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Disney's Tower Of Terror To Be Scrapped For A 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Ride
Concept art for the new GoG ride. (Courtesy Disney/ Marvel)
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The rumors were true: Disney California Adventure Park will be seeing the loss of one of its oldest, most beloved attractions in order to kickstart the theme park's inevitable Marvel-fication. The Twilight Zone-themed Tower of Terror is getting made over into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, wordily named "Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!", described in a post on Disney's blog as "a comically high-energy, rocking new adventure."
But not everybody is excited by the prospect of being "right in the mix" and "rocking" with GoG characters; apparently when it was announced yesterday at Comic-Con, people actually booed. Sounds like Nerd Cannes!
It's official, Guardians of the Galaxy are taking over Tower of Terror at DCA. It's called GOTG Mission Breakout. People booed.
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) July 24, 2016
As the L.A. Times notes, Disney bought Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in 2009, but until now, the park has not really incorporated elements from Marvel's catalogue into rides or other attractions. This is in part because theme park rights were actually sold to Universal back in 1990; but, since Universal Orlando has yet to use Guardians of the Galaxy in any of their attractions, Disney has the go ahead to use it themselves.
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Thus, it was only a matter of time before something had to give, and Tower purists are not pleased.
sure a new ride would be cool but a Guardians of the Galaxy overlay on Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a trash idea
— Molly Lambert 🦔 (@mollylambert) July 24, 2016
Modern Family actress Sara Hyland chimed in, too.
NO!!!! TOWER OF TERROR FOREVER!!!!! https://t.co/PgmJ5hoF8H
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) July 24, 2016
I don't like the Guardians ride taking over Tower of Terror for one simple reason: that ride introduced millions of kids to Twilight Zone.
— Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) July 24, 2016
Well, now it looks like children will be introduced to the classic tale of a bounty hunting space raccoon as played by Bradley Cooper.
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Here's a description of the ride, per Disney:
Deep inside his fortress-like collection, the mysterious Taneleer Tivan (aka The Collector) is displaying his newest acquisitions, the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are trapped in customized display cases, suspended over a vast abyss. Unbeknownst to their unscrupulous captor, the intrepid Rocket has escaped and is enlisting the Collector’s VIP guests for help. Guests board a gantry lift, which launches them into a chaotic and hilarious adventure as they join Rocket in an attempt to break his fellow Guardians out of captivity.
The current Tower of Terror is scheduled to close in early 2017 before the space is transformed into "an epic new adventure, enhancing the breathtaking free fall sensation with all-new visual and audio effects to create a variety of ride experiences," including riding in a "gantry lift" that will "rock to the beat of music inspired by the film’s popular soundtrack." Ok, this part actually isn't too bad, considering the soundtrack included jams from David Bowie, Jackson 5, and the Runaways.
It's a shame that the neat haunted house design of the Tower of Terror, which wasbased in part on the architecture of old hotels around Los Angeles, will be destroyed in lieu of something that a Change.org petition described as "bound to be short lived" and "very 'un-Disney-like.'"
At least there are plenty of places at Disneyland to drink your sorrows away.
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