I must say that this was easily the best P&R presentation yet. It was mostly rumor confirmation and I do have a few quibbles, but I'm overall very impressed. Let's look at the rundown.
SWL: Couldn't be more impressed with what details were revealed. Can't wait for this to open at DHS (not so much at Disneyland, however).
The Great Mickey Ride: Big missed opurtunity. This could've been a great concept for a ride, but the fact that this is based on the Disney Channel shorts kinda kills it for me.
Ratatouille ride in Paris: Again, this is a great idea, but as the WDS version showed, it depends way too much on screens. Hopefully, improvements are made in this regard.
China circle vision refurb: I very much appreciate Disney circling (pun intended) back on old tech. Noting to complain about here.
Future World 3.0: Absolutely love what I see so far. The concept art is very reminiscent of Project: Gemini which made me geek out. Very happy about specifics.
- GotG ride: While I would've ideally preferred this open at DHS so that it could open the door to the (admittedly unlikely and if likely, very far off) possibility of Disney striking up some sort of deal with Universal and making a full on MCU land much like what they're doing at DCA, this very much appears to be the GotG ride I've wanted to see since August 1st 2014. And on top of that, it's thematic integration into Future World and Epcot as a whole is way better than ever could've imagined it being and actually makes some sort of sense. And given how impressed I was by the compromise that was Mission: Breakout, I cannot wait to see the real deal come to fruition over the next few years.
Side note: given that the Tron Coaster will be built right on the WDRR, I hope this opens up the opurtunity for the addition of our very own Primeval World to be added during WDRR's inevitable refurb.
- Mission: Space refurb: I would've preferred it to be replaced by a full on space pavilion, but this will definitely be a solid improvement.
- Space restaurant: This concept sounds absolutely wonderful. Makes me wish for that full on space pavilion I mentioned earlier. Overall, I'm beyond excited for Future World's future and hope that further announcements move in this very positive direction.
Minnie Vans: indifferent to. Next.
Gondola system: Very happy to see the Skyway return as full on transportation. Hopefully, you'll have the option to look out the windows and not just watch the character videos.
Marvel hotel at DLP: Looks absolutely amazing. If I ever end up at DLP, I'd definitely like to check it out.
Star Wars hotel: This will definitely be one of the best hotels Disney has ever built. It'll probably cost a fortune and have a mile long waiting list, but I'd love to stay there one day.
DVC: Sick to death of this greedy BS. Next.
Tron Coaster: Better than nothing for MK I guess. Judging purely by the videos from SDL, it seemed to be a bit too short and by extension, a bit of a disappointment, but at least said disappointment isn't taking up the Speedway plot which I hope is one day used for multiple spectacular attractions. What MK really needs for it's 50th is a full on Space Mountain refurb so let's hope this addition finally convinces TDO to give the green light.
Main Street Theater: This is a completely unnecessary addition that I'm very concerned about. Not only could an attraction of this scale negatively affect Main Street's crowd flow, but it looks to be wildly out of scale as well. All we can do is hope for the best.
Beauty and the Beast musical: I wish that they just stuck to the animated version and ditched the live action, but at least they'll hire professional singers to play Belle this time.
3 more Cruise ships: Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully, this will help them expand to new locales.
Toy Story Land construction update: Construction update video was cute. Land looks fine. Next.
Pixar Pier: Because screw the California theme, right? Seriously though, if they just don't care about the theme of this place anymore, then why not do something else entirely. I understand why they would want to salvage TSMM, but I think they should've either gone about it differently or just done nothing at all
PTN/Pixar Play parade trade off: Yes, I can in some ways agree with others that PTN is probably a better tonal fit for DCA, but it still sucks that a truly modern night time parade won't be rolling down Main Street anytime soon. I also really hope that the Pixar Play Parade doesn't replace Soundsational. Not only is that parade newer, it is also way better.
Marvel Land: Very disappointed that vitually nothing was revealed, but I am very happy to hear that Spider-Man is going to be one of the rides. Spider-Man Homecoming is now one of my absolute favorite MCU films so hopefully the ride lives up to it.
That pretty much sums up my thoughts on this presentation. Also, can anyone explain to me what Chapek was hinting at in the cryptic warehouse portion. Thanks.
. It must have felt like this for the people that lost Horizons while they were alive. But to me this is even crazier as the park will only have 4 rides now. I'm still VERY excited for what's to come. Future World will finally look good again. Ratatouille is a great fit for France, the Skyliner will rock. It's just those two rides that have me puzzled... particularly GMR as they will lose capacity.