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

DisneyDodo

DisneyDodo

Well-Known Member
FigmentFan82 said:
Yeah, the very first thing that comes to mind for Zootopia being overlayed onto Dino is joining Judy and Nick on a car chase. I guess finessing the story would be crucial, but I don't know where else you go with what already exists in Dino
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Car chase? When I heard “Zootopia ride,” my mind immediately jumped to “salt mine.” Was that just me?
 
yensidtlaw1969

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
DisneyDodo said:
This.

The whole point of a theme park is to transport guests to a place they wish they could go (e.g. Neverland, an idealized Hollywood, Hogwarts, etc.). Dinorama successfully transports guests to a place they don’t want to be. They literally spent thousands of dollars and likely travelled hundreds of miles to go to an upscale theme park resort instead of hopping in the car and driving to their local rundown cheap amusement park.

Of course, Disney didn’t pick this theme because they thought it’s what guests craved. They chose it because it allowed them to throw up a few attractions on the cheap. Which is fine as a temporary measure to increase capacity, but an upgrade is long past due.
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There's a little more to it - Chester and Hesters is meant to be, believe it or not, a sort of Morality Play that draws into focus the difference between this environment and the others in the park. The lands that have living animals are beautiful, intricate, mysterious, and natural (or at least natural-feeling). But DinoLand? Dinoland's animals are long gone, and look what's become of them.

We have an endless fascination with dinosaurs that, due to their extinction, can never be satisfied. They "live" now only in museums and roadside attractions - which may offer some fun distractions, but will never compare to those amazing beasts. While it's not our fault they're gone, the way we've commodified their memory is cheap and tacky - the antithesis to the grandeur the natural world presents when unfettered by our influence.

Did it help that Chester and Hesters was inexpensive to build (and easy to tear down)? For sure, yes. But it does also makes a somewhat poignant comment about our ecosystem. The things we lose from it can never be properly replaced, they can only be protected while we have them, and the value of protecting them is evident when comparing which parts of the park appeal to which parts of it don't.


. . . That said, your assessment is ultimately correct that it's undesirable to be transported as a guest to a place you don't want to go. Especially when the subject is something as cool as dinosaurs - people want a Jurassic Park moment and they do not get it here. Only "Dinosaur!" comes close to delivering the goods and it's not quite enough.

That this interesting message the land presents goes far over mosts guests' heads is also a big part of the problem - The Design Goal and the Guest's Desires are absolutely speaking past each other.
 
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ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
DisneyDodo said:
Car chase? When I heard “Zootopia ride,” my mind immediately jumped to “salt mine.” Was that just me?
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J

JMcMahonEsq

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
Sure, I'm not saying a spinner and Primeval Whirl were the only options they had. Just that they couldn't really build a more elaborate attraction there and have it make sense with the theme.

The other, more important reason is that that whole area was built on a limited budget. They weren't going to spend the money to build an elaborate attraction there.
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And from an overall theme/attention perspective why would someone who if traveling to and paying the cost for a Disney vacation, want to spend their time in a carnival area, even a very well done one, when they can get the same ride/experience at their local carnival for about 10% of the cost?
 
FigmentFan82

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
Dino USA was just like Camp Minnie Mickey, a temporary placeholder until a better idea came along. Pandora took care of the camp, glad that Moana will take care of the Dino parking lot
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
JMcMahonEsq said:
And from an overall theme/attention perspective why would someone who if traveling to and paying the cost for a Disney vacation, want to spend their time in a carnival area, even a very well done one, when they can get the same ride/experience at their local carnival for about 10% of the cost?
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Right, this is exactly why it wasn't a good idea, even if it's well-executed and I understand what they were going for.
 
dennis-in-ct

dennis-in-ct

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
We’ll see. For starters, many phase 2s (and that’s what this is, with Moana being the first phase of a Dinoland retheme) never happen at Disney. And I actually wonder if they presented it at D23 specifically to get some real world feedback about how people would react to Zootopia at DAK because doing it “officially”
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Moana = yes for Animal Kingdom
Zootopia = NO for Animal Kingdom
 
dennis-in-ct

dennis-in-ct

Well-Known Member
BuddyThomas said:
I understand allegory just fine. What I don't understand is members of a Disney board telling me that there are no animals in Zootopia. And once again, if walking talking animals are such an absolute disgrace in Animal Kingdom, then they must get rid of all of this immediately, right?

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Two different things - even Joe Rohde gave the fab 5 a pass due to well, it’s the main fab 5 - a given.
Zootopia does not belong.
Zootopia does not demonstrate at transformation through the experience of nature and thereby resulting in a need for action to protect.
 
dennis-in-ct

dennis-in-ct

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Can only speak for myself, but yes I would love to have Disney "TLC" Dinosaur and bring it back to its former glory. It's a solid ride and fun.

But the way I would handle Dinoland USA in general would be to also add in a calm family ride where you encounter dinosaurs in a non-threatening manner (think like the dinosaur portion of UoE or the beginning of Jurassic Park River Adventure before the "something goes terribly wrong" part) as a way to compliment Dinosaur as a ride.
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When Dinosaur is working properly it is a super great spook house. At times, really scary.
I remember thinking this is too scary for kids.
 
FigmentFan82

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
too bad, Zootopia is coming. They've already got a bunch of the work/concepts done for the overseas version. They're definitely going to reuse as much as they can
 
Incomudro

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
JMcMahonEsq said:
And from an overall theme/attention perspective why would someone who if traveling to and paying the cost for a Disney vacation, want to spend their time in a carnival area, even a very well done one, when they can get the same ride/experience at their local carnival for about 10% of the cost?
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This much, I agree with and it was the reason our family spent no time there.
It is merely theming for me.
 
SteveAZee

SteveAZee

Premium Member
JMcMahonEsq said:
And from an overall theme/attention perspective why would someone who if traveling to and paying the cost for a Disney vacation, want to spend their time in a carnival area, even a very well done one, when they can get the same ride/experience at their local carnival for about 10% of the cost?
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What might work, if you want the 'cheap carnival ride' theme, is to have that look on the outside, but when you enter an attraction there, it's not what you expect, it's big and awe inspiring and Disney-like on the inside. Like seeing the Haunted Mansion house.
 

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