Originally Posted By dagobert ThemeparX.com has posted some construction pictures of Soarin'. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.themeparx.com/shanghai-disneyland/?p=6249#post6249">http://www.themeparx.com/shang...post6249</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Those pictures really help show how big the ride mechanism is! Even though it's partly exposed and can be seen by guests, it's easy to forget just how massive it is It also still seems odd to me that Soarin' will be in a DL-style park. It's a great attraction that's family friendly, but it just seems strange to have something that's so obviously a simulator, rather than being a little more disguised and treated as being real like Star Tours or Flight to the Moon
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Maybe with SDL that they are trying to reinvigorate the MK concept. At first I was kind of meh about this park because nothing besides the castle stood out to me, but the more that gets revealed the more intrigued I become.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It definitely seems like they're trying to do something different with this one. With DLP, they went back to the drawing board and really refined all of the classic elements. With this one they seem to be taking an entirely new approach in many places. The central hub will be completely different, it seems like the Adventureland/pirates area will be very unique, and even Tomorrowland seems to be a big departure from what they've done in the past. They seem to be discarding many of their tried and true methods, so I hope that they know what they're doing. I'm all for doing things differently in different parks, but with so many big elements being different I think that this will feel more like a traditional second gate than a castle park
Originally Posted By dagobert At first I was a bit disappointed that WDI went into a different direction with SDL, but now after seeing some concept art, I'm very excited how that park turns out, especially the Pirates Land with its stunning attraction. If I remember correctly, SDL will not have a traditional MS USA, I think it will be called Mickey Avenue.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think it's still going to be a shopping-oriented district, just without the Midwest Victorian theme. It sounds like it will be more like the original idea for World Bazaar, which was to have a combination of all sorts of architectural styles. I suspect it will end up looking sort of like The Grove in LA It will be interesting to see how they distinguish that area from the adjacent Disneytown (what a truly awful name), the DTD-like shopping area. It will be right next to the park (sharing the theater venue) so I'm curious to see how it performs financially. It seems like it could be difficult to convince people to go there if they're not visiting the park, since it's sort of isolated from the rest of the city
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I see. Sounds interesting, sort of. Will this park have a train? I haven't seen anything referencing one and there doesn't appear to be a depot in front of the park in any of the renderings.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I haven't seen anything about a train either (other than the subway line connecting the park to the city). To me, the railroad is an integral part of the castle park experience, but I suppose that trains in China probably don't have the same allure that they do in the US. Instead of representing an idealized era of the past for most people, they are the hot thing in today's transportation. TDL also doesn't have a train circling the park (Western River Railroad just goes around the Jungle Cruise and Rivers of America, winding around Big Thunder), so I wonder if that's part of the reason. I know that TDL opted against a multi-stop train due to Japanese regulations on fares, but I imagine that it just wouldn't resonate with the audience the same way as it does in the US, since trains are a part of daily life for so many Japanese guests
Originally Posted By dagobert I really don't like the fact, that SDL will not have a railroad. For me that's an integral part of a castle park, even if trains don't resonate with the Chinese. That doesn't mean that the Chinese will not like it in a themepark.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "To me, the railroad is an integral part of the castle park experience..." No kidding. Walt Disney was a train enthusiast, and you can't tell the story of DL and WDW's evolution without talking about trains. The Railroads and Monorails you see at the resorts are a classic feature of every Disney theme park experience. I commend Disney for taking bold risks with SDL MK park, but wow won't it be odd to visit a Disney resort that doesn't have some kind of train ride in it?
Originally Posted By dagobert I guess it will only be odd to Western Disney fans, since most Chinese never visited a Disney themepark. However I'm going to miss the railroad.
Originally Posted By dagobert "Topping Off" of the castle. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/wonderland912/status/600561398377132032">http://twitter.com/wonderland9...77132032</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert More pictures: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://shanghai.xinmin.cn/msrx/2015/05/19/27677479.html">http://shanghai.xinmin.cn/msrx...479.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert And here's the official press release. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com.cn/en/press-room/press-release-shanghai-disney-resort-tops-out-enchanted-storybook-castle/">http://www.shanghaidisneyresor...-castle/</a>
Originally Posted By leemac <<To me, the railroad is an integral part of the castle park experience...>> And it was originally in the menu. Bob Weis decided that he knew better and threw it out.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I know that TDL opted against a multi-stop train due to Japanese regulations on fares, but I imagine that it just wouldn't resonate with the audience the same way as it does in the US, since trains are a part of daily life for so many Japanese guests>> It would have been deemed a public transportation system and that would have opened OLC up to a lot of headaches - so it could shifted to Westernland. I don't think you can equate the public transportation system in Japan with a "steam" railroad. The Japanese guests love the railroad. It remains an integral part of the menu. So whatever happened to Miceage's assertions that CarsLand was going into Westernland at TDL?
Originally Posted By dagobert Is there a chance to add the railroad later at SDL? It's a shame that it got thrown out.
