DHS Pixar Expansion/Sound Stage 1

[Nick]

TSPL, expansion to TSMM, possible readying for some sort of Cars 'E-Ticket' for phase two, but really, how often does Disney really do phase two?

I feel like this "phase 2 never happens" stigma with WDW is left over from the Eisner era where he announced a bunch of stuff and maybe half got built.

 

[IzzyB]

I feel like this "phase 2 never happens" stigma with WDW is left over from the Eisner era where he announced a bunch of stuff and maybe half got built.

Yeah, this did finish all the phases of Fantasy Land. Some of it may have changed, but it did get finished.

 

[jtsalien]

Yeah, this did finish all the phases of Fantasy Land. Some of it may have changed, but it did get finished.

Not only did it change, it changed for the better.

 

[Nick]

Not only did it change, it changed for the better.

Yeah, had it not changed, we would've ended up with two extra Enchanted Tales with Bell. How that ever got approved is beyond me. Even looking at it and saying they want a more interactive M&G experience, both would've taken up the whole SDMT plot and had terrible capacities. Enchanted Tales has a very bad capacity, always has a long line because of it (although late at night once the kiddies have gone to sleep, it's a walk on almost every single night).

 

[Cole]

I say it's a possibility but if they are trying to clone RSR then I don't believe it for a second

 

[Nick]

I say it's a possibility but if they are trying to clone RSR then I don't believe it for a second

Many have suggested that they'll bring RSR over minus the race portion, making it a dark ride only. This would allow them to not only use a much more reliable ride technology than the Test Track ride system, but it would keep from constant break downs and cut costs from the major rock formations that were created for DCA. It's definitely the type of thing I can see TDO trying to do.

I'm sure we'll here more concrete info eventually, but Lee over on Magic (who's one of the few I actually trust with info) has continually been very positive about it. He says they know the park is a problem and they are going to be going full on with the project to get it fixed.

 

[Nick]

Along with Toy Story Playland and a Carsland-lite, I do think there's a decent chance we finally get the Monster's inc Door Coaster.

Of course this would all be on top of the TSMM track expansion that is 100% happening into part of SS1. The new track will be stand-by and the existing two tracks will be FP+ only.

 

[Cole]

Many have suggested that they'll bring RSR over minus the race portion, making it a dark ride only. This would allow them to not only use a much more reliable ride technology than the Test Track ride system, but it would keep from constant break downs and cut costs from the major rock formations that were created for DCA. It's definitely the type of thing I can see TDO trying to do.

I'm sure we'll here more concrete info eventually, but Lee over on Magic (who's one of the few I actually trust with info) has continually been very positive about it. He says they know the park is a problem and they are going to be going full on with the project to get it fixed.

If they cut the racing portion then they are missing the entire point of radiator springs RACERS. That's really lame to me. They have space now why not use it? They don't even have to clone cars land just the ride. Rockwork or not it's still incredibly lazy. Rant over

 

[Nick]

If they cut the racing portion then they are missing the entire point of radiator springs RACERS. That's really lame to me. They have space now why not use it? They don't even have to clone cars land just the ride. Rockwork or not it's still incredibly lazy. Rant over

I don't want to sound like i'm defending lesser-quality, but for one thing, the ride could easily be renamed. Second, the Race portion is a gimmick to add a sense of thrill like with Test Track. The dark ride part of RSR is the best part of the ride, hands down (and i've actually been on it). The ride could easily exist, dark ride only and be a great ride.

And I know everyone criticizes TDO for being cheap, and most of the time they are, but the rock work for Carsland was INSANELY expensive. If they went ahead with that again, I highly doubt we'd get any of the other rumored additions simply because of the inflated costs.

Truth be told, right now only a few select people know what's in store for this. But from everything i've been hearing, i'd expect some variation of what I posted in my prior post.

 

[rhino4evr]

maybe a "indoor" race? instead of an outdoor one?

based on the info coming from the WDW Magic boards, the Extra track for Toy Story is a "sure thing"...I just find this an odd choice, but considering WDO has been about "cheap fixes" to huge problems lately, it kind of makes sense.

I just wish that Disney would go ALL OUT again. I mean New Fantasy land was a pretty decent size expansion, even if the added rides were a little underwhelming. Would love to see HS be transformed in a similar fashion.

 

[Nick]

I just wish that Disney would go ALL OUT again. I mean New Fantasy land was a pretty decent size expansion, even if the added rides were a little underwhelming. Would love to see HS be transformed in a similar fashion.

Hopefully that is what we will see here. I haven't had much faith in WDW for a number of years now nor have I put much stock into too many of their rumors. However, with the amount of insiders chiming in on this, even sounding fairly positive about what it involves, I am a little hopeful for DHS' future.

 

[IzzyB]

maybe a "indoor" race? instead of an outdoor one?

based on the info coming from the WDW Magic boards, the Extra track for Toy Story is a "sure thing"...I just find this an odd choice, but considering WDO has been about "cheap fixes" to huge problems lately, it kind of makes sense.

I just wish that Disney would go ALL OUT again. I mean New Fantasy land was a pretty decent size expansion, even if the added rides were a little underwhelming. Would love to see HS be transformed in a similar fashion.

It makes total sense to add a third track. The line on that ride is always way too long because it is one of the few rides that the whole family can ride and ENJOY, but the capacity was not built for everyone to ride it. That is the key, because everyone can ride the great movie ride, but not everyone cares too. Where Toy Story is a cool ride and concept, so everyone wants to ride it. Just like adding another theater to Soarin would make sense. They need these rides that YEARS after opening still have HUGE lines even in non-peak times to have less of a line. Those huge lines show capacity issues and the whole point of a DHS is to fix the capacity issue. Yes, they need better rides, but TDO wants capacity issues to go away because they can do more things with the park to make more money if they fix the capacity issues and the bottom line is always money.

