Phroobar
Well-Known Member
I bet they don't even get that far in Florida.
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Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! Reviews, Photos, Info
- Thread starter TP2000
- Start date
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Would you be into it if you had to wear one of those scarves?
nevol
Well-Known Member
So, I finally got to ride this thing over the weekend. Not going to write a long review, but I was surprised by how much I liked the lobby, although a friend of mine who'd never been to a theme park in his life said "they should have had a screen on the ceiling that made the room look infinite" something I said months ago. But nonetheless, the lobby and preshow in the library were far more effective than I anticipated. The boiler room was actually creepier than HTH's with its power surges. They thought it would be amazing if they were pumping the awesome mixtape or some aggressive german techno into the outdoor queue and the boiler room, just emanating from the building. And the hand scans/false interactivity stuff was creepy too. I felt like I was being conditioned to certain levels of machine vision-enforced citizenship. Like we were all scanning our hands in desperation to board evacuation vehicles to mars during a nuclear war. Really creepy setup but for a silly story. Not even that silly though, pretty dark. Its a "classic prison break story" at the happiest place on earth. What does that mean? and the dystopian aesthetic overlay on the old hollywood tower hotel; its meaningless and aggressive, but it has found its way into the disneyland resort still. People are going to slowly warm up to dystopian sci-fi aesthetics.
So all of this meta crazy speculative haunting aesthetic assaults, sparking conversation, the best of which is seen above, the worst of which is "what is the subtext of a marvel universe? can it ever measure up to the deep cutting narratives and human history/experiences/conditions referenced throughout disneyland? No. Look at this bad show look at that bad show this ridiculous parade exiting the park and power lines behind the wall, etc"
We get on the ride and the ride just does not hold up to the setup. The room that Rockit explodes with practical sets is cool, but the screens do nothing. The last thing I wanted to do was stare at a screen, and all my friends, first time disneylanders, agreed. People who work in the film industry. People who loved space mountain and soarin and pirates for their complete immersion despite completely different approaches. They knew and I knew that the use of screens was not effective, and they feared a transition toward more screens because its cheaper and lazy. For me, I felt like, as I said earlier, the setup in the library was actually quite intense. We were laughing, we were shocked, it sounded like a cool plan. We get on the ride, and the ride system just doesn't do anything to further that story. Within 10 seconds they're free? Who is even watching the show at that point? My friends for whatever reason were shocked to see hwo high up they were when the elevator door opened, like the lobby preshow etc distracted them enough from the fact that we were in this elevator drop ride, whereas Tower embraced it and set it up more as an expectation. But once it was said and done and we had our fun, we walked away, actually admiring the tower's facade during the sunset, but feeling like that story could have been told better in a different ride system and it was undeniably weird that we were in an elevator and looking at screens. Really curious what they could have done had they saved Tower and built a purpose-built ride system. None of this gantry lift/air vent business. We could watch them break out of the collection, etc. We get on the ride and get pummeled and its really fun, but there is no story once we are seated. ironic is that this is guardians of the GALAXY, a sci fi experience, set entirely in a building on earth with some extraterrestrial / marvel set pieces, while TOT was on earth, but had plenty of star fields throughout the ride as we entered the twilight zone. For a ride/IP to exist in space and not deliver on that expectation is peculiar. California adventure is still, especially with this shift toward "random bold experience all by itself" a set of bold experiences barely tied together through land story or dramatic theme. Jungle cruise and indy glimpse at one another, their story worlds overlap. You can see people in tarzan treehouse above you while entering the temple of the forbidden eye. This is just a bold experience that people will cut through a bugs land to access for now.
