Reviews & Reactions - Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster: Next Generation

[aaronm]

1 hour ago, Slick said:

After countless months of closures (nearly a year total?) and both the park and its managements pushing a full opening today on social, there's absolutely no chance they should get to suddenly start walking it back saying it's still in technical rehearsal just because reviews aren't favourable.

There is a sign out front stating as much. They probably had to choose between opening the ride on time, or waiting until it’s perfect. Either way some people will come away disappointed I guess.

[ejpdtd]

This is detailed play by play of the ride for those saying reviews are vague. Spoliers.

Timestamps from this video (old ride) may help explain the segments I am referring too (apologies for linking a video source, it is not mine it is from theme park review) 

 

 

Queue and loading station are exactly the same. So out of the load, the sliding doors we are used too were not working, just stuck in the fully open position. Turning the corner physical Scooby is gone (0:24), but you're greeted by familiar suits of armour on either side of the track as physical pieces, however, on my ride, this scene was very dark. At the end of the first straight, there is a large blank wall the lights up when you approach it showing the monsters from the first Scooby film (0:34). Most of the next section is very much the same as the video with rebuilt physical scenes and props, and the axes are still present for the photo section. Next new addition is at the (1:02) mark of the video where instead of the mirror, projection mapping and a camera is used to display your car and faces on the wall, where a monster jumps out from behind the car, this is very cringe and poorly animated, even pixelated, the mirror would have been a better scene. Next going into the lift there is new props on the left and right of the track, green tiki heads from memory with some lights on them. Once in the lift, you notice it is completely covered in TV screens, which once both cars are loaded, show scrappy doo in his tiny form. Then once the lift starts moving up Scrappy transforms into his large muscle scrappy form from the movie and moves around the screens. The train rolls back into the drop and onto the rotating platform (1:55), this platform is now enclosed with a box just around it, inside are lasers and lights and a VERY loud noise effect. The next portion of the ride is pretty lackluster, the red strips from the walls are gone, there are very few lasers or effects in the room generally. The spider is still in place and there is now what seems the be the big cauldron from the movie, sitting on the ground in the middle of the room. On the two drops in the laser room, there is added light and sound triggers at the bottom of the drops, but nothing too special. After the laser room, you go into the previously last scene at (3:10), this room is pretty much one big screen with monsters on either side and the large disco ball from the movie that is used to shine light onto the monsters destroying them. The timing was a bit off on these when I rode, so you didn't actually get to see the monsters blow up but maybe that will be fixed (again this animation is pretty poor and seems rushed). There is now a new last scene as physical sets and a small screen has been added at (3:22), the whole left wall has tiki heads and lights on it, and at the end of the straight there is a screen that says tiki lounge I believe, and a voiceover says thank you for riding. 

Now I might be mistaken here, but I actually don't recall seeing an animatronic or animated version of Scooby Doo anywhere on this ride, which is pretty disappointing, but considering how poor the animation on the monsters is, they for sure would have butchered Scooby if they had tried.

As I mentioned in a previous comment, it is definitely an upgrade from the dark empty space its been for what 2 years now? And obviously it needed fixing due to new regulations, but I can't help but feel it was rushed, and more time spent (mainly on the animation) could have made this a great refurb. However, the fact they retain a lot of original physical scenes and props is great and still feels a lot like the OG Scooby with a few new cool pieces as well. I also like that its kept with the story from the film even more so than OG Scooby did with the same monsters, and the Scrappy Doo feature, but I cant help but feel like kids these days would not have seen the Scooby movie from 2000 and might not get the story like we would? It's no Disney level dark ride, but definitely still worth a ride or two. 

[themagician]

For people who have ridden it now... Has this refurb made the ride better (before theming was removed) or worse?

Im glad they’ve mostly replaced what was there and tried to improve on it with screens. But the fact there is no more Scooby at all, and the videos are poor quality, make this ride come across something that was budget, when in reality this ride was world class. Hopefully they’ve had some issues (much like they did with WWF effects when it reopened, but really they should not be having these issues. If the ride isn’t ready, don’t open it until it is), and the these lighting and screen visual issues are resolved soon

[Brendo88]

I think they definitely have bugs to work out. Both times I went on it today you could see miscues of events. I’m sure they will tweak it over time. 

[rac2703]

this photo is from ParkChat, is this not Scooby Doo’s hand in the suit of armour. So maybe he is still there?

