Mouse Extra

Kevin Yee of MiceAge.com had a rundown yesterday of the all the projects and rumors going on at Walt Disney World.  Some are confirmed, some are close to confirmation, and others seem a bit wild.  But if you are like me, reading about any such rumors is something we scour the internet for everyday.  And when we find a good one, we just can’t stop talking about it. 

There are a few goodies in Mr. Yee’s report, but the one I like the most is this one…

Ratatouille-themed clone of DSP’s Crush Coaster. The mostly-indoor Crush coaster at Disney Studios-Paris enjoys a great reputation and will be cloned at Pixar Place, likely with a Ratatouille theme. Earlier ideas included Monsters Inc. (specifically, the doors factory), but that appears shelved for now.

As I am sure many of you know, Ratatouille was a big favorite of mine.  I thought it was an absolutely brilliant film.  Having it represented in a big way at Disney World is exciting to me.  And what I like about this idea is that the film didn’t appeal as much to little kids as it did to slightly older ones and adults.  Those people over five are the ones who would truly love a new thrill ride. 

But I also like that Disney does not seem to be ready to just transplant a ride from one park to the next lock, stock and barrel.  We have seen a lot of that.  Some of it works and some of it doesn’t.  But getting a bit creative about the concepts and trying some new things with a working formula is more of what we should expect out of Imagineering. 

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Our friend Tom over at the always readable WDW News Today has found a terrific video from MSNBC that offers us the best preview yet of the Toy Story Mania attraction coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Click here for Tom’s posting.

While the video is the typical kind of cagey pre-release video Imagineering produces when it wants to promote a new attraction without really showing it, it does give us a look at some concrete details.  For one thing, we get to see the ride vehicle in its entirety and in action and it look pretty good to me.  It has a classic dark-ride vehicle feel and seems to blend the concepts of the new attraction well.

We also get a look at the shooting mechanism, and that is a slightly less exciting.  Just from this quick view, it seems a bit cumbersome and very prone to breaking.  But I will admit this is the type of thing that really needs to be experience within the context of the games to know for certain if it does or does not work.  Perhaps it is just silly enough to fit right in.

It does seem that we are inching closer and closer to the opening of this ride.  While it certainly won’t create the type of explosive hype the surrounded Expedition Everest, it should be very exciting to see Toy Story Mania in action.  My next trip to Walt Disney World is coming in the first week of May, and I must admit that I am rooting hard for previews to be happening by then so I can see this.

Jim Hill Media’s guest writer Robert Bish discussed yesterday what he feels is the gathering roller coaster war that is heading towards Orlando, Florida.  With Sea World beginning construction on a major new coaster and Universal looking to add one within the “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”, attention turns to Disney.  What will they do in response?

This is where an old rumor ties in to the changing landscape of Orlando’s theme parks.  The report says that Disney World may respond with the type of major refurbishment to Space Mountain that we have heard for some time now.

Where once this Magic Kingdom thrill ride was just supposed to receive some new cars and retheming during its upcoming redo … Now that this Space Mountain’s revamp is sure to be compared to what Universal plans to do with to Dueling Dragons (i.e. Fold all sorts of new story elements & effects into this IOA thrill ride so that this attraction will then themed around the Triwizard Tournament from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) … The Imagineers are now supposedly thinking about throwing a whole lot more money at this 33-year-old indoor coaster …

So is this the right way to compact gate busting attractions at the other theme parks?  It depends on how much you think Sea World and Universal can hurt the turnstiles at Disney World.  But on a purely personal level, I think the answer to that question is no.

First of all, now matter how good a refurb is done on Space Mountain people will always pine for the classic attraction.  A facelift type project, like the one at Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion, is one thing.  But totally changing the feel of Space Mountain will bring the inevitable cries of the purists and rightly so.  Space Mountain is already a great ride that brings big crowds decades after it was built.  Fix it up, update the lighting and sound, make the cars better and more comfortable, and you’ll have many ecstatic fans.

But if Disney really wants to combat the other parks they need something fresh and new, not the destruction of something that is already a huge hit.  Don’t waste your time changing an attraction that is already successful into something that may potentially not be as successful or loyally loved.  Instead, invest in a new e-ticket with the marketing power and wide appeal of Expedition Everest, Soarin, or Test Track.  Add a new land to the Animal Kingdom or, build a coaster to the new Pixar section at the Studios.  That will grab the people’s attention.

Scott Powers of the Orlando Sentinel is reporting this morning that Disney World officials are making changes to Primeval Whirl in response to the tragic death of a cast member late last year.   Karen Price fell and died of head injuries after being hit by one of the rides cars while working on the attraction.

