Shanghai Disneyland

[Sam]

That wonderful source of goodness and my eternal companion Screamscape brings us our first glimpse at the layout of SDL this morning:

Today I’m happy to present our first look at what appears to be the layout of Shanghai Disneyland. There is no way to know if this is a current layout or just a peek at an older idea since retired, but it does give us a look idea at the overall layout of the park and major E-Tickets to be included. This image has been quietly making the rounds at a few of the European Disney fan sites and has been sent on to me along with a slightly enhanced version that is focused on the park itself.

Main Street USA will be replaced by Mickey Avenue, which was previously rumored to be a new version of Main Street USA, if it were taken over by Mickey and friends who all run their own shops.

The central “hub” appears to be much larger in scale in this park and seems to be labeled as “Gardens of Imagination”, though I can’t quite make out that last word very clearly. There is an interesting body of water placed in the lower left corner of the hub. Things get more interesting if you look up at the castle area itself. Instead of a drawbridge into the castle, guests will have to walk around the edge of a large water moat to gain access to the castle. In front of the castle on either side you can also see a section of tiered walkways, which would be a perfect viewing area for whatever nighttime spectacular they have planned for the park. If I had to guess, we could be seeing something similar to the Disney Dreams show that opened at Disneyland Paris this year, which incorporates fireworks, water fountains and projection mapping on the castle. Along the upper left side of the hub appears to be some kind of flat ride as well as a long pathway going back to a show building of some kind. (Perhaps a Mickey Meet & Greet building?)

Over to the right of the hub you can clearly see the entrance pathway to Adventureland near the front of the park, and what appears to be a Pirate Cove themed area just behind it. Here we can clearly see the long rumored river rapids ride, that was thought to be volcano themed and involve a Lost World style dinosaur encounter. The layout of the rapids in the art appears to be very similar layout to Grizzly River Run at California Adventure. Beyond the Lost River ride there appears to be some kind of twin-theater show building as well. There also appears to be a river with boats it in across the pathway, but as far as I’ve heard, the park is not expected to have a Jungle Cruise, so I’m not sure what may be going in here.

This river leaves into the main body of water that serves as the shoreline for Pirates Cove, which is home to a massive attraction building structure that surely must be for the new Pirates of the Caribbean ride based on the film series. There are also rumors about a Pirate themed stunt show, which I’m guessing could very well be performed on the lake itself with Pirate ships.

The backside of the park is home to a very large version of Fantasyland. The right side appears to be home to this park’s version of the Seven Dwarves Mine coaster, along with two medium sized buildings along the back that could be for attractions or perhaps a very large themed restaurant, but there are also a ton of smaller buildings in between as well. To the left of the castle is another series of medium sized structures and I’m guessing at least one may be an attraction. In the center of Fantasyland lies another body of water where a small river twists and turns through various forest scenes, which I assume may be that rumored new indoor/outdoor boat ride. In the upper left, just outside the boundary of Fantasyland is a small area clearly labeled as Toy Story Playland. Expect Toy Story Land to end up with most of the same attractions we’ve seen before in Hong Kong, along with a few classic Fantasyland flat rides nearby as well.

Finally in the front left side of the park, kind of off to the side a bit, lies Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland looks to be a bit on the small side in my opinion, and I can only see one large attraction building along with two smaller buildings, one of which is also likely to house some kind of attraction, like Buzz Lightyear. The big building will likely be home to the Tron Light Cycle coaster. I’d expect a few outdoor flat rides like an Astro Orbiter or something here as well. From the looks of things, I don’t see any sign of a Star Tours ride or anything to do with Indiana Jones, so I’m expecting Shanghai could be a Lucas free Disney Resort.

Speaking of Disney Resorts… I’m hearing that there are two major hotels expected to be up and running when the park opens. One will be a major 5-Star hotel experience that may look like a cross between the Disneyland Paris Hotel and the Grand Floridian. The other will be a 4-Star Resort that will be given a Toy Story theme.

Really shaping up to be the theme park project of the decade! Also, replacing Space Mountain with the Tron coaster for the loss.

 

[Rowe]

Well this looks to be a promising investment, albeit very different from nearly all the existing Disney parks, and I wish Shanghai luck on the proposal. It's a bit strange how it doesn't fulfil the original quota and much the opposite but I am literally geeking out over the idea of having a new indoor boat ride. A bit unimpressed by Pirates possibly being an upgraded film version, ftl.

 

[Sam]

Park News - (11/26/12) Disney and More has some interesting thoughts about how the new Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction at the Studios may have links to the future new Pirates ride destined for Shanghai Disneyland. We’ve already discussed the permits found for the new unique ride hardware that seems to be for this new Shanghai attraction, but this takes a bit deeper into how this ride may handle the various show scenes, which were said to rely more on projected effects and have very few animatronic figures.

Here's a link to the very interesting and in-depth article at Disney and More. Gutted to hear about the gradual phasing out of animatronics, just as they were getting so good.

