Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland, by Those Who Built It

A great video for the week-end with Grimshaw Architects, Scott Drake , Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland Creative Executive and Bob Weis, President Walt Disney Imagineering discussing about the making of SDL Tomorrowland. Working hand in hand with Walt Disney Imagineering, the Grimshaw team has designed a unique experience for guests to Shanghai Disney Resort's Tomorrowland.

The picture at the top of the article was shot by me last year at SDL and instead to choose a picture showing the TRON dome as it is usually the case when one wants to show SDL Tomorrowland, i've choose a picture of another area of Tomorrowland, rarely shown so you may have never seen it before. It is located opposite to the TRON ride, where there is a stage with musicians playing music at night, with lights effects, etc...





Picture: copyright Disney and more

Video: copyright Grimshaw Architects, Disney

Meet WDI Imagineer Scott Drake, Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland Show Designer

Scott Drake, is executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering and he moved with his family to Shanghai three years ago to oversee the construction of Tomorrowland, as Scott is the show producer / designer of the land that he built with his team of Imagineers.
 
Fortune Magazine just posted a great article about Scott with exclusive behind the scenes pictures and interesting infos like: the track for the TRON Tomorrowland ride is 966 meters long, and the cable and wiring required to run it could circle Shanghai 37 times. “We got to do this Tomorrowland in a new way,” Drake says, “with cutting-edge tools and technologies that didn’t exist when Walt built the original.”

I suggest that you jump to the Fortune article HERE and you can have a look at some of the great pics below coming from it, you'll even see Bob Iger riding with Scott Drake the TRON Lightcycles Power Run coaster for the first time, and Bob loved it!









On this last picture below, Scott Drake is in the Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue ride with his two daughters.



Pictures : copyright Disney

Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland Imagineers Reveal More Details About the Land

Imagineers Mellissa Berry, Scot Drake with others WDI Imagineers have designed the new Tomorrowland for Shanghai Disneyland, and in an interview to Shanghaî Daily they talk about their vision of the future for this new Tomorrowland: 

“We didn’t want to refer to any existing architecture as we worked to create a whole new tomorrow world,” Berry, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai, told Shanghai Daily.

A former TV and film producer, Berry, former TV and film producer, has been working on Shanghai Disneyland project for over five years. She and Scot Drake, executive creative director of the new Tomorrowland, have worked with a group of Imagineers from all over the world to brainstorm the concepts of a future world and turn them into physical structures.

It is a Disney tradition to set up a centerpiece themed land to showcase Walt Disney’s great vision for a big and beautiful tomorrow.  The Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai team aims for the Shanghai iteration to offer a new vision into the future. To achieve their “tomorrow” goals, Berry and Drake set off in 2009 with other Disney Imagineers to scour cities around the world looking for inspiration.

They went to the Eden Project in England where plants are collected from around world. They visited the famous gardens in neighboring Suzhou and experienced the West Lake show in Hangzhou. They also attended World Expo in Shanghai several times in 2010. “When we first set foot in Shanghai, we were amazed to find the city itself has been a world of the future,” Drake said. They invited scientists and environmentalists to become involved in their brainstorming to ensure the best thinking and designs were considered.

Berry and Drake also visited Yuyuan Garden, studying the architectural philosophy behind Chinese landscape design. “We analyzed the multi-level buildings, how the pathways unfolded, the moon gates and the shade areas in this historic city garden,” Berry said. “While there would be no direct reference, we wanted to interpret this ancient design philosophy in a modern way.”

A feature of Shanghai’s Tomorrowland will be the world’s first Tron Lightcycle Power Run, a roller-coaster-style attraction that involves patrons boarding two-wheeled lightcycles on a high-speed, indoor-outdoor track.

Visitors can also join the new target-shooting adventure called Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, break the bonds of gravity on Jet Packs, and celebrate the entire Star Wars saga. The Stargazer Grill restaurant will offer spectacular views of Shanghai Disney Resort as well as the stage below.

An architectural highlight of the complex, the Lightcycle track is covered by a massive, undulating canopy. The entire covert is edged with a dramatic, blue-green ribbon that changes color as it rolls across, “like the tail of a dragon,” said Berry.

