Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion

yensidtlaw1969

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
BubbaisWoke said:
Exactly! As much as one can like this new BATB ride, can anyone imagine this big fantasy castle sitting behind the Eiffel Tower? I sure cant! It’s clearly a Magic Kingdom ride. RAT was a perfect choice for Epcot. Plus the repetitiveness of there already being a very small iteration of the castle in the MK makes even less sense. It would make more sense to expand upon the castle in the MK.
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I wouldn't expect them to have built the Castle in EPCOT, the way we didn't get an Ice Palace in the World Showcase Skyline with Frozen.

I doubt that they're giving serious consideration to building BATB at The Magic Kingdom, though I'm sure the idea must have at least been floated internally. It does make you wonder what they would do to negotiate the existing BATB infrastructure against it - New Fantasyland was very clearly not designed with this attraction or anything like it in mind.
 
montydysquith-navarro

montydysquith-navarro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
BubbaisWoke said:
I believe I saw that AA in the preshow. When the stained glass is telling a story, the Bell & Beast great(or meet I can’t understand the translation) eachother.
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Yup, both the Belle and Beast animatronics are used in the pre-show. Belle appears on the left balcony, while the Beast appears on the right.
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What's interesting is that based on the Disney Parks video, Belle is designed as a full-figure animatronic (while the Beast looks like he's only designed from the torso up as seen in The Imagineering Story), yet we don't see it fully in the pre-show. Maybe they initially designed her to actually move down the staircase, but they eventually cut it and limited her to the left side balcony then?
 
yensidtlaw1969

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
montydysquith-navarro said:
Yup, both the Belle and Beast animatronics are used in the pre-show. Belle appears on the left balcony, while the Beast appears on the right.
What's interesting is that based on the Disney Parks video, Belle is designed as a full-figure animatronic (while the Beast looks like he's only designed from the torso up as seen in The Imagineering Story), yet we don't see it fully in the pre-show. Maybe they initially designed her to actually move down the staircase, but they eventually cut it and limited her to the left side balcony then?
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The preview video of that Belle AA only ever actually shows her from about mid-thigh up. Presumably they just chose to continue her dress down far enough to over-account for the sightlines. It's possible that guests further back and on the other side of the room see more of the figure than the guest who took this video.
 
montydysquith-navarro

montydysquith-navarro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
yensidtlaw1969 said:
The preview video of that Belle AA only ever actually shows her from about mid-thigh up. Presumably they just chose to continue her dress down far enough to over-account for the sightlines. It's possible that guests further back and on the other side of the room see more of the figure than the guest who took this video.
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Ah, yeah, that's true. Let's see how Belle looks like from another angle when official POVs are released on Youtube.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
yensidtlaw1969 said:
Right? The only things that change over the course of the scene are the lighting, the snow starting, and the Beast revealing more birds in his other hand. It's completely devoid of action, excitement, tension, drama . . . not every scene needs to be Be Our Guest or The Transformation (WOW that Transformation!), but the scene feels awkward because it is.

This is part of the corner Book Report rides get backed into - it's a beautiful song, and a pivotal moment in the development of Belle and Beast's relationship, but it just does not translate to an aspirational event for the guest. There's no value to being there in that moment because everything that happens is internal. If the AA's were giving staggering, nuanced performances that invite you in to the characters' emotional states we'd never know, because the vehicles don't stop swirling to give you a moment to really connect with them. Not that I really assume that's what's happening.

In an ideal world, the attraction would not have been so beholden to replaying the beats of the movie and could have skipped this song in favor of a greater dramatic setpiece. That The Mob Song is so barely given room to breathe is really unfortunate - from what they did realize it's clear the potential is there for a clever, active, and memorable show scene.
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I think part of the problem is that Disney still thinks their Princess rides can't be scary, so we can't have a BatB ride with wolves, an angry mob or spooky castle corridors, even if that would make for a far more interesting experience.

They're toning down Snow White in California now after doing the same thing to the Florida version 25 years ago.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
yensidtlaw1969 said:
My complaint about Something There actually arose even before the ride stop . . . there's a whole lot of nothing happening in that scene. That they gave both Belle and Beast a full verse while nothing meaningful occurs in the scene is awkward enough, but the song extends even past that. I'm sure it's to account for timing other scenes need before the vehicles can move into them, but with so little business going on it seems endless.

Maybe the lighting changes and snow projections feel more impactful in person, but there doesn't seem to be enough activity in the scene to justify the amount of time guests are meant to spend there.
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I think what they could/should have done instead is turn Something There into two scenes -- start out in the library and then exit out into the snow. Even if the library was nothing but the room itself without any AAs, it would mean you spent less time just going in circles in the snow while nothing really happens. The library would at least be an impressive room to look at as you passed through.
 
ThemeParkTraveller

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
I think what they could/should have done instead is turn Something There into two scenes -- start out in the library and then exit out into the snow. Even if the library was nothing but the room itself without any AAs, it would mean you spent less time just going in circles in the snow while nothing really happens. The library would at least be an impressive room to look at as you passed through.
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It is indeed a shame they didn't include the library. Along with the ballroom, it's one of the most spectacular rooms shown in the film. The scene where Beast gifts the library to Belle is so iconic that I thought a book report style ride would be sure to include it.
 
montydysquith-navarro

montydysquith-navarro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
ThemeParkTraveller said:
It is indeed a shame they didn't include the library. Along with the ballroom, it's one of the most spectacular rooms shown in the film. The scene where Beast gifts the library to Belle is so iconic that I thought a book report style ride would be sure to include it.
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Yeah, I agree. Even the musical manages to merge those two scenes together and make it work (in the film, the library scene happens before "Something There" starts). Not to mention, it could make us see how the relationship blossoms and connect with them even before the balcony scene post-"Beauty and the Beast".


 
Robbiem

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
It looks interesting a very different type of ride.
Id love to go and see it as it looks like you need to explore the whole area to get the full experience.

my quick thoughts

like a lot of these rides, not sure how much you’d understand it if you don’t know the source movie (I have the same experience with Harry Potter - technically great rides but without a background you don’t always get whats going on).
The ride appears to take the heffalump dance area from pooh and expand the concept into each room. That was a build up of trackless and a real wow Not sure how good or bad this is (need to see in person). Does the wow build each time as in pooh or does it get blase?
the ride is big scenes without filler. Not sure how this works for storytelling or expereince, like others have said a bit like a modern universe of energy
A few key scenes/ characters are missing. The rides needs a villain, no gaston is a missed opportunity and starting with be our guest rather than belle (which might be the entry preshow in the whole experience I guess) is a little off. Interesting that beauty and the beast is with transformed prince so he isnt the beast anymore.
on a more positive note the ride looks stunning and the design really does feel like you in an animated feature

I’d love to see in person And it might be unfair to base on one ride through but for me I think Pooh‘s hunny hunt is still the gold standard
 
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Piebald

Piebald

Well-Known Member
BayouShack said:
God bless the cast members dancing around to the Baymax theme song.
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The CMs at Tokyo are one of the most impressive parts of the experience. As a former CM and someone who thinks generally CMs do a great job here, I feel like the lowest energy CM in TDR is still better than the average CM at WDW or DL (I actually found DL CMs to be unpleasant when I visited)

Their level of enthusiasm and energy was just...astronomical. There was a certain level of pride in every job I witnessed in Japan that is not very often found stateside..
 

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