lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Their costs have risen out of control. Even after adjusting for inflation Pixar Pier cost more than Expedition Everest. Roller coasters in metal boxes are now costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Rumor Stitch's Great Escape Replacement— Don’t Hold Your Breath
- Thread starter Magic Feather
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
They spent more than that. Disney’s California Adventure was supposed to be $100 million but ended up at $150 million after the attempts to fix the ride.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
I think most of the budget was spent on the animatronics.
The Aracuan Bird
Well-Known Member
Mermaid also has an elaborate queue, animatronics, massive show buildings. It’s easy to see how they went over budget, even if the final product doesn’t justify it.
They could easily build lower tech smaller scale dark rides that are much cheaper. With limitations, they could probably create more cohesive experiences as well.
Disney Maddux
Well-Known Member
They could always bring back Extra-TERRORestial... Just saying...
Please, let me believe. I'm a huge HHN fan and thrill seeker, and man how badly I've always wanted to go back and try Alien Encounter. Pls Disney
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Where are the elaborate queue, animatronics and massive show buildings in Pixar Pier?
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
It cost over $100 million. It should have been an A+.
The Aracuan Bird
Well-Known Member
The queue isn’t, but the show buildings and animatronics are. Mermaid is one of the only “fairy tale dark rides” to have actual animatronics as opposed to just static figures with one or two moving parts.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
Although it is worth noting that there are still plenty of static figures with one or two moving parts in the ride. Mainly during the "Under the Sea" sequence.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
I was asking about Pixar Pier which also cost over $100 million.
The Aracuan Bird
Well-Known Member
Sure. But there are also plenty of expensive animatronics.
Beats me. I’m sure the pointless redos of the carnival rides, the signs, the chicken hut, and the modifications to the coaster add up, but I wouldn’t have guessed it would add up to $100 million. Does anyone know how much it would cost to animate a preshow?
Bill in Atlanta
Well-Known Member
Is this the consensus view? I always thought Little Mermaid was pretty solid, and our kids love it. Ursula is definitely a highlight.
i started a poll because we need to get to the bottom of this
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Opinions are varied. I think most people think it is "disappointing" more than "bad" - like it could have been better, especially (as noted) given the amount of money it cost to build.
At least for the MK, though, I think it serves a good role of being a high capacity people eater but not star attraction in Fantasyland which needed it. To me, it's better quality than the smaller older dark rides, though not as "quaint". The AAs aren't anything special, but they are better than the cardboard flats of smaller rides and the music and scenes are enjoyable enough. But it really suffers from being a very paint by the numbers "book report" of the movie and also has a rushed ending. In MK, it also has a very elaborate queue that seems to indicate that the ride will be bigger/better than it is, so it creates more of a setup to be let down.
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
The Under the Sea scene is pretty bad. It's supposed to be the centerpiece of the ride and it's got a lot of stationary plastic fish glued to the walls, spinning in a circle, or just kind of bobbing up and down. Even the Ariel animatronic doesn't look very good or move especially well.
Overall, though, disappointing is probably the better description. It's not absolutely terrible, but between the queue and the amount of money they spent on it, the ride should be far better. There are way too many scenes that look like they were done for cheap which is baffling considering the cost.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
Mermaid is not bad at all, just doesn't hit the E ticket that people were really hoping for. It is an E ticket Queue and a C ticket ride.
The biggest problem is really the closeness of the set pieces to the track... There is a lack of staging that causes you to pass the figures too quickly making it feel less impressive. The ride would be much better with more of an ending instead of a screen of ursula dying and then a wedding set... But biggest problem is the narrow window of each setting. It is way too compressed.
The biggest problem is really the closeness of the set pieces to the track... There is a lack of staging that causes you to pass the figures too quickly making it feel less impressive. The ride would be much better with more of an ending instead of a screen of ursula dying and then a wedding set... But biggest problem is the narrow window of each setting. It is way too compressed.
Dranth
Well-Known Member
Exactly this! If they NEED to slap an IP in there, go back to the original where Eisner wanted to put in an actual Alien. They own the franchise now. I loved that ride and let's be honest, Tomorrowland is missing a nice air-conditioned space that makes kids cry and gives them nightmares because parents can’t read.