“Guests waiting to board will have fun imagining a future world as they listen to the evocative soundtrack and watch the Lightcycle trains twist and turn all around them, all under a color-shifting canopy,” she said.

To create the canopy that Berry said “embodies harmony with nature” and will be like landing lightly on the earth, the team used many cutting-edge design tools."

There is more to read in the full Shanghaî Daily article so jump HERE.

Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland : From Blue Sky to Reality

Officially, the final design for Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland is the one you see above, a land that will include the Jet Packs ride,  Stitch Encounter, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, and of course the awaited TRON Lightcycles Power Run ride. But, as usual when WDI Imagineers design a new theme park, the design of SDL Tomorrowland has changed a lot since the "Blue Sky" period. This always happen for various reasons whether it is feasibility or budget reasons. So we'll have a look today at the Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorowland "that never was"- although it sounds bit odd to say this about a theme park not open yet, so let's say "that never will be", to be more accurate.

The Jet Packs ride which will be located at the entrance of the land will be unique to SDL Tomorrowland but in fact it's been a while that WDI Imagineers were turning around the idea to create a ride in which the guests will be "attached" to jet packs. So we'll start this pictorial evolution of SDL Tomorrowland with these renderings which were probably not done for SDL but could have been done for DL Tomorrowland. We can see an Orbitron with Jet Packs instead of the usual rockets but also a ride using robotic arms - like the Kuka robot arms used in the Harry Potter ride at Universal - which would move on the track where once was the People Mover...

On this next artwork we see not only Space Mountain but the Jet Packs are also there, this time with a different tech including fountains and water effects.

Another rendering also done probably for Disneyland Tomorrowland - see on the left and right the Submarine and Autopia cars - with the first appearance of a TRON motorbike coaster, and always the Jet Packs in the background.

The five next renderings typical "blue sky" artworks but some elements that will be in the final design starts to appear like these curved lines and on the one below we can even guess an outdoor TRON Lightcycles outdoor ride. These artworks below were most probably done with the design of Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland in mind. As you'll see most of them were done by artist Scot Drake, a great artist specialized in digital paintings.

The next one below is interesting, specially when we remember that the land where Shanghaî Disneyland is currently built was rice fields before.

Another "blue sky" rendering - and by the way, for those of you who wouldn't know what "blue sky" means, it is the period during which WDI Imagineers can design anything they wish without thinking about the feasibility. Afterwards elements of these concepts are kept, others not, and are include in the final "feasible" concept.

This next artwork is another different concept, but keep in mind the element on the left looking like a concert arena as we'll see it again later. The curved lines are always there too.

Another great "blue sky" artwork on which you'll note the elevated walkways, something which will stay in the final design.

A perfect Tomorrowland vision in this artwork most probably done for Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland , and on which we see the TRON ride and the Jet Packs at its center. Look great but a vision probably very expensive to realize in real...

Now we're getting closer to the final design. Almost everything that will be in the final concept is here. The jet Packs, the elevated walkways, the curved dome structure, etc...

We're almost to the final design with this next artwork. Note that the Jet Packs ride is no longer in the center but placed at the entrance of the land. The curved  "TRON cover" is there but the water element with the Jet Packs apparently shouldn't be kept in SDL Tomorrowland final concept.

Again, here is the final design of SDL Tomorrowland,  the result of the evolution that you've seen on the artworks above. Looks disappointing in comparison of the others artworks? Of course it does, because of the scope of the others one. But the others concepts were not realistically feasible. They were probably technically feasible but the costs was too high.

That said, if everything works fine we should find most of the original spirit in the final result, whether it is the elevated walkways or the curved dome of TRON...

And remember this element on one of the artworks above that i told you to keep in mind. Well, you'll find it in the final concept as it will be the Tomorrowland Arena Stage!

Don't go away as we're not done yet with SDL Tomorrowland, more greatness to come tomorrow!

Artworks: copyright Disney - Shendi

ALL About Shanghaî DIsneyland TRON Lightcycles Power Run Coaster Ride

It's an understatement to say that Shanghaî DIsneyland TRON Lightcycles Power Run ride is highly awaited and we'll have a closer look at it today. So far the video and pictures released this week have shown how will look what WDI Imagineers call the "Tron Cover", the translucent canopy over the outdoor part of the TRON coaster track. But what will happen in the big "box" of the show building was still a mystery. No more wait, dear D&M readers as thanks to this article you'll see almost all of what SDL guests who will embark on the TRON ride will see, and i have all pictures for you! No need to say that there WILL be spoilers below, so if you don't want to know anything it's time to jump to the next D&M article.
If you're looking - or did not read yet - my full report about Shanghaî Disneyland announcement last Wednesday with park artwork and attraction details, you'll find it HERE. Don't miss it, it's D&M longest article ever!

