Toy Story Land expansion announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[DinoInstitute]

Thanks Martin, Regarding the Monstropolous bullett I saw enough scuttle in the thread to add it in the list. Noted (and saddend). I also though there was speculation about the layout changing to a more traditional Disney layout (no dead ends at least). Again, Noted. Thank you for keeping us in line!

That might have been my bad, I tend to produce a lot of scuttle about my desires of a Monstroplis

 

[Earl Sweatpants]

I am too. I used to be the biggest Disney advocate back in the 90's.

To be fair, we just went in Jan, but the experience was my worst ever. I am not saying I didn't have fun, but the Disney decline was felt. A cast member wouldn' let me ride in the same car as my wife on Space Mountain (we were happy to wait longer to do this), so we ended up being in two different pictures. Oh, and we had our Honeymoon pins on when this happened. Best to separate the newlyweds

I also found a half-eaten cheeseburger from McDonalds in my Splash Mountain boat. The half-eaten patty was at my feet. It was like riding in a trash bin (no smelitzer needed).

I am torn. I love my favorite rides like Splash, PotC and HM so I want to go to the parks to see them. The rides may be appealing, but the park atmosphere is degrading, so it turns me off. Mostly this means I don't go as frequently to WDW as I used to.

Wow, that's extremely sad to hear...especially the newlywed splitting part! Possibly they just need a good refresh of CM training? I haven't been back to WDW since 2012, but while there I did manage a rollicking 14 hour day making it to all four parks. Can't say I saw anything overtly "bad" but then again, everything was a blur.

Come out to the west coast..we'll restore your spirits!

 

[PorterRedkey]

Wow, that's extremely sad to hear...especially the newlywed splitting part! Possibly they just need a good refresh of CM training? I haven't been back to WDW since 2012, but while there I did manage a rollicking 14 hour day making it to all four parks. Can't say I saw anything overtly "bad" but then again, everything was a blur.

Come out to the west coast..we'll restore your spirits!

@Earl Sweatpants, I was at DL in August and it was magical. Definitely, one of my best Disney experiences. The food was great, the cast members were friendly and if was fun to bounce from one park to another on a whim, instead of planning a 1 and-a-half hour journey to the next park.

Unfortunately, the Disney school/training I went through in '91 is no longer the standard. I think the problem with WDW is that they have to hire so many cast members, they all can't be winners. Especially when Disney just starting paying $10 an hour.

 

[Mike S]

See Hyperion Wharf.

Plans change and I understand that. I think the addition of a ride instead of 2 hyper MnG's was for the best. We did lose Pixie Hollow, so that sucks.
With the TSL plans, Disney didn't change a concept like NFL or Hyperion into something new, they just cheaped what they had already promised. Same rides and land, just less. Walt would plus, TDO likes to minus.

SDMT was still a minus of its own concept.

There is something to be said for Universal's practice of rarely releasing concept art until well into construction.

Yup. The art they release is always pretty much the absolute final version that's getting built. Beyond concept art we do have insiders that inform us of cuts but that's not really info that the general public pursues. Ignorance is bliss after all.

 

[raymusiccity]

Except it would probably be seen from SWL.

"Move along..... That's not the Parachute Ride that you've been looking for!"

 

[Goofyernmost]

I wouldn't really call that the genius of it, rather the disappointment of it.

They don't have to show you anything at all. Why not appreciate at least a glimpse of what is going to happen without fretting over what detail might be different.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Personally, I believe that Disney just doesn't think the casual fan will notice. They will notice after it is built and the land is meh, but casual fans don't dig as deep as we do here on this site.

Only the retentive ones will notice it. I have been a fan of Disney for longer then many of you have even been alive. I have never taken any concept art as what I will see when it is finished. There are a lot of reason for that, but, suffice it to just say that drawing something and building it are two distinctly different things. So much license can be taken with a drawing. Many flaws in the physical land it sits on can be drawn out, but, it cannot always be taken out of nature. If anyone remembers exactly what the art looked like really needs to keep themselves a little busier, because, I can think of no more useless information to retain then that would be.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Only the retentive ones will notice it. I have been a fan of Disney for longer then many of you have even been alive. I have never taken any concept art as what I will see when it is finished. There are a lot of reason for that, but, suffice it to just say that drawing something and building it are two distinctly different things. So much license can be taken with a drawing. Many flaws in the physical land it sits on can be drawn out, but, it cannot always be taken out of nature. If anyone remembers exactly what the art looked like really needs to keep themselves a little busier, because, I can think of no more useless information to retain then that would be.

