Most expensive ride built at WDW.

[Craig & Lisa]

Tower is actually one of the most expensive attractions Disney's ever done. And it has NOTHING to do with the ride system. Think Lobby. Most of the pieces in there are genuine antiques dating back centuries. Only a few of those pieces are replicas and items made for Tower (and I'm talking like 5 pieces)

I know that Disney goes to flea markets and auctions and buys stuff like that all the time, if you want an example go to the 50's prime time and check out all the nik-nacks all over the place, ( and take notice that they glued down everything so no one take's them ) so when they do that they get them really cheap, in fact the boilers in the TOT basement are real, puechased at an auction from and old hotel. Yes some items are very old but I don't think Disney will go to the point of blowing a buget to go for realism, they are trying to make money and they do know that in order to make money you have to spend money, but there are limits.

 

[Thrawn]

Actually, I'm certain that Expedition Everest will cost $100 million to build because that's what's listed under cost to build the "coaster" in all the sites. Not one site says $75 million. Besides, the cost to remove land and build pathways is not included in a ride's cost.

I don't normally use "sites" to get information like this. I use Disney's own confidential financing information.

And the cost to build an attraction does include any nearby improvement work. Fact.

 

[Thrawn]

Frommer isnt really a good source for such information, nor does it state what that figure includes.

I've never even heard of frommer before I google'd looking for the cost, so thanks for the heads up.

 

[Thrawn]

Tower is actually one of the most expensive attractions Disney's ever done. And it has NOTHING to do with the ride system. Think Lobby. Most of the pieces in there are genuine antiques dating back centuries. Only a few of those pieces are replicas and items made for Tower (and I'm talking like 5 pieces)

Now that may be true, but by the same token you are now saying that Adventurer's Club cost Disney millions upon millions.

I'd agree that the lobby did add to the cost, but if its more than $5m total they got seriously ripped off, because people simply don't pay that much attention to it.

 

[Thrawn]

It was alot more than $220 M by then time they were finished...

Yeah, like I said it was $220m without the R&D on the ride system. So that can put a little higher or a lot higher. Tough to say. But thats why Disney had ETC develop the system, because then they didn't have to say exactly what they spent.

 

[Thrawn]

So if the money spent to grade the land would be included in the price tag of the ride, people should not say E.E costs $75 million, they should just go with $100 million period since it's included in the price and that is part of the ride also right? That would mean $100 million is the "offcial" price for E.E

No. For the fourth time, the total cost of Everest as Disney quoted to investors was $75m for the entire project. And that includes the area improvements.

 

[Imagineer]

Yes some items are very old but I don't think Disney will go to the point of blowing a buget to go for realism, they are trying to make money and they do know that in order to make money you have to spend money, but there are limits.

Actually, in the case of ToT Imagineers lost their jobs because of how detailed the tower is. Almost every item in the lobby are authentic from the era, I would say 90% of the pieces are original and 10% are replicas. The chairs alone cost thousands of dollars EACH. Sounds stupid to spend so much on something that isn't really recognized but it truely does add to the ombiance. Some of the items are replicas due to cost though. Also, the libraries only duplicate one set piece (a little devil box from a twilight episode), everything else in each library is completely different right down to the book titles on the shelves. Again, detail is VERY expensive.

Also, ToT has one of the most advanced ride systems to date and went through very intense testing wich added to its cost. Anyone else wonder why DCA ToT does not have the seperate lifts and horizontal movment? I was told MGM ToT was upward of $120 million total ($50 million OVER budget....why imagineers lost jobs for detailed props) So if anyone is wondering why the tower is so immersive and so detailed, its because it truely is an original piece of work with original set pieces from the era. I don't know if its the most expensive project but it definately is one of the most over budgeted attractions in Disney history.

 

[GenerationX]

You're both right about E.E. Yes, it's $75m to build E.E. However, Disney's contract with the Yeti calls for him to receive a $25m signing bonus.

 

[disneyracefan]

i will note that ive been on both tot,s this year and if they spent more then 50 million on dca tot they got ripped off its not half the ride that mgms tot is both in the ride and the overall look i hope they keep going over budget dca tot is a big letdown.

top 5 ride costs

1. ms

2. kilimanjaro safaris ahhhh everyone forgot about this one

3. soaring / dca /

4. indiana jones temple / disneyland /

5. tot m.g.m.

this info comes from talking to alot of cast members and employees at the parks

 

[WishIwasThere]

I will add my $0.02. I work at Otis Elevator Engineering in Farmington, CT...and I can tell you what we billed Disney for the project...$8 million...for R&D and our components. We also added our components to California's ToT. Just last month we had Disney Imagineers in house for over a week going over Paris' ToT. (Tokyo's ToT is built by Mitsubishi). So at Otis we still say we made the most expensive elevator is the world, and yes it is technically an elevator, not a drop ride...so it has to adhere to elevator code body....

two cents spent.

 

[unkadug]

..The chairs alone cost thousands of dollars EACH. Sounds stupid to spend so much on something that isn't really recognized but it truely does add to the ombiance. Some of the items are replicas due to cost though. Also, the libraries only duplicate one set piece (a little devil box from a twilight episode), everything else in each library is completely different right down to the book titles on the shelves. Again, detail is VERY expensive...

