Zootopia Coming To Shanghai

[dennis-in-ct]

Sure, there are some great vistas and skylines highlighted in the film, but those aren't the sorts of things that translate well to theme parks, which rarely have buildings more than 2-3 stories tall. Themed areas aren't built as vistas to be seen from a distance, but rather smaller areas to encapsulate yourself in up close. Think of all the city-themed areas out there: how many successfully capture the "big" elements of a city? Very few event attempt it, and those that do typically resort to unconvincing painted flats.

Theme park guests inhabit the ground floor of any given area, and designers often surround those areas with details to the point that few even think to look up for a skyscraper. It's a classic case of "missing the forest for the trees" with how parks tend to hide things above guests heads.

And when reduced to the street-level frontages and interior spaces that theme park guests will actually get to see, what's left? A pretty generic city with some punny signage and superficial veneers applied to otherwise unremarkable buildings and spaces.

Does anyone know *where* in the Shanghai MK park this land is going to occupy?
Aerial view with a circled expansion pad perhaps?

 

[Timothy_Q]

What kind of opening date should we expect for the new land? It would have been nice if this served as a 5th Anniversary addition, but 2022 still seems doable if they start construction soon.

2021

 

[RandySavage]

Does anyone know *where* in the Shanghai MK park this land is going to occupy?
Aerial view with a circled expansion pad perhaps?

Alright...
-Yellow at the gate was designated for a resort hotel.
-Purple were marked expansion pads, and currently are partially occupied with "temp" attractions (Marvel & Star Wars exhibits & Meet Mickey). Then there is the large Fireworks launch area at the top, which wasn't marked as an expansion site on the early documents, but could potentially be used as one (as in HKDL).
-Green areas were marked as expansion pads, are empty, but could only hold smaller scale additions, not a land.
-Red: the remaining plot marked for expansion, big enough to hold a new land: Zootopia, Phase I??

 

[Timothy_Q]

Alright...
-Yellow at the gate was designated for a resort hotel.
-Purple were marked expansion pads currently in use with temp attractions (Marvel & Star Wars exhibits (and the Fireworks launch area at the top, which wasn't marked as an expansion site on the early documents, but could potentially be used as one (as in HKDL)
-Green were marked expansion pads, are empty, but could only hold small scale additions, not a land.
-Red: the remaining plot marked for expansion, big enough to hold a new land.
View attachment 344193

Considering Zootopia is a mini land with a single attraction, I can see it taking up no more than half of the red plot of land.

It’ll be interesting to see if they plan on connecting the land to Pooh, creating a loop around 7DMT, just like on MK

 

[Fox&Hound]

So here is my question- without the walk around animal characters (which they could do to some effect with the larger ones), how will they create Zootopia as an environment? I looooove the movie but except for a giant Gazelle poster, wouldn't it just be a fairly empty city? I get how they have Tundra Town and Sarhara Square but the animals as people are the HEART of this movie. I just don't see it working.

 

[Fox&Hound]

As much as I enjoyed the movie, I really don’t think Zootopia is a compelling environment for a theme park setting. The best themed areas are driven by unique settings, but what made Zootopia a compelling film was driven entirely by the characters. Other than some punny names and visual gags (which DCA 1.0 proves does not make for a good experience), it not really different than any generic city.

Theme parks are most successful when they transport guests to new and exotic places, whether that's an idealized neighborhood, far-away destination, or imaginary world. This is similar to the issues that arise whenever people suggest areas based on the Muppets or Marvel: other than some individual characters, there’s really nothing to distinguish those worlds from the one we live in and experience every day. Once you remove the cast of characters and replace it with human guests and cast members, the elements that made the films so enjoyable disappear and all that's left is a mostly-ordinary setting.

The best themed areas and attractions rely on mood and atmosphere, rather that linear storytelling and dialogue. It’s the reason why “some non-descript roller coaster somewhere, that maybe is [themed like] India or whatever” is more exciting than a tediously-backstoried attraction like Dinosaur. Dialogue and characters often serve as shortcuts for designers to quickly give the audience a lot of information, but that information always seems to fit better when it can be developed in an organic way. They're great for film, but just don't translate well to the medium of themed entertainment, where everybody explores at their own pace and will likely only notice a fraction of the information provided.

I also think Zootopia is an especially poor fit in Shanghai, where presumably the overwhelming majority of park guests will come from China's dense urban areas. When Tokyo Disneyland was being designed, WDI intentionally included lots of wide-open park-like areas to make it stand out from the density of the city. This approach was repeated at SDL with the sprawling Gardens of Imagination in front of the castle. Replicating a bustling city at a park in a metropolis for people who live in big cities just doesn’t seem like a terribly compelling setting. Why bother paying for a theme park visit when you can just stay home and have the same experience?

