News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Incomudro]

I ... don't know what you're trying to say that I haven't already said. I agree that should be the minimum, and I agree that TRON, Cosmic Rewind, and Ratatouille cheapen the look of the resort. It was also clear from the get-go that all three of those would have these problems because they employed giant boxes that even the concept art either didn't try to hide or pretended didn't exist. There's no massive show building in this case, and all angles look to be considered in the art. Could there be a massive budget cut that affects the scope of what they want to do? Sure, but it'll be much more difficult to get away with it in this context.

As I said in the other thread, adding more to the opposite side of Liberty Square would indeed be nice, but you're mostly getting additional trees, not a huge mountainscape. There's one peak behind the trees, while most of the Cars content appears to sit hidden either at or below the elevation of Liberty Square and Frontierland, some of it in the depression that originally contained the Rivers.

Do we know for sure that there is no show building?
I know they presented this as an outdoor ride, but is it 100% outdoors?

 

[Cliff]

There's a giant waterfall in all the concept art. That's pretty significant.

I think a lot of people are underplaying the "scenery" of this new addition. If they do it right, and I think they will, it'll look wonderful.

Blue sky watercolor painting ALWAYS look far more "grand" than the final construction actually is. They are painted on the "perfect scenario" idea and designed to be deliberately ambiguous and intended only for creating high amounts of fan excitement.

We all know that halfway through EVERY attraction build, budgets get deeply slashed and that forces early plans to get scaled back....drastically.

It's inevitable and 99.9% guaranteed. Everybody knows it here. This Cars thing will be no different.

 

[James Alucobond]

Do we know for sure that there is no show building?
I know they presented this as an outdoor ride, but is it 100% outdoors?

The ride path enters some tunnels where there may be show scenes, and there’s a show building of a sort between Piston Peak and the lodge, but that looks mostly like queue space and load/unload. The lodge appears to be taller than it. There is nothing that looks too tall to be concealed by trees and a normal amount of rockwork/facade.

 

[larryz]

End of the day, Burbank is running WDW like a bunch of accountants playing RCT3.

 

[Quietmouse]

The ride path enters some tunnels where there may be show scenes, and there’s a show building of a sort between Piston Peak and the lodge, but that looks mostly like queue space and load/unload. The lodge appears to be taller than it. There is nothing that looks too tall to be concealed by trees and a normal amount of rockwork/facade.

I was under the impression that the ride is basically a trackless test track with the guests doing side by side racing ( like a Mario kart type of experience).

If that’s the case, I imagine the use of animatronics might seem rather pointless if the concept is to race against the other guest.

My best guess is the animatronics will heavily be used within the que and the start/end of the ride…but I would be surprised to see it used much during the actual ride part.

 

[DisneyNeighbor]

Make your opinion count. Reach out if you want to stop the destruction of the Rivers of America!

Robert A. Iger
Chief Executive Officer
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
robert.a.iger@disney.com
(818) 560-1000

 

[October82]

There's a giant waterfall in all the concept art. That's pretty significant.

I think a lot of people are underplaying the "scenery" of this new addition. If they do it right, and I think they will, it'll look wonderful.

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone is saying it will look especially bad. Disney is pretty good at rock work and waterfalls. It just doesn't belong in Frontierland or fit in the area it's replacing. Large amounts of rock work can look impressive and still not make for a pleasant experience for guests walking around or interacting with it.

I was under the impression that the ride is basically a trackless test track with the guests doing side by side racing ( like a Mario kart type of experience).

If that’s the case, I imagine the use of animatronics might seem rather pointless if the concept is to race against the other guest.

My best guess is the animatronics will heavily be used within the que and the start/end of the ride…but I would be surprised to see it used much during the actual ride part.

The attraction seems to be the "off-roading" trackless ride, which for a whole host of reasons, will be limited to fairly low speed. That's the motivation for the 'off-road concept' where you can substitute rough terrain, near misses, and maybe a water feature or two for speed. I wouldn't assume there will be a lot of 'test track' or 'Mario kart' DNA here. It'll be more of a solid "D ticket" than an "E-ticket" RSR type experience.

 

[easyrowrdw]

It is also not a multistory building, which is a more exceptional challenge to theme. Most of this attraction is already outside. The only significant "buildings" are the Old Faithful Lodge-esque structure that forms the main queue and whatever the covering is for the junior attraction.

Yeah. I was thinking less about the buildings and more about the vehicles. That's to say nothing of the incongruity between the Pacific NW and Liberty Square and Frontierland . We'll see (hopefully not).

 

[Quietmouse]

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone is saying it will look especially bad. Disney is pretty good at rock work and waterfalls. It just doesn't belong in Frontierland or fit in the area it's replacing. Large amounts of rock work can look impressive and still not make for a pleasant experience for guests walking around or interacting with it.



The attraction seems to be the "off-roading" trackless ride, which for a whole host of reasons, will be limited to fairly low speed. That's the motivation for the 'off-road concept' where you can substitute rough terrain, near misses, and maybe a water feature or two for speed. I wouldn't assume there will be a lot of 'test track' or 'Mario kart' DNA here. It'll be more of a solid "D ticket" than an "E-ticket" RSR type experience.

The concept art makes it seem like it’s side by side racing.

In general, it would be a cool concept where you have 8 cars racing each other, and the result always different. It would genuinely make it feel like a true race happening.

 

[UNCgolf]

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone is saying it will look especially bad. Disney is pretty good at rock work and waterfalls. It just doesn't belong in Frontierland or fit in the area it's replacing. Large amounts of rock work can look impressive and still not make for a pleasant experience for guests walking around or interacting with it.



The attraction seems to be the "off-roading" trackless ride, which for a whole host of reasons, will be limited to fairly low speed. That's the motivation for the 'off-road concept' where you can substitute rough terrain, near misses, and maybe a water feature or two for speed. I wouldn't assume there will be a lot of 'test track' or 'Mario kart' DNA here. It'll be more of a solid "D ticket" than an "E-ticket" RSR type experience.

I don't know... Mario Kart is quite low speed.

 

[JD80]

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone is saying it will look especially bad. Disney is pretty good at rock work and waterfalls. It just doesn't belong in Frontierland or fit in the area it's replacing. Large amounts of rock work can look impressive and still not make for a pleasant experience for guests walking around or interacting with it.



The attraction seems to be the "off-roading" trackless ride, which for a whole host of reasons, will be limited to fairly low speed. That's the motivation for the 'off-road concept' where you can substitute rough terrain, near misses, and maybe a water feature or two for speed. I wouldn't assume there will be a lot of 'test track' or 'Mario kart' DNA here. It'll be more of a solid "D ticket" than an "E-ticket" RSR type experience.

I disagree. Just looking at fantasy springs I think it's going to look great.

 

[James Alucobond]

Yeah. I was thinking less about the buildings and more about the vehicles. That's to say nothing of the incongruity between the Pacific NW and Liberty Square and Frontierland . We'll see (hopefully not).

I think the vehicles will be hidden. That seems almost the entire reason everything is set up as it is. Also, I think the goal is to have the area look like Appalachia from the east (a more suitable backdrop for Liberty Square) and Yellowstone from the west (which is at the nexus of Cascadia, the Great Plains, and the Rockies, making it as decent a simultaneous neighbor as one can find for the Mississippi Basin and the southwest).

 

[October82]

The concept art makes it seem like it’s side by side racing.

In general, it would be a cool concept where you have 8 cars racing each other, and the result always different. It would genuinely make it feel like a true race happening.

Marketing video of the (apparent) attraction vehicles in motion from the ride system manufacturer exists. Unless the speculation is wrong - which seems very unlikely given the close match between said marketing material, the concept itself, and the art depicting it - this simply isn’t a high speed attraction.

It also doesn’t need to be in order to be fun - it’ll very likely be great for families with smaller children. Enough thrill for an 8 year old and interesting enough for adults is something Disney still knows how to do well.

 

[October82]

I disagree. Just looking at fantasy springs I think it's going to look great.

There’s zero analogy between this and Fantasy Springs. The latter is far more ambitious and, consequently, expensive.

Again, however, no one is saying Disney can’t do good rock work and water falls. It’s the concept that is intrinsically flawed.

 

[October82]

I think the vehicles will be hidden. That seems almost the entire reason everything is set up as it is. Also, I think the goal is to have the area look like Appalachia from the east (a more suitable backdrop for Liberty Square) and Yellowstone from the west (which is at the nexus of Cascadia, the Great Plains, and the Rockies, making it as decent a simultaneous neighbor as one can find for the Mississippi Basin and the southwest).

Right about “as decent a neighbor for these two extremely different things” is when this should have been nixed.

 

[James Alucobond]

Right about “as decent a neighbor for these two extremely different things” is when this should have been nixed.

The southwest and the Mississippi basin have been across the river from each other since the park opened, and the Deep South has been a neighbor to both the west and the southwest since Splash came into existence. There’s no reason the various regions of America can’t gracefully transition from one to the next.

 

[JD80]

There’s zero analogy between this and Fantasy Springs. The latter is far more ambitious and, consequently, expensive.

Again, however, no one is saying Disney can’t do good rock work and water falls. It’s the concept that is intrinsically flawed.

Ok if you feel that way, but I think your reasoning is flawed. The analogy is rock work and atmosphere. Journey of Water does a good job too for what it's designed for.

I just trust WDIs ability to create beautiful settings.

 

[CoasterCowboy67]

This Cars proposal doesn’t have a good recent expansion analogy. Unlike other park additions, guests will be able to completely walk around it 360, so they have to put extra effort into making it look good from all angles. They can’t build half a mountain like Everest nor do we need to be so pessimistic so as to expect they’d build that.

Ratatouille from inside the park isn’t visible, and Guardians / Tron though not ideal are more futuristic looking rides that can get away with it. Yes they’re ugly, but I don’t find them that problematic as I would a similar looking show building in the middle of the wilderness. There is no way they do that

 

[October82]

Ok if you feel that way, but I think your reasoning is flawed. The analogy is rock work and atmosphere. Journey of Water does a good job too for what it's designed for.

I just trust WDIs ability to create beautiful settings.

The point that is being made is that beautiful settings aren’t a substitute for theme.

No one doubts that WDI can sculpt concrete. It anything, they do too much of that. It’s often less expensive than a fully realized environment.

 

[October82]

The southwest and the Mississippi basin have been across the river from each other since the park opened, and the Deep South has been a neighbor to both the west and the southwest since Splash came into existence. There’s no reason the various regions of America can’t gracefully transition from one to the next.

Which would be great if “various regions of America” was the organizing design principle of Frontierland. Ironically, that’s more true of Disneyland - which doesn’t have a well defined and well publicized design principle.

As others have pointed out, Tiana’s already bulldozed a lot of the thematic placemaking on that side of the park. Mountains made of car parts and lip service paid to the Rockies or whatever will take a very expensive - and perhaps very pretty - sledgehammer to it.