Two Spirited Quickees...Imagination closing

[Sandurz]

Now what also stood out is just how dated the film had become. BTTF was opened in the early nineties... think about that.. almost 10 years after the original EPCOT and several years after the original MGM. The 'future' stuff like computer animation in the video was just awful by today's standards (rotating pixel mapped polygons).

Which made me think.. look at how fast BTTF dated itself.. why? The films themselves are still awesome! The attraction experience is basically the same as Startours, etc. Then it made me realize.. all those TVs Disney and Uni put in the queues in the 90s to keep you occupied while you waited... they were the albotrosse around the attraction's neck! They bring the whole attraction down. You can see that in T2:3D now too.. it's the film elements in the preshow that date the whole thing so badly. So here we have attractions roughly 20 years old that were basically as bad as 1950s scifi.. but yet we have attractions like IASW and POTC that have lasted twice that long and don't feel dated. The difference... no TVs in the preshows! And to think, they didn't have to waste time and resources producing that stuff either.

I rode BTTF once in California when I was maybe 8? I remembered it being pretty awesome. Watching the full experience remaster thing now I don't think the preshows dated the ride nearly as much as the main ridefilm did. Or if they did, the way they dated the ride wasn't detrimental to the quality of the experience...it was more of realistic immersion in the late 80s/early 90s which gets broken by the models and motion control effects of the ridefilm.

Not entirely sure the preshow is the problem...having a ride with a continuous narrative necessitates the exposition that usually only a preshow presentation (however it's integrated into the experience) can provide. With Pirates and Small World, you're given these loosely related vignettes that each last forever. There is really no concept of time in these attractions- no linear storytelling.

 

[HMF]

So on a slight tangent... since we're talking about SSE, dated pavilions etc

On the bluray for the Back To the Future trilogy - they have ALL the videos, and a simulation, of the BTTF ride from universal.

What stands out when you watch something like that out of the original context... is you notice JUST HOW MUCH WORK there really was in those things. The amount of video shot and produced for just the preshow of the attraction is quite mindboggling. For those that don't remember, they had fake news reels, a whole setup of Biff in the facility, etc. The amount of film just dwarves the actually attraction duration.

Now what also stood out is just how dated the film had become. BTTF was opened in the early nineties... think about that.. almost 10 years after the original EPCOT and several years after the original MGM. The 'future' stuff like computer animation in the video was just awful by today's standards (rotating pixel mapped polygons).

Which made me think.. look at how fast BTTF dated itself.. why? The films themselves are still awesome! The attraction experience is basically the same as Startours, etc. Then it made me realize.. all those TVs Disney and Uni put in the queues in the 90s to keep you occupied while you waited... they were the albotrosse around the attraction's neck! They bring the whole attraction down. You can see that in T2:3D now too.. it's the film elements in the preshow that date the whole thing so badly. So here we have attractions roughly 20 years old that were basically as bad as 1950s scifi.. but yet we have attractions like IASW and POTC that have lasted twice that long and don't feel dated. The difference... no TVs in the preshows! And to think, they didn't have to waste time and resources producing that stuff either.

So that's my tangent on preshows... the reliance on video in them will probably shorten the life of your attraction! So don't do it! Use real people instead

I strongly feel that the Pre-show video for the original Test Track dated it horribly by the mid-late 2000s. Even the man who made a career out of these things (Tom Fitzgerald) admits that they have overused the reliance on video screens technique.

 

[willtravel]

I strongly feel that the Pre-show video for the original Test Track dated it horribly by the mid-late 2000s. Even the man who made a career out of these things (Tom Fitzgerald) admits that they have overused the reliance on video screens technique.

Is it over reliance or just not updating the film the problem? Some ways I don't mind some of them because it gives you the back story. Would RNRC be the same without the film before ride?

 

[HMF]

Is it over reliance or just not updating the film the problem? Some ways I don't mind some of them because it gives you the back story. Would RNRC be the same without the film before ride?

The film quality on the old Test Track Video plus the 90s era camcorder aesthetic really dated it.

 

[Fairybuzz]

Is it over reliance or just not updating the film the problem? Some ways I don't mind some of them because it gives you the back story. Would RNRC be the same without the film before ride?

