Originally Posted By pheneix So I was at the right place at the right time and got to see a tech rehersal of Monsters Inc Laugh Floor today. What a total mess. There's hardly anything redeeming about this fiasco at all. This "living character" project seems like a grand idea when you are bringing life to characters guest care about like Crush or Mickey Mouse, but this show features total duds that don't connect with the audience. I'll come back with more after I've had some sleep and I can construct a report that has more to say than "dear god how did anyone sit down and think this was a good idea?"
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Thanks for the report. Sounds like everything I've been told by numerous folks who have seen this. well,at least Tomorrowland will be bookended by two expensive, poorly conceived failures.
Originally Posted By leemac <<What a total mess. >> It felt cringeworthy to me too when I saw a few performances last month. I just don't see how this conceit is going to work at all. They have got 6 weeks to get it together before the opening.
Originally Posted By Labuda ^^^ So they've set a date for the opening, then? Cool! I look forward to yet another new much-maligned Tomorroland attraction for me to see in its early days! lol
Originally Posted By leemac It will open in March. There isn't much flexibility as the team need to be deployed elsewhere from there.
Originally Posted By Doobie No argument here. It was just not good and I don't think the concept is good either, so I'd be surprised if they're able to fix it, as much as I'd like to be wrong. Doobie.
Originally Posted By Labuda Ok, so - open in March means I'm definitely adding it to my list of must-sees in April. Hey, at least I'll have three all-new, never-seen-em-before attractions on a trip happening just 6 months after my last! (For any wondering, that's the sea cabs with Nemo, the Nemo show, and this Monsters Inc show)
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ well two exceptional attractions out of three ain't bad. Must be something about that little orange clownfish that brings out the best in WDI.
Originally Posted By willthisbetheone The "living character" shows are rather fun, as long as you have the proper questions. I recall that I was at Turtle Talk With Crush in 2005. Excluding the parents and grandparents, I was probably the oldest person in the room. Anyway, they expect you to ask Crush sea-life-oriented questions. I was a wild card, so I asked Crush about the competition between Pixar and DreamWorks at the Academy Awards (which would be happenning the night I was at Epcot). He was thrown for a loop and it seemed like the air was taken out of the room. Oops. Sincerely, John Kilduff
Originally Posted By pheneix Some more random unorganized thoughts... The queue and the theatre itself are themed sort of okay. The very first room is a throw off because it is exactly the same as the old Timekeeper queue, but when you move down into the pre-show holding area they start using the bright colors and sharp lines associated with the Monsters Inc. It is nothing impressive, but well done for what it is, and probably the ONLY good thing about this attraction. The seats that we have to sit on... They're like sitting on Fisher Price sets. No padding at all. You can tell that it is of the durable plastic that won't have be be repaired as often as real seating, but it is amazingly uncomfortable. It makes a bad show worse. Then there is the show itself. Why, why, WHY?!?!?!? There is no story to this attraction at all. There is a plot, abeit a very loosely constructed plot, but it is BORING. The idea that this little generator collects our laughs and fills up as the show progresses is the only thing that holds this mess together, and even that failed miserable because NO ONE LAUGHED AT THE BAD JOKES. They only bothered to fill up the little laughter generator right at the very end when they rapid fired out a bunch of the audience submitted jokes, but even then no one was laughing too hard. I actually started screaming out "SHENANIGANS!" as that tube started filling up randomly while the audience stared around the room blankly. Besides the bad jokes, I have to say I don't care about these characters AT ALL. I only saw the movie once, so I can't even remember if these guys were in the film, but why are they using these guys to begin with? What happened to the crazy snow-cone guy? What about Sulley? Why is one of the main characters of the film not present in a Monster's Inc ride? What about that little color changing chameleon guy that was the villain in the film? They could have made this show slightly more interesting to watch if they had him crash the comedy club and the monsters had to win it back. But no.... So lemme see here... No story? Check. Boring characters? Check. What else? Ah, there are no in-theater effects in this thing at all. Not much lighting to speak of. Only a few random squirts of fog juice. That's it. It would have done some good to make this show a special effects extravaganza, that way at least guests could go "wow" at special effects even if they are bored by everything else. But no, nothing. That about wraps up everything I can think of at the moment. This show is a total fiasco. 0 out of 10. Worse than Stitch. And as if this attraction was not a total catastrophe on its own merits, they stuck it in Tomorrowland of the Magic Kingdom of all places, where it deals the final crippling blow to one of WDI's neatest accomplishments (Tomorrowland 1995 I mean). This attraction has nothing to do with the future, nothing to do making things better for tomorrow, nothing to do with anything really. What a total failure...