So all of this meta crazy speculative haunting aesthetic assaults, sparking conversation, the best of which is seen above, the worst of which is "what is the subtext of a marvel universe? can it ever measure up to the deep cutting narratives and human history/experiences/conditions referenced throughout disneyland? No. Look at this bad show look at that bad show this ridiculous parade exiting the park and power lines behind the wall, etc"
We get on the ride and the ride just does not hold up to the setup. The room that Rockit explodes with practical sets is cool, but the screens do nothing. The last thing I wanted to do was stare at a screen, and all my friends, first time disneylanders, agreed. People who work in the film industry. People who loved space mountain and soarin and pirates for their complete immersion despite completely different approaches. They knew and I knew that the use of screens was not effective, and they feared a transition toward more screens because its cheaper and lazy. For me, I felt like, as I said earlier, the setup in the library was actually quite intense. We were laughing, we were shocked, it sounded like a cool plan. We get on the ride, and the ride system just doesn't do anything to further that story. Within 10 seconds they're free? Who is even watching the show at that point? My friends for whatever reason were shocked to see hwo high up they were when the elevator door opened, like the lobby preshow etc distracted them enough from the fact that we were in this elevator drop ride, whereas Tower embraced it and set it up more as an expectation. But once it was said and done and we had our fun, we walked away, actually admiring the tower's facade during the sunset, but feeling like that story could have been told better in a different ride system and it was undeniably weird that we were in an elevator and looking at screens. Really curious what they could have done had they saved Tower and built a purpose-built ride system. None of this gantry lift/air vent business. We could watch them break out of the collection, etc. We get on the ride and get pummeled and its really fun, but there is no story once we are seated. ironic is that this is guardians of the GALAXY, a sci fi experience, set entirely in a building on earth with some extraterrestrial / marvel set pieces, while TOT was on earth, but had plenty of star fields throughout the ride as we entered the twilight zone. For a ride/IP to exist in space and not deliver on that expectation is peculiar. California adventure is still, especially with this shift toward "random bold experience all by itself" a set of bold experiences barely tied together through land story or dramatic theme. Jungle cruise and indy glimpse at one another, their story worlds overlap. You can see people in tarzan treehouse above you while entering the temple of the forbidden eye. This is just a bold experience that people will cut through a bugs land to access for now.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Well said. Here's my review from May...
The time has come ladies and gents. I "finally" rode GOTG:MB. The ride that replaced my favorite ride (well maybe top 3) at DLR... TOT. First off let me start by saying that from A-Z, start to finish, I still prefer TOT to GOTG. I'm not even getting into what the building looks like or how it clashes with the rest of the park. I'm comparing ride to ride here and judging the entire experience. With that said, there are individual elements/ parts of MB that are more entertaining and better executed than TOT.
So let's start with the outdoor queue. Not a fan. They kind of went with that Arizona landscaping look that I hate that's been taking over So Cal the last few years because of the drought. Lots of tiny gray rocks and desert landscaping with an "alien" twist. I'm not saying I hate it but I'm a fan of lush landscaping so it never really had a shot with me. It does work with the theme of the attraction and it's not as stale as I feared. Also I will always miss the distorted jazz music from TOT so... TOT WINS here.
The indoor queue is really how I imagined it. It's just too small of a space to pull off what they re going for. This is probably one of the best examples of the restrictions of an overlay limiting the potential of an experience. If they could have somehow made it feel larger by using screens on the back wall/ ceiling and with forced perespective and digitally made it look like those glass cases went on "forever", the indoor queue would have been better for it. I think it would have done more for the queue then to have the screen on the back wall with the Guardians joking and bickering. I think all of that tone/ energy and the reveal of seeing the Guardians for the first time could have been saved until the ride experience. I would of liked for the queue to be a little more foreboding and ominous. TOT gets the WIN here.
Next the old library. This is an obvious WIN for GOTG. The pre show is Disney at their finest. The Rocket AA is super impressive and the whole pre show is very funny and engaging. As far as physical sets the room is on par with TOT and perhaps slightly improved because of the interaction of Rocket with the surrounding set pieces that really brings the room to life.
One of the bigger surprises to me was the boiler room. It was continuously talked about as the room getting the least love so my expectations were low. However, they did a really nice job with the lighting and sound effects. I really like the power surge that continuously flows through the room. It brings a nice energy to the room. I do miss the creepy safety instruction voice from TOT (especially in Spanish). I like how they kept the ominous feel in this room and actually improved upon it. Anyway, WIN for GOTG.
