Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion

[UNCgolf]

Ministry of Magic will almost certainly be the most impressive ride in the world.

Universal isn’t obsessed with screens anymore, either.

I hope you're right, but I'll believe it when I see it. Universal hasn't built a truly great non-coaster attraction in a long time (at least in the US; I'm not as familiar with what they've done elsewhere). Probably have to go back to Spider-Man -- I know some people would put Forbidden Journey here, but too much of that ride is the really quite poor broom flight simulation which drags down the rest of the experience.

That's not to say all the non-coaster attractions they've built have been bad, because they haven't, but not anything I'd consider among the best non-thrill rides in the world.

 

[Bayou]

The rides at Epic Universe are so technologically advanced, that I think the success of those two rides really comes down to how well some of the effects that they are trying to achieve work in reality. I could see it either being kind of cheesy or extremely effective.

Where's all this info from? The donkey coaster's cool, but it's not groundbreaking tech. There's no evidence that these two other attractions will be groundbreaking in any way. In my view, Universal isn't quite on the cutting edge at least to the extent Disney is.

 

[TalkToEthan]

What if Tiana’s is a better ride than either Epic Universe one,

Which Epic attractions are you referring to?

 

[sonoma15]

Where's all this info from? The donkey coaster's cool, but it's not groundbreaking tech. There's no evidence that these two other attractions will be groundbreaking in any way. In my view, Universal isn't quite on the cutting edge at least to the extent Disney is.

Mostly from Alicia Stella at Theme Park Stop. I wouldn't say the Donkey Kong coaster is groundbreaking either but these two dark rides are not the Donkey Kong coaster. The main effect I'm referring to is

Spoiler: Epic Universe Ride Spoilers

that the Ministry ride and Monsters ride will both utilize projection mapped animatronics. Not the same technology as Disney as I believe the faces on Disney's projection animatronics are internal projections.

 

[BrianLo]

Which Epic attractions are you referring to?

Monsters and Potter.

 

[TalkToEthan]

Ministry of Magic will almost certainly be the most impressive ride in the world.

“Almost certainly”. Hmmm???
To be the best/impressive in the world it would have to fire huge on all cylinders:
Facade
Queue
Ride

And I can guarantee it will not be the best facade and likely not the best queue.

 

[BrianLo]

Which attraction would you give that honor to today? I don’t feel like there is a clear cut #1.

'Attraction' on the whole is probably Rise.

"Ride" on the other hand is extremely messy. Depends on what one is in the mood for, there's been a lot of good stuff recently.

Shanghai Pirates might be the front runner, it's pretty much all ride and not queue floof. But people like their animatronics.

Mystic Manor? RSR? Hagrid's?

Some might even say Cosmic Rewind. An aberrant Flight of Passage Lover. Definitely some supporters of Forbidden Journey/Spiderman. We can run old-school and say Pirates or HM or Tower of Terror (or Splash). You might even get a rogue vote for Sindbad.

There has been some falls from grace though. JTTCOE I think with time and fading uniqueness has lost its shot at being considered number 1 due to ride length.


Edit - Oh and Guests rate Kilimanjaro the highest I believe. I think that is incredibly under-rated on these parts when we think of typical rides. The best walkthrough attraction in the world is at Efteling-though depends how the entirety of World Showcase is considered.

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

'Attraction' on the whole is probably Rise.

"Ride" on the other hand is extremely messy. Depends on what one is in the mood for, there's been a lot of good stuff recently.

Shanghai Pirates might be the front runner, it's pretty much all ride and not queue floof. But people like their animatronics.

Mystic Manor? RSR? Hagrid's?

Some might even say Cosmic Rewind. An aberrant Flight of Passage Lover. Definitely some supporters of Forbidden Journey/Spiderman. We can run old-school and say Pirates or HM or Tower of Terror (or Splash). You might even get a rogue vote for Sindbad.

There has been some falls from grace though. JTTCOE I think with time and fading uniqueness has lost its shot at being considered number 1 due to ride length.


Edit - Oh and Guests rate Kilimanjaro the highest I believe. I think that is incredibly under-rated on these parts when we think of typical rides. The best walkthrough attraction in the world is at Efteling-though depends how the entirety of World Showcase is considered.

In terms of ambition and scale, I think Rise would also be the top. The technical achievements are mindblowing (when it was working 100% at least), but it's not going to impress everyone the same due to lacking a large number of AAs. Shanghai Pirates would also get docked a few points for lacking a preshow that most of the other top-tier attractions have. And going old-school we would have to include IJA for sure in that discussion.

 

[UNCgolf]

Edit - Oh and Guests rate Kilimanjaro the highest I believe. I think that is incredibly under-rated on these parts when we think of typical rides. The best walkthrough attraction in the world is at Efteling-though depends how the entirety of World Showcase is considered.

