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

[J4546]

trackless, omnimover, tracked....all cool but I want more water based attractions

 

[Gusey]

Other than issues with maintenance, I always find trackless rides to be more immersive, exciting and variable over omnimover rides. The step-down comparing an older ride like Haunted Mansion to Ratatouille has nothing (to me) to do with the ride system - it's more of a design and scope issue. I've seen some people say they all feel the same, but omni rides feel the same, if not more so than trackless. It's the theming around them that makes them excellent rides. To compare Ratatouille to Rise is to compare a tv dinner to 5-course meal from Gusteau's.

Why are people so sick of / annoyed with trackless but not omni? Trackless feels like an evolution over omni in everything except down time and ride capacity.

Just curious people's reasoning.

I think it's more to so with the repeated use of trackless rides since 2019: Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway x2, Beauty and the Beast at TDL, Ratatouille, and Zootopia at Shanghai.
There was a worry that boat rides would become flavor of the month with 3 Frozen boat rides (Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris), Tangled at Tokyo DisneySea, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Lion King at DLP, Coco at DCA and Avatar at DCA. So an omnimover dark ride amongst the many trackless and boats just feels like a good different

 

[Trauma]

I hope so. I never win at the lottery. I would love to know what eventually means to Disney.

There is an easy way to win. I have won every time. Morning Vq, afternoon and EMH.

 

[Disstevefan1]

There is an easy way to win. I have won every time. Morning Vq, afternoon and EMH.

How to win easy?

 

[Purduevian]

That's true. I actually like the main show scene and the Ursula animatronic... but it definitely has awful story pacing and is missing some scenes.

And then yeah, even though I don't hate it I can't really think of a single omnimover outside of Nemo I would "take" Mermaid over lol. Maybe current Figment? Which isn't a traditional omnimover anyway.

Can Figment be considered an omnimover if it stops moving at various points (on purpose)?

 

[JohnD]

Can Figment be considered an omnimover if it stops moving at various points (on purpose)?

A quick Google search says it is.

Google Search

 

[Andrew25]

Can Figment be considered an omnimover if it stops moving at various points (on purpose)?

No. It's described as "Omnimover-like" but it isn't a true Omnimover.

Figment is more of a classic Fantasyland dark ride that stops at specific scenes, but certainly not an Omnimover. An Omnimover has to have consistent movement.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

No. It's described as "Omnimover-like" but it isn't a true Omnimover.

Figment is more of a classic Fantasyland dark ride that stops at specific scenes, but certainly not an Omnimover. An Omnimover has to have consistent movement.

I believe the original JII was an omnimover. Perhaps @marni1971 could explain how the current system differs.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I believe the original JII was an omnimover. Perhaps @marni1971 could explain how the current system differs.

An omnimover is not just vehicles that can turn or continuously load. An omnimover does both but is also a continuous chain of vehicles that are all connected. Journey into Imagination always made use of individual trains.

 

[UNCgolf]

Other than issues with maintenance, I always find trackless rides to be more immersive, exciting and variable over omnimover rides. The step-down comparing an older ride like Haunted Mansion to Ratatouille has nothing (to me) to do with the ride system - it's more of a design and scope issue. I've seen some people say they all feel the same, but omni rides feel the same, if not more so than trackless. It's the theming around them that makes them excellent rides. To compare Ratatouille to Rise is to compare a tv dinner to 5-course meal from Gusteau's.

Why are people so sick of / annoyed with trackless but not omni? Trackless feels like an evolution over omni in everything except down time and ride capacity.

Just curious people's reasoning.

While I think there's really neat stuff they could do with trackless, for the most part they generally have at least one scene where immersion is broken because you feel like you're in a giant warehouse. That's not a flaw of the ride system but of imagination in using it, but still.

Regardless, omni generally have both a higher capacity and less downtime, which would be two major benefits for Animal Kingdom.

 

[WaltWiz1901]

Other than issues with maintenance, I always find trackless rides to be more immersive, exciting and variable over omnimover rides. The step-down comparing an older ride like Haunted Mansion to Ratatouille has nothing (to me) to do with the ride system - it's more of a design and scope issue. I've seen some people say they all feel the same, but omni rides feel the same, if not more so than trackless. It's the theming around them that makes them excellent rides.

Why are people so sick of / annoyed with trackless but not omni? Trackless feels like an evolution over omni in everything except down time and ride capacity.

I, personally, have no problem with the conceit of a trackless system...

...but for the most part, half of the new ones (not counting clones) don't really take full advantage of the vehicles being free-ranging, and contrary to WDI's previously mentioned recent focus on them, not every new dark ride has to be trackless.