You said this much better than I could, but I agree 100%. The characters make this movie and even how the characters interact with their city setting. Creating the environment without the hustle and daily life of the characters will just feel empty.

 

[BrianLo]

So here is my question- without the walk around animal characters (which they could do to some effect with the larger ones), how will they create Zootopia as an environment? I looooove the movie but except for a giant Gazelle poster, wouldn't it just be a fairly empty city? I get how they have Tundra Town and Sarhara Square but the animals as people are the HEART of this movie. I just don't see it working.

Like this:

It will be filled with people, way more than the concept art. The attraction will be where the majority of the animals will be.

It's not going to be very huge, I believe that culdesac essentially is going to be it, lined with storefronts that will provide the combo of shop/restaurant/washroom facility/M&G/probably ice cream.

It's pretty much a mini-land with an E-ticket attached.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Like this:

It will be filled with people, way more than the concept art. The attraction will be where the majority of the animals will be.

It's not going to be very huge, I believe that culdesac essentially is going to be it, lined with storefronts that will provide the combo of shop/restaurant/washroom facility/M&G/probably ice cream.

It's pretty much a mini-land with an E-ticket attached.

That's basically their point, though. The entire appeal of the cities in Zootopia for me was seeing how the animals interacted with their surroundings and the different concessions made on construction to accommodate the various animals of all sizes. Without the animals going about their day to day, you kind of lose the whole thing and the environment becomes a much less appealing one to visit, in my opinion.

A city full of people is just... a city. I live in a city. It's akin to TSL for me... a backyard is not a hugely compelling environment, and neither is an empty city to me.

 

[CanadianGordon]

I'm excited by the prospect of this, I just wish it was bigger. With more in it. At least they're doing something though with a movie made recently...

Looks wistfully at Big Hero 6....

 

[Timothy_Q]

That's basically their point, though. The entire appeal of the cities in Zootopia for me was seeing how the animals interacted with their surroundings and the different concessions made on construction to accommodate the various animals of all sizes. Without the animals going about their day to day, you kind of lose the whole thing and the environment becomes a much less appealing one to visit, in my opinion.

And Radiator Springs without the cars is just an empty roadside town

 

[IMDREW]

I'm excited by the prospect of this, I just wish it was bigger. With more in it. At least they're doing something though with a movie made recently...

Looks wistfully at Big Hero 6....

Big Hero 6 is getting... something..

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

And Radiator Springs without the cars is just an empty roadside town

Are we pretending that the cars don't regularly come out and drive around and meet and greet?

 

[TwilightZone]

Big Hero 6 is getting... something..

Yea a spinny.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Are we pretending that the cars don't regularly come out and drive around and meet and greet?

Are we pretending there won't be walk-around characters in Zootopia for M&G?

 

[lazyboy97o]

And Radiator Springs without the cars is just an empty roadside town

The specific residents of Radiator Springs and their businesses are established in Cars. The constituent parts of the town relate to known characters. Zootopia isn’t known as a place tied to specific characters, it is known through vignettes, many of which are visual gags.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Are we pretending there won't be walk-around characters in Zootopia for M&G?

I would imagine it will just be Nick and Judy, and that they'll be sequestered in a room somewhere, not walking around adding life to the area. The cars are actually atmospheric and you get to see more than just Lightning.

Not to mention that this is meant to be a bustling metropolis with thousands (if not millions) of animal residents. Radiator Springs is a dusty little town on the side of the highway that's populated by, what? Like, maybe 10 cars? I think there's a big difference between the two, but obviously ymmv.

 

[Timothy_Q]

The specific residents of Radiator Springs and their businesses are established in Cars. The constituent parts of the town relate to known characters. Zootopia isn’t known as a place tied to specific characters, it is known through vignettes, many of which are visual gags.

Are you unable to enjoy a land unless every single element relates to a character you already know?

What characters are the businesses in Main Street from? The ones in Frontierland, Africa, Asia?

 

[MisterPenguin]

I would think the attraction is probably going to bring you around to all the parts of town rather than a thousand tourists walking around and trying not to step on the buildings in a small mammal ghetto.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Are you unable to enjoy a land unless every single element relates to a character you already know?

What characters are the businesses in Main Street from? The ones in Frontierland, Africa, Asia?

Zootopia is made unique and interesting by it inhabitants. The other lands you list aren’t conceived of as vehicles for characters.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Zootopia is made unique and interesting by it inhabitants. The other lands you list aren’t conceived of as vehicles for characters.

Well if you can't see how interesting and unique the design of the city of Zootopia is, there's not much else I can say