Cars area coming to Magic Kingdom

[OLSinFLA]

Concept art is much different than the actual design of the ride. Concept artists are essentially tasked with taking the designers concepts and turning them into a (semi loose) piece of art that can be released to the public to garner excitement for the new attraction.

I’ve attached old concept art for Cars Land at DCA, and you can see the slot track wasn’t illustrated in that art. In fact, they just included the broken white lane divider lines to show the racing element, instead of two different slot tracks.


Short story version, concept art is never intended to show how the ride will actually work. It’s basically marketing artwork.



Look at the Skull Island outdoor section to prove your point exactly.

Actually the current issues with the outdoor section on Kong are unrelated to weather (there was always a bypass for rain though). Turns out the base of the vehicles -- which were designed to work in ports to move containers around -- didn't work well on uneven surfaces and were slowly being damaged. So until they can level off the outside its being skipped/

 

[Michael S]

Actually the current issues with the outdoor section on Kong are unrelated to weather (there was always a bypass for rain though). Turns out the base of the vehicles -- which were designed to work in ports to move containers around -- didn't work well on uneven surfaces and were slowly being damaged. So until they can level off the outside its being skipped/

I know that part. I wasn’t necessarily referring to weather, per se; I was referring to the difficulty of making a trackless system work outdoors. That was an issue for the Dynamic Attractions prototype all terrain trackless system, which is why it was never really implemented anywhere. Skull Island rerouting during inclement weather is more what I was referring to, rather than its current state. If they used a trackless outdoor system for the Cars attraction, and most of the show takes place outside, it could become a major operations debacle.

 

[fryoj]

Yeah, I just can't see trackless, out door, and climbing/going down hills working well together in an area that gets a good amount of rain.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Yeah, I definitely hope they keep it relatively simple and aim for a tracked design. Trackless is only cool when it actually works, and the concept doesn't sound ideal when the current plans call for outdoor, weather dependent, heavily inclined and "off road" type conditions, which are all things trackless systems aren't especially strong at. Most of the best trackless rides are the exact opposite of those specifications.

 

[OLSinFLA]

I know that part. I wasn’t necessarily referring to weather, per se; I was referring to the difficulty of making a trackless system work outdoors. That was an issue for the Dynamic Attractions prototype all terrain trackless system, which is why it was never really implemented anywhere. Skull Island rerouting during inclement weather is more what I was referring to, rather than its current state. If they used a trackless outdoor system for the Cars attraction, and most of the show takes place outside, it could become a major operations debacle.

Kong *can* run outdoors in the rain. But there are two reasons it never did : The trucks aren't enclosed which makes for a very wet experience and in Florida rain is nearly always accompanied by lightning. As for Cars, it makes no difference if its tracked or trackless - those same issues would close the attraction regardless

 

[Michael S]

Kong *can* run outdoors in the rain. But there are two reasons it never did : The trucks aren't enclosed which makes for a very wet experience and in Florida rain is nearly always accompanied by lightning. As for Cars, it makes no difference if its tracked or trackless - those same issues would close the attraction regardless

What everyone referring to here is a ride system that would potentially be traveling, trackless, over dirt and terrain. I can’t say that that’s what it will be, but that’s where this conversation started. A trackless system over terrain would mean, not only would it close in the rain, they would need to keep it closed until mud and whatnot dried and is able to navigable again.

And if you took the time to actually read thru my comment, I was talking about the difficulty of making a trackless system work outdoors, regardless of the weather… which is why I brought up the Dynamic Attractions prototype and the issues that system faces.

 

[fryoj]

What everyone referring to here is a ride system that would potentially be traveling, trackless, over dirt and terrain. I can’t say that that’s what it will be, but that’s where this conversation started. A trackless system over terrain would mean, not only would it close in the rain, they would need to keep it closed until mud and whatnot dried and is able to navigable again.

And if you took the time to actually read thru my comment, I was talking about the difficulty of making a trackless system work outdoors, regardless of the weather… which is why I brought up the Dynamic Attractions prototype and the issues that system faces.

