"Save Superstar Limo"

Like many modern Disneyland Imagineering projects, it was SUCH a short-sighted ride. A lot of the "celebrities" they represented aren't particularly famous anymore, if they even were back then.

It would have been better to add this as a Westward expansion of Toontown, only as a tour of Disney animated stars' homes. Or maybe as caricatures of celebrities from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The vehicles and track were okay, it's just the show itself that was miserable. And, from all indications, so will the next show in this building be.

Meanwhile... having grown up with Knott's Beary Tales, I am refraining from saving its replacement.

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Originally Posted by ModHatter

Like many modern Disneyland Imagineering projects, it was SUCH a short-sighted ride. A lot of the "celebrities" they represented aren't particularly famous anymore, if they even were back then.

It would have been better to add this as a Westward expansion of Toontown, only as a tour of Disney animated stars' homes. