Wow...check out Disney Seas "Indeejones"

[airlarry!]

Marc B has done it again! Another great series of inside looks at the stellar E+ Ticket attraction right down the road at Tokyo DisneySeas. There are a lot of pictures, but if you go through them, you will see how much care and detail was put into this attraction--which is basically an improved clone of CTX/Indy Jones. If you have been on either Dinosaur or IJ, you can compare for yourself what Disney Imagineers if supported by the Co can dream up for the loyal Disney fan.

I especially love the inside effects for the waiting lines (190 minutes during Japan's longest recession?) where different warning signs are revealed by the lights within the temple. It is hard to explain..you have to see it yourself.

Baron: When are we gonna see this kind of detail in WDW again?

www.laughingplace.com

 

[smithdaddy]

wow. how'd they create that fireball thing? i could feel the heat just from the video.

 

[toefungus]

AMAZING!! Espcially the fireball effect, everything looks very cool. I wish I could go over there and experience everything.

 

[Captain Crook]

But 190 minute waiting lines will drive me away no matter how good the attraction is and I'm sure it isn't just me. We American consumers are different than our Japenese counterpart...

 

[airlarry!]

Ahh...but that is why Fast Pass was intelligently weaved into the attraction waiting lines. Go, my friend, go enjoy the splendor that is Tokyo DisneySeas, but grab a fistful of Fastpasses during the day to ease your waiting burdens. And while you are waiting, enjoy some of the other eye-popping scenery built in and around each area, and shop for souvenirs, and eat food, and ... well you get the picture.

If only we could get Ei$ner to see the picture.

 

[hopemax]

But 190 minute waiting lines will drive me away no matter how good the attraction is and I'm sure it isn't just me. We American consumers are different than our Japenese counterpart...

Not so sure about that...I saw Americans willing to wait 70 minutes to sit in a swinging car on the Sun Wheel, 90 minutes to ride Soarin' and 120 minutes to ride Grizzly River Rapids at DCA this summer.

I don't doubt Americans ability to wait for something they believe is well done. I do, however, doubt American's patience for things that they think aren't well done. I also will be keeping an eye on the Harry Potter 2.5 hour and LotR 3 hour box office totals to examine that whole short attention span thing...

 

[Helios180]

It appears as though the fireball is a smoke ring illuminated by red and orange light.
Very simple but extremely cool. To bad WDW can't get any ride as cool as the Indy ones at DL and now Disney Sea.

 

[Captain Crook]

But airlarry, I assume FP is handled in the same manner in Japan as here, meaning (basically) one at a time (2 hour window) and while tha means you may get an attraction or two guranteed, the waits in a full capacity Park will still be monumentous. Now perhaps this is just me because I really don't like crowds of people and in my life WDW is the lone, glaring exception to the way I live my life. But to visit a Park filled to capacity (another thread) or have to wait 190 minutes would take virtually all of the magical wind out of my sail.

Now hopemax, you equate a 150 minute wait for movie tickets with a 190 minute wait for a single attraction and I must point out the disparity. A movie line is a one time thing for an event (Potter) that will last the same 2.5 hours. The 190 minute line wait at Disney gets you a five minute ride, at best, and then another wait.

I can't beleive that you guys can really see a future in this type of set up, no matter how good the attraction. Those loooong waits will frazzle nerves & tempers will wear thin.

The Japenese live in an overpopulated land and crowd crush's and lack of personal space are a way of life for them. Not to mention that their society is generally more polite & even tempered...This just wouldn;t work here.

 

[daannzzz]

I have ridden The Many of Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 2 times. This last time they had a similar effect as the fireball in the heffalumps and woozles section. It is much smaller and not lit the same but one elephant blows a smoke ring out of his trunk. The effect on the video looks the same but much bigger.

 

[Another Voice]

Many consider me to be from The Dark Side around here – but Disney manages to build an attraction so captivating, so impressive, so beyond the realm of all that has gone before that people are willing to wait hours to see it – and our Captain is the one complaining?

The Tokyo version does seem to a somewhat more elaborate version of Disneyland’s attraction. Certainly the preshow/line area is better done – but Pressler pretty much eliminated the numerous interactive effects planned for Anaheim (which would have made the line as much of an attraction as the jeep ride itself). It looks like he was kept well clear of the new one. By the way, Disneyland’s attraction commonly had four and five hour waits when it first opened. On several occasions, the line would stretch through all the available queue space, out through Advetnureland, and then down Main Street to the entrance tunnels. And this was before Fast.

Long wait times are the product of either the ride’s popularity or the attraction’s design. The typical trend at Disney parks is for new major attractions to have wait times four or five times their “normal” average once the newness of the ride wares off. Even ‘Soairing Over California’ managed to generate three hour wait times when the in-park guest count was in around 25,000 – an amount of guests that would make every single attraction in the Magic Kingdom a walk-on.

Gee Captain, if you yearn for empty walkways, vast stretches for unpopulated areas, and rides that no one will wait in line for – you really will love California Adventure…

 

[YoHo]

Just to comment on What AV said, When I was at DL last December during the (supposedly)90,000 Plus attendence days, Indiana Jones And Splash mountain both posted 180 Minute wait times and fast Passes were sold out by 1-2pm. Even on new Years Eve, the Indiana Jones fast Passes for 1am Jan 1 were being distributed by noon. People in America WILL wait that long.

 

[Captain Crook]

Come on AV (he says with a smile on his lips) give me a break! I'm certainly not complaining about the quality of TDS or their apparant success...In fact, I think it's great...I'm only saying that Disney doesn't want to face too many days of capacity only days for two reasons (1) eventually gust experience will suffer & most importantly (2) if they have to turn away people, they are not meetiing demand. In other words an opportunity lost. They want to remove as much money from as many of us as they can.

As to the hours, your arguments are valid and I suspect maybe more than a little right. But I, for one, will lose my interest in visiting any theme park if the main constant is 'crowds'. Contrary to AV's characterization, I don't want the streets to be empty...I simply won't wait in a 190 minute line.

 

[hopemax]

Now hopemax, you equate a 150 minute wait for movie tickets with a 190 minute wait for a single attraction and I must point out the disparity. A movie line is a one time thing for an event (Potter) that will last the same 2.5 hours. The 190 minute line wait at Disney gets you a five minute ride, at best, and then another wait.

No, no, no, no

I believe it's a myth that Americans are unwilling to wait 190 minutes for an excellent ride.

I believe it's another myth that 12 minute rides can't be built because kids have shorter attention spans. If HP and LotR, with 2.5 hour plus run times can be box office smashes, Disney has no excuse for not attempting another 12 minute long attraction. Basically if people can't sit through a 12 minute ride, the quality should be examined before asking if the ride is just too long.

 

[hopemax]

Scoop,

I think you missed the words "this summer." July was busy. Not as busy as anticipated ( 25K as opposed to 35K) but still busy.

Is it that illogical that in July, when people were still traveling and the park was giving away kids admissions like Halloween candy the park would have long waits, but in November/early December, a normally slow travel season, now compounded, the park would be empty?

 

[airlarry!]

Let's not miss the point here...DCA has had long waits for two or three attractions...

TDS is a complete park...just go land-by-land, attraction by attraction with AK or DCA (and don't forget, I love AK--I'm only bashing that it was opened before it was ready)...and compare.

And after having so much to do, so much to see, and yet by all reports, all of the attractions are full, all day is as much a testament to the Japanese love for Disney as it is for the love of the park itself.

What am I saying? I am stating for the record that if Ei$ner had tried to build a DCA in Tokyo, his pants would be burning in effigy over Soarin' Over Seibu.

I will call a spade a spade. We are getting di$ney-quality parks lately. They got a WALT DISNEY-quality park over there. And I am jealous that they get to see what our beloved Imagineers can whip up if given a little bit of faith and support.

