Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<I'd argue that the TOT storyline is much more developed than the vague "swinging wake" concept>> Exactly! Now whether you enjoy the storyline or not is certainly up to personal taste, and if mawnck doesn't particularly enjoy it that is his choice. But I certainly don't buy that it is poorly defined. In fact I would say that the two Sunset Boulevard attractions, ToT and RnRC have two the of most well developed and clearly indicated storylines of any Disney attractions. Even a totally non-subtly guy like me could pick up what they were supposed to be, and it didn't take all kinds of inside Disney information (wink, wink) to come up with them.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^It helps that both of those attractions have pre-show films that explicitly state the backstory for guests. If passengers had to sit through a film explaining the backstory of Luigi's Flying Tires, perhaps guests would have better understood it (then again, I've read it several times and it just doesn't make any sense). There are also some attractions with pre-show films that explain the backstory that still lead to confusing rides, like Dinosaur I would also argue that all of Sunset Blvd is part of TOT's backstory, but RNRC is an awkward departure from that. Instead of being set in the 40's, suddenly we've come across a 90's/current courtyard with a modern record studio. Once you're inside the courtyard it is very consistent, but there's a big jump there that's never quite explained
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ The saving grace is that it doesn't detract from Sunset Boulevard. You have to be right there before you even notice it. It does not detract from the nostalgic feel of the Boulevard.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<There are also some attractions with pre-show films that explain the backstory that still lead to confusing rides, like Dinosaur>> Uggh! Never has such a promising attraction delivered LESS. I can't believe Disney has done nothing to improve it. It really wouldn't take all that much. Indy using the same technology is an outstanding attraction. There they put the storyline in the ride. At Dinosaur they do not... you go through significant periods with nothing but darkness, and even when you are allowed to see something it is not at all obvious what you are seeing. It is a terrible attraction. I prefer the Dino-Rama rides.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA While I do like 'Tower of Terrot' I do think they missed an opportunity to provide some 'Twilight Zone' type of ending. One of those great zingers that comes in the final moments of the TV show.
Originally Posted By doombuggy I have never been to Florida power so I have no opinion. Dca's Tower which is my favorite ride in that Park Does have Some serious continuities in the story. The main hotel is obviously been in front of us the whole timeBut when we walk into the lobby somehow the elevators have moved to the right of the property where there is no Tower.The film Shows only one elevator falling As it disappears with the people inside then what crashed in the lobby?The lightning makes three wings of the hotel disappear Yet we only focus on the five people in the elevator what about everybody else that died? There were people in all those rooms As we see shoes trays champagne bottles and newspapers in front of the rooms. I noticed the very sloppy storytelling About the 5th time I went on it But it's still a great ride.
Originally Posted By dagobert According to WDW1974 it is a lost cause in Anaheim. Except for Star Wars, Disney's US parks are facing a not so good future. Unfortunately there's no one like Roy Disney to start a new Save Disney campaign. Additionally the financial numbers are way too good for an immediate replacement. As a European Disney fan I was always jealous about the US parks. Now I'm glad ED SCA doesn't have the money for licencing such IPs. Our ToT seems to be save for the next couple of years. There's only one change for ToT which I would welcome and that would be Tokyo's version. With the current management heading TWDC, I'm not so sure anymore that Disney now being the majority owner of DLP is a good move. I'm still hoping for a bad joke, but it seems less and less likely.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Doombuggy, if you want to talk about illogical parts of the backstory, look no further than the original WDW version of the ride, where the hotel's sign is somehow attached to the part of the building that was hit by lightning: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://danandsherree.com/photos/upload/2004/11/017.jpg">http://danandsherree.com/photo.../017.jpg</a> It also confuses me why the broken parts of the building in both versions are only the width of the elevator. Presumably that would only be wide enough for a hallway, yet from the inside we see a hallway with rooms on either side. Where did they go? As for the other people in the building, I always assumed that their bodies were found in the rubble, but that detail would have been too gory for a Disney park so they just brushed over it, wile the people in the elevator disappeared without a trace. That's pure speculation though
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Now I'm glad ED SCA doesn't have the money for licencing such IPs. Our ToT seems to be save for the next couple of years.<< From what I've heard, Paris may not be safe either. The Studios park has always been a prime candidate for a Marvel land, and the south/west side of the park near TOT, RNRC, and all the empty space seems like the obvious location for it. And given that your TOT is a direct copy of DCA's (rather, DCA's was built using the WDSP plans in a rush job), it seems like this would be too easy to ignore. Like Star Tours 2, you may not be getting it right away, but it seems like it would be coming eventually
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I would argue that in these sorts of cases, "just as good" means it is a failure. Why shut down the attraction and spend lots of money to convert it, only to end up with something equally popular? From a business perspective it doesn't make sense, and from a park goer perspective it doesn't particularly make sense. > In some cases. Other times, it could be seen as "preemptive freshening," i.e. keeping something fresh before it becomes old. In other cases, the "just as good" version (this being subjective, of course), DOES result in a temporary boost in popularity. Something like Pirates on TSI would fall into this category. I'm sure it didn't bring a lot of people to the park, but it did boost popularity to the island for a while. To me, and here's where the subjectivity comes in, it was a wash; there were some neat things like the stuff in the old Injun Joe's Cave and the live entertainment, and then there were some things that kind of detracted, when they seemed too shoehorned in to capitalize on the by-then-already-fading Pirates craze. So on balance, for me, the island was freshened and reinvigorated some places, dis-improved in others, and basically just the same quite a few other places. So... different-but-just-as-good - for me, anyway. And did boost the island's popularity for a while, while also being completely reversible if they so choose. Of course, now I'm really hoping with a full year of river closure/re-routing that they'll take the opportunity to build a new fort and open it. Not holding my breath, but it'd be nice. <TOT regularly operates at or near full capacity, meaning that any changes wouldn't be able to bring more bodies on the ride, and therefore into the park. From a financial perspective, it would make more sense to either build something from scratch or redo an attraction that rarely meets its theoretical capacity (in DCA, I think GRR would be the most obvious choice, though pretty much everything in the park operates near capacity)> Totally agree with you, both about TOT and GRR. I can't imagine a new GOTG-themed TOT appreciably affecting attendance (though DLR's huge AP base always checks out even minor changes to attractions, and I'm sure ridership would get a little temporary spike), and at presumably much greater cost than something like the TSI changes. <>>...but what else could they put in there with a 2017 start date besides an M&G or two?<< <Didn't Flik's Fun Fair open on DCA's 2nd birthday, after they realized the park was in serious trouble? Obviously those are hardly 'great' attractions in the traditional Disney sense, but things can be done quickly, even when the decision is made late in the game> As I said before, I wouldn't mind them re-purposing a couple of those spinners to Marvel and then using the other half of the Bugs Land space (along with the adjacent expansion area) to create something bigger and all-ages.