 

[Tim]

I find it interesting how they feel the Chinese don't know enough about Caribbean Piracy which is their claim for why they are basing it on the films. It’s a fair point but would have been really interesting if they'd gone all the way with this theory and designed a “Pirates of China” ride rather than basing it on the films...

... Oh wait Pirates of China sounds like it could be referring to a certain trend of copy cat business...

That could be awkward for Shijingshan Amusement Park

Maybe that isn't such a good idea :-\

 

[CGM]

Well that layout looks like quite a departure from the norm. There's not even a Main Street!

 

[BigAl]

Shanghai Daily has found out plans to extend the metro to Disney and create a new station for the park:

Metro extension planned for Disneyland

An exclusive Metro line serving Shanghai Disneyland visitors will be built and put into service in 2015, the same year the amusement park opens to the public.

The new line is a 9.15-kilometer extension of Metro Line 11, starting from Luoshan Road Station in Pudong and ending at the Disney Resort with three stations in between.

The planned Disneyland Station will feature cartoon figures, such as Mickey Mouse. Passengers can enjoy the park's views through large vaults of the semi-underground station.

The project has been approved by authorities, according to a report in today's Jiefang Daily.

 

[BigAl]

Interesting news from Screamscape regarding a Monsters Inc themed Omnimover ride which intersect its own track:

Park News - (1/24/13) In an interesting story, Disney apparently files for a new patent about 8 months ago for an interesting new ride system. The ride system is described as an Omnimover style dark ride system with a twist… the ability to cross over or intersect with it’s own track. For example, the drawings submitted show off a ride system that has one loading station, but upon exitings the cars split up into two different ride tracks that twist and intersect with each other along the way, returning to one of two different unload platforms before reuniting once again as one ride system in the loading station.
While on the subject of the drawings, submitted to us “via CON”, the theme of the ride’s cars as well as the whole attraction used clearly shows off a Monsters Inc. themed dark ride. It’s also interesting to note that the ride cars are connected to the ride track both through the floor as well as a pole going up from the car into the ceiling.
Given the amount of work Disney is preparing for the new park in Shanghai, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being a new attraction that may premier at that park first. There is a bit more information in the details of the patent, but I’m going to try to read through it all first before saying any more, so stay tuned.

Some images sent to them of the system:

Is this taking 'near misses' to the next level?

 

[Wilsy]

I'd imagine they have got the idea from this from the Zamperla Demolition Derby, which Disney have used a few times in recent years.

Looks like a very interesting concept, and will probably be a lot cheaper than a LPS trackless system but still has near-misses etc.

 

[Adam James]

In what is set to be the most anticipated new park this year, Disney have started to lift the lid on Shanghai Disneyland.

..and here is the first image of the park's official model to be released (from D23).

Certainly looking very niche in comparison to the five other Disneyland Parks so far.

 

[PG Ricey]

EXCELLENT I absolutely love Shanghai and I'm hoping to persue a career there in the cuter and now I know there's going to be a Disneyland there I'm certain of my choice!

 

[DiogoJ42]

Surely that can't be an omnimover. There's no way the cars could be conected.

Interesting idea for a ride though.

 

[Sam]

Park News - (5/7/13) Today I’ve got a treat for everyone… an interesting drawing that was sent my way showing off what appears to be a Tron Lightcycle themed version of a Vekoma BoosterBike ride seat. There is no way to know if this is something real or a the creation of a very talented fan, but I think this should give everyone a good idea of what to expect from the Tron coaster in Shanghai Disneyland.

 

[LiamC]

Oh. My. God.

If that is true it's incredible. Tron Light Cycles are a design wet dream, I hope that's actual concept art!

 

[Natalie]

But it is a Vekoma Booster Bike? :/

 

[BigAl]

Probably. Disney love their Vekoma!

 

[LiamC]

I'd take the ride vehicles over the ride type anyday if they looked like light cycles. That and I actually have a early soft spot for Velocity

 

[AstroDan]

Booster Bike...

I've been on two. Both a very, very average.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sam]

Park News - (7/18/13) Disney and More has mentioned an interesting factoid about Shanghai Disneyland in this week’s report about Disneyland. Near the bottom they reconfirm that Shanghai Disneyland’s Toy Story Land wont have the Green Army Men’s Parachute Drop ride, but instead is listed to have something mentioned as “Round Up attraction”. It isn’t known if this will be some form of live entertainment such as the Woody’s All-American Roundup show going into Disneyland or if this could be some kind of replacement ride for the missing Parachute Drop. Stay tuned.

Eurgh, Toy Story Playland.

 

[BigAl]

The Agricultural Bank of China has issued the park a HK$314 billion loan (a.k.a a lot of money ). Read more about it here.

 

[Sam]

Two images of the castle posted by Disney & More.

Seems a bit... blocky, maybe? I don't know, maybe slightly too square shaped, but overall, another very nice centrepiece. There's speculation that the semi-circular moat in front will be the channel for the boat ride that is set to partly be housed inside the castle.