[Wil_i_am_not]

Yes, Scooby is definitely in the suit of armour, although the section is not particularly well lit, so it's understandable to see why people may have not believed it to be there. I believe there is also a new voice prompt as you go past him, although it's been a while since I've last ridden.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with the ride. Maybe I went in with high expectations, but even putting the mis-timed theming elements aside, I thought that the animations were quite poor, and the Disco Room was lacklustre. It just feels really dated. The new lighting in the Wild Mouse portion was a cool addition I thought, but it felt empty without the lasers, and was unnecessarily well lit. The whole experience was just a bit 'meh'. 

[Park Addict 93]

He indeed is still there, just not illuminated or vocal. There is another Scooby in the same state on your left as you enter the final room.

 

 

[rappa]

So we’ve all seen the promo shot with the pink fog, heaps of lasers and the monster.

Are these things in the ride?

[Wil_i_am_not]

No, there were no lasers (they weren't turned on at least, could be added later), no pink fog, and the only monsters in the ride are the ones in the projection mapped section, and the original animatronic that hung from the ceiling.

[rac2703]

12 minutes ago, djrappa said:

So we’ve all seen the promo shot with the pink fog, heaps of lasers and the monster.

Are these things in the ride?

Also just noticed that the kids riding are dressed as Velma, Shaggy, Fred and Daphne. A nice touch from the marketing team 😜. 

[T-bone]

From the sound of it, there seems to be a lot of projection happening (and happening rather poorly as well) and not a whole lot of mapping. Disappointing especially after the hard sell of the upgrade. 
I know you say "hey they could have kept it closed but chose to open it for the crowds", yes but far out, they easily could have left it another week or week and a half to get it right, especially if they are pushing it so hard about how "next generation" it really is. 

In cases like this, by opening it early when it clearly isn't ready (which I hope is the case) you get awful reviews and piss your customers off, even more than if you left it closed for another week to get the experience just right.

[lversase]

https://player.vimeo.com/video/306340365

The new commercial for SDSC

Disapointing that this is probably not near to what everyone was expecting. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by lversase

[Slick]

23 minutes ago, lversase said:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/306340365

The new commercial for SDSC

Disapointing that this is probably not near to what everyone was expecting. 

Bloody gorgeous TVC and super well produced but it sounds like the ride itself doesn't hold a candle to it which is a real shame.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Slick

[pushbutton]

3 hours ago, ejpdtd said:

This is detailed play by play of the ride for those saying reviews are vague. Spoliers.

Timestamps from this video (old ride) may help explain the segments I am referring too (apologies for linking a video source, it is not mine it is from theme park review) 

 

 

Queue and loading station are exactly the same. So out of the load, the sliding doors we are used too were not working, just stuck in the fully open position. Turning the corner physical Scooby is gone (0:24), but you're greeted by familiar suits of armour on either side of the track as physical pieces, however, on my ride, this scene was very dark. At the end of the first straight, there is a large blank wall the lights up when you approach it showing the monsters from the first Scooby film (0:34). Most of the next section is very much the same as the video with rebuilt physical scenes and props, and the axes are still present for the photo section. Next new addition is at the (1:02) mark of the video where instead of the mirror, projection mapping and a camera is used to display your car and faces on the wall, where a monster jumps out from behind the car, this is very cringe and poorly animated, even pixelated, the mirror would have been a better scene. Next going into the lift there is new props on the left and right of the track, green tiki heads from memory with some lights on them. Once in the lift, you notice it is completely covered in TV screens, which once both cars are loaded, show scrappy doo in his tiny form. Then once the lift starts moving up Scrappy transforms into his large muscle scrappy form from the movie and moves around the screens. The train rolls back into the drop and onto the rotating platform (1:55), this platform is now enclosed with a box just around it, inside are lasers and lights and a VERY loud noise effect. The next portion of the ride is pretty lackluster, the red strips from the walls are gone, there are very few lasers or effects in the room generally. The spider is still in place and there is now what seems the be the big cauldron from the movie, sitting on the ground in the middle of the room. On the two drops in the laser room, there is added light and sound triggers at the bottom of the drops, but nothing too special. After the laser room, you go into the previously last scene at (3:10), this room is pretty much one big screen with monsters on either side and the large disco ball from the movie that is used to shine light onto the monsters destroying them. The timing was a bit off on these when I rode, so you didn't actually get to see the monsters blow up but maybe that will be fixed (again this animation is pretty poor and seems rushed). There is now a new last scene as physical sets and a small screen has been added at (3:22), the whole left wall has tiki heads and lights on it, and at the end of the straight there is a screen that says tiki lounge I believe, and a voiceover says thank you for riding. 