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn Is it better or worse than "Magic Carpet 'Round the World" or "American Journeys"?
Originally Posted By pheneix Worse than American Journeys, from what I have seen of it. That's the same as America the Beautiful, right?
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA 'American Journeys' was a terrific movie. As was 'America the Beautiful.' This just sounds like a mess...
Originally Posted By Skellington88 Maybe Disney is better off just not opening Monsters Inc? eating the cost, firing the people that designed it, and starting over from scratch?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Maybe Disney is better off just not opening Monsters Inc? eating the cost, firing the people that designed it, and starting over from scratch?>> Normally I wouldn't agree with that statement, but this time I do. If it is as bad as reported, Tomorrowland can't stand getting two loser attractions in a row. Maybe they should design something that simulates a rocket lifting off the launch pad where you experience the G forces of the launch and then the weightlessness of space. Nah... maybe not.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh I saw Laugh Floor a couple of weeks ago, and I think pheneix is being a little harsh. True, not all of the jokes were great, and some of the characters are either less than memorable, but I think these problems will lessen as the show develops. Like "Turtle Talk", this show is noteworthy for allowing the audience to interact with animated characters. Eventually, Turtle Talk will get boring, and so will this, but it is a new format that a lot of people have not experienced, and will probably get a kick out of. Additionally, since it relies on character-audience interaction, it should better repeatability than the standard 3d show, or something like Stitch's Great Escape. That said, I wish I could have seen Timekeeper before it closed. I've been to WDW a few times over the last 5 years, and was never able to catch a show.
Originally Posted By seanyoda When I attended a preview in December, I didn't think it was horrible enough that they should junk it. And I definitely had a better time than I did at Stitch. These were my main concerns in December -- 1. As the martian said in Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories", "Tell funnier jokes." Don't tell me that you can't have a good collection of clean jokes. And, if for some reason you can't find clean jokes, then go with corny jokes. 2. The story... If you're going to say that the audience needs to laugh so many times, then you need to have a "You didn't laugh enough" ending in case the audience doesn't laugh. Personally, I'd ditch the "We need so many laughs" concept and switch it out for a "Laugher of the day" contest (as opposed to the former "Scarer of the Month"). Just say that the three "contestants" are tied, and that the audience will decide which one is the funniest for the day. 3. The monsters. I know why Sully's not there; You're not ready to animate all that hair in real time. Why not have a pre-recorded bit with Sully and Mike introducing the show? Then have Sully get called away (after all, he IS running the company) and let Mike take over the show.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj The problem with these sorts of attractions is that it assumes an audience that is receptive to active participation. Unfortunately, most audiences are just happy to be passive participants while the entertainment goes on around them. I've ridden a number of Jungle Cruise voyages where the skipper was dishing out some great stuff, but the passengers just didn't care to participate by showing any laughter or other reaction. I've also been on Jungle Cruise voyages where the skipper was so-so, but the passengers were totally into the jokes and actively made the ride a whole lot more energetic. That being said, I'm sure that Monsters Inc. is not the Jungle Cruise, but I'll bet it suffers a lot worse from lackluster audience participation since it is designed from the outset to rely on that sort of thing.