 

[Another Voice]

The long lines I mentioned were during the Annual Passholder Preview events held before the park official opened. It is the only time in its history that the park came close to its projected numbers (probably because of the rumors of free eBay friendly merchandise). And the lines themselves are more a problem of ride’s design than the park’s attendance. Just like ‘Dumbo’ always has a long line because of it’s cycle loading nature, the Sunwheel and other spinners at DCA will have long wait times even when the park is at 10,000 guests.

I’ve heard a rumor that someone calculated that DCA’s total hourly ride capacity is about 20% of The Magic Kingdom’s. I haven’t checked the math myself, but it seems right. And given the choice between waiting an hour for a three minute raft ride or waiting zero minutes for the tortilla making exhibition – which one would any sane person choose?

And Captain – it seems that Disney is taking every step it can conceivably can to ensure that your future visits to WDW are unmarred by excessive wait times.

 

[Captain Crook]

AV, it seems you're putting words in my mouth...

Just because I won't wait in 190 minute lines for a GREAT Disney ride (any Disney ride) doesn't mean I'll make a trip to see Disney make tortilla's because the lines are empty. I see no correlation here. I am simply saying, as we've alluded to before, it isn't as simple as making new great rides. IMO, MK needs very little. One new E-ticket, fine. Add three and holy beejeebers it's full to capacity & cannabilizing its other Parks...This couldn't be good. So the only solution at WDW is to upgrade EVERYTHING to TDS standards. This would fill all of the Parks & Resorts (probably) but what would it cost to add 2, 3 or 4 new, spectacular attractions to each of WDW's four Parks? Then, even if done pr"properly" what if it just doesn't work? Disney has just bet the proverbial farm on one gig & it's bye-bye birdy.

No, I'm not saying good is bad, I'm saying just because it was done in Japan doesn't mean it could or should be done here...Not without looking at the big picture.

 

[Another Voice]

So Captain, are you saying that Disney shouldn’t open up ‘Mission: Space’ because it will have a three hour wait and draw attendance from the other parks? What would happen if Disney decides to build Beastly Kingdom – won’t that harm the attendance at the other gates?

I’m not trying to put words into your mouth, but you seem to be saying that Disney has avoid opening up rides that are too popular. I’m just having trouble following the logic there. DisneySea is filled with many E-ticket class rides in a perfectly themed setting – and it pay for itself in five years. California Adventure is filled with modest rides that won’t threaten the attendance at Disneyland – and it will end up as the first Disney park ever to loose money in it’s first year of operation.

 

[Captain Crook]

No,no,no...Im saying they couldn't have just taken the billion dollars, or whatever was spent on AK & put it into the three exixting Parks as upgrades without causing over crowding. I'm all for Space & BK (as you know) but they are one attraction in individual parks and while the line for Space may well be hours at inception, it seems unlikely that one new ride will shift the balance of power from the other parks or bring enough guests who otherwise wouldn't be coming. But add Space, a rehabbed & exciting Living Seas, a new Country, an exciting Body Wars replacement abd the JIYI rehab and you'd have one Park drawing from the other three...Just like what would happen if they built a carbon clone of TDS in Orlando. After seeing it, who would be clammering to go to the other Parks?

I'm saying with a grown up & developed area that is WDW, the growth and improvement have to be very slow (which IMO makes the gradual completion of AK not such a bad idea) so as not to totally affect customer preferences. Mind you bad decisions do enter the mix & while I personally don't find the Dinoland idea offensive (I view it as just another phase), many people do & I think Disney needs to learn better from their mistakes. I think DCA was a novel approach and a valiant attempt...It was also quite obviously a failure. So this approach needs evaluation.

Back to work.

 

[YoHo]

Actually, In the Epcot overview that the Captain Describes, the only park I can see being canbalized is AK. As Far as I know, TDL is still hitting its attendence numbers even with the extremely popular TDS next door. Building out Epcot would only canabalize from a park teetering on the edge. That Park is AK.