This message board is about to become very interesting...

[Ghostbuster626]

Whats really annoying is that WDI has tons of concepts and plans for a sequel to Star Tours but it never got greenlit because Eisner wanted Lucas to cover all the expenses! I mean do you know how long ive been staring at "Star Tours: Tatooine Express" pins at all the WDW gift shops? Im a huge SW fan and I have been waiting for a new ST destination for so long now. I really hope Iger and/or Lasetter can mend fences with Lucas and get this project greenlit finally.

 

[imagineersrock]

I didnt say Mission: Space was a carnival ride. I said it was mediocre (as in "meh") ride. Although the technology in the ride is cool and gives you realistic sensations the ride itself is unimpressive in the sense it lacks story (uhh..so your in a futuristic space training center and your going to ride a simulator of a simulator...huh?), it lacks immersion, everything from the queue to the ride video lacks imagination. Its just very half a$$ed..you see what im saying here?

I enjoy most of your origional post, but I have to disagree with you on this one. The thing I love about M:S is it's immersiveness and easy to follow story. In my opinion, M:S has done a better job at creating that over-all experience than almost any other attraction to come out on property up until it opened.

You begin with an interesting queue; from the giant "wheel" to going by "mission control" it is informative, sets the mood, and serves it's purpose. You then move on to a preshow that also sets the mood and delivers the basic story. Moving on again, you get a second preshow that delivers the safety information while at the same time sets the mood even more and gets you pumped as you are assigned different positions. Finally, you go on the ride itself. It is well done, extremely immersive, and lives up to the hype generated by the preshow(s).

I think M:S is a very well done E-Ticket and I would never consider it to be "mediocre."

 

[dandaman]

I hardly think of Mission: Space as "mediocre".

 

[Ghostbuster626]

I agree with whoever said they need to remove the carnival attractions. I say totally gut out the Din0-RaMa nonsense at AK and put something else there. (I would say to put in the Excavator as origianlly planed however with Expedition Everest..another roller coaster would be redundant).

 

[SirGoofy]

I have to agree. Mr. Lassiter has me very excited about what could be coming out of Glendale in the near future. All the rumored attractions of the last twenty years? Think of the possibilities. They literally have their pick of attractions. And think of things that were once impossible, but now they can be made because of current technology.

One thing I hope WDI uses much more than they have is The Muppets. WDC spent all that money to obtain them, why not use them? Now, I'm not saying completely saturate the parks with them like what happened with Stitch, but there is so much that can be done with those characters. Maybe they'll finally build the Great Muppet Movie Ride. If not that I think a Muppet themed restaraunt would fit perfectly in MK or MGM.

 

[Sergeant Tibbs]

I enjoy most of your origional post, but I have to disagree with you on this one. The thing I love about M:S is it's immersiveness and easy to follow story. In my opinion, M:S has done a better job at creating that over-all experience than almost any other attraction to come out on property up until it opened.

You begin with an interesting queue; from the giant "wheel" to going by "mission control" it is informative, sets the mood, and serves it's purpose. You then move on to a preshow that also sets the mood and delivers the basic story. Moving on again, you get a second preshow that delivers the safety information while at the same time sets the mood even more and gets you pumped as you are assigned different positions. Finally, you go on the ride itself. It is well done, extremely immersive, and lives up to the hype generated by the preshow(s).

I think M:S is a very well done E-Ticket and I would never consider it to be "mediocre."

Have to say I completely agree with you. Mission Space rules, I was very surprised Ghostbusters said that because it is a very well done attraction that has come out recently.

 

[Pongo]

I happen to love the Lion King movie in The Land...

 

[tink81]

I totally agree with you. With Disney having a new 'Boss', lots of things that Eisner didn't like will probably become a reality. Let's just hope that he will bring more good rides. Also, i think that Universe Of Energy should be evaluated...the AAs in that ride are very outdated, and a new ride wouldn't hurt in there.

