Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion

[Animaniac93-98]

I’m avoiding the spoilers, but it’s a bit fascinating watching Hong Kong’s FEA getting progressively more positive re-evaluation and this getting less. Looks like HK wasn’t screwed over after all.

I think many, myself included, expected DisneySea's Frozen Journey to be substantially better and different when it came to staging, length, pacing, number of effects/figures etc

The end result appears to be...not as much. It recycles a bunch of the HKDL ride and doesn't really add to it beyond being longer and even more of a literal book report (it's the most book report of any book report ride), which works against it.

It will be really amusing if TBA is seen as the superior attraction over Tokyo’s Frozen.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

I think many, myself included, expected DisneySea's Frozen Journey to be substantially better and different when it came to staging, length, pacing, number of effects/figures etc

This is one area that I do consider substantially better than FEA, along with the size and detail of the show scenes. Even the more intimate scenes like the coronation have a scale befitting the castle setting (the video really doesn't do it justice). But to touch on effects/figures, the AA count is significantly higher than FEA even with the missing scene and have an even greater range of motion. From a limited angle POV, I can also see a multitude of impressive effects unique only to this version.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think many, myself included, expected DisneySea's Frozen Journey to be substantially better and different when it came to staging, length, pacing, number of effects/figures etc

The end result appears to be...not as much. It recycles a bunch of the HKDL ride and doesn't really add to it beyond being longer and even more of a literal book report (it's the most book report of any book report ride), which works against it.



At this point, I wouldn't be surprised.

Based on what we know about Tiana at this point, I'll actually be surprised if it's not better than Frozen Journey. Partially because the info about the actual ride experience of Tiana sounds quite solid, and partially because Frozen Journey is such a disappointment.

 

[aleh021]

Based on what we know about Tiana at this point, I'll actually be surprised if it's not better than Frozen Journey. Partially because the info about the actual ride experience of Tiana sounds quite solid, and partially because Frozen Journey is such a disappointment.

Well I mean. Tiana is not a brand new ride. It’s a new retheme of an existing ride.

People are going to ride it regardless what the theme was because the ride itself is great.

I think people need to really hold their opinions on Frozen because we’ve yet to see a clear video of the ride itself. Or at least read reviews of those who have actually been on it.

 

[Bayou]

Based on what we know about Tiana at this point, I'll actually be surprised if it's not better than Frozen Journey. Partially because the info about the actual ride experience of Tiana sounds quite solid, and partially because Frozen Journey is such a disappointment.

It is not a disappointment.

 

[McMickeyWorld]

My review
I would like to clarify that this probably has a bit more bias; I'm a huge fan of many things, and one of them is Frozen. I know the story from A to Z; I've gone through the original soundtrack thousands of times, including the adaptations in Japanese and Spanish, as well as the albums from the English and Japanese versions of the musical. The only thing I haven't seen is the sequel.
So judging the attraction from the POV of bad quality that we have already seen: I don't think the story development is so dreadful, and personally, it seems to me that the conflict and possible resolution unfold in a more fluid and satisfactory manner than in BatB.
I interpret the attraction as follows: the trolls start telling the story to the Sisters through visions, we enter the cave and continue seeing the visions. We observe Anna's childhood incident. The images become more vivid, and the following scenes continue... I think this is a good way to present the facts and it feels more coherent than in Ever After. Now, I don't think the execution is so bad; it's not perfect, but there's no perfect attraction, not even in Walt's time or in the 90s was a perfect attraction created. I think a Trackless will be more intimate and work better for timing the scenes.
I believe the attraction would benefit from more physical props, especially in the childhood scene. It would be good to see some toys representing her childhood to enhance the more dreamlike and confusing aspect of the situation, as well as some projections of the parents taking Anna to the trolls.
One point I would like to bring up is the lack of artistic freedom to convey situations-feelings in a less literal or even more abstract way in current attractions and current movies. I agree that animatronics are missing in the coronation scenes and the frozen scene, but I think if extras were added like in the ending, it would detract from the sentiment and deviate from the concept. I would propose that a good option would be animatronics-figures representing silhouettes, representing the pressure with roots in her childhood and Elsa's own feeling of rejection felt in her respective scenes.
One thing I appreciate from Ever After is the reflection effect on the ice; in the conflict scene, it would feel more satisfying if instead of just being a vision projected on a flat surface, it would be the reflection of the situation bouncing off all those ice shards; it could even feel more dramatic.
the biggest 'crime' I see is that they abandon the trolls and Hans in the end. It would have been a better farewell if instead of just Olaf, it would be good to see Hans arrested and Olaf listening to the troll.

