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

[DCLcruiser]

The characters that walk around/do Meet & Greets act more as ambassadors for Walt Disney World and are not tied thematically to the lands they are in.

Yes, DAK has "talking animal" attractions, but they are real animals that talk, not people-animals. Nevermind that Zootopia is a film that makes jokes out of the animal traits constantly.

I hear you. Flik is anthropomorphic, but as an animal in a human world. He doesn't have a desk job and wear clothing.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Moana fits? Yet here we are just waiting what should be done...

This is an exact representation of me while watching Josh and the announcements. Not much left in the bottle.

 

[MadderAdder]

I was really expecting them to just go with the Donald sponsorship gimmick and plonk down another off the shelf ride with his name on it.

You know, since no one's interested in dinosaurs without a character tie-in, apparently.

I'm really sad about this. I know it wasn't the greatest concept ever, but I do love the amount of care and detail poured into Dinoland. I love how much there is to look at. I love having a thrill ride that doesn't have hills. I love that it presented a place where the locals were fun and all loved dinosaurs (like you). Call me sappy, but if it's going away, I think now is the time for it.

Having a coherent theme to the theme park was nice, too. But hey, Moana has...ya know, trees... that's the theme of Animal Kingdom, right?

I guess I'll just hope they at least stop at the halfway point. Zootopia is a terrible idea, too.

Moana opens up the world of aquatic animals. And pacific islands.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Moana opens up the world of aquatic animals. And pacific islands.

It could.

I don't believe they WILL. Or at the very least it would be a very minor part.

And they should present it that way if they plan to.

 

[Dinoman96]

I thought the fix was zillions of dollars due to the structure.

That's what they want you to think

 

[UNCgolf]

Honestly, I think the ride does need a refurb and rethink. I know others disagree, but I think the whole "we're trying to catch a dinosaur" storyline doesn't work and they should simplify it to make it more of a fun thrill ride going back to the time of the dinosaurs just before the meteor is about to strike. They really need to stop over-thinking these things and look at what made many of the classic rides so great.

One way to deal with how hidden the ride is would be perhaps to also abandon the Dino Institute theming and lean into the tourist trap theming of the rest of the land (which I think kind of works).

Oh I agree they could make a better dinosaur ride -- something like the early part of the Jurassic Park River Adventure would work best, IMO. Just a slow, casual ride with no height restrictions where you get to see a bunch of dinosaur AAs. That ride would be a massive hit.

I was operating on the assumption they wouldn't want to spend that kind of money, though, and the best we could get is just a refurbed version of the current ride with all effects working as intended. Otherwise they're going to replace it with IP.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Which Moana attraction should we go to? The one at Magic Kingdom? The one at Epcot? The one at Hollywood Studios? Or the one at Animal Kingdom?

Then we can eat at the Moana restaurant and pee in the Moana toilets and watch the Moana fireworks and sleep in our Moana beds and dream about Moana.

Moana Moana Moana.

 

[UNCgolf]

I hear you. Flik is anthropomorphic, but as an animal in a human world. He doesn't have a desk job and wear clothing.

Right, that's the thing. If Zootopia fits, so does Robin Hood and the Great Mouse Detective -- they could even put Toontown in Animal Kingdom!

 

[DCLcruiser]

Which Moana attraction should we go to? The one at Magic Kingdom? The one at Epcot? The one at Hollywood Studios? Or the one at Animal Kingdom?

Then we can eat at the Moana restaurant and pee in the Moana toilets and watch the Moana fireworks and sleep in our Moana beds and dream about Moana.

Moana Moana Moana.

You're welcome...

 

[DCLcruiser]

Right, that's the thing. If Zootopia fits, so does Robin Hood and the Great Mouse Detective -- they could even put Toontown in Animal Kingdom!

Hmm, and I guess Mickey Mouse fits too. They are all animals with clothes on.

I get it, this isn't the best idea.

 

[SCOTLORR]

The artwork is just Moana, but I guess there is space for both?

View attachment 666074

I'm actually pretty excited for the Moana area, especially since the attraction looks like a flume ride. Guessing here, but it looks like triceratop spin will be re-themed to the coconut pirates from Moana? Roughly looks similar, here is a picture for reference:

As everyone else is mentioning, I'm crossing my fingers zootopia never sees the light of day in AK. Would much prefer a lengthy refurb to Dinosaur instead.

 

[BenJacobs]

If you look at the ride vehicle for the Zootopia ride thats going to the china park. It's the exact same ride vehicle as indiana jones/Countdown to Extinction and because of TRON there is now precedence for cloning rides that prove popular in China.

The Zootopia ride vehicle appears to be a trackless ride, 5x2 seating.

 

[MadderAdder]

So why Moana in Epcot and AK?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

So why Moana in Epcot and AK?

So why Buzz in DHS & MK?
So why Belle in DHS & MK & Epcot?
Etc, etc, they just throw popular IP & characters whenever they can sell merch

 

[DCLcruiser]

So why Moana in Epcot and AK?

Both exist in the Nature neighborhood.

Why Little Mermaid in MK and DHS?

 

[MadderAdder]

OK y’all make fair points! Sorry.

 

[djkidkaz]

I have to be honest I really like that Moana art. A Moana style water ride could be amazing and I don’t mind them retheming triceratop spin to that nicer looking Moana one.

I don’t know anything about zootopia.

 

[SplashJacket]

To recap:

They want to replace 3 rides with 3 rides. The biggest need for Animal Kingdom is indoor family rides. So we get (drum roll please!) two outdoor rides and a rethemed thrill ride.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I have to be honest I really like that Moana art. A Moana style water ride could be amazing and I don’t mind them retheming triceratop spin to that nicer looking Moana one.

I don’t know anything about zootopia.

It's actually a decent movie, watch it. Plenty of laughs. Not saying I love it for DAK, but it's worth the time.

 

[cjkeating]

When it comes to animal characters in Animal Kingdom Joe Rohde has stated the "no pants" rule excluding the Fab 5 when deciding if they are appropriate.

Another way of looking at it is would the film still make sense if the animal characters were replaced by humans? Zootopia yes, The Lion King no.

Moana is light on animals but has a message of respecting the land/sea and ties into Hawaiian culture/mythology so could work... Zootopia however. No chance.