News 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[MistaDee]

Flight of Passage isn't coming to DCA. Unless something major changes.

Very good news, it would be an awkward fit in the same park as the original Soarin'. I'm hopeful they continue to keep at least some major attractions exclusive between the US parks.

Shanghai boat tech bringing Lion King to AK and Avatar to DCA (despite awkward thematic fit) would be two solid IP for parks that could both use that classic water-based dark ride.

I don’t know much about the attraction itself but I know that they plan to bring Lion King to DLP.

I could see them bringing that to DCA, I don’t see them adding another “E-ticket” to Pandora though.

Does the expansion pad in AK's Pandora not have room for a major ride? I don't have a good sense

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Does the expansion pad in AK's Pandora not have room for a major ride? I don't have a good sense

I’m not sure. I more meant from a logistical standpoint it doesn’t really make sense to add another E-ticket to a land that already has one. There are other parts of the park that could benefit.

 

[mickEblu]

Very good news, it would be an awkward fit in the same park as the original Soarin'. I'm hopeful they continue to keep at least some major attractions exclusive between the US parks.

Shanghai boat tech bringing Lion King to AK and Avatar to DCA (despite awkward thematic fit) would be two solid IP for parks that could both use that classic water-based dark ride.



Does the expansion pad in AK's Pandora not have room for a major ride? I don't have a good sense

A boat ride seems like a wrong fit for Lion King. If the park didn't already have Dinosaur/Indy I'd say a tamer version of that ride system would be ideal.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Very good news, it would be an awkward fit in the same park as the original Soarin'. I'm hopeful they continue to keep at least some major attractions exclusive between the US parks.

Shanghai boat tech bringing Lion King to AK and Avatar to DCA (despite awkward thematic fit) would be two solid IP for parks that could both use that classic water-based dark ride.



Does the expansion pad in AK's Pandora not have room for a major ride? I don't have a good sense

Pandora was going to have a bike coaster similar to tron that was cut.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I recall rumors a few years ago of the Shanghai pirates system being used for a (live action) Jungle Book dark ride in DAK.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I recall rumors a few years ago of the Shanghai pirates system being used for a (live action) Jungle Book dark ride in DAK.

Yeah that was probably 2018? It was around the time the live action Jungle Book came out.

 

[Haymarket2008]

A boat ride seems like a wrong fit for Lion King. If the park didn't already have Dinosaur/Indy I'd say a tamer version of that ride system would be ideal.

I actually think it would be amazing. A similar experience to Splash Mountain through the Pride Lands? Simba, Timon and Pumbaa singing Hakuna Matata as I float by? Sign me up.

 

[KDM31091]

No matter how people including Disney try and justify it, just because Encanto (briefly) features a character talking to animals, that doesn’t make it an animal themed movie. It has nothing to do with conservation or animals in general. It is not a main plot point in the movie. It just doesn’t fit. Whether it’s popular or not is irrelevant. We should hold Disney to standards that they created. New attractions should reasonably make sense in the park they’re being placed in.

 

[britain]

No matter how people including Disney try and justify it, just because Encanto (briefly) features a character talking to animals, that doesn’t make it an animal themed movie. It has nothing to do with conservation or animals in general. It is not a main plot point in the movie. It just doesn’t fit. Whether it’s popular or not is irrelevant. We should hold Disney to standards that they created. New attractions should reasonably make sense in the park they’re being placed in.

Yes, that’s why I said if it’s just a book report attraction then it wouldn’t fit. It would need to be a new, animal-centric story that happens in the house.

Let’s think of it another way: What if they built “Mickey’s Magical House” in AK, a place that used to belong to a sorcerer where the Fab Five vacation when in Latin America. And Goofy accidentally lets all the animals out of the magical menagerie room. We now have to go on a wild trip through the house finding all the animals in humorous “Jungle Cruise-esque” vignettes in each room. Monkeys in the kitchen! Leopards in the bathtub! Mickey uses magic to round them all up and save the day.

This isn’t a particularly great idea, but it’s one that would work in AK.

Now just drop the bias against popular IP, replace Mickey & Co with the Madrigal Family, and all is well.

 

[Coaster Lover]

A boat ride seems like a wrong fit for Lion King. If the park didn't already have Dinosaur/Indy I'd say a tamer version of that ride system would be ideal.