If you're still there, there we go and let's start by the official description of TRON Lightcycle Power Run? As usual, click on each pic to see them in bigger size:

With the world premiere of TRON Lightcycle Power Run, the future world comes to Tomorrowland, through the inspiring story of the Disney film TRON: Legacy.  Riding atop individual, two-wheeled Lightcycles, guests will be launched across a canopied section of track – the Upload Conduit – before diving high-speed into a mysterious game world of lights, projection and sound effects. Guests waiting to board will have fun imagining the future world as they listen to the evocative soundtrack and watch the Lightcycle trains twist and turn all around them, all under a color-shifting canopy. Even at a distance, guests will marvel at the massive, undulating canopy. Covered in a translucent material, it reveals the pulsing glow of Lightcycle trains as they zip through the attraction.  The entire canopy is edged in a dramatic, blue-green ribbon that changes color as it rolls across, over and around the Tron Plaza, like the tail of a dragon..

Above: three views of TRON Lightcycles Power Run canopy.

So… after going through TRON Lightcycles Power Run main entrance - and probably have wait a long time to arrive to this point…

…you will arrive at the boarding room. Actually, the queue will move first above the boarding room itself, and you'll be able to see the others guests boarding the lightcycles trains just below you. 

A view inside the boarding room, going down to embark on the trains.

All-right, it's boarding time for you, so all aboard!

By the way, let's have a closer look at how will look the "Lightcycles". WDI did a real good job to have them looking as close as possible as in the movie and guests will sit on the lightcycles in almost the same position than TRON heroes did in the movie. Thanks to a mechanism a part in the back will come on your back to hold you and make sure you won't fall during the ride.  

Apparently the storyline include two teams, and one of them is the "orange" one. At first sight this doesn't mean that TRON Lightcycles Power Run is a dueling coaster. My guess is that either the two teams are here essentially for the storyline, meaning that your team - the "blue" one - is "real" and the other - the "orange" one - is not… or that one train will be a "blue" team and the next one an "orange" team. But in both cases the two teams will be part of the ride storyline as we will see later.

Soon the train will be launched thanks to the now well known catapult system.

And after entering a specially lighted TRON tunnel…

…your train will move outside on the outdoor track under the translucent canopy.

And then will come the long awaited moment as your train will enter the show building itself, this big box that SDL guests will see behind and on the right of the TRON canopy. Below, a new rendering showing a scene inside the show building. 

Thanks to an amazing "fluorescent" TRON lighting you'll be immersed at "high-speed into a mysterious game world of lights, projection and sound effects."

It's not perfectly clear if each lightcycles will be equipped with a screen but apparently there should be one somewhere showing the race between the two lightcycles teams.

The "race" will continue…

…until one lightcycle of the yellow team - yes, apparently there is also a "yellow" team - the ones you can see on the top and bottom right of the picture below…

…will lose control…

…and crash and explode just before your train go through another TRON "gate"! 

No need to say that no real lightcycle will crash so it seem that we have here a projection effect that should be impressive if it's perfectly done.

The train will then enter another long tunnel leading to the ride ending.

If SDL Imagineers succeed to build the ride as it looks here on this WDI CGI movie we should have a memorable ride and, as there won't be any upside down loop during the ride, the coaster should be comfortable... if the riders position on the lightcycle is. 

That said, on a storyline point of view, there is still one thing that i find a bit hard to swallow and it's the fact that we embark in a boarding room all looking like being part of TRON and then we move out, seeing the "real" world, before entering again in the world of TRON. I'm curious to see how they will justify this and even if it should not be a too big problem at night, it will be different during daylight…

Anyway, all the above screen captures are coming from a new video released by Shanghaî Disneyland and as i'm sure you're dying to see all these scenes in movement, it's more than time time you have a look at the video below!





Picture and video: copyright Disney