Guardians of the Galaxy Taking Over ToT

The video was about Joe's left earlobe for me. I'd never noticed it before.

 

Well, earlobe notwithstanding, Joe made it sound better than I thought it might be.

It looked like the guardians were all trapped in different "pods." Might each elevator be assigned to a different character, with a different drop sequence/music/pre-drop visuals assigned to each? That would be pretty nice.

 

Ok - after Joe's explanation, I like it. With all the talent he's pulling together, it could be really cool.

And it will tie in with the next movie, right?

 

And, the Hollywood section of DCA could be expanded into something cool - instead of the mish-mash of stuff that is there now.

Marvel Universe? Let's bring it.

 

I think Disney should buy the He-Man property and transform Heimlich into Battlecat, also Tuck Roll n Roll could be themed to Orko.

 

Interestingly, the concept art shows a bunch of pipe-like structures poking off the top of the building. Given that the existing building is 199' tall, does that mean that we should expect flashing lights on the tower for FAA clearance?

I'm not a big fan of the new exterior look, but I guess it's probably better than having a 'damaged' building looming in the distance. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Regardless of how well executed this is, it will always feel like a Rescue Rangers Raceway-style tie-in to property whose popularity was a flash in the pan...except that this is a permanent change

While he's always had a big earring, it looks like he now uses multiple heavy metal ones rather than a single fairly large-but-light one. This is by far the most I've seen it stretched out, and it definitely kind of creeped me out. At the very least, it was distracting from whatever it was he was talking about

 

Had the chance to work with Joe Rohde - great guy. I also appreciate people who push the envelope with their appearance.

 

I thought the idea was that TOT (or whatever they'll call it now) wasn't going to be in "Hollywood" any more, but rather that a new Marvel area would incorporate the tower plus the surrounding area. Though I don't know how they pull THAT together by Sept. 2017, unless the new Marvel land is just the tower and some meet-and-greets initially, with expansion later.

Although, as I said earlier, it would be pretty easy to re-skin the FFF rides (except Heimlich I guess) to Marvel characters if they wanted to.

 

Personally, I am really excited for the changes. When I first heard the rumors, I was really skeptical because I wasn't sure how the theme would work, but I think that the story behind the attraction is very strong. Joe really sold me on the idea that this is going to be a great refresher to an already great attraction. What I'm hoping for is that we'll start to see a gradual retheming of DCA. I never thought that California was the strongest theme for a park, so maybe that will finally change. I want all the attractions to stay, but I think just a general retheme would help set the park apart.

 

Sometime between now and January will be my very last trip to DCA.

 

ditto me thinks

 

RIP 2004-2016

 

California Adventure is getting better, not worse, so why would your next trip be your last?

I also look forward to a redressed Tower of Terror--if you've seen what Disney has done with the ride in Tokyo DisneySea, you'll realize that it can be much better than it is now.

 

I've been on the TDS version and agree that it's great. I have no problem with ditching the Twilight Zone (it's a fun add on, but I have no personal affinity for the show) and the setting could be changed to fit the surroundings. But the setting of the old Hollywood-era hotel already fits the land and the park so well. I just don't see how retheming it to a modern/futuristic superhero movie will make the Hollywood-themed area in the California-based park any better

Furthermore, the attraction is already popular and runs at capacity throughout the day. No matter how popular this overlay is, they really can't get any more guests onto the ride than what they're doing now. Like Maelstrom/Frozen, I expect this will be a fairly expensive redo that's heavily advertised, but somehow it's not increasing the guest capacity of the park. So from a business perspective, what's the point?

 

It will be more mish-mash. The main drag along with the Hyperion is 1930s/40s. Then immediately to the left is the modern look with the Muppets building, Monsters Inc, and stage 17. Then .. to the right of the main drag will be sci-fi Modern/sh MARVEL. To stay consistent across Hollywoodland, and ditch the multiple "Frankenstein" mess ... the whole land would be sci-fi modern OR make it all 1930s.

I've heard all the arguments on both sides.

At the end of the day ... all that work to create a consistent theme with neighboring BVS just went out the door. ToT is tall. Can be seen in many spots all around DCA. If the Marvel sci-fi remake looks tacky .. even the least ... It's going to look awfully weird ... right next to the 1930s/40s main drag of Hollywoodland.

 

I cannot believe it was twelve years ago that DH and I rode that thing 7 times in a row!!

 

It sounds like you're describing WDSP. That park is such a hodgepodge it makes DCA 1.0 look like the peak of theme park design.

 

At least Tower of Terror in WDSP is still themed to Hollywood...

 

MiceChat had this in their rumor update today

Speaking of Guardians of the Galaxy, the plan is to fully enclose the Tower of Terror’s exterior queue and wall in the elevator doors that open to a view of the parks during the ride. The current exterior garden queue will become a mood-setting indoor queue space before visitors enter the plot explaining pre-show in the current lobby and library area, and then move on to The Collector’s museum exhibits in what is now the Boiler Room part of Tower of Terror’s queue. The elevators, re-themed as emergency escape space vehicles, will then travel up and down the shafts in randomized show sequences. A half dozen different show sequences are now planned, all with different music, dialogue and visuals. The elevator doors at the top of the building will still open, but riders will no longer be looking out over the Resort. Instead, they will peer into a video projection room meant to look like the vastness of outer space as the final scene unfolds. There won’t be much left of the Tower of Terror experience you know, except for the sudden up and down drop motions.

This construction will begin soon with scaffolding going up on the sides and back end of the Tower of Terror, while the ride continues to operate with an uncovered front side through the end of this year. The back side will be heavily rethemed as the eventual plan is to expand DCA into the parking lot between it and the Cars Land area. Future park visitors will ultimately be able to walk around the west and south facing sides of the Guardians attraction, so WDI is going far beyond the plain walls that Paul Pressler approved for construction in his rushed panic to get Tower of Terror into a failing DCA in the early 2000’s.

 

Just heard it officially on KTLA that it's happening.