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

[Captain Neo]

Of course it should be this, but then there would be no need for an IP mandate at all. You certainly don't need IP for a great ride design (and I'd argue having to use IP actually makes it harder due to existing constraints).

The IP mandate implies popular IP (or something they expect to be popular). They aren't going to greenlight a Rescuers ride even if it was the most impressive design in years.

they green lit tron and that movie flopped TWICE!

 

[doctornick]

I’ve always been of the mind that not every attraction in DAK has to explicitly focus on animals and nature. I mean the park as a whole should certainly but an individual attraction more importantly needs to fit its land and surroundings. So I’m okay if we get an Oceana land that has the Nemo show and the Moana stuff as long as it is all designed to fit together. Surely it will be nice if the flume ride has some elements of man’s relationship with the oceans and animal life there but it doesn’t have to be the main thrust.

Of course what would help is if they added some animal exhibits as well to compliment. Even just a few Australian animals would be nice (or maybe New Zealand specifically to tie it more in with Polynesia if desired) on a smaller trail.

 

[strictfoo]

they green lit tron and that movie flopped TWICE!

Tron didn't flop, nor did Tron Legacy. They both made money, just not Marvel or Star Wars money

Tron: $17 million budget, $33 million (domestic) box office
Tron Legacy: $170 million budget, $400 million box office

 

[LSLS]

I think it's 100% execution. Moana and Tefiti clearly have incredible connection to the water and life. They could 100% be guides/ambassadors to those creatures. The focus needs to be on the nature, not the characters.

That's where my extreme doubt comes in. There are several ways to do it very well. I have no faith current Disney would accomplish that given what we've been seeing recently story-wise. It would be a Moana attraction. Not a nature-focused attraction that uses Moana characters as a conduit. The characters will always upstage the alleged "story" to make it fit into its surroundings.

How could you not have faith with the exceptional job they did tying Cosmic Rewind into the theme of Epcot? It's like you don't even want to be educated in how to fight a giant space monster in super hero space.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Tron didn't flop, nor did Tron Legacy. They both made money, just not Marvel or Star Wars money

Tron: $17 million budget, $33 million (domestic) box office
Tron Legacy: $170 million budget, $400 million box office

And more importantly from a theme park integration perspective, they both looked dope.

 

[doctornick]

And more importantly from a theme park integration perspective, they both looked dope.

Which is kind of my point. Tron is a great IP for a theme park attraction even if the movies aren’t really all that popular. I’d rather see a great attraction based on an obscure (or no) IP than awkwardly fitting in something themed to a popular IP just to get park representation (looking at you Frozen)

 

[UNCgolf]

they green lit tron and that movie flopped TWICE!

They didn't really flop, but beyond that, it's because it was a clone from Shanghai. They wouldn't have designed a new TRON ride from scratch for the Magic Kingdom that they were just building now.

 

[MadderAdder]

They didn't really flop, but beyond that, it's because it was a clone from Shanghai. They wouldn't have designed a new TRON ride from scratch for the Magic Kingdom that they were just building now.

And it’s still taken forever…

 

[UNCgolf]

Which is kind of my point. Tron is a great IP for a theme park attraction even if the movies aren’t really all that popular. I’d rather see a great attraction based on an obscure (or no) IP than awkwardly fitting in something themed to a popular IP just to get park representation (looking at you Frozen)

Yeah, me too, but they just aren't going to do that with the current IP mandate.

 

[doctornick]

They didn't really flop, but beyond that, it's because it was a clone from Shanghai. They wouldn't have designed a new TRON ride from scratch for the Magic Kingdom that they were just building now.

Which of course explains their interest in building Zootopia in WDW as well.


They just should be doing it as a new build and in DHS not DAK.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

A conversation I just had with my little sister lol

 

[csmat99]

So did you hear that only the Phase one of Moana will be done in 2025? So Dinosaur should still be there in 2025?

No one has said 2025. It’s blue sky. Has NOT been green lit. The earliest anything could open would be 2027

 

[MagicHappens1971]

No one has said 2025. It’s blue sky. Has NOT been green lit. The earliest anything could open would be 2027

Someone in this thread said 2025. It’s highly probable if they start construction end of this year/early next year. It would be a retheme of Triceratop Spin, Resturantasorus, and then razing the Boneyard, and plopping a show building in its place.

 

[doctornick]

No one has said 2025. It’s blue sky. Has NOT been green lit. The earliest anything could open would be 2027

@ToTBellHop indicated that the Moana area may already be approved and might be done for a 2025 target opening. That seems to only be replacing the Dinorama area - retheming the spinner and building the water ride kinda where PW used to be. It’s not like Disney to work that “fast” but it’s entirely possible for that timeframe to work if they wanted.

 

[ToTBellHop]

No one has said 2025. It’s blue sky. Has NOT been green lit. The earliest anything could open would be 2027

Simply untrue. They will not let 2025 and 2026 pass without a major addition. This is literally the most eligible spot in all of WDW since it is in a currently-used guest area, it’s cleared, it’s ready to go, and it is in the park that is next in line for an addition.

2027, we’d be talking about Zootopia if it is built and the MK expansion being well under way. Those ideas are aspirational but I’d expect something in MK this decade.

 

[UNCgolf]

Which of course explains their interest in building Zootopia in WDW as well.


They just should be doing it as a new build and in DHS not DAK.

Absolutely.

The potential saving grace is that I think the Shanghai Zootopia attraction is a different ride system, so they wouldn't be able to just copy everything over. They could decide it's not worth the cost.

 

[doctornick]

So anyone have any ideas as to what the vehicles are for the Moana spinner? Or the basic concept? It looks like they are barrels to me but that doesn’t make sense I don’t think

 

[UNCgolf]

So anyone have any ideas as to what the vehicles are for the Moana spinner? Or the basic concept? It looks like they are barrels to me but that doesn’t make sense I don’t think

They're triceratops.

 

[James Alucobond]

So anyone have any ideas as to what the vehicles are for the Moana spinner? Or the basic concept? It looks like they are barrels to me but that doesn’t make sense I don’t think

Could be elements of the Kakamora barge.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Probably not worth worrying about Zootopia too much. They’ll need to actually build the Moana land before even starting. Plans could change 15 times before then.