News Remy's Ratatouille Adventure coming to Epcot

[lazyboy97o]

They don't own any of the Disney products and are only licensing to use them in their parks so like I said they barely have a say. OLC is not in the business of designing theme parks but people seem to believe Disney let's them do what they want as far as adding new attractions when in reality they have to consult with Imagineering to create them.

Where do you think the concept for Tokyo DisneySea came from because it wasn't from thin air but from California and you guys got DCA instead.

At best you just don’t understand how the process works. Once again, having to hire Walt Disney Imagineering does not mean having to accept whatever they do without any input. The Oriental Land Company decides when to build a new attraction, where to build new attractions and approves all concepts developed by Walt Disney Imagineering. If the Oriental Land Company does not like Walt Disney Imagineering’s ideas they do not have to buy it.

@Mr. Johnson citing the second gate is a great example. Michael Eisner adamantly wanted a Disney-MGM Studios park to be the second gate at what would become the Tokyo Disney Resort. The Oriental Land Company flatly said “No, we want something unique” and that was it. Walt Disney Imagineering designed Tokyo DisneySEA because it is what the Oriental Land Company wanted. Before that, in the late-1970s the opposite happened. Disney wanted to create all new attractions and designs for an all new Disneyland but the Oriental Land Company primarily wanted copies from Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

 

[eddie104]

At best you just don’t understand how the process works. Once again, having to hire Walt Disney Imagineering does not mean having to accept whatever they do without any input. The Oriental Land Company decides when to build a new attraction, where to build new attractions and approves all concepts developed by Walt Disney Imagineering. If the Oriental Land Company does not like Walt Disney Imagineering’s ideas they do not have to buy it.

@Mr. Johnson citing the second gate is a great example. Michael Eisner adamantly wanted a Disney-MGM Studios park to be the second gate at what would become the Tokyo Disney Resort. The Oriental Land Company flatly said “No, we want something unique” and that was it. Walt Disney Imagineering designed Tokyo DisneySEA because it is what the Oriental Land Company wanted. Before that, in the late-1970s the opposite happened. Disney wanted to create all new attractions and designs for an all new Disneyland but the Oriental Land Company primarily wanted copies from Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

Ultimately all I'm trying to say is that OLC is not this magical savior for Disney Parks and people praising them needlessly all the time is not healthy and fuels this really weird obsession. Just because they may provide bigger budgets occasionally or have some input does not mean it is going to result in a better attraction.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

^^^ But it usually does result in better attractions.

 

[marni1971]

OLC really has no say how a ride turns out Disney Imagineering handles all of that..

Nope. The OLC order an attraction to their specification. WDI then have the monopoly to supply it for then.

 

[marni1971]

Knowing OLC in Tokyo, the new BTATB ride won’t have these problems and will be amazing. Makes me wish we got that instead of Rat..

We nearly did.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I wish we did. Maybe one day as Fantasyland expansion.

 

[AKL2003]

I wish we did. Maybe one day as Fantasyland expansion.

Such a missed opportunity when they expanded Fantasyland originally...along with adding that extra scene/length to Mine Train but i digress...

 

[HauntedPirate]

We nearly did.

Another fine example of "Value engineering", courtesy of the big brains in Burbank and Orlando. "You don't know what you want, we know what you want."

 

[180º]

I’m sure BATB will be an amazing ride, but the IP is a much poorer fit for World Showcase. Ratatouille is overtly French and takes place in the present. Beauty and the Beast name drops France twice, making it only slightly better than pretending Frozen is adequate representation for Norway.

 

[Bocabear]

Rat is a best case scenario for a Disney Film based attraction in EPCOT... I am curious if the footprint for the Enchanted Waste of Time with Belle and the restaurant is large enough to accomodate the ride they are building for BATB... Thopugh I imagine they would not want to lose that Restaurant revenue which must be huge based on the difficulty in getting a reservation.

