Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot

[MaximumEd]

I don't feel like we hear from many of the "insiders" anymore. Why is that?

Just a guess on my part, but some are probably tired of their tidbits getting picked up and reported without credit for every blogger to make a buck off of. Some seem to have lost interest in certain parks or resorts because Disney seems hell-bent on removing what made them special and have moved on to other places. Just the vibe I get from what I’ve read and observed here.

 

[wdwmagic]

I don't feel like we hear from many of the "insiders" anymore. Why is that?

Disney has been investigating leaks and those who were doing so have been terminated or are staying quiet. Among other things.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Just a guess on my part, but some are probably tired of their tidbits getting picked up and reported without credit for every blogger to make a buck off of. Some seem to have lost interest in certain parks or resorts because Disney seems hell-bent on removing what made them special and have moved on to other places. Just the vibe I get from what I’ve read and observed here.

Another potential guess is that their sources might not even work there anymore. Or there just frankly isn't much to discuss in light of the last year and a half. If anything, I feel like more news would be coming out about things not happening than new developments on the horizon.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I do like the Frozen attraction even though it does not belong there simply because it is a very high quality re skin in my mind.
The RAT, it's a new attraction in EPCOT that's good, and France got a very high quality expansion so that's good.

I feel that people are being too forgiving of RAT because Epcot needed a new ride and a new kids ride. It's really not very good. It's a bad imitation of better efforts seen at the likes of Rise. MMRR, Spider-Man, and Transformers. It feels very cheap. If they cared at all they would have re-worked the story to at least better fit with Epcot. Remy takes you on a tour of Paris to show you his favorite Parisian cuisine, for example. Instead you get chased around the restaurant because that's the ride they already made elsewhere.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I feel that people are being too forgiving of RAT because Epcot needed a new ride and a new kids ride. It's really not very good.

Ad hominem.

"If people don't like it in the same way I don't like it, then they must have some ulterior motive why they aren't bashing it like I am!!"

I believe the next step is to call them either 'sheeple' or 'pixie dusters' for having been brainwashed into accepting it.

I feel that people are being too forgiving of RAT because Epcot needed a new ride and a new kids ride. It's really not very good. It's a bad imitation of better efforts seen at the likes of Rise. MMRR, Spider-Man, and Transformers. It feels very cheap. If they cared at all they would have re-worked the story to at least better fit with Epcot. Remy takes you on a tour of Paris to show you his favorite Parisian cuisine, for example. Instead you get chased around the restaurant because that's the ride they already made elsewhere.

Rat was way before MMRR. So, it's unfair to compare it to later LPS rides that upped the SFX.

Also, IMO, Transformers was awful, despite having almost the very same ride system as Spider-Man, which I think is one of the best rides around.

But, I'm not about to try to explain how Universal trained you to like it against your better judgment.

 

[trainplane3]

Disney has been investigating leaks and those who were doing so have been terminated or are staying quiet. Among other things.

That and honestly...there just isn't hype for this project. Martin's said* in the past about how he doesn't care about GotG so he hasn't asked those working on it.

There just isn't excitement with these things right now.

*correct me if wrong, Martin!*

 

[Tom Morrow]

Ad hominem.

"If people don't like it in the same way I don't like it, then they must have some ulterior motive why they aren't bashing it like I am!!"

I believe the next step is to call them either 'sheeple' or 'pixie dusters' for having been brainwashed into accepting it.




Rat was way before MMRR. So, it's unfair to compare it to later LPS rides that upped the SFX.

Also, IMO, Transformers was awful, despite having almost the very same ride system as Spider-Man, which I think is one of the best rides around.

But, I'm not about to try to explain how Universal trained you to like it against your better judgment.

When I rode Ratatouille the woman in front of me cried tears of joy and I couldn't help but roll my eyes because yes, I do believe there is merit to the idea that many, many people are so deep into the Disney brand that they've made it their entire lifestyle that, yes, they might proclaim that a lazy, low effort, middling kiddie ride that doesn't belong at Epcot is "Great, actually."

