If you’ve been to either a Disney or Universal theme park in the last decade or so, odds
are you’ve come across an attraction that makes heavy use of screens.
They’re nothing new, but in past they were more often used as supplements.
A live television set or an interstitial between scenes.
But lately it seems like there’s been a growing trend of new high tech rides relying
more and more on large screens where traditionally practical sets and props would have been used.
So much so that it’s become somewhat of a running joke when it comes to Universal
Studios attractions.
Why do many theme park fans look down on screens, and what can be done to improve them?
So why do screens get a bad rap in theme park rides?
I think at first glance, it’s because today they’re nothing special.
Phones.
Computers.
Televisions.
Kiosks.
Billboards.
You name it.
We’re a society that is surrounded by screens all the time.
To add to that, we’ve seen such incredible leaps in special effect technology that we’re
accustomed to seeing imaginative and fantastical images on those screens.
Personally I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
It’s allowed storytellers to take us to really interesting worlds that would have
been difficult, if not impossible, to visit just a few decades ago.
However the result is a growing population that doesn’t experience the same sense of
awe that we might have in the past when it comes to impressive visuals on a screen.
That sense of normalcy is a problem because when you typically think about theme park
attractions, you think about unique experiences that you just can’t get anywhere else.
It’s part of what makes the sets and the animatronics and the ride vehicles all so memorable.
When I ride the Haunted Mansion and see those ghosts dancing in the dining room, it’s
something I’d never realistically be able to recreate at home.
When I ride Mission Breakout and see Starlord and Rocket fighting aliens on a screen?
Well, I’ve been able to do that at home since the first film came out on blu-ray.
Of course it’d be silly to ignore the whole ride aspect of Mission Breakout.
It’s a lot of fun and that’s why even with the screens it’s still totally worth riding.
The presence of screens doesn’t necessarily ruin a ride, it just devalues it a little bit.
I also think people tend to roll their eyes at the use of screens in attractions because
it’s a show element that seems to mostly benefit the park rather than the guest.
Simply put, it’s cheap.
Installing and then repairing a projector is always going to cost less than installing
an entire scene made up of complex animatronics and props.
It’s going to take up less space, and it’s usually going to be easier to setup as well.
And that’s really the key word there: easy.
Using screens on theme park attractions is the easier route.
Yet, when it comes to the guest experience, for all of those reasons I mentioned before,
it’s not really any better for us.
It’s a one sided exchange, but I don’t believe it has to be.
One of the inherent benefits of screen technology in rides, that we’ve only really begun to
see put to use at Disney, is that it’s also easier to replace what we see on the screen.
Changing a scene no longer means swapping out a slew of animatronics and redressing a set.
It just means replacing one video file with another.
This presents an opportunity in which Disney could update and refresh rides at a rate that
wouldn’t have been practical 20 years ago.
We’re already seeing this with Star Tours.
Disney created a new special scene for The Force Awakens and then another one for The
Last Jedi.
When their respective films were released the rides were locked into the new scenes
for guests, and after a few months they were entered into regular rotation with all the
other scenes the ride was already known for.
Within just two years the ride had seen just as many permanent additions to the experience.
We’re also seeing it in another form over in California with Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
Monsters After Dark.
The seasonal Halloween overlay is one in which Mission Breakout
transforms every night from it’s default story to a monster-centric story.
Different pre-show, different music, and different visuals on all the screens.
But why stop there?
Imagine if Disney got into the habit of changing the locations in Soarin’ every 3 years,
introducing a whole new set of famous landmarks to fly over.
Or how about Rock n Roller Coaster with Aerosmith.
Really, the biggest elements of the ride that make it Aerosmith specific is the music played
on the ride, and the on-screen pre-show played beforehand.
What’s stopping them from introducing a new band every few years with all new music?
Mission Space is another attraction primed for such an approach.
With the same core concept of the motion simulator, we could have a new Mission
Orange that takes us to other far off locations like Europa, while Mission Green plots a new
course around the earth that shows us new countries we haven’t yet visited.
The idea isn’t limited to just the big main screens of rides either.
Supplemental experiences can be altered and updated too.
It’s been 11 years since screens were introduced to the ride experience of Spaceship Earth,
and in over a decade the interactive ending hasn’t undergone any real changes.
Spaceship Earth would still fundamentally be Spaceship Earth, even if the interactive
ending offered new options and outcomes. So why aren't they offering them?
Some might say this shouldn’t happen because there are too many guests out there who want
to experience the “true” version of the ride when they visit, and that it’d be wrong
to rob them of that.
It’s one of the arguments made for why we don’t see many seasonal overlays for attractions
in Walt Disney World.
But maybe it’s time we embrace the idea of the “true” version of a ride being
one that always evolves and improves.
Not an overlay or special event.
Just a ride that was made to change over time.
Now hopefully this goes without saying, but all of this is just my opinion.
Like many Disney fans, I just like thinking about the “what ifs”, and like most people
on the internet, I like to pretend that I know what’s best for the parks.
And I’m sure there are plenty of logistical reasons that this will never happen.
Budgets and costs.
Manpower.
Time.
But if we’re going to see the use of screens continue to grow at theme parks, then we should
at least see the park-guest exchange balance out a bit and start to benefit an audience
that, by all accounts, aren’t wowed by screens anymore.
Walt Disney once praised Disneyland as a project that allowed him to keep plussing the parks
and plussing the rides as time went on.
If screens are here to stay, and it seems like for better or for worse they are, then
it’s about time Disney start plussing those as well.