Toy Story and Soarin Rumors

[Kman101]

I can see that point. I think a well done ride would definitely draw SOME crowds away from TSMM, but they need more than just one addition, I agree with that. One ride probably wouldn't make a huge dent. Wait times could potentially be a little better but there's still a demand for it. I don't get it, but people clearly love the ride.

 

[DManRightHere]

You know what would also reduce wait times? Another good attraction.

I highly doubt on this rumor. Why wait years down the road to increase capacity? I wouldn't if it were my business.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You know what would also reduce wait times? Another good attraction.

I highly doubt on this rumor. Why wait years down the road to increase capacity? I wouldn't if it were my business.

Apparently, they underestimated the popularity of these attractions in FL. Soarin, for example, is in a park with MANY more E-Tickets in DCA than in Epcot, so it gets much longer waits at Epcot. Midway Mania in DCA has no where near the lines it sees in DHS. And it doesn't have Fastpass (gasp!).

 

[Mawg]

I don't see Disney doing such a thing unless they make it marketable by changing the ride up a bit. Doubling capacity isn't something you can easily advertise to consumers as Disney would want to do so for such an investment. There's no wow factor being added if they only double it, it wouldn't draw people like they desire.

They are not Universal, they do not care about drawing more people. They care about taking the people they have and getting more money out of them. Having people wait in line for two hours does not get more money out of their pockets and makes for a negative experience with less of a chance of a return.
I shouldn't say they don't care about drawing more people they obviously do but look at the money they spent on NGE, it wasn't a new attraction. It was to try and milk more out of the guests they are already getting.
In order to actually draw more people, HS will need cheap additions quickly that can handle the same crowd levels as current with 1/4 of the park closed so that they can build new additions.

 

[aladdin2007]

You know what would also reduce wait times? Another good attraction.

I highly doubt on this rumor. Why wait years down the road to increase capacity? I wouldn't if it were my business.

Agree, build up the park more and they wouldnt have to rely on one hit attraction for all the crowds to flock to.

 

[Mawg]

We would all love to see an expansion at HS. I'm sure even Disney sees the need for it. The question is how do you do it without shutting down the whole park or severely deterring the current crowds from not going during the additions. I know I would first add cheap additions that can draw crowds, Like some stupid cheap Frozen crap (people will wait in line for 3 hours just for two minutes to say hi to a princess). Next you make sure what you do have and you don't plan on closing for additions is in tip top condition and can handle the additional crowds with less to do with part of the park closed. Next you pick ONE area of the park to make your additions in before moving on to the next. You cannot work on enhancing a Pixar area and a Star Wars area at the same time.
If they do increase the capacity of Toy Story, then I would say we are seeing a smart systematic approach to an actual expansion of the park in the future.

 

[DontCallMeJr]

Whatever the case this will probably be years away/after Avatarland for any new attractions, but a new Soarin theatre would be a good project in the meantime

 

[doctornick]

In the case of Soarin', I do agree they should build the third theater to ease the lines. I very much disagree with a cloned TSMM (of course, not saying it's happening). I'd be more OK with a cloned TSMM if we were told other Pixar attractions would be going in.

Agreed. I'd be okay with an expanded TSMM only if it were done at the same time as adding another family friendly ride to Pixar Place. Only expanding TSMM does nothing to address the fundamental issue with DHS, which is not enough rides especially for the non-thrill seeker.

 

[doctornick]

I don't see Disney doing such a thing unless they make it marketable by changing the ride up a bit. Doubling capacity isn't something you can easily advertise to consumers as Disney would want to do so for such an investment. There's no wow factor being added if they only double it, it wouldn't draw people like they desire.

The could easily make it so there are different games on each side of the attraction. So, at least create some uniqueness and re-rideability. Of course, that might make the demand higher which would limit the benefit to wait times.

 

[doctornick]

It's possible. They could gut the whole thing and add completely new show scenes and make it completely unrecognizable.

But they won't.

Not only does history show us this when it comes to similar glorified refurbs of this type, but so does the fact they are doing an "overlay" to begin with. To be honest, with the age of that building, it wouldn't likely be much more expensive to just build a new ride if they were going to that drastically change it. At some point, massive rebuilding is less cost-effective as starting from scratch.

What will likely happen is exactly what is being rumored - an overlay, using what existing elements they can, and doing as little structurally as possible. Given the amount of dark/blank space in Malestrom, I can't help but think it will have a lot of projections - lots and lots of projections, and a few AA's.

You are absolutely right that it could be a lot more - but I just don't see it happening.

"Overlay" is a very vague term that could mean a ton of different things. In fact, I can't remember any insider commenting about anything specific about the Frozen makeover to Maelstrom. You had pheneix saying that the budget was cut/value engineered, but he also said they were going to remake the entire Norway pavilion into basically Arrendale. So, it's tough to say exactly what was cut and what remains.