I do think it's fair to criticize Disney for copy/pasting what was already a lazy, low effort ride into a park where it doesn't fit. It doesn't matter that RAT is older than MMRR, it was a cheaply done ride when it was new. They could have made it at least marginally fit by changing up the story, but they didn't.

No one, anywhere, argues that Transformers is better than Spider-Man. But I also contend that no theme park nerds would complain about Transformers if Spider-Man didn't exist. Yet, to argue that RAT is objectively better rather than it vs. just preferring it for personal taste? Yeah, pixie-duster title is earned.

 

[doctornick]

No one, anywhere, argues that Transformers is better than Spider-Man. But I also contend that no theme park nerds would complain about Transformers if Spider-Man didn't exist. Yet, to argue that RAT is objectively better rather than it vs. just preferring it for personal taste? Yeah, pixie-duster title is earned.

I have not ridden Ratatouille, but would argue that Transformers is a mediocre ride and a very low bar to pass. It's ironic since I would also argue that Spider-Man is one of the greatest theme park rides ever built, which I think reflects that ride mechanism isn't anywhere near as important as how it is utilized.

I've only watched ride throughs online of Rat, but I can confidently suggest that I'll enjoy it a lot more than Transformers. Just being able to tell what the heck is going on during the ride would be a big step up compared to Transformers. I mean, it looks like Ratatouille you can actual enjoy the sets and appreciate that the different scenes are distinct. Transformers only real value is for the "thrills" of motion of the vehicle, but it offers little in terms of a proper themed entertainment. YMMV

 

[jaxonp]

Transformers is exactly like Spiderman. Same ride system, same formul, same 3d system etc, the difference is story. Transformers sucks because Michael Bay sucks.

Rat is so tame, it's literally the polar opposite of Transformers.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I wouldn't call the splash pad in the magic kingdom something of interest or pleasure, but that's just me... We know almost nothing about this Journey Of Water other than there will be interactive fountains that you can stick your hands in i.e. Splash Pad type activities... The whole education about the rain cycle is a complete mystery...as is most everything else about this new "attraction" or placeholder. I can't imagine it will ever be anywhere near as entertaining and engaging as Communicore in it's day, a giant Starbucks, and Club Cool combined...because that was what was sacrificed for this thing that no one seems to really know anything about...

Journey of Water is an attraction. It is more than just a splash pad and yes, splash pads are generally considered to be an attraction. What it is not is something that when added to the Festival Center will take up the entire CommuniCore West footprint.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Transformers is exactly like Spiderman. Same ride system, same formul, same 3d system etc, the difference is story. Transformers sucks because Michael Bay sucks.

Rat is so tame, it's literally the polar opposite of Transformers.

The difference is not story. Both of them have no real story, moreso a premise to set up the action, and present a series of villains attacking you.

The actual difference is pacing. Spider-Man has a proper slow start and cinematic buildup, but Transformers is chaotic the entire time. Spider-man also uses the screens as extensions of a physical set until the finale, whereas most of Transformers utilizes the screens to convey fast movement with only minimal setpieces in between.

But that said, while these are elements I criticize on other Universal attractions (like Gringotts, for instance), I feel that it just works for Transformers. It feels exactly like the chaotic battle it's portraying.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

When I rode Ratatouille the woman in front of me cried tears of joy and I couldn't help but roll my eyes because yes, I do believe there is merit to the idea that many, many people are so deep into the Disney brand that they've made it their entire lifestyle that, yes, they might proclaim that a lazy, low effort, middling kiddie ride that doesn't belong at Epcot is "Great, actually."

I am critical of a lot of things Disney is doing lately, but do you really roll your eyes and look down on people enjoying attractions you don't when you go to the parks?

