News Remy's Ratatouille Adventure coming to Epcot

[Bocabear]

nor were they ever really planning something that huge....the attractions that are being added were actually necessary to keep attendance up in parks that have been left to languish for far too long...
They made some big announcements that didn't add up to much and then cancelled a lot of it and deferred the rest... Those are not that actions of a company wanting to make the biggest splash in history for their anniversary... They are getting by...

 

[marni1971]

Previews and "soft openings" have an important benefit: Make sure there are no glitches on October 1st. Grand Opening is a media event, you want to make sure the ride is operating somewhat efficiently by then.

Imagine the October 1st headline for Disney's 50th Anniversary, "50th Anniversary Marred by Breakdown leaving guests stranded for hours on Disney's newest ride"

I'd therefore expect some level of operation before October 1st.. though it might just be a few hours, a few days before.

Or your media event is the week before?

 

[llrain]

Got a strong feeling that park hopping will be turned off on Oct1 so those that are in the official 50th park(mk), will not be allowed to double dose and head to epcot for the ride. Giving those who wanted to do MK that day but got bumped away a treat for choosing Epcot. At this point if I were going Id honestly choose EPCOT over MK on Oct 1.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You can't have a soft opening without staff to run the attraction.

And they're not going to pay to have staff there in August to open a ride in October.

Soft Openings are for when a ride is finished early and the staff is fully trained early. Which is a few days to a week ahead of time.

The Rat staff have been trained (and redeployed) and the ride is finished. All the requirements to do a soft opening now. But since they're not doing a soft opening now... there's no reason to expect one later.

Soft openings are about getting in experience with actual people. They are always desired, not just a random bonus. There have been instances in the past of attractions that were soft open in name only, operating all day at full capacity but it was before the previously announced opening day.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

nor were they ever really planning something that huge....the attractions that are being added were actually necessary to keep attendance up in parks that have been left to languish for far too long...
They made some big announcements that didn't add up to much and then cancelled a lot of it and deferred the rest... Those are not that actions of a company wanting to make the biggest splash in history for their anniversary... They are getting by...

Along these lines ... yes, doesn’t seem like they are trying to make a big splash or the biggest celebration ever. The truth is probably that this announcement just cements that they don’t plan on having anything else ready to go for the 50th and they moved this to that date so they don’t look foolish for only having new castle lights and Mickey costumes to celebrate. It’s more of an ominous sign that we have a long wait in front of us for anything else.

 

[IMDREW]

Still laughing how they keep shoving that one good scene of the fridge in our faces when they promote this

 

[marni1971]

Still laughing how they keep shoving that one good scene of the fridge in our faces when they promote this

The irony is it’s the only 2D projection.

 

[Brer Panther]

Meh, at least we've finally got an opening date.

Still laughing how they keep shoving that one good scene of the fridge in our faces when they promote this

Well, it's the only physical scene in a ride that's claiming to be a dark ride but is otherwise just a glorified simulator.

 

[IMDREW]

The irony is it’s the only 2D projection.

I do like that projection. Works very well imho. Was the original concept (like we see some more of in the Imagineering Story) that difficult to do? A whole ride like that fridge scene wouldve been a homerun for me.

 

[MrPromey]

But why? Who’s coming to see these new attractions? Locals? In 2022, when international and distant domestic guests (hopefully) start to return, they’re going to have Star Wars Land, Mickey, and Ratatouille brand new to them. That’s just the people that haven’t been since 2019. There are also tons who haven’t been for a longer while, so Pandora and TSL might be new to them. Why blow their load when they can bring even more people back in 2023 and beyond, after their 2022 (50th celebration) trip.

We are, after all, talking about the place that still acts as though SDMT is new.

 

[MrPromey]

my opinion is they want it to be the biggest celebration in the parks history. And want to play every card they have. Esp with epcots 40th and MKS 50th overlapping

In my opinion, this is really only important in the minds of fans.

I'm pretty sure if they could promote it as the biggest celebration in the park's history with a marketing blitz where they're able to slip in things that have opened over the last 5 years as part of it, toss up some flashy banners everywhere, maybe do a temporary castle show and offer some special up-charge events (and of course a new cupcake), oh, and Ebay-ready event merch, they'd be perfectly happy with that and I'm not convinced that COVID really has much to do with it, honestly other than providing an excuse.*

I know that sounds incredibly cynical of current management (and it is) but it's also not a new thing. Most of these celebrations are really just marketing excuses, anyway - anyone remember the 100th anniversary of Walt's birthday? That was right off the back of the millennial celebration.

*I mean, budgets really are tighter as a result but I think this is their thinking, regardless of pandemics.

 

[havoc315]

Or your media event is the week before?

You still don't want much going wrong at the media event.. whenever it is.

 

[TTA94]

Got a strong feeling that park hopping will be turned off on Oct1 so those that are in the official 50th park(mk), will not be allowed to double dose and head to epcot for the ride. Giving those who wanted to do MK that day but got bumped away a treat for choosing Epcot. At this point if I were going Id honestly choose EPCOT over MK on Oct 1.

If Harmonious gets announced for Oct 1st, your probably right.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You still don't want much going wrong at the media event.. whenever it is.

They could always pull a Star Wars Land if it doesn’t work out.

”And so, I hereby declare that...er...the rest of the park is open! Go enjoy Frozen Ever After!”

 

[ppete1975]

In my opinion, this is really only important in the minds of fans.

I'm pretty sure if they could promote it as the biggest celebration in the park's history with a marketing blitz where they're able to slip in things that have opened over the last 5 years as part of it, toss up some flashy banners everywhere, maybe do a temporary castle show and offer some special up-charge events (and of course a new cupcake), they would be perfectly happy with that.

I know that sounds incredibly cynical of current management (and it is) but it's also not a new thing. Most of these celebrations are really just marketing excuses, anyway - anyone remember the 100th anniversary of Walt's birthday? That was right off the back of the millennial celebration.

EXACTLY.... have a tv special... use it in all your ads... then use the footage for the next 10 years.. thats why i expect them to try and get everything opened

 

[ppete1975]

They haven’t shown any inclinations that it will be, Covid excuses aside.

camera angles can make small crowds look huge

 

[HauntedPirate]

camera angles can make small crowds look huge

All the camera work in the world can’t cover up management ineptitude, though. Or maybe it can?

 

[MrPromey]

All the camera work in the world can’t cover up management ineptitude, though. Or maybe it can?

No but they do own ILM... That group might be able to cover up something.

 

[YodaMan]

I could see them doing what they did with Galaxy’s Edge in WDW and doing a solid month of previews for CMs and APs. Everything was ready early and they bled off so much of the local demand by doing those previews with set time windows. I could see them doing similar for August and September and having APs and CMs schedule times to come and preview the ride so everyone is spaced out time-wise. Would make October 1 a lot smoother and still allow the ride to “open” well beforehand while it’s already ready to go.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I suspect this will have a v e r y l o n g soft opening schedule. Like months.