Now the ride experience. Gosh, where do I start? The word used over and over when describing the experience is "chaos." Which is a great way to describe it but I will also use the word "incoherent." I just saw GOTG 2 and really liked the movie and this ride definitely captures all of the energy, comedy and spirit of the film but it's still kind of hard to follow along with what's going on. Basically yes, it's a very simple storyline but as soon as you get shot up (By the way I really like the pull back scene with the Rocket projection) it all just goes really fast. A lot bouncing up and down. And when you do see the digital show scenes, all of which are at the old mirror scene, they re already in action as if you walked into the middle of a movie. You can't really hear what the Guardians are saying and you have the uppity oldie song playing in the background. It's almost like they went with the POTC "cocktail conversation" approach but it's harder to pull off here because of the speed at which everything is happening. I think this approach will possibly make the ride more repeatable for many guests. It's just so Chaotic that it will make it harder for the attraction to get old for people when they can't recite lines and have no idea what's going on. Maybe this ride becomes a classic because of how different it is? Who knows? It's not my favorite approach but it works in its own way.
It's fun and very funny! In a way if you think about it, the approach for the show scenes is actually more realistic than how we are used to being told stories on attractions. They don't hold our hand here. If Rocket blew the generator (or whatever) why should we expect to get shot up to the show scene and have everything explained to us again or even have the Guardians addressing us? The show scenes are happening after the trigger event so it makes sense that they would be chaotic. With that said, i think you could have had your cake and ate it too here with a little better writing.
Not a huge fan of the scene that took place of the old hallway scene. Huge downgrade there. Again it works in the ride but there's nothing to really see there. We went from a beautiful 3D set with great practical effects to Christmas lights/ whatever other junk they threw in there.
As far as the old mirror set, it's hard to get as invested here Because of the 2D downgrade as great quality and crystal clear as the images are. But still no practical effects and stale set.
The music is all fun but it "distracts" purposely from the overall experience. I went twice and got "free ride" and "we want the funk" of which I liked the latter more. But that's probably because of a better CM and more fun group we had in the ride vehicle.
Sorry I'm realizing this review, specifically on the ride experience portion is very scattered which is a testament to the chaos of the attraction. It beautifully captures the spirit of the films and is a very different and funny attraction for Disney. If Universal created this ride, I would think it's one their Top 3 attractions ever made. However, It doesn't really feel (or look) like a Disney ride and that's ok.
It was really fun to go on a ride and not know what to expect. It seems like you never know when you re going up or down. The parallax effect works really well and brings a new energy to the show scenes. With that said I think I prefer TOTs one drop sequence to both of the ones I experienced yesterday. It just felt more thrilling but it could be because of all the suspense and buildup that ride had. None of the drops in GOTG felt as suspenseful / thrilling as the final drop in TOT. I'm not sure there was one drop that went the entire distance, from the opening doors up top to the bottom. TOT gets the WIN for ride experience.
OVERALL: TOT, with its build up, mood setting and story telling, was a better experience from start to finish which shouldn't really surprise anyone as it was a purpose built attraction. It was also a better ride experience IMO. GOTG does hold its own though and is a lot of fun. I think if the show scenes were a little more thought out and kept more of the 3D feel and used more practical effects it could have given TOT a run for its money. Again ride to ride , attraction 2 attraction. Not considering theming or aesthetics.
TOT was classic and timeless. Everyone could understand and relate to the story/ subject material. GOTG is high energy, funny, irreverent and a lot of fun but hard to follow along with even when you know the source material. As a one off attraction GOTG works. However, I would rather Disney stick to things that are timeless, classic, vintage. It's their brand what they do best (at the parks at least). I wouldn't mind however, if all Marvel Land kept the same tone as the GOTG ride. Just let all the Marvel stuff be the funny, cutting edge, modern, "anti Disney" stuff and keep the rest of the park classic.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
How DARE you have a moderate opinion on the internet! how dare you...
