Sunday, December 1, 2013

Shanghaî Disneyland Update


Last week, WDW1974, a member of WDWMagic forum posted the full list of the names to be used for Shanghaî Disneyland rides, shows, shops and restaurants. The list seems pretty accurate and i'd like to take a minute or two to come back on all this with a bit of explanations.

First, as you may have seen if you already looked at the list, Shanghaî Disneyland won't have a Frontierland, neither a Shanghaî Disneyland Railroad going all around the park, which will be the first time in a Magic Kingdom. Some think they might keep it for a Phase 2 but i'm sorry to say that it won't be the case. There are many reasons why SDL won't have a Frontierland but although SDL Imagineers envisioned to have one at the start of SDL design it's a choice that apparently was done when they were asked to do some cuts in the design for budget reasons. And by the way, it's for the same reasons that they added Toy Story Land which was not included in the first design, as TSL always allow to add a "land" at minimum expenses, exactly like they did at HKDL. You'll note however that one of Toy Story Land rides - Parachute Drop - which exist at HKDL won't be at SDL and i won't be surprised if this was because of the U.S Army Camp theming of it... remember, SDL is in China main land.


There won't be any Haunted Mansion either at SDL but Pirates of Caribbean "Battle for the Sunken Treasure" as it is called will be a new and more "creepy" version of the beloved ride, so this should make the balance... No Space Mountain too, and in terms of roller coasters SDL guests will have the choice only between Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the brand new Tron Lightcycle Power Run, but the fact that Imagineers don't build a sixth version of Space Mountain don't bother me as long as the Tron "motorbike" coaster will be great... and not too uncomfortable.

They also forgot in the leaked list to notify in the "ride" section at least one of the names, and it's "Voyage to the Crystal Grotto". If i'm right i think it's the boat ride going all along Fantasyland and ending under SDL castle. Disney released officially a while ago a rendering of the final scene - the "Crystal grotto" - and it's the one below. Another attraction named "Once upon a Time Adventure" might not be a ride but just a walk-through inside the castle. I'm not 100% sure for this one but it's clearly include with the castle.


I can't tell you which version of the Winnie the Pooh ride - the TDL one or the one from DL - they will put at SDL Fantasyland but the fact that the ride already exist at HKDL in its DL version might help to have a different version - the TDL one - being built at SDL. The Peter Pan's Flight version should be bigger than usual and include the new projection effects - including rear projected faces on most of the ride characters - which are supposed to be installed at DL during the ride upgrade for Disneyland's 60th Anniversary - or may be "were" supposed to be installed if Mice Age was right in last week's update in which they revealed that DL dark ride upgrades were cancelled for now.

Roaring Rapids will be the big Adventure Isle raft ride and so far it seems that the Audio-Animatronics Dinosaurs are always part of the ride. By the way, i've been told that one of the reason why the park will include a dinosaur ride - apart the fact that all children love dinos - is because China is the country in the world with the most dinosaur paleontological fields. Why not, any reason is welcome as long as the ride is great!

Always in Adventure Isle, "Soaring Over the Horizon" should be more or less identical to the "Soarin' Over the World" that will come to DCA and Epcot in 2015 or 2016. And thanks to the new digital projection system i wouldn't be surprised if - just like they did in Star Tours 2 - the ride would include different movies choosen randomly, which would be great as the only problem with Soarin' is that it's too short. It will also make sense as it will allow to have different movies on different countries instead of one only for the "whole world".

At Tomorrowland, Stitch Encounter should be similar to DLP WDS Stitch Live - or the Stitch attraction at HKDL - and not like the attraction at WDW MK, i.e it will be a show where young guests will interact with Stitch in real time, like in "Turtle Talk with Crush". You may have note in the list the "Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue" ride and we might have a surprise with this one, as so far there is rumors saying it might be a different Buzz Lightyear ride than the one we know...

There is not that many new rides if you look well... Roaring Rapids, Tron Lightcycle Power Run, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto and the new version of Pirates of Caribbean will be essentially the new rides at SDL. Sure, there will be new shows - like the Pirates stunt show - but even Soaring Over the Horizon will be a SDL exclusive for a few months only. But the main problem for me is the lack of kinetic elements. At Disneyland for instance they have the DL Monorail, the Mark Twain, the Columbia, Main Street vehicles and of course the Disneyland Railroad, and all this is constantly in movement and brings to the park kinetic elements that your eyes notice, even unconsciously. At Shanghaî Disneyland there won't be any SDL Railroad, no Monorail, no Mark Twain or any other steam ship and probably no MS vehicles as there will be any Main Street.

As WDI imagineers know the importance to have kinetic elements they included the Explorer "Indian" Canoes in Treasure Cove lagoon and i'm wondering if this lack of kinetic elements is not one of the reason why the Dumbo ride as well as the Fantasia Carousel will be located in front of SDL Castle, in the "Gardens of Imagination" land, precisely to have some kinetic elements there. Same for Jet Packs at the entrance of Tomorrowland. That said, the boats of the Fantasyland boat ride as well as the rafts of Roaring Rapids will probably be visible by guests from outside the ride and this should add some kinetic elements, too.

Last but not least, WDW1974 also posted on WDWMagic the names of shops and restaurants for the two SDL hotels as well as the name of the dining - entertaining area next to the park which will be called "Disney Town" including of course many shops and restaurants, a World of Disney Store but also a "Broadway Plaza" with a "Walt Disney Grand Theatre"!