O.K. I have to do this ..call me the spelling police if you will, but Imagineer is a college student at Texas Tech and is not stupid (as he is an architecture major.)

There is no such word as ombiance !

A college English professor would fail a paper immediately for such a glaring mistake.

There I got that off my chest! :wave:

 

[CTXRover]

i will note that ive been on both tot,s this year and if they spent more then 50 million on dca tot they got ripped off its not half the ride that mgms tot is both in the ride and the overall look i hope they keep going over budget dca tot is a big letdown.

Costs aside, I was actually quite impressed with DCA's TOT, maybe given what some have criticized it about. I may be the lone ranger and actually say that I enjoyed the ride portion of their tower more :lookaroun I really don't think the horizontal movement in MGM's TOT makes it *that* much better. The initial backwards movement "into" the twilight zone really caught me off guard in DCA's. The biggest difference I noticed in DCA's is the much better use of sound and background music effects (the thunder in the library and on the ride is SO much better than MGMs) and the better, crisper images of the ghosts in the hallway were quite obvious to me. I was also impressed with mirror scene and thought it was actually a very good replacement scene for the MGM's 5th dimension. Another thing I liked about DCA's tower was that the bottom of the ride vehicles were open grates which let air shoot up past your legs and body as the elevator dropped. It sounds silly, but added a bit more excitement to the drop profiles. The ride system also seemed to allow the elevators to have much smoother, gravity defying type movements than MGM's which tends to seem a little too shaky at times (could just be the programmed drop profile differences though).

The one thing I did not like about DCA's is how "bright" everything seemed. MGM's exterior is MUCH better, DCA's lobby was too brightly lite and cheery looking for the omnimous tone the ride should set. The lobby was actually a big let down compared to MGM's larger appearing lobby with its vaulted ceilings. While I thought the boiler room was better detailed than MGM's...I again thought it was just too bright.

Overall, I think both are incredible rides and I really didn't get the feeling they "went cheap" on DCA's...even if they did(?)

 

[Huge Dreamer]

I don't want to cause a thread drift here but do you guys just like to argue everything Thrawn says? To me it sounds like must of his figures are about right but there is no way to tell because Disney doesn't annouce the figures.

 

[imagineer boy]

The problem with DL's ToT, is that its not aged properly. It looks like it was built last year, while WDW's looks like it was built in the fourties, and no one has done a thing to it since.

 

[CTXRover]

The problem with DL's ToT, is that its not aged properly. It looks like it was built last year, while WDW's looks like it was built in the fourties, and no one has done a thing to it since.

Yea, I would agree with that. That was the one thing I didn't like about DCA's tower. Even with the cobwebs, it looked just too clean/manicured..but I wouldn't necessarily attribute that to cost-cutting.

 

[Lynx04]

what are the lines like at M:S?? I went at Christmas time and it was bogged down (like every other ride), but when I went during spring break I got on 3 staight times. That being said was it worth the money spent?

One of the things to point out about MS is that it has a high ride capacity, that is why the line is never long. In some respects you can't judge a rides popularity by its line length. It is important to know what it's ride capacity is. TT has a really poor ride capacity which is why the attraction has a very long line.

 

[ImagineAtl23]

Well........

I dunno, i would hav to resarch but i could imagine MS and TOT being the most expensive, but EE may be more.

 

[kiawahman]

i heard the most expensive ride was stitches great escape

 

[jaredliu]

Costs aside, I was actually quite impressed with DCA's TOT, maybe given what some have criticized it about. I may be the lone ranger and actually say that I enjoyed the ride portion of their tower more :lookaroun I really don't think the horizontal movement in MGM's TOT makes it *that* much better. The initial backwards movement "into" the twilight zone really caught me off guard in DCA's. The biggest difference I noticed in DCA's is the much better use of sound and background music effects (the thunder in the library and on the ride is SO much better than MGMs) and the better, crisper images of the ghosts in the hallway were quite obvious to me. I was also impressed with mirror scene and thought it was actually a very good replacement scene for the MGM's 5th dimension. Another thing I liked about DCA's tower was that the bottom of the ride vehicles were open grates which let air shoot up past your legs and body as the elevator dropped. It sounds silly, but added a bit more excitement to the drop profiles. The ride system also seemed to allow the elevators to have much smoother, gravity defying type movements than MGM's which tends to seem a little too shaky at times (could just be the programmed drop profile differences though).

The one thing I did not like about DCA's is how "bright" everything seemed. MGM's exterior is MUCH better, DCA's lobby was too brightly lite and cheery looking for the omnimous tone the ride should set. The lobby was actually a big let down compared to MGM's larger appearing lobby with its vaulted ceilings. While I thought the boiler room was better detailed than MGM's...I again thought it was just too bright.

Overall, I think both are incredible rides and I really didn't get the feeling they "went cheap" on DCA's...even if they did(?)

I think mirror scene is way better than the 5th dimention as well. But, the show scene last a little longer because of the slow moving elevator, as a result it adds more anticipation to the droping portion.

 

[animal_king1990]

No. For the fourth time, the total cost of Everest as Disney quoted to investors was $75m for the entire project. And that includes the area improvements.

Can I have a source or something of where you got $75 million?