News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[CaptainAmerica]

Its so painfully apparent there is no master plan for the parks nor any philosophy regarding improving them other than jam in the latest IP as cheap as possible. It all seems reactionary resulting in thematic mismatches and redundancy. And I say that as a guy who does not consider himself to be anti-IP. Its so frustrating that the core ideas aren't always bad. They are just placed and implemented terribly.

Moana in AK is a stretch but at least it kills DinoLand and introduces the possibility of some new Oceanic animals. It would've made a lot more sense if it included the Journey of Water garden that is being built in Epcot. I am hoping that the splash mountain ride in the concept art includes a travel to and through the realm of the of the monsters as that at least is sort of a nod to the abandoned Beastly Kingdom concept.

I also hope that Zootopia never sees the light of day in AK. If it has to happen, stick it in DHS. If only Disney could have managed to make a decent film about dinosaurs, this all could have been avoided.

I agree with all of this except for the "as cheap as possible" part. They spend a fortune on a lot of this stuff.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I agree with all of this except for the "as cheap as possible" part. They spend a fortune on a lot of this stuff.

I suppose thats fair to an extent although I wonder if its always money well spent.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

The concept art looked ok but we know it never looks like that. Also with Moana having an are coming at Epcot why do this in AK too when there are other things they could do/try. Lion King or Jungle Book rides as examples

For time you had the Lion King Festival of Light based in AK, and you had the movie/attaction in Epcot. If the IP is good and its usage is well done, I don't see the per se harm in having it across multple parks. I mean we see Mickey and Friends across the parks don't we.

As to why Moana and not things like Lion King or Jungle Book, Lion King is almost 30 years old. Jungle Book is close to 60. If your looking at installing something new, for future generations, why go back to something so old, as opposed to newer (more marketable) and that will form the basis for nostalgic memories in the next generation of parents who will be taking their kids to Disney.

Also leaving aside how good Moana is (and I think it is) there is also given current socio-political climates an added benefit to featuring newer IP that has leading roles/heros that are women/girls and/or historically under-reprensted groups.

 

[dennis-in-ct]

Have we seen them really try to leverage D+ series in support of a parks ride/land yet? I can see them giving it a go with Zootopia.

So basically they could break ground on the Moana stuff soon but can’t take DINOSAUR offline as well. They also probably want to see if the Zootopia ride in Shanghai is a success. Is this supposed to be a clone?

Fwiw, on the way out I saw Chris Beatty talking to someone. I leaned in, got within a foot of his ear and said “Zootopia doesn’t belong in the Animal Kingdom”. I didn’t break stride, he turned and looked and I kept walking.

Thank you for the zootopia comment which is spot on. “No animals with pants”. Zootopia does not belong in animal kingdom. I really liked the movie and would love to see the land - just not in animal kingdom.

Moana in Animal kingdom works for me !!
And the new concept art of the land looks good too

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I think people are somewhat underselling what this non-announcement means or doesn't mean. I obviously don't think we should conclude that Moana and/or Zootopia are definitely coming, but I do think we can glean that "replace Dinoland" is next in line in terms of major WDW projects.

 

[UpAllNight]

This thread will reach 200 pages of nothingness before Disney announce something that will open in 2030. I just can't be bothered with the company in moments like this, it's such a blatant slap in the face while they charge more & more every year. I'm really annoyed by the morons in the crowd who couldn't see what was happening in front of their eyes and chose to whoop and scream like absolute whoppers over free bribes.

That these people had paid a fortune to attend makes it even worse. It's behavior like this that gives Disney confidence they can treat their fans with utter contempt.

 

[the_rich]

It’s our CONNECTION to animals and nature and the awareness to persevere and protect

I would say Moana fits there...zootopia not so much

 

[ChrisRobin124]

This thread will reach 200 pages of nothingness before Disney announce something that will open in 2030. I just can't be bothered with the company in moments like this, it's such a blatant slap in the face while they charge more & more every year. I'm really annoyed by the morons in the crowd who couldn't see what was happening in front of their eyes and chose to whoop and scream like absolute whoppers over free bribes.

That these people had paid a fortune to attend makes it even worse. It's behavior like this that gives Disney confidence they can treat their fans with utter contempt.