You seem to suggest that they'd basically be adding Elsa and Anna to scenes of Vikings, Trolls (that are completely different from ones in Frozen) and polar bears. Not to mention an oil rig. I don't see how that could possibly be the case. Virtually nothing in the current show scenes with Maelstrom would make sense in a Frozen ride. This isn't the Three Cabelleros being in Mexico. I mean, I guess it could be, but what would the story be: Elsa and Anna visit parts of Norway across time? Doesn't seem realistic.

I would suggest that outside of keeping some backgrounds (the polar bear area is a good fit already) that the scenes are going to be completely re-done. Same physical space, different figures and different scenery (sure, they may reuse some vikings as background figures). I don't disagree that it could be heavy on screens to save money. The ride layout itself will be the same, so they have to incorporate a reason for going backwards for part of it.

We'll see how it ends up. But at this point, there's been little information about the actual details of what the overlay will consist of.

 

[FutureCEO]

Both Toy Story and Soarin' have continued to have unusually long wait times from day one. I would love to see additional new attractions, but expanding both of these could do nothing but help in the long run. New flim coming soon for Soaring is just going to add to the problem of wait times.

And he reasons why that is that both parks are short on attractions. I'm not saying they wouldn't get long lines anyway.

 

[RSoxNo1]

With Soarin', we know a new version of the attraction is coming along with the third theater. The expectation is that the demand would increase on what is already the most popular attraction in the park. There have been no such rumors for Toy Story Mania. However, if this means seasonal overlays, even better.

 

[Fox&Hound]

We would all love to see an expansion at HS. I'm sure even Disney sees the need for it. The question is how do you do it without shutting down the whole park or severely deterring the current crowds from not going during the additions. I know I would first add cheap additions that can draw crowds, Like some stupid cheap Frozen crap (people will wait in line for 3 hours just for two minutes to say hi to a princess). Next you make sure what you do have and you don't plan on closing for additions is in tip top condition and can handle the additional crowds with less to do with part of the park closed. Next you pick ONE area of the park to make your additions in before moving on to the next. You cannot work on enhancing a Pixar area and a Star Wars area at the same time.
If they do increase the capacity of Toy Story, then I would say we are seeing a smart systematic approach to an actual expansion of the park in the future.

Great point! We can all hope this is the approach Disney is taking!

Personally, I'd love to see Mater's Junkyard jamboree and the Cozy Cone Motel Snacks come as well as rides for Monster's Inc and Incredibles. Move MILF over here and you have a whole new area.

Fingers crosses that one day it will happen.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

While you won't have to plan your day around Midway Mania or spend half that day waiting for it at DCA as you would at MGM (somehow MGM's equivalent of Radiator Springs), the line is still always one of the longest. It's also in the very back of the park. There also isn't the Fastpass option. I want to blame it on capacity, although I have no facts to back that up.

 

[doctornick]

While you won't have to plan your day around Midway Mania or spend half that day waiting for it at DCA as you would at MGM (somehow MGM's equivalent of Radiator Springs), the line is still always one of the longest. It's also in the very back of the park. There also isn't the Fastpass option. I want to blame it on capacity, although I have no facts to back that up.

It also tends to get crazy long waits in Tokyo from what I've read. And that's in a park with a bunch of other high profile rides.

 

[MikeTaylorSound]

I think the point of emphasis on expanding ride capacity is, "the longer guests stand in line, the less money they spend in the park." 150 min wait for Soarin' is not going to put someone in the mood to spend when they come off the ride (I, personally would never wait this long).

 

[Mike730]

A TSMM clone seems like a perfectly shortsighted way to close off access to the backstage areas used in Pixar Place expansion plans, so this one seems likely to me.

 

[kap91]

Apparently, they underestimated the popularity of these attractions in FL. Soarin, for example, is in a park with MANY more E-Tickets in DCA than in Epcot, so it gets much longer waits at Epcot. Midway Mania in DCA has no where near the lines it sees in DHS. And it doesn't have Fastpass (gasp!).

Um I don't think the lines at Soarin in Cali have gotten any shorter since it was one of two etickets. They've always been and still are almost as long as the ones here. There's just a lot less people in Cali and a lot less hype.

And toy story out there routinely gets at least 60 minute waits. In the hot sun no less. Not that much shorter than here these days since fp+. And that's without fast pass AND with it being a more minor attraction there.

Agree with your point just not yor reasoning.

And to those crying bs over either of these rumors - again it's not BS. Can't say whether either will happen but the plans are definitely real.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think adding capacity to both is a great idea. They are both very popular and even at DCA, with a lot more rides, they consistently have some of the longest waits.

I'd prefer new rides but adding capacity on 2 of the most popular rides is almost as good.

 

[discos]

Both rides are in parks that lack rides, so I think the popularity of these attractions is based on the fact that there's not as much to do. If TDO built a couple more rides in each park we'd see wait times for Soarin and TSMM go to about 60 mins for sure. I would much rather have a different Pixar attraction rather than doubling toy story.