Is WDI capable of making a dark right like Universal?

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retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
With Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Universal has set the bar even higher for dark rides. Problem is, Disney still hasn't been able to match Spiderman, a ride that's ten years old.

My frustration with Disney is they've gone away with what made their rides so special - live show elements, animatronics, etc. They've gone almost exclusively video. Save for one short encounter with the yeti in EE, every attraction they've made in recent memory has been video based like Nemo and Friends, and Soarin at Epcot, or "virtual" like Toy Story Mania and Mission Space. Even in EE, the first encounter with the yeti is just a projected shadow. The whole ride is a gigantic mountain roller coaster with ONE live show element. I realize a truly "live" dark ride takes much more time and money, but if Universal can do it, Disney should be able to right?

I'm holding out hope that the upcoming Mermaid ride at MK will be a generation defining ride, but I doubt it. I understand it will be omnimover based (2-dimensional compared to Forbidden Journey) and my fear is they will do the same cost efficient stuff they did with Nemo and Toy Story - dominate the ride with video screens.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
You're wrong about Mermaid. There are plenty of previews available of the DCA version.

Also, Spiderman is overrated.
 
Pioneer Hall

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
While I think that Mermaid will have a very good amount of animatronics and "live scenes", I don't see it beating Potter. While I haven't been on the ride myself, it seems that it is impressive, so unless Disney heads back to the drawing board with mermaid and really makes it in your face it might be tough.
 
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retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
Kamikaze said:
You're wrong about Mermaid. There are plenty of previews available of the DCA version.

Also, Spiderman is overrated.
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*edit, nevermind found it. Still, I doubt it will compare to FJ and even Spiderman (whether you like it or not, technologically it is light years ahead of anything Disney's done)
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Kamikaze said:
You're wrong about Mermaid. There are plenty of previews available of the DCA version.

Also, Spiderman is overrated.
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While it may be overrated, theres no denying that Spiderman is, to this day, more impressive than everything WDW has offered since its debut.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Sure they are capable of it. When they are allowed to be. Look at Poohs Honey Hunt in TDL. LPS ride system. Mammoth dark scenes. Visual effects. AAs. Disney invented the Enhanced Motion Vehicle. But they never topped it. So Uni did. Disney invented the Autonomous Guided Vehicle. Then they backtracked with other versions of TOT instead of solving the easy-to-fix issues.
 
Oddysey

Oddysey

Well-Known Member
I believe Disney can, but they just dont seem to be in the business of doing that anymore. It seems most things in recent years lack the ambition and originallity that made Disney Theme Parks such an outstanding brand. When I think of Epcot's origninal ambitions and elaborate attractions, and compare it with the new experiences on the very same property, I notice a disturbing trend.

Instead of ambition to create the most emersive experience, I see more cost efficient watered down experiences that pale in comparison to the scale that once exsisted. Disney Theme Parks have become a strong enough brand that they no longer have to focus on 'wowing' there customers. Instead Disney seems to rely on its historic reputation and less on continuing to build on it. Of course this is only my opinion.
 
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disneysroyal411

New Member
Just watched a video of Pooh's Hunny Hunt and... Wow. I haven't seen a dark ride like that in Disney really. They scenes were all very covered and didn't have empty little black blotch spots as you see sometimes. It looked fun, the animatronics were very good, and I hope that AUA can at least compare to that.
 
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disneysroyal411

New Member
Oddysey said:
I believe Disney can, but they just dont seem to be in the business of doing that anymore. It seems most things in recent years lack the ambition and originallity that made Disney Theme Parks such an outstanding brand. When I think of Epcot's origninal ambitions and elaborate attractions, and compare it with the new experiences on the very same property, I notice a disturbing trend.

Instead of ambition to create the most emersive experience, I see more cost efficient watered down experiences that pale in comparison to the scale that once exsisted. Disney Theme Parks have become a strong enough brand that they no longer have to focus on 'wowing' there customers. Instead Disney seems to rely on its historic reputation and less on continuing to build on it. Of course this is only my opinion.
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Exactly, Disney doesn't follow what Disney used to do. Disney would offer what is new and not seen before, it would amaze people and make them say "How did they do that?" Or else the attraction would be from a favorite movie that people ride and connect with. Also, they would spend money and take some chances, which they don't do now. The reason I don't think they do that now if because they have all these parks at WDW that it is a lot scarier then it was to handle costs or what not. But sometimes you need an another finger on your four arms to keep you going Disney, not like they aren't now. Anyway, best hopes to Disney for whatever they do.
 
CoffeeJedi

CoffeeJedi

Active Member
Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, in my humble opinion, is the greatest dark ride ever made hands down. As great as Harry Potter and Spider-man are, they still rely on projections to achieve most of their effects. IJA is nearly all AA and practical special effects.

If you've never been on it, don't compare it to Dinosaur/CTX; that attraction is "lite" or "diet" version of what that ride system can be used for. It's just an absolutely amazing ride, and I don't think anything from Disney or Universal will top it any time soon, and it's 15 years old!
 
munkgirl

munkgirl

New Member
cmwade77 said:
Yes, but remember Disney doesn't actually run TDL, they just license it.
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We just need to build new Disney World in New Jersey and get the mafia to back it, like they do in Tokyo :zipit:

I remember seeing the concept for The Little Mermaid ride on the dvd. I remember not being impressed. It looked totally standard.

It would be cool if it was an actual water ride, like Splash Mountain. Have a whirlpool at the end during the Ursula scene for boats to sink/zoom through. That would be neat. It would still be a dark ride, but at least it would have the visceral wetness to bring it to life. I'd take water and animatronics over fancy tv-screen effects any day.
 
Testtrack321

Testtrack321

Well-Known Member
munkgirl said:
I remember seeing the concept for The Little Mermaid ride on the dvd. I remember not being impressed. It looked totally standard.
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That's not the same ride being built.

And I agree with CoffeeJedi, the live action and practical sets of Indiana Jones makes it my favorite dark ride.
 
SleepingMonk

SleepingMonk

Well-Known Member
Harry Potter is so impressive because of the total experience.

The ride, the queue and the shops really have no equal at this point.
 
BrerFrog

BrerFrog

Active Member
WDI? Yeah, they can top that.

Are the bean counters willing to spend the money on such a big attraction when Disney's park attendance is always growing without ever being threatened by Universal? No. :(
 
Tigerace81

Tigerace81

New Member
retroeric said:
*edit, nevermind found it. Still, I doubt it will compare to FJ and even Spiderman (whether you like it or not, technologically it is light years ahead of anything Disney's done)
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Maybe you never noticed but Spiderman only has a good queue. The walls in the ride are backdrops on a roll continuously spinning, and you can see that from the ride itself. Very bad quality. Also did you forget Disney pretty much got the themed dark ride concept 100% right pretty much every time while Universal has barely done any.

Its pretty unfair to say one ride has to compete against a whole new section of a park.
 

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