I couldn't agree more. I have been DVC for 30 years and still enjoy my trips. But this was strictly a fluff piece to generate excitement where nothing is being done for social media. No mention of Play!, Poppins, or SE update tells you that nothing much is in the queue.

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm so confused.

Are they closing down the Dinosaur ride itself or not?

If Zootopia happens, it would be at the expense of the Dinosaur ride. But that's a pretty big if.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney Parks head Josh D'Amaro shares Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney Parks head Josh D'Amaro shares Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

www.wdwmagic.com

We have Moana in EPCOT and we will also have Moana in AK.

But we can't stop there.

Since the 71 percent of the earth's surface is covered by water and the human body is also mostly water, I say, at least 70 percent of all attractions in WDW should be Moana water attractions.

 

[doctornick]

The Moana Oceania mini land would include some real animals btw. Not a ton, but some. Small exhibits like you see in dinoland or the Kilimanjaro and Kali queues.

Okay, I'm sold then. Make it happen.

 

[_caleb]

This thread will reach 200 pages of nothingness before Disney announce something that will open in 2030. I just can't be bothered with the company in moments like this, it's such a blatant slap in the face while they charge more & more every year. I'm really annoyed by the morons in the crowd who couldn't see what was happening in front of their eyes and chose to whoop and scream like absolute whoppers over free bribes.

That these people had paid a fortune to attend makes it even worse. It's behavior like this that gives Disney confidence they can treat their fans with utter contempt.

At least you aren’t being all dramatic

 

[doctornick]

That's what Disney does best. You can look at everything they have done, and tron will be the first net gain in decades.

Ratatouille was also a net gain, but yeah. A lot of work at WDW ends up just replacing when they need to add.

 

[UNCgolf]

Ratatouille was also a net gain, but yeah. A lot of work at WDW ends up just replacing when they need to add.

Also Pandora.

I know Camp Minnie-Mickey was there, but that was bare bones and didn't have any rides, and I don't think it was ever intended to be more than a temporary placeholder. Pandora definitely added significant capacity.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Ratatouille was also a net gain, but yeah. A lot of work at WDW ends up just replacing when they need to add.

Also Pandora.

I know Camp Minnie-Mickey was there, but that was bare bones and didn't have any rides, and I don't think it was ever intended to be more than a temporary placeholder. Pandora definitely added significant capacity.

I think replacing something unpopular with something popular counts as an addition. Ellen wasn't doing anybody any favors running empty boats all day. And I'm sorry, pretending like Maelstrom was beloved after the fact is rose-colored glasses.

 

[_caleb]

I think replacing something unpopular with something popular counts as an addition. Ellen wasn't doing anybody any favors running empty boats all day. And I'm sorry, pretending like Maelstrom was beloved after the fact is rose-colored glasses.

These boards are full of people who are passionate about Disney parks that only ever existed in their minds, but hate the Disney parks that actually were and actually are today.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I think replacing something unpopular with something popular counts as an addition. Ellen wasn't doing anybody any favors running empty boats all day. And I'm sorry, pretending like Maelstrom was beloved after the fact is rose-colored glasses.

I'm still scared of the trolls.

But, Frozen should be about Norway, not a book-report, or whatever it is.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think replacing something unpopular with something popular counts as an addition. Ellen wasn't doing anybody any favors running empty boats all day. And I'm sorry, pretending like Maelstrom was beloved after the fact is rose-colored glasses.

That's true for most of the replacements, really. They often replaced shuttered (20K, e.g.) or diminished/barely functioning/wildly outdated (Backlot Tour and Ellen, e.g.) attractions. The issue with the two EPCOT changes is that the execution is bad (I think the overall execution of FEA is bad both in terms of fit and ride quality, whereas Guardians seems like a fine attraction in the wrong park).

The biggest miss that's not in that category is MMRR replacing GMR, which eliminated a great attraction that was still relatively popular and also caused a thematic loss.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Put Moana in the Adventureland expansion pad. Outrageous to put her in DAK and Epcot. Hoping this doesn't happen.

 

[UNCgolf]

These boards are full of people who are passionate about Disney parks that only ever existed in their minds, but hate the Disney parks that actually were and actually are today.

Full of them? I can only think of a handful of posters who could conceivably fit into this category.

Otherwise this sounds like a blanket dismissal of anyone who has a different opinion than you as delusional.