Disney World Park Update Leak

[Cmdr_Crimson]

 

[TrojanUSC]

Is Mickey Views back posing as a WDW executive again?

 

[Brer Panther]

Guys, I know this sort of thing should be taken with a grain of salt, but there's no need for hostility.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Guys, I know this sort of thing should be taken with a grain of salt, but there's no need for hostility.

good point... this is a rumors forum after all

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I guess most people have figured out much of this is BS, but i'll add my own commentary into the mix based on information I know about one specific point-

Tiana's animatronics are not supposed to be face projected. If that was ever a consideration (and I once heard it may have been), then they definitely changed it. The ride received several substantial budget increases throughout development, and I gather a fairly significant amount of that went to the animatronics. Both increasing their numbers as well as the technology used. The human animatronics are high end fully physical figures. I'm sure there will be some screen elements used in the ride, but hopefully they will be used in a more supplementary manner rather than entire rooms being wall-to-wall flat video screens. Like adding some extra flair to background scenery that is already physical in nature or would otherwise have just been flat paintings anyway is decent. Much like what they have done to upgrade classic Disneyland dark rides. It's alleged to still be a very physical ride.

Both video projection and physical animatronics are subject to deterioration in wet environments. Animatronics probably even moreso. Over 80% of the Mexico boat ride is projection based. Shanghai's version of Pirates and Navi River also have a ton of video (the Shaman AA is what tends to break most often, not the video based stuff). I'm guessing the two boat rides being built at Fantasy Springs in Tokyo will also have quite a number of projection effects. The Jurassic World boat ride at Universal Hollywood also now contains quite a few projections.

It will be up to daily/nightly maintenance crews to ensure the ride is properly taken care of after it opens, with both physical and video elements requiring constant attention as has always been the case. And that's a major concern for WDW in particular. Compared to every other Disney resort on earth (even Paris these days), WDW is at the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of upkeep. Splash was in fairly abysmal condition when they closed it, and that was far from the first time maintenance allowed it to reach such a state before fixing it (Tokyo does not have this problem at all, their attractions including Splash are kept in immaculate condition and look brand new). Tiana will also deteriorate rapidly within a couple of years unless an authority figure at Disney mandates a higher standard of upkeep.

The Speedway has undergone several substantial reroutes throughout its existence. Including recently in 2019 when Tron began construction, and in 2012 when they relocated Dumbo. So i'm calling BS on that too.

Peter Pan probably wouldn't require any tearing out of the walls or whatnot to receive relatively substantial changes. Many of the ride's barriers separating the scenes around the middle to final third of the ride are just black cloth curtains. Tokyo Disneyland is a good reference point for what can and probably would be done in such an overhaul. Prior to a few years ago, Tokyo's Pan was a pretty much a 1:1 replica of Magic Kingdom's. It received an overhaul in 2016. I say overhaul, because it was the middle third that received the most alteration. The London scenes got a couple of new shadow projections and cloud props, they also shifted a few of the building props around (most noticeably Big Ben). The scenes from Skull Rock onward were pretty much untouched outside of water ripple projections and a partial fiber optic curtain on the pirate ship. The Neverland flyover room was what underwent massive changes. They gutted all of the scenery and put a variant of the miniature island model from Disneyland, along with the curtains of fiber optic stars and water projection. The platforms containing the Lost Boys was rebuilt and relocated, and the Mermaids and Native Camp were also restructured a bit and given some new dressing/effects. But despite all of these changes, I don't even think they knocked out any walls. It appears that they just reformatted the scenery within the existing rooms and remained within the parameters of the original walls. WDW could most likely easily adapt these same changes. The likely reason they haven't done anything with the ride is "why bother". In its current ancient state, it still gets stupidly long lines. So there's little incentive from Disney to do anything about it. WDW doesn't care about maintaining and updating its rides in the same way that Disneyland or Tokyo does.

It goes without saying that they don't have an approval or final plan for any of the Dinoland or Beyond Big Thunder content. They admitted to that on stage and you don't need to have any sort of insider information to see it. The only part of the AK presentation that is probably fairly set in stone and likely to happen is the Zootopia show in the Tree of Life.

Everyone trashes WDW’s maintenance but DL’s rides break down far more frequently.

 

[tissandtully]

Guys, I know this sort of thing should be taken with a grain of salt, but there's no need for hostility.

Where did you see hostility? It's just people having fun with unserious stuff. Lighten up, Francis!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Everyone trashes WDW’s maintenance but DL’s rides break down far more frequently.

Can confirm, I visited DL for the first time over the summer and holy moly was everything just doing down constantly.

 

[Disone]

Everyone trashes WDW’s maintenance but DL’s rides break down far more frequently.

Do they? Are there stats for this?

Maybe they shut them down more frequently when some show standard goes wrong whereas Walt Disney World will just ignore what's actually wrong and continue to operate the attraction for " efficiency".

