Toy Story Land expansion announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Coaster Lover]

I do like the lighting package on the coaster. The lights within the superstructure of the track itself provide a nice visual and the lighting and motion of the elements during the second launch look really "fun"...

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

I don't get you.



Yes. That was the original purpose, to provide something SMALL, SHORT and ENTERTAINING (because it will be entertaining). That's the same reason that Storybook Circus exists in MK and Mickey's Toontown exists in DL.

Storybook Circus:
Dumbo= 1.5 min
Barnstormer= 59 sec

Mickey's Toontown:
Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin: 3 min
Gadget Go Coaster: 52 sec

It misses some good elements (e.g. a playground or a waterpad, a meet n' greet and shops) but it's not in desperate need of them. It has some flaws but they can be fixed later. But TSL was a great idea from the beginning and definitely NOT a failure.

You understand that you cannot possibly compare Magic Kingdom or DL to DHS with a straight face, right? DHS currently has 4 rides. It desperately needs much more than it is getting.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The Toy Story Land in Paris is pretty similar in scale to this new one I think? Anyway, that Land is seen as a "diversion" in between the major attractions so I see no reason why this shouldn't be viewed similarly. I think people are expecting too much sometimes.

I think therein lies the problem - in what world is DHS in need of a “diversion”? The park needs meat on its bones. For the amount of money they’re spending, the space this is taking up, the enormous popularity of the IP the land is based on, and the cost of a ticket to the park, there’s no good reason for this to be a mere diversion.

 

[JohnyKaz2078]

You understand that you cannot possibly compare Magic Kingdom or DL to DHS with a straight face, right? DHS currently has 4 rides. It desperately needs much more than it is getting.

And it will. When all the projects are complete it will have 9 rides (more than the Animal Kingdom). But when talking about the future I agree that it needs more attractions.

 

[JohnyKaz2078]

9 rides huh. Yeah, I can totally see the comparison to Disneyland then.

I'm just comparing Mickey's Toontown with Toy Story Land. I don't think there is a reason to compare all of HS with DL (we all know who the winner will be). TSL and Toontown are both fun additions to both theme parks and provide a good family friendly experience.

 

[Rutt]

You understand that you cannot possibly compare Magic Kingdom or DL to DHS with a straight face, right? DHS currently has 4 rides. It desperately needs much more than it is getting.

No but you can compare TSL to SBC and TT.
DHS was sorely lacking kids rides. TSL adds two to the one that was already there. It's a success in that respect.

 

[TeddyinMO]

And it will. When all the projects are complete it will have 9 rides (more than the Animal Kingdom). But when talking about the future I agree that it needs more attractions.

Agreed. And, the roster of rides will be pretty amazing. It will have 5 E-ticket rides, 3 very good D tickets and a pretty fun C (assuming it equals Mater's):

Es
Star Wars BE
Star Wars MF
Mickey's Runaway train
Tower
Rock N Roll

Ds
Star Tours (or whatever they reskin it as)
Slinky
Toy Story

Cs
Aliens

If in the next 5-10 years, DHS got the rumored Indy boat ride and 1-3 small family B-C tickets, the park would be complete for the next 20 years. Something along the lines of the Inside Out version of Flik's Flyers that's being talked about for DCA would be the perfect cheap filler ride for this park. You could even theme it to Indy and have a mini-land.

 

[marni1971]

where?

CBS?

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

It has one E-Ticket, a small crummy boat ride and the area itself is small yet no one cares anymore because the E-Ticket is amazing so all is forgiven.

Imo while it is a very short boat ride and I wouldn't wait too long for a ride that length I rather enjoy NRJ a lot. Other than that I think your statement about TSL is spot on

 

[brb1006]

I'm less optimistic if they buy Fox...

But X-Men and Fantastic Four

 

[ToTBellHop]

And it will. When all the projects are complete it will have 9 rides (more than the Animal Kingdom). But when talking about the future I agree that it needs more attractions.

It’s not terribly important, but DAK has 9 rides right now.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

I'm just comparing Mickey's Toontown with Toy Story Land. I don't think there is a reason to compare all of HS with DL (we all know who the winner will be). TSL and Toontown are both fun additions to both theme parks and provide a good family friendly experience.

Considering the state that DHS is in, you would almost have to compare it as a whole. TT is fine with having only a small amount of attractions because it is part of a park with much more to do. TSL is 1/2 of the long promised and badly-needed DHS makeover. In that regard, it solves nothing.

 

[ToTBellHop]

But X-Men and Fantastic Four

...will make wonderful rethemes of Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion.

 

[BrianLo]

It’s not terribly important, but DAK has 9 rides right now.

Huh, that always amazes me as it doesn't feel that lean. I probably like DAK best out of the bunch right now.

I guess Eisner's stat monkey's were right... all we need is 8 rides and a spinner.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

No but you can compare TSL to SBC and TT.
DHS was sorely lacking kids rides. TSL adds two to the one that was already there. It's a success in that respect.

SBC is part of Fantasyland; it isn't its own land. So, no... you really can't. Fantasyland has 15 attractions, 9 of which are rides.

Even once this grand makeover is done, Fantasyland alone will have the same amount of rides as the entirety of DHS.

 

[JohnyKaz2078]

TSL is 1/2 of the long promised and badly-needed DHS makeover. In that regard, it solves nothing.

Why? It is neither terrible nor perfect but from my perspective I think it's good and fun.

 

[Jones14]

It’s certainly not the arbiter of salvation for the park, but this is the same park that has been open for almost 30 years without ever getting to 10 rides. That doesn’t change the land’s flaws, but the park is in a situation where every single addition is like an emergency surgery to keep it alive.

I can’t blame the TSL Imagineers for the fact that the company only approved and opened 2 new rides in the last 2 decades.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Why? It is neither terrible nor perfect but from my perspective I think it's good and fun.

The goal of DHS' makeover was not to put more "good and fun" into the park. The park desperately needs added capacity. Taking out 2 relatively high capacity attractions and adding 2 relatively low capacity attractions does not do anything to solve this issue.

I was not making any kind of point about the merits of TSL from an entertainment perspective, though I have plenty of opinions on that.

DHS needs much more than Star Wars, a family coaster, and a flat ride. This also does nothing to solve the identity crisis that the park has had since shutting down the studios arm. It's even been rumored that Disney has no plans to change the appearance of the sound stages.

 

[JohnD]

t's even been rumored that Disney has no plans to change the appearance of the sound stages.

Considering they said they have no plans to change the name of that park, that isn't surprising. I'm not sure what you would be expecting anyway. Those soundstages are already built. You can argue about the number of rides, attractions needed, etc. But it would be a waste of money just to make those buildings look different.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

It’s certainly not the arbiter of salvation for the park, but this is the same park that has been open for almost 30 years without ever getting to 10 rides. That doesn’t change the land’s flaws, but the park is in a situation where every single addition is like an emergency surgery to keep it alive.

I can’t blame the TSL Imagineers for the fact that the company only approved and opened 2 new rides in the last 2 decades.

But, again, they took away attractions to add the new ones, instead of actually expanding and adding capacity to the park, so that doesn't really solve anything. Somebody could correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not even convinced DHS will have the same attraction capacity that it had before they closed everything, let alone more.

And nobody is blaming WDI for the mess that DHS is in. To my knowledge, at least.