Disney slashes Forbidden Mountain budget!!

[AndyMagic]

Well I knew it was too good to be true. The ride is still coming but what we are getting won't be what the Disney Imagineers originally planned. Jimhillmedia.com just posted the horrible news. FB's once elaborate queue and pre-show is now just video monitors!! And people are STILL trying to convince me that Disney isn't going downhill. HA! That's a laugh.

 

[disneydentist]

Doesn't sound so bad to me.

Most Disney classics (HM, POC, BTMRR, JC for example) don't really tell you any backstory. They're still great rides. The monitors for the backstory are better than nothing when you're waiting in the standby line (think SM). Would the original idea be better, yes. Would I really pay that much attention to it when using the Fastpass line, no. As long they build the ride itself, I'll be happy. A line is a line to me.

 

[pheneix]

I can't say any of this really surprises me. Personally I fully expect to see little more than a taller and faster Matterhorn in 2005. Not that a Matterhorn would be all that bad, but for a stuggling park and a company that built its first mountain ride over 40 years ago Forbidden Mountain really needs to be a blockbuster in every sense of the word.

At least the concept was cool...

 

[Jusjuice]

Im glad they haven't done anything (that we know of) to the ride itself. I think if they use TV monitors in the line though, it will reduce the experience to any other "theme park". I can't believe they wont spend a few extra bucks for the original queue. Do TV's really belong in Asia though? How expensive can it be to put a few props around the line as opposed to buying several monitors?
------------
I think the reason queues like JC, POTC, Fantasyland Rides etc. don't tell much of a story is because the ride tells the whole story. Its much harder to tell what is going on in a thrill ride because its all going on so fast. In a ride like Forbidden Mtn, the queue is important to set people up for the ride.

 

[Mr. Toad]

I'm sure the ride will be great in the end but if they really do give the axe to the queue area I will be very disappointed. Even if they don't tell a story the queue areas of the major attractions are used to set the mood for the ride. For POTC the queue area is one of my favorite parts of the ride. And even the Haunted Mansion's short outside queue sets the mood perfectly.

 

[Shaman]

It has been Disney's recent tendency to go cheap on rides. But I doubt they will go too cheap on this ride, especially when competition over at Universal is heating up. If anything, Disney may be down playing this attraction a bit, so that people to get their expectations too high...that way they can blow people away when it comes out. I mean maybe they'll cut some cost, but remember this needs to be a perfect attraction to compete with other upcoming coasters in Orlando. I just hope they don't get too cheap with this ride. :hammer: :brick: :lookaroun

 

[SpongeScott]

Originally posted by AndyMagic
Jimhillmedia.com just posted the horrible news.

Admittedly, I've never been to his site, but I've heard that he's not the most reliable of sources. Let's see how all this plays out.

 

[wdwmagic]

I would say that certain websites/individuals have a continual obession with bashing every single attraction/park that Disney builds in the USA. Without concrete information, information is passed around as fact, that seeks to serve an alternative purpose of criticising everything and presenting everything, including new attractions, in a negative light.

It is also worth remembering that rumor sites tend to hear information from a "blue sky" standpoint. WDI propose ideas that never have a chance of being made. Then when the word trickles down of what is FEASIBLE to build, it gets shot down by certain people as being a failure.

I would sugget waiting and seeing, before announcing that budgets have been slashed and the attraction is a failure.

 

[SpongeScott]

Thanks, Steve. I don't feel like a half-idiot anymore by sticking my neck out.


(only a 1/4 idiot now)

 

[LRV3400]

Originally posted by objr
It has been Disney's recent tendency to go cheap on rides.

Well, that depends on how you look at it. Every E-Ticket that has been built recently has been a high budget, very detailed attraction. I would challenge you to name one E-ticket that did not get its fair share of a budget. (While RnRC was lower budget it still hit a home run.)

The cheapening trend you speak of may be true of the newer lessor attractions such as the spinning rides. This mountain, on the other hand, is most definitely targeted as an E-ticket, so I would bet my life it will get its proper funding.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

OK, I read the article. Maybe it's just me, but even if the Disney Imagineers don't get to build this the way it was orriginally pitched. And they are told to cut it back to monitors, etc. Don't you think they would still theme it.

I mean if you read the orriginal content, I still can't see why they can't do a similar one in a less expensive way. Come on, these are Disney Imagineers here, this is what they do. Make magic from thin air (or thin money so to speak).

I mean look at the Jungle Cruse queue. I like that one. Nothing special, but the little nick-nacks and posters, the music over the speakers. That's good themeing too, and I bet it didn't cost anywhere near budget that is to be spent on FM.

Also, how many times has this happened (if this article is even true) to other projects? I'd think all of them had huge budgets and pitches to them. WDI execs all said wow, great job...now cut it down to this $ and we'll do it, and we now play in those same areas.

Disney is not gonna "mess it up", I just can't belive they would let something this expensive not have the Disney magic too it. But this is all speculation, let's wait for opening day! :sohappy:

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by AkiraRaptor


Also, how many times has this happened (if this article is even true) to other projects? I'd think all of them had huge budgets and pitches to them. WDI execs all said wow, great job...now cut it down to this $ and we'll do it, and we now play in those same areas.

You are absolutely right there! Almost every project, be it themeparks, software projects, housing projects, you name it, all start out with a blue sky outlook, and are then reigned in to something that is affordable and feasible. This is normal business practise that happens every day, Disney is no different.

Disney should not be criticised on unrealeased private plans that are still in the development stage. Feel free to criticise when the job is underway, like Dinorama, but not something that is still in its development cycle.

