Please please please Jim you NEED, no MUST, do more articles like this, please follow up on this,k? Also, maybe an article about the upcoming Halloween Horror Nights 17? :)

"Well, for starters, "Dinosaur" makes use of the very same enhanced-motion-vehicle system that you'll find rolling through both the Anaheim & Tokyo DisneySea versions of this "Indiana Jones" -based thrill ride"

I have heard this argument before and quite frankly it makes little to sense to me.  Who cares if the technology is the same?  Or if the track is the same layout; can't they change the track a little if its really that big an issue?  The ride experiences are totally different.  What about Body Wars and Star Tours?  Same technology there.....or the many 3D films or spinny Dumbo rides...Magic Kingdom has THREE in the same park.  It's a weak argument......

As for these lawsuits...again a weak argument.  Whether there are 2 IJA rides in North America or one these lawsuits will mostly likely continue.  So unless you are planning to shut down the DL ride....why not build one in Fla that 99.9% of guests will enjoy?  That will draw MANY guests to the park...Again weak argument..... again if its that big a deal...tone it down a little...

I dare say the IJA is the one Cali attraction that WDW fans have been hoping for, for years....come on WDI....build it down there already!!

http://www.raymation.net

These sound just like the same cast member rumors that have been floating about the ether for the last 20 odd years. There's gonna be a new Star Tours any day now, no really. Believe it when I see it, Yoda. George is making a new TV show and ABC is in on the bidding - isn't that true of just about any new TV show? George, 'ol buddy 'ol pal, make sure you stay in Disney's good graces. Otherwise all that vaunted Disney marketing will turn out to be the marketeers they keep in the back warehouse to ignore the Pixar projects. "We don't know how to advertise Star Wars - we didn't approve it."

Best for George would be to go with Fox. Fox showed during the 20th anniversary theatrical re-release, they can pull out all the marketing stops. At that time, there was a mini bidding war for George's favor - Fox won. George would get preferred show placement on Fox and relentless ads during American Idol. Meanwhile over on Disney Channel, they can tie-in with the latest Star Wars promotion IF they actually build new rides. If the rides don't materialize - the safe historical bet - then Disney gets no benefit from new Star Wars shows.    It's the circle of galactic life.

Thanks for the info Jim.  I don't see any of these changes / makeovers having much significant impact on the park.  Startours 2.0, from what I have read so far, still lags behind the nearly decade-old Spider Man.  A ride that might have made a difference...like a proper Indy ride...doesn't seem to be on the boards.  

somepirateguy said:

"again if its that big a deal...tone it down a little"

I agree...I enjoy the Indy show at WDW, and I've participated in it, but I'd love a ride.  Many people got sick on Mission:Space, and Disney toned that down (well, toned half of it down); I'd take a tamer ride than no ride!

I think that it'd be beneficial if Disney could air the new "Star Wars" show.  Especially with a Lucasland at MGM/Hollywood Studios, there would be great cross-promotion.  

Hope Disney gets the show, but I actually think Lucasfilm will choose for Fox on this one. Disney will pull out everything to get it, but Fox will just pull out even more. And in some way I think Fox is a better distributor for it, seeing they've got previous "Star Wars" experience and all.

That it is the same ride shouldn't really matter. Nobody is going to ride an attraction and pay attention to the exact track.

Hopefully, we'll see the long-rumored American Graffiti drag racing attraction see the light of day soon. What? It would use the same ride technology as Test Track? Oh well, I guess it's a no go then.

Actually, even though I'm being facetious, I would love it if any so-called LucasLand would attempt to incorporate AG into it in some form or fashion, but I won't hold my breath.

Regards

As welcome as these comments are, they indicate nothing new would be built, just a retheming of current attractions and areas.  This is not bad, mind you, as there has never been a real cohesiveness in this area of the park.  In fact, a lot depends on which side of the street you are looking.  Turn one way, and you see Gertie the dinosaur and the art deco Hollywood buildings beyond - turn around and there is the jungle entrance to the Indy Stunt Show.  So here is my blue sky additions to what Jim stated above:

1) Retheme both sides of the street winding from Indy to Tatooine Traders (leave Gertie alone, even though her significance in animation history is mostly lost on the ignorant masses)

2) Change 'Sounds Dangerous' to Skywalker Sound Studio and bring back the audience interactive sound effect show.  Have an intro by Ben Burtt (now the voice of Wall-E) about making the sounds and then rotate between clips from Indy, American Graffiti (OK Barnum? But,that is a universal property, isn't it? :) ), and Star Wars - making it highly repeatable

3) Add a dark ride for the whole family - like "Yoda's Dagobah Adventure" that follows the wise old Jedi on the day he encouters Luke and R2-D2 in the swamp.