Kilimanjaro is phenomenal but I don't think it's really fair to compare it to "normal" theme park attractions.

 

[Disney-Universal Fanboy]

I wonder with Fantasy Springs on the way, since that area has a Peter Pan mini area, will Peter Pans flight close over at Tokyo Disneyland?

 

[mickEblu]

'Attraction' on the whole is probably Rise.

"Ride" on the other hand is extremely messy. Depends on what one is in the mood for, there's been a lot of good stuff recently.

Shanghai Pirates might be the front runner, it's pretty much all ride and not queue floof. But people like their animatronics.

Mystic Manor? RSR? Hagrid's?

Some might even say Cosmic Rewind. An aberrant Flight of Passage Lover. Definitely some supporters of Forbidden Journey/Spiderman. We can run old-school and say Pirates or HM or Tower of Terror (or Splash). You might even get a rogue vote for Sindbad.

There has been some falls from grace though. JTTCOE I think with time and fading uniqueness has lost its shot at being considered number 1 due to ride length.


Edit - Oh and Guests rate Kilimanjaro the highest I believe. I think that is incredibly under-rated on these parts when we think of typical rides. The best walkthrough attraction in the world is at Efteling-though depends how the entirety of World Showcase is considered.

My knee jerk reaction was ROTR too but then I thought of how I enjoy some of other attractions you listed more or how Shanghai Pirates looks more impressive. Your post kind of echoes how I feel. There really isn’t a clear cut #1. For a while there I think people had it as Forbidden Journey or Spider-Man at IOA. Having been on FJ at USH I’m not sure I would have ever given FJ that honor, even in the early 2010’s. I’d imagine in 95 and the late 90s people would have said Indy.

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

I wonder with Fantasy Springs on the way, since that area has a Peter Pan mini area, will Peter Pans flight close over at Tokyo Disneyland?

There are no concrete plans for that at the moment, but it wouldn't surprise me to see PPF re-themed or removed as part of a larger Fantasyland renovation. The upcoming closure of Space Mountain and Buzz has indicated OLC is willing to remove rides for the greater good (even opening-day ones).

 

[Stripes]

Ministry of Magic will almost certainly be the most impressive ride in the world.

Universal isn’t obsessed with screens anymore, either.

Mostly from Alicia Stella at Theme Park Stop. I wouldn't say the Donkey Kong coaster is groundbreaking either but these two dark rides are not the Donkey Kong coaster. The main effect I'm referring to is

Spoiler: Epic Universe Ride Spoilers

that the Ministry ride and Monsters ride will both utilize projection mapped animatronics. Not the same technology as Disney as I believe the faces on Disney's projection animatronics are internal projections.

Spoiler

The only reason Universal isn’t doing internally projected faces is because Disney has patented their technology.

So they’ve come up with a massively over-engineered solution to get around Disney’s patent. And if the lag between the movement of the Thwomp set piece and the projection mapped face on the Thwomp on the Mario Kart attraction is any indication, I’d say the effect will be ruined often.

That is a huge rectangular block of a set piece. It just moves up and down. And the projection mapping animation is often delayed compared to the set piece movement. It throws off the effect. I have to think it’ll be much worse when it comes to a dynamically moving animatronic.

 

[BrianLo]

Kilimanjaro is phenomenal but I don't think it's really fair to compare it to "normal" theme park attractions.

Ya that’s why I actually think there is actually parallel best ‘attraction’ lists and best ‘ride’ lists. Though many are both and the line is increasingly blurred as more show elements are expected in the queues. Rise sort of fully broke through that barrier.

A weird distinction, but it’s how I’d recognize Rise, Kilimanjaro, Fairytale Forest and Disneyland’s Fantasmic together in the same breath.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

'Attraction' on the whole is probably Rise.

"Ride" on the other hand is extremely messy. Depends on what one is in the mood for, there's been a lot of good stuff recently.

Shanghai Pirates might be the front runner, it's pretty much all ride and not queue floof. But people like their animatronics.

Mystic Manor? RSR? Hagrid's?.

I think all of these are valid except Hagrid's. It's a fun ride, yes, but to me it's little more than a tricked out roller coaster that's part of a larger trend of coasters featuring switch tracks and forwards/backwards launches. Hardly worth mentioning in the same breath as the others you've mentioned. I mean honestly, without some sort of standard approach to measurement the concept of "best" is foggy at best.

 

[TalkToEthan]

, but to me it's little more than a tricked out roller coaster that's part of a larger trend of coasters featuring switch tracks and forwards/backwards launches.

I’ve seen some unjustified takes on here but to reduce Hagrid to “it’s a little more than”? ……..