You do realise that a lot of people would roll their eyes at you for liking Disney theme parks at all? This attitude reminds me a lot of screenwriter Julian Zimet's lament for people enjoying The Jungle Cruise writing in 1958 for The Nation:

"But the overwhelming feeling that one carries away is sadness for the empty lives which accept such tawdry substitutes. On the river boat, I heard a woman exclaim glowingly to her husband, “What imagination they have!” He nodded, and the pathetic gladness that illuminated his face as a papier-maché crocodile sank beneath the muddy surface of the ditch was a grim indictment of the way of life for which this feeble sham represented escape and adventure."

 

[Tom Morrow]

I am critical of a lot of things Disney is doing lately, but do you really roll your eyes and look down on people enjoying attractions you don't when you go to the parks?

You do realise that a lot of people would roll their eyes at you for liking Disney theme parks at all?

No, I normally don't, I promise. Cry at fireworks shows and whatnot all you want. This particular moment was particularly jarring to me, like you'd have to be really, really deep into the Disney brand rabbit hole to extract that much emotion out of such a filler of an attraction. It extends to a bigger trend we've seen over the last half-decade - an increase of Disney "lifestylers" in the parks who just absolutely eat up any cutesy character thing the parks put out now but also probably thought IllumiNations and Great Movie Ride were "boring".

In other words, it was one of many moments I've had lately where it struck me that the parks are increasingly not catering to theme park lovers but rather just Disney brand addicts.

The people that roll their eyes for liking Disney theme parks at all typically have never been or never had a grasp on what makes/made them great. They believe it's "JuSt FoR KiDs" and "a bunch of corporate crap." The irony is that that is becoming more and more true when it didn't used to be.

 

[UNCgolf]

No one, anywhere, argues that Transformers is better than Spider-Man. But I also contend that no theme park nerds would complain about Transformers if Spider-Man didn't exist. Yet, to argue that RAT is objectively better rather than it vs. just preferring it for personal taste? Yeah, pixie-duster title is earned.

I haven't been on Ratatouille, but it doesn't look like something I'll enjoy since it's heavily screen based.

With that said, Transformers is terrible.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I feel that it just works for Transformers. It feels exactly like the chaotic battle it's portraying.

Now see, you can't understand just how terrible Transformers the Ride is because you've been trained by theme park elitists that a ride is good depending on how well it represents its IP. And since the Transformer movies are a frenetic mess and the Transformers ride is also a frenetic mess, you've been hoodwinked into thinking that that makes the ride into something good. Only a Uni dino duster would think that way. You're in way too deep, there.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Now see, you can't understand just how terrible Transformers the Ride is because you've been trained by theme park elitists that a ride is good depending on how well it represents its IP. And since the Transformer movies are a frenetic mess and the Transformers ride is also a frenetic mess, you've been hoodwinked into thinking that that makes the ride into something good. Only a Uni dino duster would think that way. You're in way too deep, there.

At least they bothered to program the audio and video well on Transformers. Ratatouille looks and sounds like cheap crap, as if they just installed it without tweaking it and said "good enough". And if we're going to criticize Transformers for being an inferior version of Spider-Man, that applies here as well since it's a far inferior version of MMRR and RotR which use the same ride system.

Also it's funny because I get accused of being a Disney pixie-duster in the Universal subforum. I guess "you're a fanboy for (the other park)" is just our default go-to insult when we don't agree with something, isn't it?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

How long before Journey of Water becomes Journey of Planter?

Moana: Water fell from they sky, and gave these plants life. The journey of water!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I have been on Ratatouille. It is fine...for Disney Studios Paris.

EPCOT deserved better. Without the restaurant, it's not even the full experience.

 

[DisneyGentlemanV2.0]

How long before Journey of Water becomes Journey of Planter?

Moana: Water fell from they sky, and gave these plants life. The journey of water!

Right now it looks more the the Odyssey of Dirt.

 

[Andrew C]

I have been on Ratatouille. It is fine...for Disney Studios Paris.

EPCOT deserved better. Without the restaurant, it's not even the full experience.

They have F&B covered in the France pavilion