 

[geekza]

Beauty and the Beast name drops France twice, making it only slightly better than pretending Frozen is adequate representation for Norway.

True, but Frozen never mentions any country besides its imaginary one. It just happens to have adopted much of its artistic design choices from Scandinavia.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to riding FEA next month. The videos I've seen make it look like a fun, if a bit truncated, dark ride with great AA figures. Does it belong in Norway? Heck no. I'd rather they'd have done a Frozen ride in the old Snow White building in Fantasyland where it would have been more appropriate. That longboat has sailed, sadly.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Why not add the B&TB ride attached to the back of the restaurant- with a walkway to a special front of the line pass for those who finish their meal at Be Our Guest? For those new prices, there needs to be a BIG incentive for me to eat there again.
(Corrected for clarification)

 

[jaxonp]

Rat is unquestionably a better choice than BatB regardless of how good a ride is or not. BatB is complete fantasy and should only have a home in MK. Rat is a celebration of what the French cherish most and that's food. Epcot and France represent both. Rat was the right choice. Now if we want to talk about adding BatB to MK as an addition somewhere in NFL then so be it. That sounds great!

 

[Bocabear]

Why not add the B&TB ride to the back of the restaurant- with a special front of the line pass for those who finish their meal at Be Our Guest? For those new prices, there needs to be a BIG incentive for me to eat there again.

I have eaten there for lunch, and yes, the main dining room and West Wing are very beautiful, but they did nothing for sound abatement in the main dining room and it is ridiculkously loud...Can't imagine trying to enjoy an expensive table service meal in that mayhem of screaming children and clattering trays. I would much rather have aA beautifully done E ticket attractiono there.

 

[jaxonp]

I have eaten there for lunch, and yes, the main dining room and West Wing are very beautiful, but they did nothing for sound abatement in the main dining room and it is ridiculkously loud...Can't imagine trying to enjoy an expensive table service meal in that mayhem of screaming children and clattering trays. I would much rather have aA beautifully done E ticket attractiono there.

Etickets don't make more though.

 

[geekza]

BatB is complete fantasy and should only have a home in MK. Rat is a celebration of what the French cherish most and that's food.

Your points about Ratatouille are correct, however I'd argue that it is just as much of a complete Fantasy as BatB. It's just one that happens to take place in a time period closer to our own.

 

[geekza]

I have eaten there for lunch, and yes, the main dining room and West Wing are very beautiful, but they did nothing for sound abatement in the main dining room and it is ridiculkously loud...Can't imagine trying to enjoy an expensive table service meal in that mayhem of screaming children and clattering trays. I would much rather have aA beautifully done E ticket attractiono there.

I don't imagine that the evening menu appeals much to kids anyway. The whole "Fine Dining" prix fixe dinner thing is simply yet another way for Disney to milk extra money out of an existing space whilst making people feel like they're getting something special by paying more.

 

[jaxonp]

One thing is clear. Disney seems committed to Rat. He is a big part of Food and Wine this year. I just hope they don't touch the restaurants in France to make them synergize ( is that right ) with the new attraction.

 

[Bocabear]

Your points about Ratatouille are correct, however I'd argue that it is just as much of a complete Fantasy as BatB. It's just one that happens to take place in a time period closer to our own.

While a complete fantasy, it takes place in present day in a very established location of Paris and the French countryside... Everything about it screams FRANCE... So thematically it is a perfect fit and a little bit of fun for the World Showcase... I think it is a better fit than Where Is Donald...though Coco would be on point as an integration of characters in World Showcase...

 

[danheaton]

Your points about Ratatouille are correct, however I'd argue that it is just as much of a complete Fantasy as BatB. It's just one that happens to take place in a time period closer to our own.

I think the big difference is that Ratatouille takes place in Paris, which connects the attraction directly to the pavilion with the Eiffel Tower. Despite having connections to French, BatB feels more like it could take place in any enchanted land. Yes, they are both fantasies, but at least the setting seems to fit better. It's splitting hairs I know.