Going trackless can and should entail more dynamic vehicle movement than just resorting to parking in front of a screen or following a nearly completely linear path

 

[JackCH]

I, personally, have no problem with the conceit of a trackless system...

...but for the most part, half of the new ones (not counting clones) don't really take full advantage of the vehicles being free-ranging, and contrary to WDI's previously mentioned recent focus on them, not every new dark ride has to be trackless.

Going trackless can and should entail more dynamic vehicle movement than just resorting to parking in front of a screen or following a nearly completely linear path

Totally agree. I think Rise and Mystic Manor really use that system well… while rides like Rat and Hot Pursuit sort of feel… generic? Then obviously a lot of rides fall somewhere in between.

I think each trackless needs to have a distinct vision as to why that system is being used. You don’t want to fall into “we have a trackless template we can just plop different IP on.”

 

[britain]

ALL HAIL THE OMNIMOVER!!!

This essentially will make the Casita even more of the “Haunted Mansion” of the Animal Kingdom, and I approve of that.

 

[marni1971]

I believe the original JII was an omnimover. Perhaps @marni1971 could explain how the current system differs.

Both were Omnimover-like (although the original word has been and can be used loosely for many rides). The strict definition of Omnimover is a constantly moving chain of vehicles at a constant speed with vehicles that can rotate to face or hide scenes. SSE is an Omni but can’t hide scenes. Motion was an Omni but wasn’t a chain of vehicles (it had gaps) that again couldn’t hide scenes. Mermaid is perhaps the most recent true Omnimover.

The original Imagination was an Omni at load and unload with a constant chain of vehicles. After that speed varied to split the chain into groups of vehicles. It also rotated at key moments to draw your attention to certain things. It was originally designed to have more in common with a roller coasters operation and was designed as such.

The current version is a limping adaption of the original with its start and stopping; along with its unlinked groups of cars it’s less Omni and very much more Omni-like.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Totally agree. I think Rise and Mystic Manor really use that system well… while rides like Rat and Hot Pursuit sort of feel… generic? Then obviously a lot of rides fall somewhere in between.

I think each trackless needs to have a distinct vision as to why that system is being used. You don’t want to fall into “we have a trackless template we can just plop different IP on.”

Tbh I think Hot Pursuit earns its tracklessness a lot more than Rat or MMRR

 

[Purduevian]

Both were Omnimover-like (although the original word has been and can be used loosely for many rides). The strict definition of Omnimover is a constantly moving chain of vehicles at a constant speed with vehicles that can rotate to face or hide scenes. SSE is an Omni but can’t hide scenes. Motion was an Omni but wasn’t a chain of vehicles (it had gaps) that again couldn’t hide scenes. Mermaid is perhaps the most recent true Omnimover.

The original Imagination was an Omni at load and unload with a constant chain of vehicles. After that speed varied to split the chain into groups of vehicles. It also rotated at key moments to draw your attention to certain things. It was originally designed to have more in common with a roller coasters operation and was designed as such.

The current version is a limping adaption of the original with its start and stopping; along with its unlinked groups of cars it’s less Omni and very much more Omni-like.

By that definition:
True Omnimovers currently at WDW:
Haunted Mansion, Mermaid, Nemo

Almost Omnimovers:
Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Spaceship Earth

Omnimover-like:
PeopleMover, Guardian's of the Galaxy, Figment, Toy Story Mania

 

[danlb_2000]

Totally agree. I think Rise and Mystic Manor really use that system well… while rides like Rat and Hot Pursuit sort of feel… generic? Then obviously a lot of rides fall somewhere in between.

I think each trackless needs to have a distinct vision as to why that system is being used. You don’t want to fall into “we have a trackless template we can just plop different IP on.”

What I find funny about Runaway Railway is the dance scene with Daisy that feels like it was just dropped into the ride as an excuse to be trackless.

 

[JackCH]

What I find funny about Runaway Railway is the dance scene with Daisy that feels like it was just dropped into the ride as an excuse to be trackless.

Yeah, there are parts I really enjoy about MMRR and overall I think it is an excellent attraction, but the moment where you park in front of a screen is my least favorite gimmick on trackless.

The dance scene feels that way to me as well, but I have seen so many people truly delighted by that moment so it seems to "work"?

Overall, I think MMRR is somewhere in the middle. It doesn't soar to the heights of Rise or Mystic, but it doesn't feel as generic as something like Rat.

 

[HauntedPirate]

if they gutted TSM 2nd track (the southern half of the TSM building) and redid that as "Andy toybox" a massive indoor play area with entrances/exits into TSL and Pixar Alley, they could maybe put a spinner in there.

 

[DCBaker]

Walt Disney Imagineering has shared on LinkedIn the Tropical Americas project team kicked off the official start of construction with a groundbreaking at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this morning: