With the opening of Pixar Pier and the recent success of Incredibles 2, it is clear that people of all ages love Pixar. They are the masters of making a film that is enjoyable for kids but offers emotion and depth to adults. The flashback scene of Jessie being forgotten by her owner in Toy Story 2 always draws a tear for me.
With IP attractions seemingly the future for Disney Parks will Imagineers be looking at the expansion of Walt Disney Studios as the perfect opportunity to create a Pixar Land in Paris.
Before anyone protests against this change, I must inform you that Pixar Land already exists, they just haven’t given it a title yet. As soon as you walk past Crush’s Coaster you enter the land that celebrates Cars, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Ratatouille.
However, to become a land this area needs to become more immersive. Each ride has some wonderful touches but the walkways from Crush down to Toy Story land just don’t feel like Disney.
You may think this is being picky, but when you walk from Place de Remy into Toy Story Playland the transition is cleverly done to fully immerse you into each section. This is not easy to do with many people in Florida fearing Galaxy’s Edge already breaks the immersion of their newly opened Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studies.
There will need to be some thought put into how to link these different areas but as you can see, a Pixar Land is not a huge leap. It could also encourage further investment, with Alien Spinning Saucers already coming perhaps the highly rated Cars ride from California Adventure could find a place at Walt Disney Studios.
It is easy to be a magpie and steal the best Pixar attractions from around the world (Toy Story Mania must be top of many people’s list!). However, what excites me about a Pixar Land is the ability to create new rides. I shall list a few ideas here and claim credit if Disney ever makes them.
UP
The ride vehicle would be shaped as a house with a ballon attached to it. Guests control the amount of gas in the ballon, moving the vechicle up and down. Similar to Parachute Drop but the guests are in control. The whole setting is surrounded by a 360 degree screen playing images of the sky and different scenary below. Smells would be pumped in similar to Soarin at Walt Disney World.
Inside Out
A journey through the mind of Riley, the teenager from the hit movie. The ride vehicle would glide similiar to Peter Pan’s Flight moving through each type of emotion. Guests would see the different emotions at work with TV screens showing the impact on Riley in the real world. Outcomes could be random to allow guests to repeat the ride and have a different experience each time.
A Bugs Life
A live show in a specially designed circus tent. Each Bug would have their own part of the show using music from across all the Pixar Films. The fun could be interupted by those Pesky Grasshoppers with our insect heros having to save the show.
CoCo
Imagine a dark boat ride based around the hit movie, CoCo. With guests starting in a mexican village before being taken on a journey through the Land of the Dead. The colours would be amazing and state of the art hologram technology could make this into a modern Disney Dark ride.
Bullseye
OK so I know this is unlikely to happen but I just love the horse Bullseye from Toy Story 2 and 3. A Disney version of the classic horse ride seen at many smaller theme parks would be wonderful given the level of theming Disney are capable of.
Conclusion
Many people worry about the loss of original rides and the use of IP in the parks. However, a good ride is a good ride no matter what the original theming may be. Given how wide the range of IP material is for imagineers, I believe we will continue to be thrilled and amazed by Disney attractions.
A formal recognition of Pixar at Walt Disney studios would bring in new fans and breathe life into a tired part of the resort. Who knows, one day soon we could be greeted by the Pixar Lamp on our way into our own Paris Pixar Land.
DLP Genie 