 

[Nick]

It makes total sense to add a third track. The line on that ride is always way too long because it is one of the few rides that the whole family can ride and ENJOY, but the capacity was not built for everyone to ride it. That is the key, because everyone can ride the great movie ride, but not everyone cares too. Where Toy Story is a cool ride and concept, so everyone wants to ride it. Just like adding another theater to Soarin would make sense. They need these rides that YEARS after opening still have HUGE lines even in non-peak times to have less of a line. Those huge lines show capacity issues and the whole point of a DHS is to fix the capacity issue. Yes, they need better rides, but TDO wants capacity issues to go away because they can do more things with the park to make more money if they fix the capacity issues and the bottom line is always money.

I agree that a third track isn't a bad idea. I actually think it should've opened with the added capacity.

WDW isn't DLR and DHS certainly isn't DCA when it comes to capacity. The ride needed the extra track from the start.

 

[rhino4evr]

so why not 2 new tracks...not enough room? 1 additional track can only help capacity so much...

 

[Nick]

so why not 2 new tracks...not enough room? 1 additional track can only help capacity so much...

A new track is 33% of the capacity...

The track is said to be used exclusively for stand by while the existing tracks for FP+

 

[rhino4evr]

won't this just make the standby line longer thought? With the "limit" and "pre-booking" of Fast pass, it seems fewer guests can even use it. I would think the additional lane would be for Fast pass only...not the other way around.

 

[tielo]

I don't want to sound like i'm defending lesser-quality, but for one thing, the ride could easily be renamed. Second, the Race portion is a gimmick to add a sense of thrill like with Test Track. The dark ride part of RSR is the best part of the ride, hands down (and i've actually been on it). The ride could easily exist, dark ride only and be a great ride.

And I know everyone criticizes TDO for being cheap, and most of the time they are, but the rock work for Carsland was INSANELY expensive. If they went ahead with that again, I highly doubt we'd get any of the other rumored additions simply because of the inflated costs.

Truth be told, right now only a few select people know what's in store for this. But from everything i've been hearing, i'd expect some variation of what I posted in my prior post.

Disney earns a ****ton of money at WDW, they have money coming out of their @$$. If this ride is build I expect it's not downgraded but "plussed" (a thing Disney used to do) making the racing part longer and adding speed to match it to Test Track.

 

[Nick]

Disney earns a ****ton of money at WDW, they have money coming out of their @$$. If this ride is build I expect it's not downgraded but "plussed" (a thing Disney used to do) making the racing part longer and adding speed to match it to Test Track.

I'm not arguing with you that they make a ton of money, but my point is, a DHS redo is going to be given a certain budget. Let's just use the DCA $1.2B and say that that's what DHS gets. That $1.2B has to be split by many different projects. If too much of it is taken up by one part that it eats at other projects, i'd rather dark ride version of RSR. That was my only point. In business there are budgets no matter how big the company.

I still will argue though that the racing part of the ride is a gimmick and the Test Track ride system is very unreliable.

- - - Updated - - -

won't this just make the standby line longer thought? With the "limit" and "pre-booking" of Fast pass, it seems fewer guests can even use it. I would think the additional lane would be for Fast pass only...not the other way around.

Possibly, but we'll see. Right now, FP+ takes up 67% of the capacity as it it is (so 2 out of every 3 riders are using FP+). So devoting 67% of the track to it makes sense on the surface, but in practice will that actually work out the way they plan it to? We will have to see. I'm going to have to imagine the third track will have a way of sending people over to tracks 1 & 2 if necessary.

 

[IzzyB]

so why not 2 new tracks...not enough room? 1 additional track can only help capacity so much...

I think 1 track is enough and they probably don't have the room or budget for 2. Keep in mind that this will mean more FP+ will be given out since the entire ride capacity today will now be available via FP+. So this will remove people from the standby line. Then they give a dedicated track to standby, which will almost double the standby capacity because right now only about 1/3 of the line (which is not a full track worth of capacity) is used for standby. While logically you would think 1 track would cut the wait time by 1/3 in this case it could cut the wait times almost in half. Which brings it down to a much more manageable wait time. Peak season it will still be high (but so is every other line) but in off season you are going to see 30 to 40 minute waits which is very acceptable for a ride like this. Then instead of spending more money on this for two tracks they can spend that money on other new rides, which will decrease the wait times in the entire park. I don't think they should spend all their money in one place, this park needs too much help, the money needs to be spread around to multiple projects. They are pretty much redoing over half their park if all the rumors come true, that is a ton of money needed for a project that size. Yes, it will be spread out over 5 to 7 years, but still that is a good chunk of change.

Keep in mind IOA needed more capacity and needed some newer rides since nothing was added for a good amount of years and while Harry Potter was a good addition, it was a small chunk of the park. So even Uni overhaul that is going on now is over multiple years and being done in pieces. DHS based on rumors may end up redoing a large chunk of that park in a fairly short period and still be building Avatar and making minor changes to Epcot. You have to give them credit here (if it comes true) and you also have to realize they can't do everything (just like budget cuts at Universal).

 

[Nick]

SS1 isn't huge... when the talk about the Monsters coaster going there was active, it was that the queue would be in SS1 and the ride would be built in back, so there probably isn't room for two.

There will be some extra space left over though, which is expected to be turned into either merch. TSMM has never had a proper gift shop (not that we really need another place to buy Toy Story crap) besides that one in the little alcove across the way. How much do you want to bet they add an on ride photo, similar to the one on Buzz, and try to sell it at the end? They're trying to add photos to all rides bc of the Photopass+ so it wouldn't surprise me one bit.