Pictures: copyright Disney

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm quite surprised that they opted for another Buzz Lightyear ride instead of adding Toy Story Midway Mania to the Toy Story Land.
But maybe it'll be the Buzz Lightyear ride with Midway Many ride technology which would be awesome.
Anyway, I hope that they wont just copy the existing ride from HKDL.

Anonymous said...

Also new is that "Hunny Pot" attraction, that sounds like a new twist on the Mad Tea Party. Wonder if there's a chance Alice in Wonderland will be a sub-land somewhere down the line.

I agree with the commenter above about Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland. I would have guessed that space being used for Star Tours or something similar, like the new Iron Man/Marvel attraction from HKDL, instead. But then again, maybe these franchises are being held back for something in the future, maybe a second park (Walt Disney Studios Shanghai?), or as big additions down the line.

Alain Littaye said...

Yes, this is what i think too, the Buzz Lightyear ride could be a new version of Toy Story Mania with a Buzz Lightyear theming...

Parker said...

My first thought is that the Park will be somewhat light on attractions. I hope they make a few additions before it is all said and done. I would love to see Star Tours in Tomorrowland and possibly move Buzz Lightyear to Toy Store Land. Even better, keep Buzz in Tomorrowland and add Midway Mania.

You would think that Disney would learn by now that going light on attractions will cost more in lost attendance than the upfront costs of building something people want to see. Hasn't Hong Kong and Disney Studios Paris taught them anything? I would even go as far to say that Disneyland Paris feels light on attractions to me.

Parker said...

My first thought is that the Park will be somewhat light on attractions. I hope they make a few additions before it is all said and done. I would love to see Star Tours in Tomorrowland and possibly move Buzz Lightyear to Toy Store Land. Even better, keep Buzz in Tomorrowland and add Midway Mania.

You would think that Disney would learn by now that going light on attractions will cost more in lost attendance than the upfront costs of building something people want to see. Hasn't Hong Kong and Disney Studios Paris taught them anything? I would even go as far to say that Disneyland Paris feels light on attractions to me.

SWW said...

According to the agreement with HKDL, Toy Story Land can't be opened in Asia until 5 years after it opened in Hong Kong (which would be November 2016 - a year after projected opening).

Any ideas on how this is being addressed?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving us more food for thought, as always Alain, it is appreciated.
One quick pick up however about your commentary surrounding the Shanghai Disneyland Railroad - Tokyo Disneyland Resort's Magic Kingdom also does not have a Disneyland Railroad that surrounds and traverses the berm.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving us more food for thought, as always Alain, it is appreciated.
One quick pick up however about your commentary surrounding the Shanghai Disneyland Railroad - Tokyo Disneyland Resort's Magic Kingdom also does not have a Disneyland Railroad that surrounds and traverses the berm.

Alain Littaye said...

I know, but at least they have a TDL Railroad even if it goes just around their Westernland / Adventureland...

To SWW: the 5 years agreement with HKDL is only for Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch, not for Toy Story Land on which they couldn't have an exclusivity as it was at that time going to open at DLP WDS before it opened at HKDL.

SWW said...

Hey Alain,

There is(was) an exclusivity agreement re: Toy Storyland, affecting the Asian region.

5-years Worldwide exclusivity for MM and GG. 5-years Asian exclusivity for TSL. This was reported in all the official press releases surrounding the HK expansion.

SWW said...

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200906/30/P200906300195.htm

Wonder how they got around this...

Alain Littaye said...

Oh, okay, so it seems that HKDL had an Asia exclusivity on TSL for five years... Well , in this case either Disney did a new deal with HKDL , OR TSL at SDL will open only fall or Christmas 2016 to respect the agreement with HKDL...
They can open the park without it and keep it as "an addition" or at least "sell" it this way on a PR point of view...

WDW1974 said...

Thanks for the credit, Alain.

I wasn't aware that Frontierland was ever on the park's menu, so it must have gotten chopped very early (even sooner than HKDL's did).

HKDL definitely had a five-year Asian exclusivity deal on the Toy Story Land, so I do wonder if this will come later, is sufficiently different from HK (unlikely) to make it moot or the CCP and Disney just don't care.

It's still a cheap and tacky addition and with the hotel, more overkill of the Toy Story franchise and characters.

Crystal Grotto is indeed the E-Ticket boat ride that will begin and end under the castle, but also travel outside. That was definitely on my list. The Once Upon a Time attraction was described to me as basically all the princess meet-and-greets from the MK (like Fairytale Hall plus Belle etc) in the castle and utilizing the latest interactive tech (just no MAGIC Bands!)

I haven't been able to confirm, but I strongly suspect Winnie The Pooh will simply be an upgraded version of MK/HK/Anaheim and not the Hunny Hunt trackless E-Ticket.

Speaking of which, interesting that Small World (which appears on many renderings) isn't on the list. I think they're doing a HKDL deal here and will slot it for a few years later.

I think the park will have more at opening than HKDL did. There will also be two E-Ticket caliber shows (one a stage show, one a Pirates stunt show) and a unique night spectacular. But it still doesn't look capable of comparing with DLP in 1992.

Anyway, I am looking forward to being there on Opening Day ... if TWDC would simply announce when that might be. They are behind schedule, but things do get built in a hurry in China.

Marco Antonio Garcia said...

Peter Pan with new effects and the Tron Roller Coaster will probably be great attractions!

I'm disappointed that there won't be a Haunted Mansion, as it's one of my all time favorite attractions and they could build an awesome new version of it with new technology, but on the other hand I have very high hopes for the new POTC.

Let's wait and see how the finished product looks like...