In any event,  I look forward to the changes to come, as they must indeed be better than the changes of old.

Jim said:

"But would any of the stuff I've mentioned in today's article make it that much more likely that you'd visit Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in the future? And if not ... Why For?"

And I say ...

What "stuff"??? An updated-to-less-outdated version of Star Tours? Wow ... be still my beating heart!!

And ... da da da daaa da daaaaaa ... a re-themed restaurant!!!!! HOLY COW!! STOP THE PRESSES!!

Is this really it? This is all the Imagineers can come up with? How pathetic. And to directly answer your question ... no. It won't make me any more likely to visit Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I agree with everything Moonliner said.

And here are other thoughts, based on the article and above comments.

1) I agree that Indy and Dinosaur sharing ride tech is not an issue. At all. For all the reasons that Pirateguy laid out.

2) I don't want to see the stunt show go away. It is still my favorite stunt show in the Orlando area... after all these years. I have no problem with tweaking it with a new scene- I think that'd be great... just DO NOT get rid of it.

3) As for Star Tours lagging behind Spider-Man in ride tech even with this proposed upgrade... I say "So what?". I still love Star Tours as it is now and I've been on it many times since it first opened. While the film is showing its age... I think the REAL attraction is the queue and the theming. That said, an upgrade on the film and a switch to digital 3-D is really all I think this attraction needs to remain beloved for another decade or two.

4) I think people are perpetually unhappy and/or dissatisfied. Which is really a bummer. How are upgrades to two well loved and still popular attractions, 2 new themed restaurants (Mos Eisley Cantina anyone?) and some LIVING CHARACTER INITIATIVE (probably what excites me the most) action added to what is really just one corner of the park not considered a MAJOR plussing of that area? Sure, I'd love a new ride or two as well... but all of that sounds just peachy to me as-is.

It's a dream come true because I've been a SW fan since birth. (So I was born in '78. It was still big.)

But yeah, I do think that FOX is definitely going to get the TV show.

As for the area, I would like to see the preshow video of Star Tours redone because all I can think about is how 1989 everyone looks in their fluorescent uniforms.

But, I wanna hear about the Muppet area! Will their crazy Planet Hollywood-like restaurant ever be made? Or their version of the Great Movie Ride? More Muppets, please!

I have not yet seen Rupert Murdoch not get something he really wants, so yeah, I reluctantly agree that FOX is probably getting the television series.  Murdoch got the Wall Street Journal for cryin out loud.

"How are upgrades to two well loved and still popular attractions, 2 new themed restaurants (Mos Eisley Cantina anyone?) and some LIVING CHARACTER INITIATIVE (probably what excites me the most) action added to what is really just one corner of the park not considered a MAJOR plussing of that area?"

Personally, I don't care about restaurants.  Particularly not even new ones, just adding new "crazy crap" to the walls.

And I think it's hard for most people to consider an upgrade that doesn't mention a single new ride to be a "MAJOR" one.

Thanks for the article, good stuff.

I've never been a big fan of either Body Wars or Star Tours, so an upgrade to the ride's film doesn't mean doodly to me.  Ditto for the restaurant.  

I wouldn't mind seeing an update the Indiana Jones stunt show, but I do love the show just the way it is, so that's not huge news either.

I would love to see us get an actual Indiana Jones ride, and I'd love to see another Muppets attraction.  We can always dream...

What happened to creativity. Why is it so important for Disney to acquire other peoples intelectual property. The biggest thing to happen to Disney in the last few years was their own creation - "Pirates of the Caribbean"

STAR WARS 2 is being filmed.  That much is fairly known.  And, the general gist of things as I can tell is that the cabin is being re-tooled as well to allow special effects interface - think Stormrider in Port Discovery at Tokyo DisneySea...on a smaller vehicle basis.  

Jim gave two good points of why Indy (the EMV based attraction) won't show up in Florida.  Here's a resounding third...cost of installation.  However, with the coming realm of Harry Potter due to open in two years at Universal's IOA, Disney World had best be ready to counter with some serious drawing force in order to compete with the number loss they stand to face...first operational season of Potter World, at least.  Depending upon the quality of the final install at IOA that first season may continue on for several years. So, Disney has got to get a plan in position (which they probably already have) to counter the coming "theme park war" in their near future.

It is a given that there are two full scale stunt shows at Disney's Hollywood Park there in Florida.  It also makes sense to either close the Indy one entirely, or, re-theme it to another "Action-Adventure Extravaganza" to keep it current with contemporary audiences.  The footprint of that area (Indy Stunt show) is huge.  And, although I am with the voters who wish to see the EMV Temple attraction built and developed there (albeit that I am pushing for the Tokyo DisneySea 'Lost Delta' style and setting to go in), unless a miracle descends from on high, I'm not holding my breath.  What I can see is a smaller high action-adventure stunt show on a current Disney winner theme (Pirates of the Caribbean is a no-brainer here), and, retaining the tropical motif that would blend into a jungle, adding in the run-a-way mine car coaster concept used in Paris as the Indiana Jones Temple, with the show and special effect elements of said Temple as it appears in Tokyo DisneySea being brought to play with it.  