Can I just tell you that that ride has not had a major change shince the first time I waisted my time on it it 1980-something!? Enough already! GUT IT and start over with something that is coherent and, dare I say, exciting. I don't consider Ellen Degeneres and Billy Nye an "upgrade." Something more like the experience at Living Seas would be appropriate..kind of a walk through, see-at-your-own-pace not thrill a minute like TT and M:S. Just give us something.

 

[jackfrost]

One thing I hope WDI uses much more than they have is The Muppets. WDC spent all that money to obtain them, why not use them? Now, I'm not saying completely saturate the parks with them like what happened with Stitch, but there is so much that can be done with those characters. Maybe they'll finally build the Great Muppet Movie Ride. If not that I think a Muppet themed restaraunt would fit perfectly in MK or MGM.

Jim Henson was a genius, and making the muppets more prominent in the parks and around the resort would be great to see.

 

[SirGoofy]

Can I just tell you that that ride has not had a major change shince the first time I waisted my time on it it 1980-something!? Enough already! GUT IT and start over with something that is coherent and, dare I say, exciting. I don't consider Ellen Degeneres and Billy Nye an "upgrade." Something more like the experience at Living Seas would be appropriate..kind of a walk through, see-at-your-own-pace not thrill a minute like TT and M:S. Just give us something.

You don't find UoE to be coherent? I think it is masterfully done. It does what it's supposed to do: teach us about energy.

 

[Timmay]

I didnt say Mission: Space was a carnival ride. I said it was mediocre (as in "meh") ride. Although the technology in the ride is cool and gives you realistic sensations the ride itself is unimpressive in the sense it lacks story (uhh..so your in a futuristic space training center and your going to ride a simulator of a simulator...huh?), it lacks immersion, everything from the queue to the ride video lacks imagination. Its just very half a$$ed..you see what im saying here?

No, not really...

 

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

I'm very excited about this new apple-pixar-disney renaissance era. The fact that Lassiter wanted to be involved in Imagineering is thrilling.

 

[MuRkErY]

Get rid of Dino-Rama first, and we can go from there.

I would like to see Dino-Rama completely destroyed, and in it's place extend the proper version of Dinoland USA.

 

[jedimaster1227]

Is Iger close with Lucas? I hope so because Star Wars is an extremely under utilized property right now. There is just so much potential that Disney is just sitting on at this moment.

Oh man is he! Lucas is looking at airing his new Star Wars shows (Live action and a new animated show) on ABC or another Disney owned network. This is all because of Iger.:sohappy:

 

[TTATraveler]

Can I just tell you that that ride has not had a major change shince the first time I waisted my time on it it 1980-something!? Enough already! GUT IT and start over with something that is coherent and, dare I say, exciting. I don't consider Ellen Degeneres and Billy Nye an "upgrade." Something more like the experience at Living Seas would be appropriate..kind of a walk through, see-at-your-own-pace not thrill a minute like TT and M:S. Just give us something.

I will say that the Ellen's Energy Adventure version of UoE is better than the original in that it can be understood by a wider audience. The original UoE was very boring and very technical. The newer version does a decent job teaching about energy. It is also a great place to escpae the crowds and heat for 45 minutes or so.

I wouldn't mind if UoE was updated, but not to the extent that it becomes another TT or M:S or even stoops low enough to become a JIYI.

 

[Jheyman]

Anyone else curious about corrus's opinion on this????

 

[TTATraveler]

Change in management is definately a good thing and it sounds like the right people are on board and coming on board at WDW to make it an even better place then it already is. I sincerely hope that we don't see any more attractions replaced with character meet and greets and cheap carnival type rides. Let's breathe new life into Wonders of Life, do something with Timekeeper already, and bring something worthwile into the Diamond Horseshoe.

A change in managament over at DL has definately been great. Some of the changes there would be a good thing at WDW.

 

[Halfling418]

I love Ellen's Energy Adventure and Mission: Space....

But new additions sound exciting.