As much as I hate the trend to trackless ride vehicles, I think a trackless option is the best fit for Lion King IMHO... something along the line of what was done with BatB at TDL where multiple vehicles spend several minutes in each room with each room being a separate song... meandering a room during the course of a song seeing multiple little scenes related to the song I feel would work really well for songs like "Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Be Prepared", then a "speed tunnel" type approach for the stampede to make it feel like you're right in the middle of the action.

 

[Tha Realest]

then a "speed tunnel" type approach for the stampede to make it feel like you're right in the middle of the action.

Universal: Ride the movies!

Disney: Kill Simba’s dad!

(I do like this general idea though)

 

[britain]

As much as I hate the trend to trackless ride vehicles, I think a trackless option is the best fit for Lion King IMHO... something along the line of what was done with BatB at TDL where multiple vehicles spend several minutes in each room with each room being a separate song... meandering a room during the course of a song seeing multiple little scenes related to the song I feel would work really well for songs like "Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Be Prepared", then a "speed tunnel" type approach for the stampede to make it feel like you're right in the middle of the action.

A Lion King ride sort of has to be book report retelling. The characters are too archetypal to satisfyingly go on “another adventure” and do things like open a co-op, etc.

 

[Bocabear]

I personally think Festival Of The Lion King is enough of that franchise in the park... Perhaps a flume based ride themed to something African...a better version of Kali River Rapids... Maybe the flume ride could be a river adventure through the Pridelands...but I think a dark ride book report Lion King done with trackless cars lumbering through musical scenes is a wrong fit for the park....

 

[ToTBellHop]

Some have suggested it will use the Shanghai Pirates ride technology. Perhaps Lion King based...

Ah yes, a boat ride through the Serengeti. That will really sell the "Scar has ruined the Pridelands" narrative.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Ah yes, a boat ride through the Serengeti. That will really sell the "Scar has ruined the Pridelands" narrative.

Still waiting for people to realize a Boat ride though a world where everything is purportedly frozen makes about as much sense . . .

 

[SplashJacket]

Still waiting for people to realize a Boat ride though a world where everything is purportedly frozen makes about as much sense . . .

Yeah quick tangent building off this,

I’m really not a fan of having a boat ride going through dry buildings (Frozen at Tokyo DisneySea). They have the dry coronation building and there’s just a boat running through it for some reason.

Pirates makes sense to have water since it’s on the ocean/open water for most of it.

Boat rides should really only go through natural environments.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Yeah quick tangent building off this,

I’m really not a fan of having a boat ride going through dry buildings (Frozen at Tokyo DisneySea). They have the dry coronation building and there’s just a boat running through it for some reason.

Pirates makes sense to have water since it’s on the ocean/open water for most of it.

Boat rides should really only go through natural environments.

I think in Tokyo's case their Frozen ride is almost more like a memory play, where the story is being retold as you float down the river and the events magically unfold all around you. So while you could let them off on a technicality there, I agree that it feels wrong to have a flume cutting through a space like the Arendelle Castle which we know does not have any rivers flowing through it.

Thankfully Disney historically does a pretty good job navigating this - even the canal through the city in Pirates makes enough sense whether you think about it consciously or not. Makes me wish the Italy Pavilion had a boat ride through the canals of Venice.

And of course I still think it's weird that there's a flowing river in Frozen Ever After despite Elsa freezing everything else over, but no one else seems to pay it much mind. Felt to me like another reason not to replace the Maelstrom with Frozen. For Tokyo I would have thought a skating sleigh LPS vehicle would have been the obvious choice for a scratch-built Frozen ride, but they aren't taking my calls on the matter.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Universal: Ride the movies!

Disney: Kill Simba’s dad!

(I do like this general idea though)

Looking forward to the new drop tower!

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

Still waiting for people to realize a Boat ride though a world where everything is purportedly frozen makes about as much sense . . .

Hey bud, have you (or Elsa) heard of global warming?

 

[DisneyDodo]

Yeah quick tangent building off this,

I’m really not a fan of having a boat ride going through dry buildings (Frozen at Tokyo DisneySea). They have the dry coronation building and there’s just a boat running through it for some reason.

Pirates makes sense to have water since it’s on the ocean/open water for most of it.

Boat rides should really only go through natural environments.

Agreed. FEA was a boat ride because it replaced a boat ride, but then for some reason WDI decided that all Frozen dark rides henceforth must be boat rides. Doesn’t make a lot of sense.