In fact, Disney could allow the Imagineers a good budget (okay, that's a blue-sky wish!) and have them develop a really great temple show building for the coaster to run in and through - more so than the scaffolding framework the current incarnations are given to work upon now....and, really develop a blow-out Indy show around that.  Just a thought.

SW

"Do you folks like bad jokes?  I love 'em.  Tell 'em all the time.  Keeps my mind off the malaria and other tropical diseases that float in the air out here......"

My bad - that should be STAR TOURS 2 being filmed - and, the runaway coaster has also been installed in Tokyo DisneySea in the Lost Delta region as well.  Thus the reference to the temple in Tokyo in the last two paragraphs...Jim, you may want the board to get an edit feature for us gumbos that oopsie.... ;)

SW

Forgot to ask - Jim, perhaps you know...the long announced and even longer desired release of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles on DVD - does your inner network have any concept on when that may happen?  Rumors keep abounding out here and inquiring minds were curious as to your take on the situation.....

What happened to the CW getting the Star Wars show?  

I hope the Indy Stunt Show doesn't go away....it's a classic that's always fun to watch...

Wait...why does Florida get the new Star Tours?  We were promised a new Star Tours here in Cali months ago (to coincide with some 20th anniversary) and that fell through (guess they were too busy with Nemo).  

Oh well....great reporting Jim!  Thanks for keeping us in the loop on all things related to the Disney Empire!  

Skipperwest - looks like October 23rd is the date that you are looking for.  Follow this link for an article on the Young Indy DVDs.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7862

Just out of curiousity, where are the sources for this article?

"Skipperwest - looks like October 23rd is the date that you are looking for.  Follow this link for an article on the Young Indy DVDs."

Thisis sort of off topic, but a heck of a lotta stuff seems to be coming out on my birthday... all stuff that I want. Meet The Robinsons, the new Ratchet and Clank for PS3, and now this Young Indy DVD.

Back on topic. As long as they don't retheme Pizza Planet, new restaurants are ok with me. I want an Indiana Jones ride alongside with the stunt show.... Just think, they could MAKE A WHOLE NEW RIDE WITH A WHOLE NEW STORY. It'd be awesome. Much better than 'Temple of the Forbidden Eye'. And if they did it the right way, they might not get sued so much.

On a closing note, in coming years, people are going to want more Indy than Star Wars. By 2010, the most Star Wars will be is a nice memory and a TV show. By that time, Indy 4 will have been on Blu-Ray (I'm guessing Blu-Ray wins the format wars) and yet ANOTHER Indy movie may be filming. So I think maybe Disney should focus a bit more on the Indy factor when they begin retheming. Maybe expand back past the stunt show and have an Indy mini-land? Just suggestions.

-Imagine

Forget about LucasLand!  I want to know what new Muppet attractions would be in Disney's Hollywood.

I love the Ewok Village and the AT-AT at MGM and would love to see more life-size themed props. I would spend the cash to go to florida right now if they announced a life-size Millinium Falcon walk through. The themed restaurant sounds cool but I hope they dont retheme the Sci-Fi Cafe-its great the way it is.

ok thats great and all about Star Wars and Indiana Jones... i could honestly care less about either one... but what about the Muppet world... is that ever going to happen?  The whole "Muppet Movie-type" of ride which was *supposed* to be at MGM Studios and the Muppet-style restaurant that never saw the light of day because of the Disney/Henson merger gone bad after Jim's death... lets bring those ideas back to the park.

Well, some folk may feel the same way about the Muppets, too...If you want to discuss Mppets, talk about it in a Muppet thread. ;)  This is a Star Wars/Indiana Jones/George Lucas thread.

But, on the point of bringing things back...How about a dang full scale NAUTILUS walk through from 20,000 LEAGUES...better yet, bring back the 20K Adventure to WDW!

