1. Magic Kingdom is the second worst castle park in the world. To go further, it has always been an inferior park to its sisters. On opening, it was not as good as Disneyland. Tokyo on opening was better (and still is, which is really a gut punch since it’s so modeled off of MK yet does it so much better). Paris opened better. Shanghai is better. Only Hong Kong is lesser.
To that end, I think what they’re doing for it is a net good for the park. It will finally take on an identity of its own, finally get some true uniqueness, and can finally escape the tall shadows its spent its whole existence under (hopefully).
Not talking about opening day, but the current Disneyland HK is better than MK especially after new castle and Arendelle is introduced. It has more than enough rides now. The aesthetics of the real mountain backdrop can't be beat. Mystic Manor and Grizzly Mountain Runaway cars are two of the best Disney rides Imagineers have come up with. Frozen Ever After in HK is really good and emphsised how made-on-the cheap the Epcot one was.
While Na'vi River Journey isn't better than Flight of Passage when riding both for the first time, the re-rideability for NRJ is higher. Once you've been on FoP a few times you're basically just watching a movie (a pretty movie, but still a movie). I actually enjoy NRJ more than FoP now; it's a more immersive/transportive experience.
Cosmic Rewind isn't anything special. It's a fun enough roller coaster, but it fails as a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction and as a themed attraction in general. The story is basically incomprehensible and pointless -- the ride would probably be improved if it was just a space attraction focused on nebulae, stars, etc.
I enjoy Na'vi River Journey as much as FoP too, at the end of the day physical setting still hits the senses in a way screens can't. I also never understand the criticism of it being short...it is not? I always feel like I'm in there for a good period and see a lot of things. Perhaps if you take in all the meticulous details there is a lot to see and it doesn't feel short at all.
Cosmic Rewind isn't revolutionary at all, same ride system was used in Universal Japan's Space Fantasy, and that one takes you through multiple rooms with different set piece of nebulae, stars etc, making it more interesting than Cosmic Rewind which is just twirling in one large room around one set piece.
DHS lacks connection. All it really needs is a way to thematically tie TSL and GE into the golden age of Hollywood/pseudo movie studio theming of the rest of the park. They need to sell it as you "entering the movies" whether it be a transition to galaxies edge by walking through a production set of star wars similar to star tours for example. Right now, Those 2 areas feel so juxtaposed to the rest of the park and it makes the theme of the park generic, even if everything is so well done.
I feel like DHS gets a lot of negativity more than it should simply for being the current IP dump land. But if judging just purely on rides line-up it really is a very fun park, more than MK. For non-Disney adults, its the park my friends have consistently enjoyed the most. I don't know how Disney is going to fix its theming, but I've stop thinking about it and just enjoy it for what it is.
However, I disagree that modern day IPs can't make a good long-term addition to the parks. Unfortunately, the domestic parks have hit a bad streak of these additions, but the international parks have proven you can develop great attractions for multiple generations.
I don't think there is any issue with IP infusion, it's the execution that matters. Most of the faults with recent IP rides is not the IP itself but the ride design. Even if they had done it without IP inclusion, the same issue will exist, and will be even less interesting without the known IP.
The attractions themselves isn't the issue. IMO the IP itself I feel won't have that nostalgia factor like older attractions do.
Another hot take, Disney sucks at making thrill rides. They should leave it for Universal and the regional parks. They don't have enough positive or negative G's to be good.
That is because you didn't grow up with the modern Disney IPs, but the current generation did. To them Disney is Moana/Frozen/Marvel, it will have nostalgia factor for them, and they will be the ones taking their kids to Disney in the future.
Disney's 'thrill rides' have the benefit of both thrill and theme, I don't think they are or intends to be the same creature as actual thrill rides. There is no point in putting in much theming for the actual thrill rides at Universal and regional parks because you are going too fast to see/appreciate them anyways. I very much enjoy Disney's 'thrill ride' more as a themed ride with a bit of speed so I'm not moving at the rate of a choo choo train, so there is a place for that.