But honestly I have not noticed a discernible increase in downtime at Disneyland. To me it actually feels the other way around like all Disney World attractions have more down time but I have no stats to back that up. It's just personal experience.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I wasn't referring to breakdowns, I don't know the statistics on those. I was referring to the sort of maintenance you'd see just casually walking around the parks or riding rides. Cleanliness, relatively fresh paint, effects and animatronics working as intended etc. Disneyland isn't perfect in that regard either, I know Indiana Jones often has issues in particular. But on average, Disneyland is much better managed than WDW and has been for around two decades now. If this was the mid-late 90s and early 2000s, it would be the opposite.

One example of this was Splash Mountain just prior to its closure. WDW's variant was left to rot in its final years with a number of busted or missing animatronics, bad lighting and a lot of other non functioning effects. They gave up on even trying because it was a dead ride walking. Disneyland's variant was neglected in its final years as well. However, during the last few months of its life, DL management reportedly did some work on the attraction and got some of its broken or missing effects working again just prior to closure.

 

[DonniePeverley]

Nonsense of the highest order.

I stopped reading when it was claimed Disney are investing in the parks.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Disneyland isn't perfect in that regard either, I know Indiana Jones often has issues in particular.

I’m pretty sure I saw Indiana Jones at it’s absolute worst before the last rehab… it was still a much better attraction than the last time I rode dinosaur which was absolutely pathetic and should not have been operating.

One example of this was Splash Mountain just prior to its closure. WDW's variant was left to rot in its final years with a number of busted or missing animatronics, bad lighting and a lot of other non functioning effects. They gave up on even trying because it was a dead ride walking.

Agreed! The last time I rode WDW’s splash it was sad. The lighting was all wrong with some areas too bright and others too dim. So many broken effects. Disneyland on the other hand looked great up until the last day - I was there and they sent it off right!

 

[nickys]

People make fun of the bus drivers, and most are completely legitimate to do so. It's not the most exciting of jobs loading and unloading people who are either full of energy and excited or completely wiped out and angry.

I kid you not though, several years back, and at least a year in advance of any of the announced changes to DHS with the transportation makeover and Skyliner, a bus driver described in near perfect detail what they were planning and designing at the time. I remember it vividly because it was wild and quite bold a vision at the time and my wife asked if I had heard about it, to which I had not and I joked about how it was just a wild story made up by a bored bus driver. We still talk about it frequently when visiting DHS and how almost everything he said came to be.

He probably read it here. There was some great detective work done piecing things together from scratch, based purely on the location noted on the “notices of commencement”posted by @danlb_2000 .
We were discussing it long before any other fan site - I remember some really scathing comments on certain other sites when people referenced the thread here. “They’ve lost the plot” is the polite gist of their reaction.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Guys, I know this sort of thing should be taken with a grain of salt, but there's no need for hostility.

I mean, if people come on to a fan forum and purposefully spread fake rumours then some hostility is surely justified?

Anyway, I agree with @tissandtully that people have been mostly having fun with the post rather than being hostile.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Thank you, obscure first time poster new forum member guy.

 

[Disorbust]

The problem with the Disney leaks is that at one time they were all probably in consideration but then changed. The lack of accountability and poor leadership lets many stupid ideas get legs before they pull the rug out.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Do they? Are there stats for this?

Maybe they shut them down more frequently when some show standard goes wrong whereas Walt Disney World will just ignore what's actually wrong and continue to operate the attraction for " efficiency".

But honestly I have not noticed a discernible increase in downtime at Disneyland. To me it actually feels the other way around like all Disney World attractions have more down time but I have no stats to back that up. It's just personal experience.

I only speak from personal experience but every time I go to DL (several times a year), there are always at least a handful of rides broken down. Alice in Wonderland, Roger Rabbit, Mickey and Minnie, Space Mountain, Indy (!!!), Big Thunder, RotR, and the Cars ride all break down frequently, among others. WDW has a few rides that are dicey, namely RotR, Rat, and Space Mountain but it’s nowhere near as bad as DL.

 

[Disone]

I only speak from personal experience but every time I go to DL (several times a year), there are always at least a handful of rides broken down. Alice in Wonderland, Roger Rabbit, Mickey and Minnie, Space Mountain, Indy (!!!), Big Thunder, RotR, and the Cars ride all break down frequently, among others. WDW has a few rides that are dicey, namely RotR, Rat, and Space Mountain but it’s nowhere near as bad as DL.

Understood and we have had different experiences. For me it's not just the downtime but the actual experience on the attraction. Most of the time the flood seed and thunder mountain isn't even flooding. Animatronics at wdw haven't moved in years or are completely missing (the possums from the tree branch) This on top of what is routine down time.

Although I do think Disneyland is been doing its best to catch up to Walt Disney World in this regard. What were they down to just one hula dancer at IASW at one time?