Geesh...now I'm off topic, too! ;)

Here are some Star Wars attractions that I'd like to see:

- Some sort of main-attraction "Star Wars Saga" dark ride along the lines of Spaceship Earth or the Great Movie Ride that tells the story of the Skywalkers in successive scenes as the audience rides in continuously-moving cars

- Phantom Menace: (Star Tours 2.0 - The Pod Race simulator ride)

- Attack of the Clones: A Geonosis simulator that is some combination of Soarin' & Buzz Lightyear, where you score points for shooting Jango Fett as you chase him through through asteroid rings

- Clone Wars: "Jedi Stunt Show" - Enacts live-action battle scenes between Jedi knights and Sith lords throughout the trilogies, in the mold of the Indy Stunt Show

- Revenge of the Sith: Mission:Space clone where the audience are members of the army of the Republic flying with Obi-Wan and Anakin in an attack on General Grievous's ship

- A New Hope: Anchorhead Speeder Tours - Riding in chained Landspeeders, riders start out taking a wide-view tour of Lucasland much like the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, but the ride gets sidetracked into the Jundland Wastes where they narrowly escape an hijack attempt by marauding Sand People

- A New Hope: Escape-Pod Spin - Dumbo, except with escape pods...

- A New Hope: Starship Hangar - climb-in/walk-through replicas of major Star Wars ships like the Millennium Falcon, X-Wing Fighter, and Tie Fighter in a hangar bay theme, arranged like Swiss Family Robinson to queue visitors in and out of vehicles

- Empire Strikes Back: Dagobah flume attraction in the mold of Splash Mountain

- Empire Strikes Back: A Hoth Snowspeeder roller-coaster that goes through Wampa caves (like the Matterhorn) but also goes over & under Snow Walkers as they are being destroyed

- Return of the Jedi: 3-D movie with performance from Jabba's palace, where audience barely escapes being fed to the Rancor

and of course...

- "its a small galaxy" - boat ride where audio-animatronic Gungans and Ewoks dress in international clothing and sing a song celebrating inter-species unity (in celebration of "Life Day")...

Almost forgot - they also need a Princess Leia metal bikini character greeting area...

Great Ideas BWSmith! I love it!

As to Disney getting the SW live action show - not a snowball's chance on Mustafar.

Let's keep in mind folks that the series will take place between Ep III and IV. One of the principal plot points will be the Jedi Purge at the hands of Darth Vader. Nothing says Disney than a little genocide, eh?

Lucas himself said on the Conan O'Brien show that it *won't* be for kids, not for network TV or primetime TV. I'd say the safe bet is HBO, Showtime, or Cinemax (Cinemax did an HD broadcast of all 6 films recently). I can't help but think that it will be violent and depressing. But as a SW fanboy, I will watch every episode.

Disney can pine all they want, but they will have to content themselves with the great rip-off licensing deal they conned out of Lucas.

I may be in the minority here, but I like Disney-MGM studios.  It's one of my favorite parks because it is a little smaller and I can take my family there and have a fun day in less than 12 hours.  

But to the adult Disney fan I am, it also represents a LOT of wasted potential.  One Indy attraction? One Star Wars attraction? One Muppets attraction? NO Power Ranger attractions.  Magic of Disney Animation a practically empty shell? The wasted space of Sounds Dangerous. . .It all seems such a terrible waste of awesome ride and show opportunities.

ANY extra use of Indy, Star Wars, Muppets, or Power Rangers would be a massive improvement.

Any of the above properties, used properly would be more than a match for Universal's Harry Potter.

Am I the only one who gets really dissappointed when I hear the words "3-D"? I hate that 'technology' more than anything!!! I have yet to see anything shot in 3-D that either looked 3-dimensional or didn't give me a headache after 2 minutes.

As for the other upgrades, I say, "Yippeeee!"

Yes I would visit to check that stuff out.

Hate to say it because I'm a diehard SW fan, but Star Tours got old the second time I rode it. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland, however, remains one of my favorite rides and I've ridden it countless times.

3D films will never compare to an actual experience, because there is no sense of danger. Star Tours 2.0 might be fun the first time, but the lines will drop off a year later. And yes, unless Imagineering has some awesome tricks up their sleeves, the technology will remain dated beyond the decade-old Spider-Man, which is also another one of my favorites. If all Disney can offer Lucas is an update to an existing ride and a restaurant, he should build his own park.

(P.S. I hate the idea of Disney bringing a similar Indy attraction to Florida, because that ride makes Disneyland in Anaheim unique. If the parks were more distinct, people would want to make the extra trip across the U.S. to see them. DCA had Soarin', which was the best thing for that park, but now it's at Epcot. Why would someone from Florida or the East Coast want to visit DCA if that park only has two or three original attractions? At least the classic rides, such as Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise, at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom are different experiences.)  

speaking of star tours, where's that long long long awaited wrap up to the series on how star tours came to be?

Oh Hurray!

I've always wanted a new movie on that ride!!!

Doesn't George Lucas have wonderful hair?!

oops didn't answer the question..oh a big yes we upped our disney visits to twice a year because of Star Wars weekends....i hope that they do remember most SW fans are grown ups and create more grown up activities next year...cause disney forgot us...i studied a year for the trivia trials...and no trivia -unless you were 11

i did think of passing for 11...my husband said...nah

teehee

but yes more star wras = more me going to mgm