Lol. Thanks. That's not a compliment I receive often.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
I thought the guy in the portrait in the lobby was the 12th Doctor.
nevol
Well-Known Member
Awesome review. Interesting how we shared so many of the same thoughts and differed slightly with others. Overall the attraction was fun and I think it contributes nicely to a day at DCA, but it isn't the kind of thing I need to talk about the rest of the day or reride like Indy or some of the oldies. I liked the room Rockit blows up because despite not really looking familiar, it captures the texture and lighting of the rest of the building and the IP. The ride is so chaotic that I don't even remember what song we got. I don't think I would have minded the cgi if instead of appearing between drop sequences, the screen was just built onto the interior of the elevator shaft or the ride vehicle, though how would we board in that case, and is there enough clearance? Probably not. But at least in that case you would have time to let your eyes focus on the perspective they want to achieve. Again, the boiler room was killer. how they made it more creepy and suspenseful than the pre-boarding for the twilight zone, with its paranormal/haunt themes, I'll never know and truly didn't expect. The lobby preshow doesn't make sense, in that they wouldn't be zooming in on the guardians themselves and keeping their dialogue in tact unless it was live. But what struck me was the scale of the room and the scale of the screens. Really crisp, bright screens that weren't negatively impacted by light pollution from outside. Overall more impressive than I expected. Maybe that preshow with the guardians footage could have worked better beside each load platform while we await boarding, re-edited to be "live" footage. They could have maybe blocked boiler room views of each load area so that when the footage is running continuously we as guests are only seeing it once.
Guardians could have worked really well in present-day tomorrowland, though I would never encourage such an investment because I would prefer an actual gut-remodel of tomorrowland that captures the future of mankind and the technological sublime from our contemporary perspective. What is funny is that all of the stuff that they thought was dated by the nineties is back in style; mars missions, space exploration, heck, we are practically in another cold war. Bring those subjects back in bolder ride systems and layer on top of that cyberspace and AI/supercomputer governance and call it a day. Something that could be interpreted as dystopian or scary just because it is this imminent future, but not something overtly dystopian; all of it clean, optimistic, intentional. Incredibly ironic that Imagineering things that Tomorrowland is the hardest land to develop and maintain because the present day is always catching up, when in fact, it isn't. The rest of the lands and rides are becoming more dated and racist, and will be receiving pressures for remodels, while tomorrowland never needs to change because tomorrow never comes. WDI acts like tomorrow came and went with 1967's iteration, but until we have civilian/commercial space craft, that is patently false. Only a handful of government agencies and commercial aerospace companies have been to space.
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mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Thanks! GOTG would have worked great in TL as a replacement for Star Tours. I think the only reason they didn't consider it is because they needed a place to promote Star Wars until SWL opens up. As you say, on the positive side hopefully that means a complete re-do is coming but it's hard me to imagine them completely starting from scratch. It seems that every big investment these days has to be tied to IP somehow. Would they spend all the money required for a project that is not tied to IP? Maybe Tomorrowland is grandfathered in revered enough to do it. Granted, most of the rides will still be tied to IP.
nevol
Well-Known Member
I'm hopeful that they give it a respectable effort, the way they did with the back of the ROA, even if it means one IP like Tron. However, some of the epcot stuff makes me skeptical.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I hear that. I think there will be more than just one IP. There will probably be at least 3 or 4. I wonder if the lagoon would survive in someway or another.
JoFu
Well-Known Member
Doctor Who?
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Apparently it's Jeff Goldblum? I must have really not been paying attention.
I just sort of glanced at it and saw:
I just sort of glanced at it and saw:
JoFu
Well-Known Member
Was my post so weak that you thought I was really asking, or are you just continuing the charade?Apparently it's Jeff Goldblum? I must have really not been paying attention.
I just sort of glanced at it and saw:
Apparently it's Jeff Goldblum? I must have really not been paying attention.
I just sort of glanced at it and saw:
Yes, it is indeed Jeff Goldblum.
That comports with what @articos says, which I enshrined here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...attraction-confirmed-for-epcot.929265/page-86
The idea that Joe Rohde is making videos for a new ride while choking on his own bile because he hates it and is forced to do it because of his evil corporate overlords and is blinking a Morse code message for help is a fanciful narrative. Very fancy.
Oh, and Joe is still working for Disney? Well, so much for that last year's rumor.
#ThanksShanghai
yookeroo
Well-Known Member
Wishful thinking. People assume/hope that others in power share their opinion, thus validating them. If it's someone who you respect for past works, then of course they will agree with you.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
It's only been three months and GOTG:MB is not the breakout attendance driving hit TDA was hoping for. In fact, it's a blip. I like the ride and what they did with it, so I don't have an axe to grind here, but after about two weeks, this thing died way down.
I predict it will feel very dated in just a few years.
I predict it will feel very dated in just a few years.