On the off-limits area of the ride platform beyond the passenger loading and unloading zones, Disney is installing sensor mats that will shut down the ride if someone sets foot there, Prunty said. Also, bold striping is being added to delineate the loading and unloading zones.

This doesn’t affect the guest experience to any noticeable degree.  But it is the proper response to a terrible tragedy.  Disney has received a lot of bad press from other fatal incidents in the past few years and has come under considerable fire for what appears to be a declining commitment to safety.  I can not say for sure if that is the case, but I do have to question the timing.  Why did it take over three months to make these simple changes?

I don’t mean to sound like a cynic here, but this is starting to concern me.  Back in December, a guest died on Expedition Everest of a heart attack and people questioned whether Disney had properly placed defibrillators in case of such an emergency on such an intense ride.  Is Disney dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s like they should?  It’s hard to make a negligence claim without really investigating the evidence, and I can not do that.  But we all know that perception in the biggest judge in these matters and Disney seems to be letting it slip more and more.

This morning’s posting over at Jim Hill Media deals with the problems associated with the shrinking popularity of Disney’s pirates franchise.  Apparently the Pirates and Princesses Party is still struggling and Disney is cutting some costs to make it more profitable.  But perhaps the most disappointing is the red light given to the often rumored Tortuga restaurant project.

“So why didn’t the ‘Tortuga’ project go forward?,” you ask. Well, in addition to the problems associated with the “Pirates & Princess Party” and those declining “Pirates of the Caribbean” merchandise sales … There was the matter of what it would cost to change the Adventureland Veranda from a quick service facility to a full service restaurant.

Then when you factor in that the Magic Kingdom doesn’t really need a brand-new full service restaurant right now (Why For? Well, while places like Liberty Tree Tavern and the Crystal Palace are typically running at 90 - 95% occupancy at lunch & dinner these days, there are still in-park facilities like Tony’s Town Square that will have empty tables at various times of the day. So why should WDW officials spend the money necessary to add a brand-new dining facility to the Magic Kingdom when that theme park isn’t really making full use of the restaurants that it already has?) … It just didn’t make sense to spend the money now that would be necessary to turn the Adventureland Veranda into a “Pirates of the Caribbean” -themed dining experience.

There are a couple of things I find interesting in this analysis.  First, is the cost of converting a quick service into a full service restaurant so high that Disney would find the investment too much to handle?  That seems to be a bit of a stretch to me.  While kitchen equipment and renovations may be difficult, it is only a drop of what Disney puts into many other projects built from the ground up.  This sounds like a rationalization to me.

Second, I also have to question the conclusion that the Magic Kingdom does not need a new full service restaurant.  The 90-95% capacity seen at the Crystal Palace and the Liberty Tree is rather high, and certainly does not mean another would not be attended.  Many people don’t go to these places because they know how crowded it can be at lunch and dinner times.  Also, one is a buffet and the other family style, so a regular order-off-the-menu place would be a welcome addition.  And let’s be honest, Tony’s Town Square has empty tables because it isn’t all that great.

The reason for this ship being scuttled is much more obvious then that.  It seems the popularity of the entire Pirates franchise took a shot to the hull that left it crippled and sinking, and it was called “At World’s End”.  The film may have done well at the box office, but it failed to generate the cross generational appeal Disney was banking on.  The wit-filled swashbuckling that made adults laugh and kids run to find the nearest household object that could be imagined into a sword was replaced with a convoluted and way too dark storyline that anyone under 16 struggled to follow, and some of us more than twice that age did too.  Now Disney is left with a franchise that needs to be rebuilt before it can sail again.

The Orlando Sentinel has a short blurb this morning about a couple of new exhibits coming to Innoventions at Epcot.  While the report is somewhat short on details, there is one new exhibit that looks to be pretty exciting…

The weather-technology area, to be called “StormStruck: The Tale of Two Homes,” will be developed by Disney and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, or FLASH, a nonprofit group formed by several for-profit companies including State Farm insurance. The exhibit, scheduled to open late this summer, will give visitors a feel for severe weather such as a hurricane. After they experience “the storm,” they’ll have an opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research related to weather and the latest recommendation for protecting homes.

I’ll admit that I do not pay Innoventions the attention that I should.  I normally walk right past it without ever going in and exploring what it has to offer.  To me, most of what is there is what I call a “one timer”, something I only need to see once.  Perhaps this new exhibit will break that trend.

I know there are some Innoventions fans out there.  And there are certainly those who cry to have Communicore back.  Even though I tend to ignore this area, even when it was Communicore, I do appreciate that Disney has held on to the concept.  After all, at the very root of the Epcot idea is to have new technologies and discoveries on display for all to see.  Don’t give it up Disney, not everyone’s as short sighted as I am.