Disney Cheap with Animatronics

bethymouse

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
montyz81 said:
I have been saying this for years. If you think back to Epcot Center... Think about Future World. You had SSE, Animatronics all the way up and all the way down. Universe of Energy, Dinotronics, which is probably the only ride that has additional animatronics today from the day it opened. Horizons.. Scads throughout. World of Motion, it too had many. Imagination, It had repeat animatronics for the turntable, does it even have any today? The Land had Kitchen Cabaret, And I am not sure if The Living Seas did. I have never seen it before Nemo. Today, many of those rides have reduced or limited animatronics. Test track even had a cardboard cutout for a big rig driver. Sad really. I got to believe that all of these animatronics are sitting in a warehouse somewhere collecting dust. There has to be a way to reuse them in other rides which should cut down on the cost of building from scratch. I honestly think that animatronics are way more immersive then the video screens in Toy Story Mania. That has to be the lamest attempt yet for Disney to replace Auto-animatronics with video screens... sorry rant over. Anyway.. I agree, bring back the mechanical people!
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OMG- I remember KITCHEN CABARET! I HAD to have a broccoli stuffed animal! LOL.:D
 
spacemt354

spacemt354

Chili's
Pixiedustmaker said:
Other criticisms/deficients aside, I couldn't help but notice when I rode Mermaid in DCA that while there are two good Ariel animatronics, and one great Ursula animatronic, and the ride seems to lack quality animatronics in the other scenes. Of course, rides such as Peter Pan have figures with limited motion, but it seems that while Disney once made attractions with oodles of quality animatronics, like Pirates, Country Bears, Splash Mountain, there seems to be a trend for three or less quality figures, and that's it. For example:

1. Expedition Everest. One big expensive animatronic, now broken.
2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, maybe a couple good animatronics, mostly limited motion figures I'm guessing. (It would be great to see a next gen Snow White animatronic for the "silly dancing" scene).
3. Grizzly Mountain Railroad. Three scenes, about five animatronics total of good quality, but nothing else.
4. Mermaid, 2 good Ariels, one great Ursula (though too close to look realistic, IMHO). Rest of the figures are pretty limited motion, IMHO.
5. Toy Story Midway Mania a Mr. Potato Head animatronic, just one.
6. Radiator Spring Racers, has maybe ten good quality animatronics, really makes the ride and perhaps is an exception? Still, not on the level of Pirates in terms of number of animatronics.

Obviously, this makes these rides easier to maintain, but does anybody also wish that they really used animatronic technology to its fullest? What about replacing figures in classic dark rides with higher quality next gen animatronics? New musical show with 20+ next gen characters?

I know that this stuff costs money, but I think that guests still love animatronics and increased use would only help the parks be more entertaining and draw in more guests.
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I don't think it's right to judge a pattern of AA's for attractions that wouldn't use many in the first place. Dark rides and shows are the main stages for AA's, because that's where guests can truly appreciate the realism of the figures. Roller Coaster AA's are difficult to compare in number to the AA's of dark rides and shows. Although some coasters use AA's, they obviously aren't going to be on the same level in terms of numbers as a dark ride or show. What would be the point of putting AA's of Aerosmith on RnRC if you are flying past them at 60mph? From what I have seen, aside from Everest, is that when the AA's are present on coasters, you are not going very fast. Same thing with Splash Mountain. Although it's a thrill ride so to speak, the AA scenes are at the speed of a typical dark ride. And if we are talking about a trend of marginalizing the amount of AA's since post-92. Dinosaur breaks that trend because that whole ride is about the AA's

And it's not about making the rides easier to maintain, just look at EE...If it was so easy to maintain, the yeti would have been fixed years ago, or never been broken in the first place. And it's not about using animatronic technology to it's fullest. If every ride in disney used the same amount of AA's as pirates, then what would make pirates all that special? I believe it's about trying to push the boundaries of what the AA's do, such as Mr. Potato Head. And Disney has replaced figures in classic dark rides over the past 5-6 years. They started with Pirates, then HM, then It's a small world, then an upgrade to all 44 animatronic presidents in HoP, then Spaceship Earth, and hopefully more in the future. And in addition to those updates, they are adding another dark ride (LM) and 7D mine train, so who knows what kind of advancements in AA's we will see from those two.
 
pumpkin7

pumpkin7

Well-Known Member
well as far as the yeti goes, someone didn't double check their figures! they won't fix him until they find a reason to have to take the mountain apart... which won't be for a many good years yet.
and i think the videos i've seen of the ursula animatronic are awesome! she looks really good. just hope the FLE doesn't have the ice cream swirl haired ariel.
 
