Disneyland Resort, California: General Discussion

There's some interior shots as well as a ride POV. Of course, it's not ToT but the theming inside is surprisingly well done which I'm impressed by. And that animatronic of Rocket, just wow. Disney's game with those really is unparalleled.

Looks nice but it's Disney so I expect no less. Zero interest in it mind.

I was ready to hate it as I love Tower of Terror, but the California and Paris towers weren't as good as the Florida original anyway. Reviews seem great though so it might be that the new GotG ride is better than the Cali tower.

Heres one review http://www.latimes.com/travel/themeparks/la-tr-disney-guardians-galaxy-review-20170524-story.html

I'm torn with this one! ToT was great, but in the grand scheme of DCA it wasn't huge - but Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favourite movies. I still have concerns about the whole thing being replicated around the globe, and the potential of losing Florida's ToT annoys me.

I'm still not keen on the outside of the ride and the impact across the park, although I think it looks great at night as the lighting tends to hide a lot of the 'cheapness' of the outdoor theming. Inside, it's much better looking than what the rumour mill was churning out before the press previews of the ride. Sure there's not a lot done to boiler room in the grand scheme of things, but then again did it really need that much doing to it to fit with the theme? The lift sequence looks fun, and the pre shows parts look decent too. Personally, something seems a bit "off" about the Rocket animatronic, seems a bit too fluffy to me - but that's just me being picky I guess.

The different soundtracks for the lift sequences are a nice touch, and should increase re-rideability as well as playing to one of the huge draws of the whole GotG franchise. I know some have complained that the exhibition has a lot of 'fan service' elements, but this is another of Marvel's selling points for their fans. They LOVE easter eggs - and this ride seems to have shed loads of them!

It'll be interesting to see how it's received by guests though, I've certainly seen a bit of a warming to it in the last week or so, me included. Just need to get myself back there now!

Don't really see how it's any better than what was there before.

The lift seems quite cheesy now?

I think it looks naff. Big lover of Florida's ToT and not a massive GotG fan though, so maybe that's part of it. I just don't see how this is an improvement in any way at all.

It looks as I expected it to, this is Disney after all they were hardly going to just repaint it. My only criticism is that the drop sequence seems a lot weaker. There's no build up of suspense it just launches straight to the show scenes then besides one big drop bounces around in the middle for a bit. For the record this was exactly the same complaint I had against Flordia's ToT. I'm all for a ride changing each time but I think you need to bookend it with a grand finale.

I just hope they don't do the same thing to Paris because...
1) the ride is way too story driven and I feel it won't work with multiple languages
2) I want to see at least one version of this ToT survive because there are aspects of it I prefer to the Florida version.

I'm actually surprisingly impressed with this, they've made this version quite uplifting (pardon the pun) and fun. I've never watched Guardians of the Galaxy but after watching the full experience POV I understood the ride story very easily.

The only downside ofcourse is that it replaced the Tower of Terror. I can now see however, how this kind off fits into a Disney Park better than the orignal ride, as it's not as full on with the doom and gloom, I'm saying that as a huge ToT fan.

I wouldn't be against them building the ride from scratch in other Disney Resorts around the world, but I'm not sure I'd like it replacing the other ToT's, maybe one is enough.

siralgenon said:

I'm actually surprisingly impressed with this, they've made this version quite uplifting (pardon the pun) and fun. I've never watched Guardians of the Galaxy but after watching the full experience POV I understood the ride story very easily.

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That's good to hear, being a bit obsessed with the films myself, I was wondering what a newcomer to the whole thing would think!

It'll be interesting to see how DCA will look in the coming 5 years or so now that we've got this ride. This is the ride to kick off the long rumoured Marvel themed lands in at least Disneyland and very likely Paris. Whether they manage to agree something with Universal in Florida remains to be seen, but I'd be very surprised if they couldn't work something out with them, even if that means using the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy since they're not used in IoA.

I know it's easy to lump Marvel in with the whole "Frozen" critique from a few years back. But, this is a franchise that has been established as a comic for decades, and even in movies for well over ten years now. Yes it's easy to consider it 'non Disney', but like it or not it's sure to be a huge pull to the parks, and a nice fit at the opposite end of the spectrum to likes of the Frozen franchise. Admittedly I was once a staunch traditional Disney fan for a while, but after seeing some recent additions such as this and Pandora (I still have my concerns don't get me wrong), then I can't help but warm to the whole idea of these new IPs. As long as we have a nice mix between the new (Pandora, Marvel, Frozen etc) and the traditional Disney movies, then I'm all for it now.

