@TheOriginalTiki
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Concept 1: The New Expedition Everest -- Hitting an problem area right off the bat, and one without a massive change, I like. I’m not sure how many cave-dwelling civilizations lived in the Himalayan mountains, but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief enough here based on the idea of the “wrecked” civilization being a great visual, and the idea that the yeti shows itself a little before the shadow effect is nice. I’d like to hear more about how obscured his head would be here, as I feel the drama of the ride, not seeing anything but a shadow until the final money shot at the end would be lessened if we see too much of the big hairy sucker at the beginning. I’d suggest maybe just a flash of fur, or maybe just done via sound and light (the Yeti is obviously barreling towards us through a cave, we have to move quickly before he shows up).
Overall, I think that the additional yeti encounter and the ruins would add quite a bit to the story of the attraction. I like.
GREEN
Concept 2: Roots - First off, I want to agree with something. I’ve never felt like a truly bad “Disney Parent” more than I did in Tough to be a Bug. My kid had already enjoyed, but was scared by, Everest, further was unnerved and scared by Dinosaur, and I took her to ITTBAB forgetting completely that it included the terror that was huge spiders (her biggest fear) dropping from the ceiling. Bad @@sshindel , Bad!
Now, the name “Roots” has an odd connotation that I, being old, cannot displace. I feel if I see a place called
Roots, with ties into Africa, being a good midwestern commie-liberal, I’m staying faaaaaaaarrrr away from it.
The idea of a restaurant being a feature here in the park weenie is an interesting one, I can see the interior of it in my mind, and I dig the idea (and I’m buying a drink from that bad-**** dragon bar for sure), but I can get African and Asian cuisine elsewhere in DAK, so I’m staying far away from a restaurant that I’m not 100% sure will not be associated with slavery.
RED
Concept 3: Ellie’s Conservation Station -- Ohhh how I miss the Skyway. What a simple, yet exciting ride. I’m all about anything involving Up. One of my favorite films of all time. I also share with you a desire for more South American representation. Being married into a South American family (wife’s parents were off the “boat”), I’m happy with anything and everything that brings South America into the parks.
I don’t think that the balloons would fly though. Goes directly against park policy (and a core concept of the Convservation Station:
“Balloons, straws and drink lids are not permitted in Disney's Animal Kingdom Park for the safety of our animals
I’ll have to wait for later to take your word on the train piece. Since they just include part of the train into the concept of the Harambe Marketplace, it’s a hard sell to ditch the train, but what I would give to fly under some balloons like Carl. I really would like something more grand for such a fantastic movie though, and this doesn’t seem to fit. If we can convince them to open a South America section to the park though, Up should feature it right next to the Amazon River boatride.
RED
Concept 4: Harambe Railway -- See, I didn’t have to wait long! I love the idea of a long train ride that gets me different views of the savannah. It also might open them up to some other animal exhibits that the safari trucks make difficult to hold, due to some of the more free-roaming aspects of the attraction. I’m in.
GREEN
Concept 5 -- Spirit of the Lion King -- Boy, wouldn’t certain posters on this forum LOVE it if we had an attraction that was shorthanded as “Spirit”...
As for the attraction, sign me up. I was hesitant at first, blush, just trying to conceive of an attraction like the Lion King in which the outdoor landscape plays such a part in the story, and turning it into an inside attraction seemed a tough sell.
The thing is, you sold it. You got the “book report” style dark ride correct IMO, not making it exactly a “greatest hits”, but telling a story also. You hit the scenes right, painted the picture of what the intimate scenes are and what the set-pieces are. I can picture the attraction in my head, and it would be a very successful one indeed.
GREEN
Concept 6: Hallelujah Trails -- Is it tougher to imagineer in a section of the park in which we currently have only scant details on? Let’s see how we do.
Editorializing for a second because it’s my post and I’ll judge as I want to (judge as I want to, juuudge as I want to), I’m a huge supporter of Pandora in DAK. I’m looking forward to visiting it, I’ve said from day one that done right (and only done right), this place is going to be spectacular.
Well, things like what you’ve described here absolutely should be involved in Pandora. It’s interesting to create a walk-through with AA critters. I wonder, would you do something to try and keep the flow moving? Even with lots of randomized events, if someone wanted to stare at an AA creature for long enough, it might break the spell that the brief encounters hold so well for us.
Still, walking around the natural habitat of Pandora is exactly the kind of thing I want included.
GREEN
Concept 7: The Jungle Beats -- Confession time, a two parter. 1) I LOVE the Jungle Book. Favorite Disney film, and a ton of that is it’s music. 2) I’ve never been really drawn to Ska. Sure, I had a few of the standard “big” albums that most people had, but it never grabbed me. My wife hates this and will go on and on about Ska and it’s tie into punk and how I’m an uneducated musical philistine.
That being said, it’s an interesting take. I’m worried that it would be over the heads of a lot, but I guess as long as the music was good, it would do what it needs to do, draw a crowd, bring up energy, and give people a reason to either sit down for a while, or get up and dance (in the hot hot Florida sun and humidity).
You could probably sell me on just about anything involving Baloo and The Bear Necessities. I’ve not 100% made up my mind on this one though, but realizing that my personal musical tastes do not represent a large group of the population, I’m digging the outside of the box thinking on this one. And if Ska doesn’t work out, it’s not like we couldnt convince Big Bad Voodoo Daddy or someone to rewrite it to swing or something similar. I do think that there is enough here, and it's such an out-of-the-box idea that I'm going
GREEN
Concept 8: One Sky Parade -- I like the idea of bringing different world cultures together for this parade. I think that DAK should try and focus on the animals instead of the culture though. Let Epcot handle the world cultures for their main theme. As a bonus though, when the 9 foot tall Na’vi come walking down the street, it’ll be a site to see.
RED
Concept 9: Dino Institute -- Confession number *whatever number it is now*. I unabashedly and unapologetically love Chester and Hester’s. There, I said it.
That said, in the name of the competition, I’m doing my best to remove personal connections or biases (which will be either a great gift or great disadvantage to the person who picked Epcot
).
I’m trying to set the scene in my head. Are we making the Dino Institute an island? Is it still located somewhere in the nebulous middle of the country that the current setting is located? I think it’s the island, so I’ll use that.
Dinosaur, I’m in on the changes. It’s such a good attraction, some quick updates can do a world of good.
For the other dinosaurs, are these walk-up attractions? Is it like a zoo, with animals inside cages? How does that tie into the nahtazu? It’s a college campus and a zoo together? I think I need some more details here before I give this one the green. Is a yellow light an option? If not,
RED
Concept 10: Primordial River -- I like the idea of a family friendly dino attraction. Heck, if you want to partner with me on ideas from my manifesto, I’ve got a stack of AA dinosaurs I’m willing to give you right out of Ellen’s Energy Napatorium.
It does seem like the Carnotaurus ending kind of goes against the family-friendly vibe the rest of the ride brings. Seems like it could be a little intense. I agree that the ride needs a little “conflict” to make it interesting, but maybe instead of putting a huge carnivorous dinosaur at the end, we could find a slight variation that might make it easier for kids to digest without flipping the F out. Either way, I think there’s promise here and a good addition to a section of the park that gets no love. Maybe modify the ending, or make sure it’s less scary and we’re
GREEN
6/10 Greenlit