 

[mickEblu]

Based on what we know about Tiana at this point, I'll actually be surprised if it's not better than Frozen Journey. Partially because the info about the actual ride experience of Tiana sounds quite solid, and partially because Frozen Journey is such a disappointment.

I never thought where was a chance that FJ would be better than TBA. I would have said that before even seeing the ride through. It’s still a thrill ride with Splash’s bones that we’re talking about.

 

[BrianLo]

What if Tiana’s is a better ride than either Epic Universe one, too. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

 

[UNCgolf]

It is not a disappointment.

Yes it is. It's technologically impressive, but kind of poorly designed.

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

Peter Pan loading area. The vehicles look massive.

Spoiler

 

[UNCgolf]

Well I mean. Tiana is not a brand new ride. It’s a new retheme of an existing ride.

People are going to ride it regardless what the theme was because the ride itself is great.

I think people need to really hold their opinions on Frozen because we’ve yet to see a clear video of the ride itself. Or at least read reviews of those who have actually been on it.

It may as well be a brand new ride, though.

The ride system itself just isn't that important; the content is what matters. The ride system is admittedly more important in Tiana than in many other rides because of the big drop -- which obviously helps -- but that's not what made Splash such a great attraction overall. It's not like it was a 2 minute long ride where you went up and then back down.

I never thought where was a chance that FJ would be better than TBA. I would have said that before even seeing the ride through. It’s still a thrill ride with Splash’s bones that we’re talking about.

I've never really considered Splash a thrill ride -- the drop is obviously fun, but as I said above, it's only a small part of the overall attraction. If all the ride content leading up to the drop is mediocre to bad, then it would still be a mediocre to bad attraction, because that's the vast majority of the experience. An FJ that lived up to the best Disney E tickets could have easily ended up significantly better.

 

[Bayou]

What if Tiana’s is a better ride than either Epic Universe one, too. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Universal isn't as good at making dark rides as Disney. They kind of suck at it. I wouldn't be surprised, in fact im expecting it.

 

[Bayou]

Yes it is. It's technologically impressive, but kind of poorly designed.

I think "disappointment" is to strong of word for such a great attraction. While it does have many flaws, I wouldn't go as far to say it's poorly designed.

 

[BrianLo]

Universal isn't as good at making dark rides as Disney. They kind of suck at it. I wouldn't be surprised, in fact im expecting it.

I’d hope and still think one of the two will stand out! As much as I’m playing the contrarian.

I probably shouldn’t force the thread off kilter though more than I have.

 

[mickEblu]

It may as well be a brand new ride, though.

The ride system itself just isn't that important; the content is what matters. The ride system does matters a bit more in Tiana than it does in dark rides because of the big drop -- which obviously helps -- but that's not what made Splash such a great attraction. It's not like it was a 2 minute long ride where you went up and then back down.

True that many things made Splash great but in no world was a better FEA (and I don’t think FJ is better than FEA) ever going be better than TBA. A 10 minute water/thrill ride with 3 drops (not the tiny things they call drops in FEA/FJ) and nice ride layout with indoor/outdoor scenes. Yes we lost an amazing soundtrack and the interior will be a downgrade with fewer AAs but we know there will be a healthy amount of AAs by modern standards and PATF’s soundtrack isn’t too shabby. Hopefully the new tech and special effects are integrated nicely and also help to close the gap.

 

[mickEblu]

I never thought where was a chance that FJ would be better than TBA. I would have said that before even seeing the ride through. It’s still a thrill ride with Splash’s bones that we’re talking about.

I’ll admit thrill ride isn’t exactly the perfect label for Splash Mountain. It was just a lazy way of me saying exciting/ fun. The three drops (especially the last )are exciting. They re what make the ride highly repeatable and the cherry on top of all the other great stuff. Together the thrills with the music/ setting/ story/ AAs made it the perfect Disney attraction.

