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Can Disney one up Spiderman for their new Marvel themed land in Hong Kong

Universal Orlando: Now that Disney are putting Marvel into a park its obviously going to be compared with Marvel Superhero Island at IOA so the question is are the Imagineers going to be able to one up Spiderman ?

From Tom Cunningham
Posted March 1, 2013 at 3:38 PM
Now that Disney are putting Marvel into a park its obviously going to be compared with Marvel Superhero Island at IOA so the question is are the Imagineers going to be able to one up Spiderman ?


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Dominick D
Posted March 1, 2013 at 3:54 PM
After seeing Grizzly Gulch, they can.

From chris cona
Posted March 2, 2013 at 8:54 PM
Of course they can its disney

From Anthony Murphy
Posted March 3, 2013 at 10:53 AM
Sure, why not?

It would probably be to their advantage of doing something like the Spiderman attraction in IOA. It seems to work, wouldn't be out of Disney's wheelhouse on technology, and there has to be a couple of Imagineers that worked on it.

From Phil B.
Posted March 3, 2013 at 11:16 AM
Disney certainly has the ability to "One-Up" Marvel Super Hero Island, the question is, "Will the mouse house allow the imagineers to do it properly?" Even though Marvel is now a Disney brand, it still is allowed to exist and operate autonomously so as not to disrupt the established culture. If Disney continues this policy when it develops attractions based off of this property for the parks, then it will be a homerun.

The other advantage Disney has over Universal in creating Marvel attractions now, is that when Universal did it, they were creating three dimensional portrayals of comic book characters, who up until that point, did not have a major blockbuster film. Everything in Superhero Island is based off of the comics, and it shows. Disney will be developing attractions based off of the established film franchises. This is a huge advantage for Disney, as so much R&D for these characters existing in a truer to life physical space has already been established. Because so much of the general population now associates all of these characters with their films as opposed to the comics, it raises the profile of these attractions, and heightens the anticipation for them to be constructed. The only thing standing in the way of Disney blowing the doors off of this future project is Disney. I think they learned a lot in the last few years with the opening of Harry Potter, Carsland and even New Fantasyland. The bar has been raised in the last few years and there couldn't be a better time to take on a themed land of this magnitude. Whether or not Disney drops the ball remains to be seen, but if they do, they will have nobody to blame but themselves.

PS-This would be the only land that I would actually be excited about a fully immersive, next-gen meet-n-greet :o)

From Tim Odom
Posted March 3, 2013 at 4:37 PM
Of course they can. The Marvel rides at Islands of Adventure are over 10 years old, there have been enough technological advances to blow them out of the water.

But, the bigger question is will they? Will they try to push the technological envelope like they have in the past, or will they continue to play it safe, with more animatronic dark rides? I hope they allow their Imagineers to reclaim their rightful place at the head of theme park development.

I just have doubts...

From Tom Cunningham
Posted March 4, 2013 at 4:43 AM
I just had a look at Grizzly Gulch its Big Thunder Mountain + Everest it even has the Big animatronic so its not anything new or mind blowing I doubt that anyone would travel halfway around the world to ride it. I think Universal set a new standard with Spiderman and I hope that the Imagineers can do the same but it will look very bad if they dont manage it. This is the first true head to head between the two companies Disney have all the advantages they have ten years plus on technology and they know what they have to beat but can they ? Its just that I keep getting visions of a people mover like the Little Mermaid with massive representations of Iron Mans face on the back of the seats......

From N B
Posted March 6, 2013 at 11:30 AM
Disney doesn't do thrills. Rock N Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror are the two most extreme rides they have. An indoor coaster an a freefall ride (with incredible theming and story line).

What you will end up with is three rides in a land designed for kids. I'm betting a Test Track type ride, something like Luigi's tires, but Marvel themed, and a spinner.

Tom, I think the new benchmark will be Gringott's, BTW.

From Dominick D
Posted March 6, 2013 at 3:58 PM
N B, for once can you stop saying Disney doesn't have thrills? While they aren't Six Flags thrills they are thrills. You make it like Test Track has no thrills at all, when in reality it'll be just as or more intense then Gringotts will be. Let's not forget California Screamin' and Everest.

From Brandon Coots
Posted April 11, 2013 at 8:14 PM
Dominick D: Even though Disney has a few decent rides (RRC,TT,Everest) all of their other rides are geared more towards the little kids, and always will be considered a family friendly park. Universal has more thrilling rides, not to mention more elaborate rides that have more realistic animatronics, and on-ride projection screens that actually appear to not to exist do to the depth perception, etc. Also to sum it all up the Gringotts coaster is going to be way more thrilling to test track. Not to mention that this coaster, dark ride hybrid will feature amazing track effects such as tracks tilting freely to a lower track, possibly all the track effects on the mummy, and possibly Universal first free fall section of track. This will make it such an immersive experience that will make test track along with the other Disney rides look really outdated, and the thrill factor will be off the charts, but Universal cannot make a better coaster than Rip Ride Rocket :).

From Dominick D
Posted April 11, 2013 at 9:25 PM
Do you notice something? I'm dectecting high levels of FANBOY!!!!!!

"Even though Disney has a few decent rides (RRC,TT,Everest)"

What about Haunted Mansion? Pirates? Spaceship Earth? Splash Mountain? The list goes on.

"all of their other rides are geared more towards the little kids, and always will be considered a family friendly park."

False. I don't know about you, but most of the things at Epcot and DHS aren't aimed at little kids. And not "everything else" is for little kids. The only things I'd consider aimed at little kids are Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Triceratops Spin.

"Universal has more thrilling rides, not to mention more elaborate rides that have more realistic animatronics, and on-ride projection screens that actually appear to not to exist do to the depth perception, etc."

You're correct on the thrilling rides, but more realistic AAs? You're kidding, right? I don't know about you, but have you seen the AAs in Mummy and E.T.? Keep in mind these are two rides I enjoy, but calling their AAs better than say, Spaceship Earth, is downright ridiculous. Also, screens being invisible? As much as I feel like I'm flying in FJ, I still know I'm in front of a screen and the screen is pretty obvious.

"This will make it such an immersive experience that will make test track along with the other Disney rides look really outdated,"

Uh, no. Immersive, yes, but making every Disney ride look outdated? No.

"and the thrill factor will be off the charts,"

It's not gonna be that intense. In fact, excluding the kiddie coasters, it'll be the tamest coaster at Universal.

"but Universal cannot make a better coaster than Rip Ride Rocket :)."

....................What?!?! That ride breaks down often, has terrible capacity, and is known for being rough. I know that everyone has different opinions, but TONS of people hate this ride.