 

[Lee]

Something to keep in mind is that the era of the themed queue as we know it is drawing to an end.

With the advent of Fastpass, the time actually spent in a queue is drastically reduced, to the point where it hardly makes sense to build a gigantic, elaborately themed area that tells a story.

Look at Test Track, it has a huge and detailed queue that hardly anyone ever has time to see.
RnRC, not much besides the studio room that sets up the story.
ToT, nice garden and lobby, but the story is told via video in the library.
Mission:Space looks to be similar.

At the moment, look for the new e-ticket to have a large, elaborate queue, but with the main plot laid out via video, similar to ToT.

This whole thing is a sort of like Chicken Little.
Calm down, relax.
Its going to be alright.

 

[blm07]

Originally posted by Lee
Something to keep in mind is that the era of the themed queue as we know it is drawing to an end.

With the advent of Fastpass, the time actually spent in a queue is drastically reduced, to the point where it hardly makes sense to build a gigantic, elaborately themed area that tells a story.

Look at Test Track, it has a huge and detailed queue that hardly anyone ever has time to see.
RnRC, not much besides the studio room that sets up the story.
ToT, nice garden and lobby, but the story is told via video in the library.
Mission:Space looks to be similar.

At the moment, look for the new e-ticket to have a large, elaborate queue, but with the main plot laid out via video, similar to ToT.

Well I have to agree about some things, like RnRC, the inside is real nice, but the outside queue, well there isnt much there. But about Test Track, the queue inside is seen by alot of people, otherwise there wouldn't be a need for the fast pass. TOT I think did real nice, they put the video in sync with other effects which I thought was kinda cool (slow music cuts off quickly, lights dim, lightning). I think videos are a good way of telling the story, most of the time.

 

[Shaman]

Maybe they are going to do something like in Kilimanjaro Safaris, where they have the queue, then I think a couple of animal exhibits (small animals) and then the overhead monitors with the introduction to the ride and the "story" behind the safaris. I'm all for cutting some cost when it comes to the queue; I just hope nothing is taken from the ride itself.

 

[Fastpas1]

hello....can we get a reality check here?

Okay....so help me here.... Where did we lose touch that we a getting a VERY cool thrill ride here, and we’re still not happy? Why are complaining about a STANDBY queue, which less than 20% of the Guests will see? Even if what was talked about for the attraction was built, would you choose the standby line over FASTPASS? I LOVE the Disneyland Indy queue...however to this day I still continue to use FASTPASS. There is no queue that would EVER convince me to wait in, versus getting a FASTPASS ticket. In today’s world, we simply do not want to wait in line. Prior to FASTPASS, WDI HAD to design these elaborate queues, as there was no other option.

WDI needs to figure out how to set up the story line for the majority of the Guests, who use FASTPASS, and won't wait in line. For those Disney heritage fans out there, let me point out a few of the GREAT Original Disneyland attractions...Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Small world, Adventure through Inner space. There is NO loss of the story line at all if you were to walk onto the attraction. The attraction sets up everything for you. Maybe what needs to happen is WDI learn from the old gems on how to design an attraction where there is no queue.

Don’t forget…..what’s your perfect day at Disney???? It’s the day where everything is open, and there’s no waits!

 

[Shaman]

Originally posted by LRV3400
Well, that depends on how you look at it. Every E-Ticket that has been built recently has been a high budget, very detailed attraction. I would challenge you to name one E-ticket that did not get its fair share of a budget. (While RnRC was lower budget it still hit a home run.)

The cheapening trend you speak of may be true of the newer lessor attractions such as the spinning rides. This mountain, on the other hand, is most definitely targeted as an E-ticket, so I would bet my life it will get its proper funding.

True the E-tickets do get a big budget. But some non eticket rides that have been either replacements or new rides lacked in a great budget to make these rides great.

-Journey Into Your Imangination (this ride was done twice to replace the old one...and I think the old one was better. If they wanted to make this a kiddie ride, more themeing inside the ride would have helped.)

-Primeival Whirl (sorry this isn't very well themed, eventhough it fits with the whole carnival thing...would have perferred something else)--BTW the whole Dinorama thing is out of place, I would have liked them to expand on the whole Dino Institute

-Tarzan Rocks! (talk about a cheap excuse for an attraction) I rate this the worst show at Disney...just my opinion.

-Kali River Rapids (the original plans for this ride were way better, than the finished product)

Anyways...just some more thoughts.
:lookaroun

 

[SpongeScott]

Upon reading these posts, if it came down to more money thrown into the queue and pre-show or more money thrown into the actual ride, which does everyone think we would prefer? It's not a hard choice here.

 

[AddyL]

The only thing I want out of a queue is some AIR CONDITIONING which is almost non-existant in the AK.

Besides, some video preshows are the best! The Muppetvision preshow, for example, is hillarious!

 

[AkiraRaptor]

Originally posted by objr
-Kali River Rapids (the original plans for this ride were way better, than the finished product)

I've never been on Kali, I don't like getting wet, or walking around with soggy underwhere at WDW. :lol: But I have done the Wild by Design tour at AK, and they take you through the Kali queue and talk all about the things they have dressed up the queue with.

Most people have no idea that that stuff is not a collection of props. Most of it is real. Disney actually went overseas, bought it from real people off the streets, and shipped them back as is. It looks so authentic 'cos it is.

This is the kind of stuff that is lost on most people. They just fly through the queues to the ride. So I can deffinatly see the point on not spending alot of money on an elaborite queue, but Disney will still do something nice for FM, no matter what the budget is.

I just hope it doesn't look like Dinorama. :zipit: