News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[JD80]

Is that what guests want? Is that why Disney parks failed so miserably before Universal’s Potter land definitively shifted the industry to single-IP lands and Iger killed all original ideas? Is that why Pirates, HM, BTM, Space, etc. were famously so unpopular?

Not sure what you're getting at here. Where did I say something was unpopular or Disney failed? Is it so far fetched to say that incredibly popular franchises made into themed environments attract a lot of people? It motivates people to book trips.

Granted, any new land at Disney, established IP or park original, will attract guests. The question is which one attracts more. Not a hard question to answer.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Yeah, I think Mario Kart is a pretty big swing and a miss. It's not a terrible attraction on its own (although it would be better just as a Mario ride without the AR shooting), but it really doesn't feel anything like Mario Kart.

Having now been on it, it is a better ride than YouTube POV videos would suggest.

Not perfect, not the best ever, but a far better version of this kind of ride than TSMM, Webslingers or Buzz Lightyear

 

[Incomudro]

And I'm saying that if you believe the hype for a theme park ride, then you better be ready to believe you'll actually be in space on Space Mountain.

I get that's what you meant, but with Space Mountain they do deliver a thrilling ride as promised with fun simulations that we are moving fast (speed is relative) and are in space.
Will the cars attraction deliver the illusion of a thrilling race?
We will have to see.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Having now been on it, it is a better ride than YouTube POV videos would suggest.

Not perfect, not the best ever, but a far better version of this kind of ride than TSMM, Webslingers or Buzz Lightyear

I’ve now done it enough times at USH (and finally, USJ) to say that the ride blows. The AR has aged especially poorly at USJ where the visuals are really shaky and blurry. I think the fact that the ride is compared to TSMM is already kinda a bad sign, but while Mario Kart is technically a better ride, I’d choose Midway Mania over it anyday.

 

[TomboyJanet]

This is a good point. It is just silly to post quotes like he is a monolith when counter ones can easily be pulled. The guy was ocmplex like al of us,

I had my dislikes of Eisner, but particularly they are similar to the reasons many did not like him near the end of his time there post Frank.

Reading Eisner's book it is quite clear the guy did have a creative side of its own and liked the gong show, even when it was not always perfect, its beneficial. Iger as you point out, does not have this.

Nobody is just one thing...... -Life Is Strange quote lol

 

[celluloid]

History and nostalgia are different things. Nostalgia is probably the primary reason to visit WDW for many guests.

They are, but the blurred line and rose-colored version of the past and American Mythos HAS been the theme of Magic Kingdom.

Main Street USA is the land you enter for a reason. The guy was incredibly nostalgia and understood there is value to seeing an idealized version of the world through imagination. Optimism. History is allowed to be a part of it without being a museum.

MK/DL were always optimistic and romanticized version of reality.

 

[celluloid]

I’ve now done it enough times at USH (and finally, USJ) to say that the ride blows. The AR has aged especially poorly at USJ where the visuals are really shaky and blurry. I think the fact that the ride is compared to TSMM is already kinda a bad sign, but while Mario Kart is technically a better ride, I’d choose Midway Mania over it anyday.

I hated the AR. But I find the ride itself in person without the goggles amazingly fun and zany as if a modern fantasyland dark ride was actually built with more realized sets. I would ride it over Mermaid any day. Like a MIB in Toon atmosphere. And I am not a Mario fan. The AR can always be(should be) improved.(we know that does not always happen in theme parks, but Uni's update is slightly better than Disney's software media updates)
It did not deliver and became too much of a focus rather than making the ride good. They would have been better off with practical effects and screen action occurring in 3D than augmented reality as it ruined the practical for me. I felt like I was wearing a Virtual Boy or a Tiger Electronic visor.

 

[JD80]

They are, but the blurred line and rose-colored version of the past and American Mythos HAS been the theme of Magic Kingdom.

Main Street USA is the land you enter for a reason. The guy was incredibly nostalgia and understood there is value to seeing an idealized version of the world through imagination. Optimism. History is allowed to be a part of it without being a museum.

MK/DL were always optimistic and romanticized version of reality.

I Interpret history as factual lessons like a museum. Nostalgia is all vibes and memory.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I hated the AR. But I find the ride itself in person without the goggles amazingly fun and zany as if a modern fantasyland dark ride was actually built with more realized sets. I would ride it over Mermaid any day. Like a MIB in Toon atmosphere. And I am not a Mario fan. The AR can always be(should be) improved.(we know that does not always happen in theme parks, but Uni's update is slightly better than Disney's software media updates)
It did not deliver and became too much of a focus rather than making the ride good. They would have been better off with practical effects and screen action occurring in 3D than augmented reality as it ruined the practical for me. I felt like I was wearing a Virtual Boy or a Tiger Electronic visor.

I’ve ridden it without the AR and the set design is truly gorgeous — Twisted Mansion and Cloudtop Cruise are magical. But riding it without AR also gives you an idea of how half-baked the ride is, because you see screens galore, very little kinetic movement, and set pieces that rely on the AR like the ugly fire Bowser. The entire thing is def a missed opportunity.

EDIT: I like your Mermaid comparison too. Bc I really don’t care for it at all, but I would at least say the Under the Sea scene is better than anything MK has going on.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

MMRR’s biggest problem was where it was placed. It should have been in Animation Courtyard, for obvious reasons.

Sadly, The Bob Iger Company decided Star Wars was too much of a sacred cow and kept Launch Bay around.

Honestly I can’t agree here. If we want to talk about shortsightedness, wasting that space on a singular attraction rather than a proper land with multiple locations (attraction, shops, restaurant, etc) would’ve been a poor choice. Yes there is development space behind Launch Bay but it would mean a much smaller land because it’s cut off by MMRR, a ride that fits just fine in the building it’s currently in.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

In my opinion, When Walt died, TWDC stopped being Walt’s company.

Which was the right decision.

There are certain core things he believed in that are worthy of being core tenants of the company, and I’d never say otherwise. But running the company in the year solely according to “What would Walt do?” would be a horrible idea. They recognized that when he died, and they went their own way.

Walt Disney is gone. His thoughts should not continue to dictate every move and decision 58 years later. That’s even more true for all the parks that aren’t his.

By all means, keep his core guiding lights (which yes they don’t always do today), but the way some ask “what would Walt think?” whenever something new happens is getting a little insane. It doesn’t really matter what Walt would think. He’s gone. He never lived to see these parks in this form, and his thoughts and beliefs about his park are forever frozen in 1966. No one know how he would’ve changed and evolved with the times, and it’s crazy that some people genuinely want 2024 Disney to think like 1966 Walt.

To be clear, this is not aimed at you, just in general to all those who are so stuck on Walt Disney because the company itself won’t back off from using his iconography all the time.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Eisner found the parks new, interesting and worth perusing. It's polar opposite.

I feel like Eisner doesn’t get the credit he deserves for having the vision of a true “resort” - of course that overbuilt resort is what cost him so much after Paris, but the vision is what created the resorts we have today.

History and nostalgia are different things. Nostalgia is probably the primary reason to visit WDW for many guests.

nostalgia is a sentimental longing for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal association.

History is the study of past events.

So yes, people visit for nostalgia and not history. But the nostalgia is for something in the past.

MK/DL were always optimistic and romanticized version of reality.

Yes and originally optimistic and romanticized versions of America specifically except for Adventureland.