Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "What's ironic now is that, although the exterior gardens are indeed nice, my more recent experiences with TOT at WDW is that the queue did not extend that far." Perhaps that's one of the reasons it was nixed at DLR.
Originally Posted By Kayoss In my opinion, the WDW version is so drastically different then the DCA version that it should've been renamed. They're different rides without the 5D room sequence. That said, I still like both for different reasons. But WDW is clearly better.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss They are fairly different, but I wouldn't say drastically so... no more than the other namesake rides. Besides, the two Towers have the same preshow video, so it would be virtually impossible to call the DCA version something else.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster By that standard, WDW's POTC should be called something else. Perhaps: Pirates of the Puddle?
Originally Posted By jmuboy I think DL ToT is a really great ride, but it is slightly less "wow" when compared to WDW's tower. To me, I don't like the 5th Dimension room. I love DCA's mirror effect. The two things that bother me most about DCA's ToT are 1) it's bad location - I hate looking at the Hyperion stairs and the back of the Animation Building and 2) crossing the hallway between the boiler room and the elevator.
Originally Posted By arstogas The Tower in Florida is situated very strategically at the end of a long corridor... it's a destination. That's all part of the storytelling that really "sells" its sense of place and history. Once you enter under that little arch into the gardens, turn a corner, you really feel you've arrived somewhere distinctive and separate. There's too much "blah" in the approach and situation of Tower in DCA. This could be so readily addressed, it's frustrating.... there's any number of ways the whole surrounding area could prepare the guest better for it, stage it, set you up for the story. Hopefully, someday this will be addressed... but as with most other pieces of DCA, save the Regions between Condor Flats and the Trail, it feels like a big piece of slap-together.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros My biggest problem with the TOT area is that there is a wall about 10 ft high surrounding the area. You enter and feel like you're in a prision with an old hotel in it. They could have made facades or something to make the wall more interesting and not so jail-like.
Originally Posted By Brown Monkey That's a very good point that I just now noticed. Another flaw that will continue to haunt me... thanks alot Ferret!
Originally Posted By deadmentellnotales It makes you wonder how much of the rides perception comes from the placement in the park, that could be one of the largest problems with DCA, the overall placement of rides is questionable at best
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Coincidence that all of the ads said it was at the Disneyland Resort, and never even mentioned DCA? I think not...
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> ...it feels like a big piece of slap-together. << I'm painfully reminded of that when I scroll through LP's Tokyo Resort message board, see the kind of comments and conversations that often take place there, and then visit the DCA Future Expansion board. The DisCo's miscues and it's-good-enough, corner-cutting mentality here (in Anaheim), even more so when compared with what goes on there (in Japan), make the company's original real estate holdings seem like an afterthought, like some frazzled old backwater.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer FYI, the walls are still up in the area. Also, the attraction has started to resume Attraction CM previews later today.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "Coincidence that all of the ads said it was at the Disneyland Resort, and never even mentioned DCA?" So do the ads for Disneyland 50th.
Originally Posted By Blacksheep Uncle how many of the WDW adds mention the individual parks?...I can't recall ever seeing an add for Epcot or Animal Kingdom...why should it be any different now that they're marketing "Disneyland Resort"?
Originally Posted By karlg RE #27 by planodisney >>>I realise that some of you fancy yourselfs as closet imagineers, but you arent. <<< But we know what we like and what we don't. Some of us have been following Disney for many years and have studied the subject as a hobby. Some of us have engineering and other high tech experience and have an opinion. >>>TDS and Expedition Everest, as well as parts of DCA, prove that they have some magic left when given an ample budget.<<< They have had a whole lot more of misses than hits the last 10 years. Basically they peaked with Indiana Jones in 1995 and have had trouble ever since. You don’t have to be an expert imaginer to realize that they have been performing poorly with more misses than hits for the last 10 years. Even TDS, which I have personally been to, while having a great environment has some pretty limited attractions. The best attraction at TDS IMO is Indiana Jones followed (distantly) by JTTCOTE and nothing else even close. Oh by the way, after TDS was built, they laid of many of the people that worked in TDS; obviously Disney’s management at the time wanted parks more like DCA and less like TDS. >>> Karlg, why would anyone have BIG hopes for a simple dark ride? <<< I never said I would have big hopes for any “simple†dark ride. Why would Disney spend something like $40 Million (what has been reported) to gut Country Bears to build a very simple dark ride? Why would anyone have expectations that a park like DCA would do well? The place is a theme park mess. >>> I think your entire outlook is completely unrealistic. <<< My outlook is entirely from a business management perspective. They had openly warring factions at Disney Imagineering through the whole DCA process. Management sided with the “Theme Park Lite†faction since they could do it cheaper. They seemed to go out of their way to stick it to the traditional Disney fan (such as having as a “theme†a coater park complete with midway games). The more immersive/traditional Imagineers worked on TDS until it was completed and then many of them were laid off. In the end everyone lost including Disney park fans. What Disney seems to miss most these days is how they used to combine immersion with the experience. Lately it has been too much “cut to the chase†and just do a ride and then fill with cheap spinners. One of the best examples of how they have lost it is with “Dinosaur†at AK. They took exactly the same track and motion platform system and went from one of the best attractions of all time to a so-so attraction. Then we have the Mission to Space white elephant (big money, no draw). My point is that it is not JUST about money. That is a factor, but a large amount of money in the hands of incompetent management just creates a lot of wasted money. The management at the time of DCA was clearly incompetent and they wasted much of the money they spent. >>> It is going to SAVE DCA, but it will prpbably, from the way it is sounding, be a realy good little dark ride. <<< What is going to save DCA is better management. In the mid 1990’s Eisner put in charge of the theme parks and Imagineering people with NO theme park experience, worse yet these people did not even like to go to theme parks before they took over running them. They saw Disneyland as a shopping mall with some loss leader rides. They wasted a lot of money building expensive cheap junk. This topic is about Monster’s Inc., a “simple dark ride†that is replacing an attraction that was so bad that management felt they could improve the park by closing it. They set a new record for closing a new Disney attraction. I have a lot of hope that the new theme park management “gets it.†After years of neglect they fixed up DL, got Space Mountain open in time for the 50th, added Buzz Lightyear (not my favorite attraction but a good quick addition). My hope is that this trend will continue with the new Monster’s Inc. attraction. KarlG
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Here is a good review (with spoilers) of Monsters, Inc. <a href="http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16293" target="_blank">http://www.micechat.com/forums /showthread.php?t=16293</a>
