In the Disneyana circles there has been a lot of rumor, speculation and innuendo regarding the infamous “Villain ride.” From “it’s a done deal” to “it will never happen.” The idea has been discussed on many forums and news sites already, but I would like to throw in my two cents.I have recently watched a video of the “Journey to the Center of the Earth” ride in Tokyo Disney (see www.mousebits.com for video). It takes a roller coaster and integrates dark ride elements by slowing down the ride in certain parts. I feel that this would be a perfect marriage for The Villains Lair.
I see the ride playing out like Fantasmic, and in saying that I’m not sure that it would be appropriate in the near future. I think they would have to replace the Fantasmic show before they started a project like this. Mickey Mouse has always been strangely absent in the theme park attractions. I foresee a Mickey Mouse pre show of some kind where he gets himself in a pickle and angers the villains of Disney. The only option for him is to run away and try to find somewhere safe to hide for awhile.I see this roller coaster weaving in and out of a large dark mountain. The exterior would have an eerie feel and the use of torches for lighting would be a nice touch. The beginning of the ride would start out very fast as Mickey is running from the villains. As it makes its way to the first scene, the ride would slow down (as if Mickey is looking for somewhere to hide). He then would be spotted by one of the villains and the ride would speed up again. If anyone so desires, please feel free to discuss the detail of the scenes.
There are a few elements I have been thinking of that could really separate this roller coaster from those around the Disney parks or any other park for that matter. The first thing I was thinking would be to have one of the sets take place in a room with a river beneath the ride to give it that familiar PoC feel. The water element would add a nice aesthetic feel to scene. I don’t see why a roller coaster couldn’t travel through water for part of the ride. Actually, it probably already exists somewhere, I just haven’t seen it. The next element is hard to convey, so bear with me. I’m sure most of you have seen Illuminations. The show has a large sphere in the middle of the lake, of which amounts to convex LED screens. Why not surround the track in a portion of the ride with concave LED or LCD TV screens. It would look like the beginning of Space Mountain where you take off and there are the yellow and red lights that surround the track. Now imagine using LCD technology. The possibilities of what could be shown on the screen are endless. From any type of visualization to a CGI character that follows the car. Imagine if it was used for a long stretch of the ride, they would have the ability to intermingle all kinds of effects.
I rode the Expedition Everest ride this year and enjoyed the "going backward" portion of that ride a great deal. The effect would be suited perfect for this ride. Mickey would be backpedaling from a villain to get away. Also, I thought of a rotating scene so that when you begin to go backward, you will see different scenery.
