Well, there's good news (sort of) coming out of Glendale these days. A budget has finally been approved for the redo of DCA's "Superstar Limo" attraction. Which is why -- in early 2005 -- the Imagineers will begin gutting that show building in that the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area to make way for a new "Monsters, Inc." themed dark ride.
"So why is this only just (sort of) good news?," you ask. Because the budget that's been approved for this new "Monsters, Inc." attraction is actually a tiny one. Which is why this is really just going to a rehab, folks. NOT a brand new state-of-the-art ride which will help relaunch the still-struggling California Adventure theme park.
The current plans call for the existing "Superstar Limo" ride system -- with its bus bars & six passenger cars -- to remain in place. Everything else (I.E. The gaudy Hollywood sets, the minimatronic celebrities) will be torn out. Once that's done, WDI will build DCA's new "Monsters, Inc." themed dark ride around the pre-existing track layout.
In short, this is "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin" revisited. You know, the original version of that now-cloned Tomorrowland dark ride? The one that was built on the bare bones of Disney World's old "Take Flight" attraction?
So -- no -- we're not talking about a bells-and-whistles "Monsters, Inc." ride here. This version of the attraction WON'T feature that brand-new ride system that was supposedly field-tested after-hours at Disneyland's "Peter Pan's Flight " ride a few months back. Nor are we talking about an attraction that will feature full-blown Audio Animatronic figures. The way I hear it, DCA's "Monsters, Inc." will adher to dark ride traditions. Which means that the attraction will feature a few fully-sculpted figures with limited movement which will then stand in front of a lot of painted flats.
Which (I know) is going to upset a lot of you Disneyland Resort fans out there. Who were really hoping that California Adventure would get this kick-______ "Monsters, Inc." ride. Which would be WDI's way of making it up for foisting "Superstar Lame-o" ... er ... "Limo" on us in the first place.
But that's just not in the cards right now, folks. Given the current situation at the Walt Disney Company (With Eisner supposedly on his way out. Though no one knows for sure when Uncle Mike is actually going to make his exit. More importantly, who exactly is going to replace Disney's CEO), this is a time for caution. No one with WDI wants to be the guy who blows through a lot of dough building a state-of-the-art attraction right now. Out of concern that Disney's new CEO (whoever that might be) might not approve of big ticket items. Which might result in some poor Imagineer ( Like -- say, for example -- the guy who's in charge of the "Superstar Limo" redo project) ultimately losing their job.
So -- in the end -- WDI opted to take the cautious & cost concious route with DCA's new "Monsters, Inc." ride. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the Imagineers are supposedly going to try & follow the "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin" roadmap. Which (as you'll recall) took a tired old Tomorrowland attraction and turned that into one of the most popular rides to ever operate at WDW's Magic Kingdom.
"How popular?," you query. So popular that Tokyo Disneyland got its very own clone of this Tomorrowland attraction (Though with a slightly different name: "Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters") back in April of this year. The original Disneyland is also scheduled to open its own version of this Disney World favorite (also with that new "Astro Blasters" name) in May of 2005, while the Hong Kong Disneyland version (also with the "Astro Blasters" addendum) is slated to open in September of 2005.
Now, I know, I know. The folks at Disneyland Paris are now starting to feel left out of this "Buzz Lightyear" lovefest. Not to worry. I'm told that a site has already been chosen in Discoveryland (Though I hear that -- for a while there -- "Buzz" was originally scheduled to be built over at Walt Disney Studios. Not because "Astro Blasters" would necessarily have been a good fit for that movie-themed theme park. But -- rather -- because WDS is still woefully short on rides & attractions. Anywho ... ). Actual construction could get underway as early as late 2005. Which means that the Parisian version of "Astro Blasters" could be up & running by late 2006 / early 2007.
("What's the deal with all these new versions of the Buzz Lightyear ride being called 'Astro Blasters" instead of 'Space Ranger Spin' ?," you ask. Well ... To be honest, that's because the whole spinning aspect of the attraction is being played down in the newer versions of the attraction. Yes, your "Astro Blaster" vehicle will still be capable of movement so that you can target all of those Z's in the attraction. But what Disney is really looking to emphasize with all these new "Buzz Lightyear" clones is the ride's new on-line interactive feature. Which means that not only can the people in the park enjoy the attraction, but that Disneyana fans at home in front of their computers can also get in on the "Astro Blasting" fun.
We'll talk more about how the Walt Disney Company is looking to fold even more internet-friendly elements into its theme parks in a future JHM column. Which -- FYI -- will eventually include a virtual Magic Kingdom that I'm sure will thrill all you SIMS fans out there ... But -- for now -- let's get back to talking about that "Monsters, Inc." dark ride for DCA, shall we? )
So you see what I'm saying, folks? Just because a project starts out as a low budget rehab of a pre-existing theme park ride doesn't automatically mean that that attraction can't eventually become a huge hit with a public. Let's remember that WDW's "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin" started out with the very same limitations that DCA's "Monsters, Inc." / "Superstar Limo" redo project currently has. That -- while the Imagineers were able to gut the "Take Flight" show building, ripping out all of the pre-existing sets & flats -- they weren't allowed to do anything to the ride's Omnimover system. It had to remain exactly where it was. There just wasn't enough money in the original "Buzz Lightyear" budget to allow the guys at WDI change even an inch of that attraction's original track layout.
So WDI worked within those limitations. They rose to that challenge. And the end result was an attraction that's proven to be so popular with the public that it's literally gone around the world.
So will the same thing happen with DCA's "Monsters, Inc. ride? To be honest, I don't know. I'm told that the Imagineers have come up with a fairly charming storyline (Which is supposedly built around a "Monsters, Inc." factory tour -- allegedly hosted by Roz -- which is then disrupted when Boo gets loose on the scare floor. Of course, Mike and Sully have to try & corral their little human friend. And hilarity inevitably ensues). But will this California Adventure attraction ultimately have the same sort of legs that "Buzz Light's Space Ranger Spin / Astro Blasters" has?
The only way that we're going to get a definitive answer to that question is by waiting for 2006 to arrive. That's when DCA's "Monsters, Inc." attraction is tentatively slated to open.
But again -- just to recap here -- we're not talking about a full-blown brand-new attraction here, folks. Just a "Superstar Limo" redo with a fairly limited budget. So let's hope that the Imagineers can once again rise to the challenge and deliver a whole lot of show for a small amount of dough.
Your thoughts?