You bring up a good point. R and RC actually existed in a period when Aerosmith did not for a while

 

[Wikkler]

IF. That's the biggest if I could make...

Is that big enough?

 

[flynnibus]

I strongly feel that the Pre-show video for the original Test Track dated it horribly by the mid-late 2000s. Even the man who made a career out of these things (Tom Fitzgerald) admits that they have overused the reliance on video screens technique.

Tt is dated by the hairstyles, etc but at BTTF the stuff they tried to be futuristic with is what was dated. It would be like the TT preshow showing you using slide rules and the univac to design their future car

The future chic in the videos is also pretty bad vision of what they thought max headroom future was too.

TT is dated in kind of the same way dinosaur and Ellen are. Styles, personalities, etc. it's just hard to film people as 'current' or future and not have the content get dated. Contrast that with say... The video in Indy at dlr where the video is supposed to be a 30s type film and it hasn't aged in the same way.

So maybe part of the lesson is... Never try to present the future or present in videos

 

[flynnibus]

I rode BTTF once in California when I was maybe 8? I remembered it being pretty awesome. Watching the full experience remaster thing now I don't think the preshows dated the ride nearly as much as the main ridefilm did. Or if they did, the way they dated the ride wasn't detrimental to the quality of the experience...it was more of realistic immersion in the late 80s/early 90s which gets broken by the models and motion control effects of the ridefilm.

Not entirely sure the preshow is the problem...having a ride with a continuous narrative necessitates the exposition that usually only a preshow presentation (however it's integrated into the experience) can provide. With Pirates and Small World, you're given these loosely related vignettes that each last forever. There is really no concept of time in these attractions- no linear storytelling.

The ride video really doesn't convey we'll because its not on the big dome, further away, etc. you see too much real detail in the bluray.

Re the need for the videos - that was more of a gimmic to provide entertainment during waits and a storytelling attempt to spice up the safety spiels. It was a method used HEAVILY at universal and MGM.

The format was by choice - not necessity. Sse is a good example where the setup is done in the ride - not preshow. Same with most of the original Epcot attractions. But then this became the new fad to try to bring the show into the queue.

I think my message really was this fad really came back to haunt these attractions.

 

[CoopB]

Take these for what they are worth.

Imagination CMs have been told that their pavilion will be 'temporarily' be closing this winter. I have no idea why or for how long, but since they don't do refurbs we can rule that out.

Also, some folks in marketing have already been talking about what they'll do for Christmas 2014 sans the Ozzy and Sharon Lightacular.

FYI- the lights have nothing to do with Ozzy and Sharon. They were provided by a philanthropist named Jennings Osborne. It will be a sad day if they remove them.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

FYI- the lights have nothing to do with Ozzy and Sharon. They were provided by a philanthropist named Jennings Osborne. It will be a sad day if they remove them.

He knows that, it's just a joke.

 

[BobConnor]

Making a Disney trip soon and have followed the story about the imagination pavilion. Might it be more economical to demolish the building and start over? It is now just over 30 years old and the plumbing, wiring and HVAC must be worn by now, as they probably were not updated since the orginal JII (it looks like the one with figment would use much less electric power). The building is probaby an energy hog. Which would explain why Disney would shut it down because the utility bills are probably a drain for an "attraction" that seems to attract no one. I know it is 2 levels, but is there a change in level in the track that would make trackless not possible? Also, what happened to all of the props from the original JII? What a terrible waste if they ended up in the dumpster.

When it was open I went to the Hard Rock Park and went on NIghts in White Satin the trip. It looked better than the current imagination with Figment. I heard it cost about 8 million. If they could do that for 8 million why can't Disney make a super cool and daring dark ride for about 10 times that? Oh, and by the way after HRP went out of business I think the NIWS props went in the landfill too.

What would Disney do if Epcot turned out to not have people coming to it? How could they possibly shut the place down, there is so much money invested in it.

 

[misterID]

Making a Disney trip soon and have followed the story about the imagination pavilion. Might it be more economical to demolish the building and start over? It is now just over 30 years old and the plumbing, wiring and HVAC must be worn by now, as they probably were not updated since the orginal JII (it looks like the one with figment would use much less electric power). The building is probaby an energy hog. Which would explain why Disney would shut it down because the utility bills are probably a drain for an "attraction" that seems to attract no one. I know it is 2 levels, but is there a change in level in the track that would make trackless not possible? Also, what happened to all of the props from the original JII? What a terrible waste if they ended up in the dumpster.