Originally Posted By monorailblue ToT is one of the very upper echelon of Disney Attraction theming and storytelling, IMHO. CM costuming is nearly perfect and it has always been supported by top notch merchandise. My big fear is that a change will drop the fantastic realism of ToT in favor of some sort of brand-placement mess . . . the hotel becomes the Marvel Arms or something idiotic like that. Oh, well. My family is down to visiting DLR only every 3 or 4 years anyway, so I guess we'll take what we get and decide if we're happy about it.
Originally Posted By ni_teach I have been thinking about this for the past day and I was wondering if this might be an overlay on TOT. Just like the overlays that we have seen on Space Mountain. How would people feel about this project if it was something for just a summer and then turned about into TOT after that?
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>From what I've heard, Paris may not be safe either. The Studios park has always been a prime candidate for a Marvel land, and the south/west side of the park near TOT, RNRC, and all the empty space seems like the obvious location for it. And given that your TOT is a direct copy of DCA's (rather, DCA's was built using the WDSP plans in a rush job), it seems like this would be too easy to ignore. Like Star Tours 2, you may not be getting it right away, but it seems like it would be coming eventually<<< I know, that's why I have written in a couple of years. In the next five years our ToT might be safe. Hopefully!!
Originally Posted By hopemax > How would people feel about this project if it was something for just a summer and then turned about into TOT after that? < Burbank does not want to renew the Twilight Zone license with CBS. There will be no going back.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Burbank does not want to renew the Twilight Zone license with CBS. There will be no going back.<<< If that's the reason, we can expect all three traditional towers to change.
Originally Posted By monorailblue Drop the Twilight Zone name, create a new video to show in the library, and you're done. I enjoy the opening as much as anyone, but Creepy Hotel With Glitterati Tragedy Invites Guests to Ride Freight Elevator and Something Goes Spookily Wrong in no way requires a Twilight Zone tie-in to be effective. But also in no way requires a very strange intergalactic re-do!!!!
Originally Posted By berol That's what I've been thinking. Have the video change from a far-fetched natural lightning strike to a far-fetched villain-caused lightning strike and that's about it.
Originally Posted By doombuggy "Burbank does not want to renew the Twilight Zone license with CBS" That just means they drop the whole TZ and Rod. Easily changed with the bell hop we hear at loading now telling the story. OR an even easier thing to do would simply be retheme it to DisneySea Tower. Add the evil idol, change the movie TA..DA done. Monsanto was all over Innerspace but they didn't need to change much when they left and this would be no different.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan While I enjoy ToT, I think it has always been missing the classic Twilight Zone twist. The best Twilight Zone episodes have that "ah-ha!" moment, where something unexpected is revealed, or feature a lesson that ties in with cold-war era current events, the lessons of World war II and humanity, etc. The ride has a fantastic build up, the ride itself is fun and at least at the WDW version has the unexpected forward motion ride thru before the drops. But at the end -- there's no real lesson or surprise twist. From the attraction: "A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning, something you won't find in any guidebook: the next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling, or you may find yourself a permanent resident . . . of The Twilight Zone." Do people check into deserted hotels on the dark side of Hollywood? Not so much. It's a bit of a let down ending (no pun intended.) And so without that big twist, it doesn't "have" to be Twilight Zone at all. It could simply be a haunted hotel. Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn't have been on my list of 100 other possible set ups or tie ins, but I do believe there are ways to use the majority of what's there in a fresh way.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that the Twilight Zone tie-in isn't necessary for the storyline, which is part of what makes it such a great attraction. Similar to Indiana Jones, it helps a little bit if you know the general franchise premise, but the in-park experience holds up on its own regardless. From what I've seen of any number of tie-ins in recent years, the story will be so complicated that we'll need to have an intimate familiarity with GOTG to understand what's going on. I doubt we'll get a direct clone of Tokyo's backstory for a number of reasons (it doesn't really fit the Hollywood theme, live CMs telling the story in the library, etc), but it proves that the ride can be just as great without the franchise connection Somewhat ironically, this is one of the big problems with the Marvel land at IOA. All of the rides are fun enough on their own, but the backstories are nearly impossible to decipher for most guests. Sure, you don't really need a backstory to enjoy a coaster like The Incredible Hulk, but I don't think that it would fit TOT well, especially after having such a great story for so many years