It's the complete opposite of tot, and not in a good way...

Very loud, very brash... Sure that fits the GotG theme, but the story lacks any form of build up, and because it uses a present existing ride system, is very coincidental in it's story anyway... From looks of it it's also very passive, you are just watching some scenes interspersed with random drops... ToT made you part of the story directly, which is again a flaw of using a ride system designed for something as unique as that...

Why is the music not synced up to the ride? It's doesn't work at all just having a song from start to end playing as it adds very little to the emotion at all... Would've made more sense for it to change according to the drop cycle and scenes...

The Rocket animatronic is great, but so much of the ride queue still half looks like ToT, its really weird...

Still, I hope it reaches success and the change the one in Florida, that'll teach people for being passe over it only being the California one (though I'm not sure why Florida's is the best, people say it but never actually say why, is it purely because of the corridor scene?)...

I can't believe that what is possibly the greatest themed ride concept in the world has been mucked about with.

I'm sick of all this superhero franchise nonsense too

I bloody hope they don't touch Orlando's ToT (or Paris for that matter).

Is nothing sacred?

Controversial news coming from Disney about Pirates of the Caribbean. Alongside the announcement of the changes to Paris's version of the ride Disney have announced that the Auction Scene in both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom is to be altered, replacing the women with plundered trinkets from the town.

The scenes famous Red Head is to be recast as a pirate, as seen in the provided concept art:



https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...of-the-caribbean-at-disneyland-paris-july-24/

My initial reaction was (like most of the Internet) annoyance that they would alter such a classic seen to be PG friendly. However after looking into it I actually like the change. The ride lacked a strong female character. Say what you want about the original Red Head and her flirting behaviour she was still being sold off. Now it's almost like they've continued her story. She's embraced the pirate life and turned rouge herself.
As for the change of subject matter I will agree that auctioning off items has less weight then people. However If we are talking historical accuracy I somehow doubt most pirates bought their "wenches" before they "had their way with them".

Either way I'm sure there will be some interesting opinions on this change.

Tim said:

My initial reaction was (like most of the Internet) annoyance that they would alter such a classic seen to be PG friendly. However after looking into it I actually like the change. The ride lacked a strong female character. Say what you want about the original Red Head and her flirting behaviour she was still being sold off. Now it's almost like they've continued her story. She's embraced the pirate life and turned rouge herself.

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I agree, I think it's cool and a pretty funny twist after all these years. Sure, more contemporary, but still in the cheeky spirit of the ride.

But but but.....



WE WANT'S THE REDHEAD!!!!

I wasn't sure which thread was best to post this in as Star Wars lands are coming to both coasts of the US, however seeing as contruction is further down the line at Disneyland and that the D23 Expo is taking place in Anaheim I've gone for this one.

The Parks & Resorts presentation/panel takes place on Saturday afternoon (3pm PDT/11pm BST) and it is expected that plenty of up coming projects will be annouced. However Disney Parks Blog have already given fans a look at the Star Wars land model which is on display throughout the whole event:









Seriously impressive stuff; Disney have really uped their game with this and Pandora, the areas seem so detailed and complex.

Disney are also showing off the ride vehicle that will be used in the First Order battle ride:





Source: Inside the Magic

Finally, and returning to the Star Wars land model, Inside the Magic also have this awesome panoramic photo of said model:



Really shows just how huge this is!

They weren't wrong when they said it could blow Pandora out of the water. I'm not sure on those ride vehicles though, that figure on the front looks like it could really bugger up the view for those in the middle seats. My guess is that it'll be used for projections on ride, so would look pretty damn cool all the same!

I guess the model is of Disneyland's Star Wars land. So far we haven't had a good shot of how the area will be in Florida but we know where the 3 entry points in California are and this seems to match.

I'm not sure I'm a fan of those ride vehicles, it looks like someone's stuck a bin on the front of a dalek.

It looks more like someone's cut the roof off a Star Tours simulator ... and stuck a bin on it.

Those ride vehicles look a bit like Antarctica's ones.