Try much more; a great deal more. I agree the drop track and backward switch segments have been overused on coasters and thus overhyped——nothing novel with those.
But those attributes do not take away Hagrid’s other impressive features: 7 launches, eye popping ride vehicles, well positioned AA’s(2 or 3 outdoors), elaborate Q, track length/ride time, outstanding sound system and script

 

[UNCgolf]

I think all of these are valid except Hagrid's. It's a fun ride, yes, but to me it's little more than a tricked out roller coaster that's part of a larger trend of coasters featuring switch tracks and forwards/backwards launches. Hardly worth mentioning in the same breath as the others you've mentioned. I mean honestly, without some sort of standard approach to measurement the concept of "best" is foggy at best.

It's always going to be wildly subjective. There's really no way to objectively determine "best".

A ride can be objectively the longest, the fastest, have the biggest drop, etc. (i.e. things that are actually specifically measurable), but everything else is going to be personal opinion.

 

[MistaDee]

I think that there can be good attractions full of AAs and physical sets AND good screen-based attractions. I enjoy work made by both WED and many of the newer WDI attractions and think both are capable of great work.

While your feelings are valid (as are the feelings of many others who prefer classic Pirates), I can't help but wonder how many people have actually DONE the Shanghai Pirates ride in person vs. judging it from screens. I maintain that actually experiencing an attraction makes a tremendous difference in judging its value. And because not many people here have actually been on the newer ride, and people can have all sorts of opinions on some combination of the resort being so different, the country it's located in, and/or the current capabilities (or lack thereof, as the case may be) of modern imagineering, I feel like the resort in general and Pirates specifically, as that park's obvious showcase, get hit with a lot of nitpicks (not saying you specifically are one of the people doing that). I know for myself that a lot of the criticisms I had read about the place melted away when I was actually there, and I suspect the same would be true for many people were they to experience the ride in person.

That could well be me reading into people's responses and forming my own judgments accordingly, but I do feel that there's a lot of apprehension in general whenever anything Shanghai is brought up from many people, and that inevitably colors discussion of everything there for them, including discussion of its signature ride. YMMV.

This is a really great point about how first hand experience can really make all the difference. For Beauty and the Beast, the motion of the ride vehicles adds so much more than I expected from videos and really made the big "empty" seeming rooms feel more like a dreamlike space to move through in this almost dance

I suspect the water based Frozen Journey may have some of those same benefits from its gliding, sliding, rotating boat system.

“Almost certainly”. Hmmm???
To be the best/impressive in the world it would have to fire huge on all cylinders:
Facade
Queue
Ride

And I can guarantee it will not be the best facade and likely not the best queue.

These are really arbitrary criteria: facade in particular has me scratching my head. Indiana Jones was widely considered the greatest ride in the world until Spiderman came along, its facade? Entirely forgettable. Breaking it down into criteria is certainly a useful exercise but to outright dismiss two attractions no one has ridden based on your expectations for their facades? That's just nonsensical

In terms of ambition and scale, I think Rise would also be the top. The technical achievements are mindblowing (when it was working 100% at least), but it's not going to impress everyone the same due to lacking a large number of AAs. Shanghai Pirates would also get docked a few points for lacking a preshow that most of the other top-tier attractions have. And going old-school we would have to include IJA for sure in that discussion.

I think Rise had a fantastic queue, some very creative pre-show elements but frankly I came away a little disappointed. The same criticisms leveled at Forbidden Journey's dome screens can be said for the escape pod sequence in Rise. Similarly, the criticisms that Frozen Journey or Beauty and the Beast are "empty" devoid of human scale set dressing are absolutely true of many scenes in Rise where we're essentially just trundling along through star wars themed hallways. Very few AA's, big gun effects that don't work anymore, a Kylo Ren climax effect that works maybe 50% of the time....

I get that this is a Disney forum but Spiderman, Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World at Beijing, the updated Jurassic World at Hollywood, even Secret Life of Pets are clear evidence to me that Universal is capable of making great dark rides. I enjoy those a great deal (haven't tried Beijing's) and welcome even greater competition for the theme park wizards at both Imagineering and Universal Creative.

 

[BrerFoxesBayouAdventure]

There are no concrete plans for that at the moment, but it wouldn't surprise me to see PPF re-themed or removed as part of a larger Fantasyland renovation. The upcoming closure of Space Mountain and Buzz has indicated OLC is willing to remove rides for the greater good (even opening-day ones).

Splash Mountain's days are numbered.

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.

The dark ride scenes in Yoshi's Adventures in Universal Japan are kinda stiff in terms of animatronic movement.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Splash Mountain's days are numbered.

I would take that rumor with a grain of salt. It's hard to imagine them doing something like that when Space Mountain hasn't even closed yet. Besides, there is NO controversy over there about the ride. Disney can't actually force OLC to change it.