 

[Ghostbuster626]

Ok look here is a list of my problems with M:S :

1) Convoluted Story: We are supposed to believe that when we enter the ISTC we are 20 years in the future and we are hear to ride a simulator to see what it feels like to go into space. Let me ask you this...what the hell is the point of this sloppy (not to mention unnecessary) story? I mean why try to make a story when your just telling people up front your just gonna spin around in a simulator? It seems like they originally had a plan to tell a story with this ride but then the budget got slashed up (thanks eisner) and they just took the basic outline and just threw something together. I mean whats the point of those fake pictures on the wall in the hallway that say things like "first family in space" and stuff..it just draws a ??? in peoples heads and irritates me to no end. half a$$ story.

2) poor ride video: Then once you finally get on this much hyped attraction you'll notice how terribly fake the ride film actually looks. It looks like Pixar's rough CG tests from the early 90s or something. Hell my Playstation 2 can generate much more realistic looking footage in real time!

3) End seats: I dont know if they toned this down yet but as far as I know its extremly uncomfortable to sit at the end seats because thoes little a/c fans keep blowing in your face which gets annoying after five seconds.

4) Where is the interactivity?: One of the early hyped features of the ride was that the ride would feature interactivity to appeal to the "video game" generation. Well obviously any true interactivity was slashed out of the budget because I dont really see how I interact with the ride other then pretending to be space ranger and pushing the flashing button when it tells me to. Also, let me say something..I am part of this "video game" generation and I will say the reason Disney isnt interesting to people of my generation isnt because of lack of interaction..ITS BECAUSE THE IMMERSION AND QUALITY OF THE ATTRACTIONS ISNT THERE! There is a reason why rides like Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion are so popular while rides like Stitch arent. Anyway getting back to interactivity. Remember at the end of Horizons you could pick what video ending you wanted (majority rules of course)? That was real interactivity.

5) Totally overblown Hype: this pretty much speaks for itself but it really annoys me when Eisner goes around saying this is an "F-ticket!" ride and that its lightyears above any other attraction in existence. I think part of the reason I dont like the ride as much is because of people like Eisner overhyping a ride that has had its budget slashed in half (and then half again) and was poorly put together.

6) Ending? Im sorry but I dont consider hanging off a cliff and then a bunch of people poping up on the screen saying "congradulations welcome to mars!" an ending.

Now that I cant think of any complaints about the ride at the moment I will say what I like about the ride:

1) The Building: Its such a fantastic design and I love looking at it because everytime I do I notice some new feature on it.

2) Upgradability: I think this is the real key here. The fact that they can reporgram the ride and give it a new film. I know there is a rumor on screamscape that they are planing to give M:S a new mission every few years which I think is very exciting if it turns out to be true.

3) Technology: The technology used in the ride is great and really gives good g-force sensations. Its just too bad it doesnt have the video/story to make it a complete immersive experience.

Also keep in mind my attentions are not to attack or fight with anyone on the board. I totally respect everyones opinions however I wanted to explain why I feel M:S, while an alright ride, should not be considered a true "e-ticket" attraction.

 

[Ralphlaw]

It's all about money and sponsorship

Constant upgrades and improvements are wonderful and welcome, but they have to be paid for. Would I go to Disney World more if the pace of upgrades was doubled or tripled? No, because I cannot afford the time away from my firm to go more than once a year.

If a budget of $2,000,000.00 per year was spent on new attractions, would there be a corresponding $2,000,000.00 profit increase at Disney World? I doubt it. Not everyone rabidly follows Disney World like those of us in WDWMagic.com, and hungers for constant new attractions. Most people every year would go even if there were no improvements and new attractions for several years in a row. Disney has to financially balance the cost of innovation with the bottom-line profitability, while staying close to the cutting edge so people keep coming. That means that an Expedition Everest happens every few years, and Dinoland temporarily keeps the little kids happy until something better can be budgeted to take its place.

That being said, a flood of improvements would be great. If they can find the money, and/or the sponsorship from foreign governments and/or big companies, let's go!