When it was open I went to the Hard Rock Park and went on NIghts in White Satin the trip. It looked better than the current imagination with Figment. I heard it cost about 8 million. If they could do that for 8 million why can't Disney make a super cool and daring dark ride for about 10 times that? Oh, and by the way after HRP went out of business I think the NIWS props went in the landfill too.

What would Disney do if Epcot turned out to not have people coming to it? How could they possibly shut the place down, there is so much money invested in it.

From what I've read on here the building is basically a mess in regards to building a new attraction. Going by a CM named Raven who posts here, apparantly making a trackless layout would indeed require demoing the entire building and starting from scratch. I have no idea, tbh, other than a great ride used to be housed there and no one seems to have any idea what to do with it, or what's going to be there in the future.

 

[Goofyernmost]

From what I've read on here the building is basically a mess in regards to building a new attraction. Going by a CM named Raven who posts here, apparantly making a trackless layout would indeed require demoing the entire building and starting from scratch. I have no idea, tbh, other than a great ride used to be housed there and no one seems to have any idea what to do with it, or what's going to be there in the future.

Probably an imaginary Pooh playground with an imaginary carving of Figment inside the imaginary tree.

 

[aladdin2007]

Probably an imaginary Pooh playground with a carving of Figment inside the tree.

Probably nothing but a shuttered building for who knows how long. Might as well just open up epcot to the public as a mall and one big bar sadly. Thats def the direction it feels like its going.

 

[NoChesterHester]

In the case of building renovation it is always possible to go up and out. Savings can definitely be realized if the superstructure can be reused.

What usually isn't possible is to go down. You just can't dig around existing foundations without undermining their ability to hold up the building. This can especially be the case in a place like Florida where it is common to use continuous or "raft" foundations because of the bad soils. In that case you can't cut the slab because it is part of an integral foundation system for the building. If there are raised and recessed portions of the floor slab - you may just be sunk.

I have no knowledge if that is the case at Imagination, but it would be a plausible explanation.

 

[CDavid]

Probably nothing but a shuttered building for who knows how long. Might as well just open up epcot to the public as a mall and one big bar sadly. Thats def the direction it feels like its going.

I know this is what has been reported and I expect its accurate enough, but it is really hard to believe that anyone - even the suits in TDO - think it acceptable to have two closed, shuttered pavilions in Future World. There are just no words. The place isn't exactly overflowing with attractions/rides to begin with.

 

[NoChesterHester]

I know this is what has been reported and I expect its accurate enough, but it is really hard to believe that anyone - even the suits in TDO - think it acceptable to have two closed, shuttered pavilions in Future World. There are just no words. The place isn't exactly overflowing with attractions/rides to begin with.

Shame. Epcot is a shell of what it once was.

 

[ChrisFL]

FYI- the lights have nothing to do with Ozzy and Sharon. They were provided by a philanthropist named Jennings Osborne. It will be a sad day if they remove them.

You must be new to Spirit's (WDW1974) humor

 

[Goofyernmost]

Probably nothing but a shuttered building for who knows how long. Might as well just open up epcot to the public as a mall and one big bar sadly. Thats def the direction it feels like its going.

Hey, maybe they could make it into an up-chuck emporium. They could call it The World of Vomit. I see a winner there.

Isn't it sad that Disney has gotten so bad at creating and making WDW a great place to visit that we would be sitting here actually laughing at them for their inability to launch. What a bunch of "rich" losers they are. They might do something, but I honestly no longer feel that they will. They are losing me so fast that the fall is scary. To the person, or persons, that asked if we hate it so much, why do we keep going? Well, I am getting right on the edge of making that decision. It's not fun to go to a place that you liked so much for so many years and feel nothing but depressed while you are there.

 

[DisneyGentleman]

I know this is what has been reported and I expect its accurate enough, but it is really hard to believe that anyone - even the suits in TDO - think it acceptable to have two closed, shuttered pavilions in Future World. There are just no words. The place isn't exactly overflowing with attractions/rides to begin with.

Unless of course they call it Futureworld - Rust Belt.