I am sorry I disagree. The reason concept art is so off is that Disney has no clue what they are building. Now rumors say the there will be no coaster. If true, this will be the third incarnation of the land. How can you release art when you can't make up your mind (budget)?

So you can't see the difference in concept art? To be clear, this is not a concept art debate, it is one about value-engineering. I know it's not art, but words matter too. Kathy Magnum said this land would be as immersive as Carsland when the concept art was first shown at D23. It was laughable then, but I didn;t know how much until I saw the cheap version of TSL.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Only the retentive ones will notice it. I have been a fan of Disney for longer then many of you have even been alive. I have never taken any concept art as what I will see when it is finished. There are a lot of reason for that, but, suffice it to just say that drawing something and building it are two distinctly different things. So much license can be taken with a drawing. Many flaws in the physical land it sits on can be drawn out, but, it cannot always be taken out of nature. If anyone remembers exactly what the art looked like really needs to keep themselves a little busier, because, I can think of no more useless information to retain then that would be.

They won't know how good it could have been, but they know that it is not that great. See SDMT.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I am sorry I disagree. The reason concept art is so off is that Disney has no clue what they are building. Now rumors say the there will be no coaster. If true, this will be the third incarnation of the land. How can you release art when you can't make up your mind (budget)?

So you can't see the difference in concept art? To be clear, this is not a concept art debate, it is one about value-engineering. I know it's not art, but words matter too. Kathy Magnum said this land would be as immersive as Carsland when the concept art was first shown at D23. It was laughable then, but I didn;t know how much until I saw the cheap version of TSL.

I'm not sure what you disagree with. I said that I expect things to change. I expect that they will change from what they thought was going to be, because of many things, most that we aren't really privy too and that includes our respected insiders. Concept art is not the same as 'This is how it will End' art. Never has been. If Disney had any brains they would never put that information out. All they ever get is burnt when they do that. Good grief there are some here that would be upset if a blade of grass is missing from the finished product that appeared in the Concept Art.

They would wait until it was almost finished and then put up artwork depicting what is actually being built. Back in the old days they pretty much just put a sign up with a drawing of Mickey, Goofy or one of the biggy's that said "Pardon our Dust" we are working on enhancing your enjoyment.

 

[Goofyernmost]

They won't know how good it could have been, but they know that it is not that great. See SDMT.

The only problem anyone has with SDMT is the length of it. The rest is quite impressive if people could just get past the idea that we weren't going to even get that and of the different concepts that they came up with they decided on what we got. Reason, I don't know and neither does anyone else. We can easily see if they made changes, but, we cannot get any information, beyond a guess, as to why it was done in that manner. Try also to remember the SDMT is still longer then RnRC. Where is the outrage on that one.

 

[brb1006]

Personally, I believe that Disney just doesn't think the casual fan will notice. They will notice after it is built and the land is meh, but casual fans don't dig as deep as we do here on this site.

I do agree that Disney needs to get their concept art straight before they release it. Showing the concept art for TSL and claiming it would be as immersive as Carland was a mistake. It wasn't a short post on the DPB, it was at D23 in front of the most intense fans. Then they post the new art on the construction wall and it is value-engineered. It is like getting a rug pulled out from under you.

I heard there was a few concept art that actually were kept in some places at Disney Parks.

 

[brb1006]

@Earl Sweatpants, I was at DL in August and it was magical. Definitely, one of my best Disney experiences. The food was great, the cast members were friendly and if was fun to bounce from one park to another on a whim, instead of planning a 1 and-a-half hour journey to the next park.

Unfortunately, the Disney school/training I went through in '91 is no longer the standard. I think the problem with WDW is that they have to hire so many cast members, they all can't be winners. Especially when Disney just starting paying $10 an hour.

Be sure to visit Tokyo in the future.

 

[Next Big Thing]

@Earl Sweatpants, I was at DL in August and it was magical. Definitely, one of my best Disney experiences. The food was great, the cast members were friendly and if was fun to bounce from one park to another on a whim, instead of planning a 1 and-a-half hour journey to the next park.

Unfortunately, the Disney school/training I went through in '91 is no longer the standard. I think the problem with WDW is that they have to hire so many cast members, they all can't be winners. Especially when Disney just starting paying $10 an hour.

I'm amazed Disney is up to $10 so quickly. It was $9/hour for the first 5 months of last year. Went to 9.25 sometime in late May.

 

[Mike S]

The only problem anyone has with SDMT is the length of it. The rest is quite impressive if people could just get past the idea that we weren't going to even get that and of the different concepts that they came up with they decided on what we got. Reason, I don't know and neither does anyone else. We can easily see if they made changes, but, we cannot get any information, beyond a guess, as to why it was done in that manner. Try also to remember the SDMT is still longer then RnRC. Where is the outrage on that one.

You keep saying that we can't get this information even when it has been proven time and again that there are people here who have that very information you speak of and post it here on this forum for all to read. The best and most recent example would be Guardians of the Galaxy taking over Tower of Terror in DCA. We knew about it months in advance. When that kind of dead on info is given it makes one wonder what else could be right from those sources, like the cuts that happened to SDMT or the cuts to TSL.

 

[Goofyernmost]

You keep saying that we can't get this information even when it has been proven time and again that there are people here who have that very information you speak of and post it here on this forum for all to read. The best and most recent example would be Guardians of the Galaxy taking over Tower of Terror in DCA. We knew about it months in advance. When that kind of dead on info is given it makes one wonder what else could be right from those sources, like the cuts that happened to SDMT or the cuts to TSL.

You are talking about happenings. Things like yes Guardians is going there, or there were plans that had SDMT that had the layout bigger. That is not what I'm talking about. What happens is if something gets changed the fallback reason is always budget cutting, or cheap *ss Disney. My argument, for what it is worth, is that the reasons are basically guesses.

Yes, physically, something may be decided and our insiders do have good information about that, because it is a physical thing and easily verified. Why, they do or don't do something is in a much more "secretive" venue. We don't know why, what we get are guesses. Some may guess right, but, it is never really verifiable through whatever channels our group is part of. They know more then we do, but, unless they are in that planning room at the time the decision is made, they are either speculating themselves or have had the information filtered down through multiple sources. Not a very dependable method of fact accumulation.

One of the most blatant things that I always seem to go to is the cost of the new MM+ system. That accountability is so wide spread in an accounting system as complex as Disney's that in order to really have any idea what it actually costs is if you were to gather what are probably hundreds of the accountants that are assigned to the many different aspects of it, in a room together reporting the exact costs to "just anyone" and then calculated it out to full dollars. Disney isn't going to do that even for their stockholders. That would be mainly because the only thing that the stockholders are interested in is net profit and they don't really care where it comes from. If that exists, what they spent is of little individual interest. In other words... whatever figures we get are pure speculation based on limited knowledge.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Fantasyland was the most dramatic change between original concept art and final product that I can remember. It was originally going to have two interactive princess M&G's which were replaced with the Mine Ride, and a Pixie Hollow area over where Storybook Circus is, but that was eliminated and the whole area changed to Storybook Circus.

Hyperion Wharf to Disney Springs?

 

[marni1971]

They would wait until it was almost finished and then put up artwork depicting what is actually being built. Back in the old days they pretty much just put a sign up with a drawing of Mickey, Goofy or one of the biggy's that said "Pardon our Dust" we are working on enhancing your enjoyment.

In all fairness there was a billboard on World Drive of EPCOT Center concept art saying coming soon. The art was spot on.

That was 1980. Two years before opening.

Concept art has been amazingly accurate to the to-be-finished article for decades. Unless plans change. Like TRON Arcade. And Africa. Though even their art was amazingly accurate to the planned finished product.

 

[marni1971]

Try also to remember the SDMT is still longer then RnRC. Where is the outrage on that one.

The Dwarf Coaster is about 2000ft. RnRC is about 3400ft. The Dwarf Coaster would have and could have been much longer. But of course you don't have to believe me.

Not that these two are an equal comparison given speed and ride dynamics though.

Regardless I still want that coffee with you sometime

 

[roj2323]

I'm amazed Disney is up to $10 so quickly. It was $9/hour for the first 5 months of last year. Went to 9.25 sometime in late May.

It was built into the Union contract negotiated in 2014. Upon approval every cast member went to $9 an hour immediately (it was May I think) and then in August of the following 2 years it would go to $9.50 and then $10. The new contract should be going into negotiations now but like last time it will probably be delayed for nearly a year.