Gee, too bad we built animatronics of these villains - oh wait, it's a film. No problem.

(But again, it's probably the lawyers saying WDI should avoid whatever Sony comes up with on the villain side of things.)

 

[TwilightZone]

Honestly this is such a waste of a land watching these videos. Spiderman could've replaced buzz easy. Pym test into one of tomorrowland's restaurants or the vacant carousel theater/magic eye theater (with Doctor Strange also taking over one of the two). Coaster could've went into star tours. And the less said about my beloved twilight zone becoming mission breakout the better.

I am usually against IPfying tommorrowland, but a tomorrowland marvel mini area would've just been better and less of a disappointment.

 

[J4546]

I bet we see new villains showing up in the years ahead. Kinda like how smugglers run is getting new missions in the next few years

 

[Professortango1]

Perhaps, but there's no indication that it happened. In a paranormal event, there's a lot of electricity happening about. You get that in the boiler room. Then once on the elevator that powered by the paranormal, the scenes play out to where the people disappeared in a snap. You need to have that. You need some indication that what happened occurred.

Add either scene in DCA's ToT or both.
1. In a darkened elevator loading area, a starfield suddenly appeared with music that clearly indicates you're going into the Twilight Zone. Extend it an extra 10 to 15 seconds.
2. After second scene after the guests disappear, you get sudden lightning and shaking effects. This was sort of promised in the new version. There was some shaking effect, but it was too subtle to notice. They should integrate the second scene right into the elevator car.

This is all too late now.

The car pulling back at the start is a clear indication of being pulled into The Twilight Zone. We're not observing The Twilight Zone, we're in it for 90% of the ride. Pulled into it and pushed back to reality at the end.