Not sure if that was your point, but there is exactly zero chance they take this over actual dirt. Concrete that looks like dirt, sure. But actual dirt would have the ride shut down within days. Any sort of rain would cause mud to gum up and rust out pretty much everything. And if they somehow kept it from getting wet, it would end up dusty which would, at best, block sensors.

 

[Michael S]

Not sure if that was your point, but there is exactly zero chance they take this over actual dirt. Concrete that looks like dirt, sure. But actual dirt would have the ride shut down within days. Any sort of rain would cause mud to gum up and rust out pretty much everything. And if they somehow kept it from getting wet, it would end up dusty which would, at best, block sensors.

That was part of my point to disprove that a Dynamic Attractions style All Terrain ride system would be utilized for this attraction. That prototype was built for actual dirt and terrain, rather than a concrete track. Seen that “rumor” pop up here and there on this thread. That was why I mentioned the mud and whatnot becoming an issue after inclement weather, which you also mentioned and illustrated in your post.

 

[TheUniC6]

Perhaps because of the issues stated above I think things like the dirt and trackless design were all artistic liberties taken with the concept art.

 

[Michael S]

Perhaps because of the issues stated above I think things like the dirt and trackless design were all artistic liberties taken with the concept art.

It’s exactly that. Like I said before, concept art is mainly a way to convey an idea, and rarely does it match up to the final design of an attraction.

 

[MikePat]

Very interesting - off-road trackless ride system confirmed.

 

[saint.piss]

Very interesting - off-road trackless ride system confirmed.

So cool!

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Shocked they’re taking the bullet with that Dynamic system. Wonder how it’ll favor with the Florida ecosystem.

 

[belloq87]

I think that's a pretty short-sighted ride system choice for a number of reasons.

Also, what happens when one of those vehicles just tips over?

 

[TheUniC6]

Well, this is definitely going to have a lot o down time when it first opens. Not to mention when it rains in general.

 

[Scott W.]

Very interesting - off-road trackless ride system confirmed.

This isn't the ride vehicles or system. Just a test on ATVs to get a feel for it.

I think this is going to be a huge sleeper hit.

 

[HandsomePete]

I admittedly was originally in the not trackless camp, but had heard there was indeed a mock-up somewhere in central Florida where RV testing was occurring.

Am I convinced that it will be a good choice once scaled up to a ride that needs to carry at least 1,500 people per hour? No. The idea that they would let a trackless vehicle traverse something that looks like that video boggles my mind.

 

[DrStarlander]

I'm wondering what happens when one vehicle breaks down...how do they get it back to the station? Is it like an F1 race where everything stops and they bring out a tractor crane vehicle to lift it up and carry it back, and is there wide enough access all along the route? This will be interesting.

Using this for the Cars IP is "okay" (but not really the feel of the movies) and given its pace probably would have been better to use it as "planetary rovers" on a fantastic other-world as a replacement for Tomorrowland Speedway with a Buzz Lightyear theme.

However this looks like a great vehicle for a Jurassic Park attraction coupled with encounters with dinosaurs...and having the vehicle frantically stop, back up, then ditch the trail and go "off road" through the jungle...that would be exciting. So Disney may be pioneering the ride system but Universal may have the IP that really takes advantage of it.

 

[Jake S]

I dig that they appear to be taking a big swing. I’m sure that’ll come with tradeoffs, but I’m intrigued.

 

[HandsomePete]

I dig that they appear to be taking a big swing. I’m sure that’ll come with tradeoffs, but I’m intrigued.

My concern now is that there are things that sound like a good idea on paper but once it gets translated into reality are decidedly not thrilling. Maybe a tracked ride was wishful thinking on my part, but a multi-level, “outdoorsy” equivalent of RSR where you could get up to 25-30MPH on what appears to be the last part of the ride by Tiana/BTM sounds like a way safer bet than what might be no more interesting than riding around on a golf cart.

You can swing and miss on something like Rivers of Light boats working or Harmonious barges - you can’t miss on an E-ticket. But I guess we’ll all see.