Castle Cake Apologist

Castle Cake Apologist

Well-Known Member
I think somebody brought up those specific older attractions because they were all recently redone. The new animatronics in SSE (and there are plenty) are extremely well-done and not cheap whatsoever. You can't pick and choose.

Incidentally, I'm all about having an opinion... But is there a point to this thread? Especially in News and Rumors. This probably would have been better in General Discussion. I normally could care less, but there just seems to be a lot of these general complaint threads cluttering up this section lately.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Yes I've noted a clearly fewer amount animatronics in newer rides at Disney parks. And I can't say I like this much either. I'm not very satisfied with what I find is an over-reliance on projectors in these rides. Projected elements are fine and good when integrated naturally, but at best I find them most effective as background or ambient enhancements and not a core element of something that isn't just a simulator. Nothing beats real tangible scenes to me. Splash Mountain was probably one of the last Disney rides that really packed itself full of a population of characters.
 
Scuttle

Scuttle

Well-Known Member
montyz81 said:
Yes, what is your point here? I don't hear many comments about this or that AA not functioning in any of these attractions. The only comment I have heard is about The Paper boy. You see what happened to him, he stopped working so they turned him around put him in the corner. (sorry trying to be funny).
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Was the paperboy not working or did they have to move him because of the closeness to the vehicles? I always was under the impression he was to close and guests(kids) would mess with him.
 
M

MickeyPeace

Well-Known Member
spacemt354 said:
I don't think it's right to judge a pattern of AA's for attractions that wouldn't use many in the first place. Dark rides and shows are the main stages for AA's, because that's where guests can truly appreciate the realism of the figures. Roller Coaster AA's are difficult to compare in number to the AA's of dark rides and shows. Although some coasters use AA's, they obviously aren't going to be on the same level in terms of numbers as a dark ride or show. What would be the point of putting AA's of Aerosmith on RnRC if you are flying past them at 60mph? From what I have seen, aside from Everest, is that when the AA's are present on coasters, you are not going very fast. Same thing with Splash Mountain. Although it's a thrill ride so to speak, the AA scenes are at the speed of a typical dark ride. And if we are talking about a trend of marginalizing the amount of AA's since post-92. Dinosaur breaks that trend because that whole ride is about the AA's

And it's not about making the rides easier to maintain, just look at EE...If it was so easy to maintain, the yeti would have been fixed years ago, or never been broken in the first place. And it's not about using animatronic technology to it's fullest. If every ride in disney used the same amount of AA's as pirates, then what would make pirates all that special? I believe it's about trying to push the boundaries of what the AA's do, such as Mr. Potato Head. And Disney has replaced figures in classic dark rides over the past 5-6 years. They started with Pirates, then HM, then It's a small world, then an upgrade to all 44 animatronic presidents in HoP, then Spaceship Earth, and hopefully more in the future. And in addition to those updates, they are adding another dark ride (LM) and 7D mine train, so who knows what kind of advancements in AA's we will see from those two.
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Thanks for saving me two paragraphs of writing to say exactly what I was thinking.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Pixiedustmaker said:
Obviously, this makes these rides easier to maintain, but does anybody also wish that they really used animatronic technology to its fullest? What about replacing figures in classic dark rides with higher quality next gen animatronics? New musical show with 20+ next gen characters?
Click to expand...

Did you miss that major Spaceship Earth redo where they did just that? Replacing many of the AAs with newer generation ones. Sea Gulls at Nemo... Obama in HOP... new lincoln out at DLR.. what was done in RSR... Indy figure updates in IJA at DLR...

And some things (like the FL dark rides) will stay because their value is the nostalgia and the quaintness.
 
montyz81

montyz81

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
The best Disney animatronic is the Gary Sinise animatronic in Mission: SPACE
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There is a Gary Sinise animatronic? Picture please. I have only ever seen him on the tv screen before loading. Then again I went on MS in 2005 and vowed never to go on again.
 

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