Are omnimover dark rides dead?

[TRdisneyfan]

With all of this talk of new rides, I was wondering what the chance of having something that uses an omnimover (like HM) or even a slow boat (pirates) ever again at any Disney park. I think it's been a long time since any heavily themed, crawling E-tickets have been constructed, and everything new seems to have some sort of speed element to it.

After all, if something like Pirates, HM, Spaceship Earth, or other similar rides debuted today, would we even accept them? Wouldn't we consider them boring or lacking context?

It's sad, because these are the classic rides the parks were founded upon, but I wonder if Disney will ever build another E-ticket ride that doesn't have either a major thrill element, or a tie-in to a popular movie.

Thoughts???

[TP2000]

Um..... Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters opens in less than six months, and they are right now putting the finishing touches on the first Omnimover attraction Disneyland has had since 1969.

Omnimovers aren't dead, they just use them less than they used to. They built a brand new Omnimover for Tokyo's version of Buzz that opened last April too. Not a refurbished model or a retheme of an existing attraction, but a brand new, off-the-shelf Omnimover.

[Tech_Disney]

i think ways people are entertained changes and goes through phases. a while ago, it used to be that the ride had to have good show qualities to be a good ride. now, we are at a point where it has to have either interaction or thrills to be considered a good ride.

[TRdisneyfan]

Buzz is a movie tie-in, and a 3rd generation clone. It is also an interactive experience, whereas all the classic rides were mostly passive, and relied on theming to provide the entertainment.

When Pirates, HM, IASW, and SpaceshipEarth,Imagination, WoM, and Horizons in Epcot all opened (among others), they were completely original concepts, costly but lacking in conventional thrills, and thus were a pretty high risk to construct. Unfortunately I think those days are over.

[masterce2000]

It would be nice to have some more of these rides in the parks. They would solve the problem with customer per hour ratios, for sure.

[Jspider]

Originally Posted by TRdisneyfan

Buzz is a movie tie-in, and a 3rd generation clone. It is also an interactive experience, whereas all the classic rides were mostly passive, and relied on theming to provide the entertainment.

and yet you titled this thread do they still make omnimovers in the post itself you were asking about HM and Pirates style rides but that was your question

Originally Posted by TRdisneyfan

When Pirates, HM, IASW, and SpaceshipEarth,Imagination, WoM, and Horizons in Epcot all opened (among others), they were completely original concepts, costly but lacking in conventional thrills, and thus were a pretty high risk to construct. Unfortunately I think those days are over.

in a way yes in a way no, I do think that this kind of ride system is over in that praticular presentation which is good in a way because otherwise it'll feel like they're rehashing the same ride over and over again (HM and Pirates manage to avoid that because they're both exciting themes and on the same idea it's because of those themes and ideas that you will always find slow moving darkrides based on them in Disney parks)

I think Pirates and Haunted Mansion have evolved forms that put in more thrills (Splash and Indy) while I feel that the gap left by them will be made up for in more high quailty regular darkrides (TDL's Pooh, Buzz and possibly Monsters Inc?) no it's not the same but it shouldn't be in a way I'd get tired of Disneyland if all their rides were too repetitive (it's really not good to use the same ride system in the same way several times over in a park which I think was one of Epcot's problems) I'm sure there will be other darkrides up on pirates level one day using excitment by story for thrills

I also believe we could get breaks from the movie themed rides at points and I hope that we do soon

[WrongWay]

Mansion was a great omnimover choice.

Omni movers used for other attractions didn't "last" as well. Inner Space, Take Flight, Spaceship Earth, Horrizons, Living Seas. None of those did as well long term.

Same with Pirates. Other big slow moving vehicle rides have not done as well. Small World, Universe of Energy, Rio del Tiempo, TGMR, People Mover, Imagination.

I really think the success of Pirates and Mansion are due to the very rich theme. How many "pirate" and "haunted house" books, movies and TV shows have there been???? These rides are not successful because they are omni-movers, but because of the theme.

Only theme I can think of that has been redone as ofter and "pirate" and "haunted house" are maybe jungle..... Another big slow moving ride for Disney that has stood the test of time.... And maybe Sci-Fi, but that genera screams thrills over omni-mover (as shown by Inner Space).

SOOOOOO, in conclusion, I think that if you could come up with a theme as strong as pirates or haunted house, another omnimover could be a huge, long-term hit. Without such a theme.... Not so much.

[Jspider]

I agree with Wrongway on this one (though I think Small World has done rather well it's just popular with a slightly smaller group of people then Mansion or Pirates but there's still a very large group that like to see it on every visit)

however if you want to see an exciting ominmover concept :wink:
http://www.miboards.com/showthread.p...rmaid+Darkride

that's one I think is rather good / :wink:

(yes I love being able to do that )

[WrongWay]

Mermaid could work like this.... But what if they did it with Test Track vehicles instead of an omni-mover. You could change speeds, stop, and then race really fast toward the end......

[Jspider]

Originally Posted by WrongWay

Mermaid could work like this.... But what if they did it with Test Track vehicles instead of an omni-mover. You could change speeds, stop, and then race really fast toward the end......

yeah it could probably work with several ride systems (boates, test track and maybe even TDL's Pooh) I mainly chose omnimover for high capacity and I liked the idea of the diving and surfacing effects (over the already done Pirates waterfall)

my major point is to show excitment by story and to show how you can involve the riders in the story thus making it in the style of Mansion and Pirates rather then just the style of Fantasyland (I never really feel involved in those storys at all, except maybe Toad)