Rumor Lion King Flume Ride being considered for Animal Kingdom

[monothingie]

Personally I’ve not agreed with most of the decisions made for the US parks in the last 5 years and more. But that’s just me. And I digress

It's the end result of having a company so poorly run, that they're left to squeeze every last drop out of the only thing can reliably sustain the company financially.

 

[Coaster Lover]

I wonder if they wait on the Mufasa box office results to make any move for the franchise.

Dial of Destiny bombed and that didn't seem to have any impact on their decision to retheme Dinosaurs to Indy.

Besides, Mufassa is coming out this year, any new ride would be 2026 or 2027 (well after any residual effects from Mufassa). If anything, I could see some synergy from the announcement of this ride at D23 (in August) being used to drive interest in the movie (as opposed to the other way around). It's the 30th anniversary of the original film, the 5th anniversary of the live action remake... coupling that with a new ride announcement and a trailer for Mufassa and you have the nice buildings of a "Lion King" segment for D23... if the ride opens in 2027 (which is reasonable), you can then synergize the ride's opening with the Broadway show's 30th anniversary.

 

[DisneyDodo]

That is true. I believe there was a plan for DAK that had a Lion King attraction based on the live action, of which this rumour seems to partially resurect at least the plot of land and the ride system. However, since Paris' attraction is based on the original 1994 film, it is safe to assume they will be duplicating the animatronic figures for the DAK ride if it ends up getting the go ahead. So if we get anything at all, it will be based on the original.

To my knowledge, the original plan was also based on the animated film (well, the one produced by Animation Studios, since they were technically both animated). I would think it’s very likely that Paris borrowed some of the animatronic designs from the DAK version, as the imagineers certainly would have had access to those plans.

Though it would have been very modern Disney to have built a ride based on the “live action” version.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I wonder if they wait on the Mufasa box office results to make any move for the franchise.

By the time Disney green-lights a sequel for a film, they’ve already determined that they view the IP as a formidable “franchise,” making it a good fit for a significant park presence. The BO results of a sequel are less relevant in that regard than those of an original.

That’s why we still see IJ coming to DAK and many rumors of Cars coming to WDW, despite the last films in those series bombing at the BO.

 

[mattpeto]

Dial of Destiny bombed and that didn't seem to have any impact on their decision to retheme Dinosaurs to Indy.

Besides, Mufassa is coming out this year, any new ride would be 2026 or 2027 (well after any residual effects from Mufassa). If anything, I could see some synergy from the announcement of this ride at D23 (in August) being used to drive interest in the movie (as opposed to the other way around). It's the 30th anniversary of the original film, the 5th anniversary of the live action remake... coupling that with a new ride announcement and a trailer for Mufassa and you have the nice buildings of a "Lion King" segment for D23... if the ride opens in 2027 (which is reasonable), you can then synergize the ride's opening with the Broadway show's 30th anniversary.

True but the focus of the last two D23's has been Dinoland.

Dinosaur doesn't have a draw and they realized Zootopia was a terrible decision. They have a proven ride at DLP using the same ride system and it's a convenient transition with some story changes then to go a different IP.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

To my knowledge, the original plan was also based on the animated film (well, the one produced by Animation Studios, since they were technically both animated). I would think it’s very likely that Paris borrowed some of the animatronic designs from the DAK version, as the imagineers certainly would have had access to those plans.

Though it would have been very modern Disney to have built a ride based on the “live action” version.

Might be some conflation here.

The LK attraction as designed for AK has always been based off of the animated original as far as I'm aware.

There were other proposals in a similar timefeame for Jungle Book attractions, based off of the "live action" remake.

 

[Mike S]

Sorry if I missed it but what type of flume are we talking here? Small World (no thrill), Pirates (mild thrill), or Splash (bigger thrill)?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Are there any ideas of what sort of quality/scale this would be? I know people have said "not E", but Disney's own classification (both public and even internal) has become rather unreliable in recent years IMO. We looking at more of a Frozen Ever After, or something more ambitious and lengthy? More physical scenery or projected?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Sorry if I missed it but what type of flume are we talking here? Small World (no thrill), Pirates (mild thrill), or Splash (bigger thrill)?

I hope one of the former two. To be honest, the park needs far more calm rides that can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. There are too many rides with height requirements or limits for people who have an aversion to thrills or have medical issues preventing them from going on thrilling attractions. That's one reason why I'm much more soft on Navi River than a lot of other people are.

 

[ToTBellHop]

As long as they avoid building an NC-17 ride with the look, we are good.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

We looking at more of a Frozen Ever After, or something more ambitious and lengthy? More physical scenery or projected?

I can't think of a precisely analogous example on property.

Without saying too much - Somewhere between FEA and PotC if they go with the Paris rote, and somewhere between NRJ and iasw if they go the bespoke route.

Don't read too much into those exact attraction examples, either. Because I know many of you will.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I can't think of a precise analogous example on property.

Without saying too much - Somewhere between FEA and PotC if they go with the Paris rote, and somewhere between NRJ and iasw if they go the bespoke route.

Don't read too much into those exact attraction examples, either. Because I know many of you will.

K I’ll work on some potential ride layouts and have a ride-through up on YT by 6 pm EDT.

 

[UNCgolf]

I can't think of a precise analogous example on property.

Without saying too much - Somewhere between FEA and PotC if they go with the Paris rote, and somewhere between NRJ and iasw if they go the bespoke route.

Don't read too much into those exact attraction examples, either. Because I know many of you will.

I know they're essentially meaningless examples for what the ride will actually be, but NRJ is so much better than FEA and POTC is so much better than IASW that the ranges confuse me!

 

[PREMiERdrum]

K I’ll work on some potential ride layouts and have a ride-through up on YT by 6 pm EDT.

This is the energy.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I know they're essentially meaningless examples for what the ride will actually be, but NRJ is so much better than FEA and POTC is so much better than IASW that the ranges confuse me!

One category has drops. The other doesn’t.

 

[UNCgolf]

One category has drops. The other doesn’t.

Oh, duh.

I forget that FEA has a drop because it doesn't make any sense at all in the context of the ride. I actually forget that POTC has drops too because they're not an important part of the experience to me (if they didn't exist it wouldn't affect the attraction quality).

 

[ToTBellHop]

Duh.

I forget that FEA has a drop because it doesn't make any sense at all in the context of the ride.

Elsa is kinda a B. I’d jump over a waterfall to get away from her clutches, too.

 

[monothingie]

As long as they avoid building an NC-17 ride with the look, we are good.
View attachment 779942

I thought they relegated all the furries to the Zootopia thing at the Tree of Life.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

One category has drops. The other doesn’t.

I'm actually not overly fixated on there being drops or not. I know it has been mentioned that apparently an earlier and more ambitious version of Navi was once conceptualized to include a POTC-sized drop. And while i'd have been happy to have this, the drop specifically is not what i'd consider particularly necessary. Nor is the absence of a drop among any of my complaints with the final ride. I just wanted it to be considerably longer and have more AA's.

Likewise for this rumored Lion King ride, it's the length of the ride and the quality of scenery and characters that i'm most concerned about here. It would be a shame if we only got yet another 3-4 minute ride that had a bunch of empty sets and an over-reliance on projection.

As an example, Tokyo Disneysea's Sinbad ride is sort of like if you built Small World but with a far more POTC-like scope and quality. No drops either, and doesn't need them. It's still spectacular. It's also quite long too, like 12ish minutes IIRC.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I thought they relegated all the furries to the Zootopia thing at the Tree of Life.

They had better keep the lights on.