 

[UNCgolf]

True that many things made Splash great but in no world was a better FEA (and I don’t think FJ is better than FEA) ever going be better than TBA. A 10 minute water/thrill ride with 3 drops (not the tiny things they call drops in FEA/FJ) and nice ride layout with indoor/outdoor scenes. Yes we lost an amazing soundtrack and the interior will be a downgrade with fewer AAs but we know there will be a healthy amount of AAs by modern standards and PATF’s soundtrack isn’t too shabby. Hopefully the new tech and special effects are integrated nicely and also help to close the gap.

The hope (at least my hope) was that FJ was going to be something different than just a better FEA. But I think that's a decent description of it (although I don't think FEA is trying to retell the movie the way FJ does) and that's why I find it so disappointing. I've always thought FEA was a terribly designed attraction -- FJ is obviously better than FEA, but it has some similar flaws (and its own separate set of flaws).

 

[SplashJacket]

The hope (at least my hope) was that FJ was going to be something different than just a better FEA. I think that's a pretty good description of it, though, and that's why I find it so disappointing. I've always thought FEA was a terribly designed attraction -- FJ is obviously better than FEA, but it has some similar flaws (and its own separate set of flaws).

HK’s is a better FEA.

FJ kinda vaguely shares 3 scenes with FEA (Trolls, Olaf, and Let it Go backwards).

The trolls scene is the most similar, but the office scene has 4 animatronics instead of 2, and the Let it ago scene is far larger and more impressive, has a real animatronic, and has two addition on Al build up scenes that makes it far more impressive.

If FEA at Epcot is MK’s Pirates, HK’s is Disneyland, and FJ is Shanghai Pirates. They’re hardly similar.

Shanghai Pirates shares similar introductory scenes (blue bayou, caves, etc.) as others, but they’re very distinctly two different rides. These 3 scenes may be more similar, but the rest of the ride couldn’t be more different.

It’s not an upgraded FEA, it’s a completely different attraction.

It’s also worth noting that the best scenes in FEA were the Olaf scene, Trolls, and Marshmallow scenes, imho. If the whole of FEA was like Olaf it would’ve been substantially better.

Let it go is completely reworked so they’re honestly pretty dissimilar.

I’m all for calling out things when they’re bad, but this doesn’t seem anywhere class to being bad.

 

[UNCgolf]

HK’s is a better FEA.

FJ kinda vaguely shares 3 scenes with FEA (Trolls, Olaf, and Let it Go backwards).

The trolls scene is the most similar, but the office scene has 4 animatronics instead of 2, and the Let it ago scene is far larger and more impressive, has a real animatronic, and has two addition on Al build up scenes that makes it far more impressive.

If FEA at Epcot is MK’s Pirates, HK’s is Disneyland, and FJ is Shanghai Pirates. They’re hardly similar.

Shanghai Pirates shares similar introductory scenes (blue bayou, caves, etc.) as others, but they’re very distinctly two different rides. These 3 scenes may be more similar, but the rest of the ride couldn’t be more different.

It’s not an upgraded FEA, it’s a completely different attraction.

It’s also worth noting that the best scenes in FEA were the Olaf scene, Trolls, and Marshmallow scenes, imho. If the whole of FEA was like Olaf it would’ve been substantially better.

Let it go is completely reworked so they’re honestly pretty dissimilar.

I’m all for calling out things when they’re bad, but this doesn’t seem anywhere class to being bad.

I wasn't suggesting it was literally just an upgraded FEA; it obviously isn't that. It's that it has a very similar design ethos to FEA (which isn't a good thing) and similar flaws. Shanghai Pirates isn't really like classic Pirates in any way beyond being about pirates.

I also didn't say it's bad -- just disappointing. It looks like one of the weakest dark ride E tickets they've ever built. With the ongoing caveat that the video is of mediocre quality and wasn't of the entire ride, what it showed was something I couldn't imagine being willing to wait more than 15-20 minutes to ride.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

What if Tiana’s is a better ride than either Epic Universe one, too. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Better than Ministry of Magic? Probably. I'm guessing less screens and less potential for motion sickness.

Better than Monsters? I'm giving 50/50 chance, because I want Monsters to deliver more than any other EU ride.