You book it out of BTMRR’s station, at least if you’re in the back, it’s really no different. Verkoma went with the rotating track instead of a railway switch but even that wasn’t new, as they used those on the twin duel station Flying Dutchman’s 5 years earlier.
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News Disney names D’Amaro as Chairman Disney Parks Experiences and Products
- Thread starter IowaHawks7
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You book it out of BTMRR’s station, at least if you’re in the back, it’s really no different. Verkoma went with the rotating track instead of a railway switch but even that wasn’t new, as they used those on the twin duel station Flying Dutchman’s 5 years earlier.
I especially love the part when it’s obvious the mountain’s real structure is a corrugated steel industrial building...
BTMRR, SDMT, SDD are the only completely themed coasters. The backwards section on Everest was a huge miss.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I don't consider Slinky Dog Dash themed at all, although I suppose you could say it's very poorly themed with some random toys scattered around (one of the reasons Toy Story Land is such a disastrous failure).
When can you see that Everest is a steel building? I've never noticed that before. I'm also considering the queue as part of the theme, and the EE queue is great.
The backwards portion, if you ride it during the day you have enough light leak it’s obvious. Slinky is themed to be a toy roller coaster set up in a kids backyard, it’s a simple theme to achieve but it succeeds in this.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I know that's the point of Toy Story Land, but I think it fails spectacularly. I find the whole land an awful mistake, although it's not helped by the fact I think the pre-existing TSMM is one of the worst rides at Disney (which is obviously a minority opinion).
The only times I've been on EE are in the day and I've never seen that before. I've only been on it a few times, though -- my guess is it's not something most guests will ever notice even if it becomes very noticeable for people who ride it regularly.
I absolutely have noticed the steel structure on Space Mountain, though.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I just can’t give that much credit for “incomplete theming”. It’s a 3 part ride and one really never worked.
SoFloMagic
Well-Known Member
I mean, it's a fit...
One thing I was always kind of inspired by is the backwards portion. It is an odd thrill, a bit too much of a helix for my personal taste but I can go with that for the ease of thrill in the dark. What ruins it is it seems a bit too easy to see the infastructure of this grand mountain. I would have rather of seen random rockwalls.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Off topic and random.....
Is D’Amaro tall??? Some pics he looks very tall and in others he doesn’t at all.
Is D’Amaro tall??? Some pics he looks very tall and in others he doesn’t at all.
mikejs78
Premium Member
It's more on topic for this thread than some of the other recent discussion....
Iger is 6'1". When Chapek is pictured with Iger, Chapek looks 1-2" taller. In the photo below, Josh appears to be 4-5 inches taller than Chapek.
This must mean that Jeff Vahle is closing in on 7'.
He's def standing on something in that first photo. Chapek is 6' 1" tops.
No Name
Well-Known Member
Everest is an absolutely fantastic attraction, the best at WDW in my opinion. It’s also a shining example of how to build a structure that adds to the theming of the park and the excitement of the ride, something they could use a reminder on.
On the topic of the thread, Josh D’Amaro is a thirst trap regardless of height.
On the topic of the thread, Josh D’Amaro is a thirst trap regardless of height.
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Giss Neric
Well-Known Member
Slinky Dog is in Andy's backyard. Of course there will be toys scattered around. Didn't you notice the huge fences.
Giss Neric
Well-Known Member
Expedition Everest is one of Vekoma's best rides. Vekoma doesn't have a good track record with their coasters before but their coasters built for Disney happens to be very good. Now Vekoma is creating amazing coasters. I hope Cosmic Rewind will be one of those since it's being built by the new and improved Vekoma.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Thank you. This is exactly the picture that threw me off. D’Amaro looks tall except for here, but I got that the angle was staggered here, but the front guy looks gigantic compared to Josh. Haha.
Reminds me of the factoid that most people at that executive level are statistically speaking, tall. I cannot think of many under 6 foot height.
FerretAfros
Well-Known Member
The cost of Everest doesn't get brought up because it was a particularly frugal project. On the contrary, Everest gets used as a benchmark because the $100 million budget was mind-bogglingly lavish for a theme park attraction at the time (though I believe after its overruns, Mission:Space ended up in that same ballpark a few years prior).
If you go back and check out some of the attraction's pre-opening media, it's easy to see how big and extravagant the whole thing was. Research expeditions to Nepal! A detailed mythology to be explained in the queue 'museum'! An expansion of the park's physical size with a whole new sub-section of Asia! Three intertwined-but-separate structures! An animatronic with the thrust of a 747!
And yet, just 5 years later, WDI was spending the same amount on a pretty straightforward book report dark ride of an animated movie, whose development costs were shared between two locations, and required tens of millions more to properly finish a few years later. I remember hearing $70M thrown around for WWOHP, though I'm not sure whether that was for the whole land or just Forbidden Journey; regardless, it shows that competitors can build WDI-caliber additions for a fraction of the price.
These days, it seems like even a simple flat ride from WDI is approaching the once-mind-boggling price of $100M, while the starting price for an E-ticket is $250M. And let's not even talk about the cost of Cosmic Rewind, either in terms of dollars or lost future opportunities for the park.
To your point about going over budget, it's actually rare that projects go significantly over once the budget has been approved. Sure, overruns may cause some scope reductions (dark rooms in Indiana Jones Adventure, attraction pads left for future expansion), but its rare for new projects to require large additional sums of money. Once the wheels are in motion, the bank isn't going to increase the funding without serious scrutiny. Even your examples of the original builds on DL and EPCOT Center mostly stuck to their approved budgets, though both required additional investments in their first few years of operation to keep up with demand.
Was Everest a good return on investment, in the sense that it brought a lot more guests/spending to the park for its price? Yes, it's one of the best examples of that. Was it a low-budget attraction? Absolutely not. And that it seems inexpensive today shows how much WDI's costs have spiraled out of control in recent years.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
Didn’t Malcolm Gladwell write about how tall people are more likely to be successful? It was in one of his books...
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
I’m a tall guy myself at 6’4, and I’m always aware of height. I know I’m not the tallest overall, but I enjoy being the tallest in my groups. If that makes sense haha.
I’ve got to steer clear of D’Amaro now LOL