Now I might be mistaken here, but I actually don't recall seeing an animatronic or animated version of Scooby Doo anywhere on this ride, which is pretty disappointing, but considering how poor the animation on the monsters is, they for sure would have butchered Scooby if they had tried.

As I mentioned in a previous comment, it is definitely an upgrade from the dark empty space its been for what 2 years now? And obviously it needed fixing due to new regulations, but I can't help but feel it was rushed, and more time spent (mainly on the animation) could have made this a great refurb. However, the fact they retain a lot of original physical scenes and props is great and still feels a lot like the OG Scooby with a few new cool pieces as well. I also like that its kept with the story from the film even more so than OG Scooby did with the same monsters, and the Scrappy Doo feature, but I cant help but feel like kids these days would not have seen the Scooby movie from 2000 and might not get the story like we would? It's no Disney level dark ride, but definitely still worth a ride or two. 

Don't you think that spoils the experience for people who haven't yet been on?

[Slick]

2 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

Don't you think that spoils the experience for people who haven't yet been on?

It's a ride that millions of people have already been on, there's no need to be butt-hurt about a few extra projection screens, especially when it's marked as spoilers.

[Santa07]

Sounds to me like MW’s marketing team is largely to blame for the below average reviews - I reckon if they hadn’t overhyped this with the whole “next generation” marketing the reviews would be more positive.

[Slick]

12 minutes ago, Santa07 said:

Sounds to me like MW’s marketing team is largely to blame for the below average reviews - I reckon if they hadn’t overhyped this with the whole “next generation” marketing the reviews would be more positive.

You know what would've fixed this ride? Having a projects team again.

[MickeyD]

Where is this Monster in the ride? This scene looks like a part of the ride and that Monster is definately new. Hard to believe they would build a set piece like that just for a commercial?

As for the Projection mapping stuff, did all of that wind up getting poached by AOS?! Oh gee I hope I am joking!

But seriously  that "box" that encloses the turntable at the top, assume to be the spot for that "kaleidescope" effect as shown on the commercial. 

Oh Movie world, why must you always promise us the world only to give us.. reality 😕

[themagician]

That commercial is awesome, so it’s a shame to hear the ride isn’t of that standard and doesn’t feature all of the elements shown in the ad.

@MickeyD that monster was a part of the ride originally, so maybe they’ve removed it entirely or poor lighting made it difficult to see 

[Brad2912]

Well I am mightily disappointed upon reading everyone’s reviews (though not overly surprised). 

I for one was hoping to be pleasantly surprised with almost an entire re-do of the theming, not the majority of the old props coming back and a couple of screens added and a “box” at the turntable.

Was super excited for the projection mapping that was talked up so highly, and looks brilliant at AOS, but it appears to be little to non existent in reality.

if they were going to half ass it (after 12 months of downtime and over 2 years of it being basically theme-less), id have preferred they completed rethemed it to something like Jokers Funhouse giving them far more scope for theming and props and marketing longevity. 

 

[themagician]

^It was down for 6 months 

[pushbutton]

7 hours ago, lversase said:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/306340365

The new commercial for SDSC

Disapointing that this is probably not near to what everyone was expecting. 

Well that definitely shows lasers in the disco room. Not the old ones but pretty cool new ones.

Hopefully they're coming, but to state the obvious, it's completely unacceptable to still be having technical issues after closing for such a long period. 

[ejpdtd]

8 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Don't you think that spoils the experience for people who haven't yet been on?

I marked the post with spoilers for those who wanted a surprise experience. I expect those people wanting a surprise wouldn’t be on this thread anyway. 

[aaronm]

4 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Hopefully they're coming, but to state the obvious, it's completely unacceptable to still be having technical issues after closing for such a long period. 

 

[FoolishMortal999]

16 hours ago, ejpdtd said:

Next going into the lift there is new props on the left and right of the track, green tiki heads from memory with some lights on them. 

They're not tiki heads, they're static monster props. If you look to your left, you'll notice one of them is holding Scoobys collar. 

I know Scooby is still in there in his suit of armour and the one that used to stand next to the mirror is at the tiki bar after you disembark the ride but I don't recall seeing him in the room with the disco ball.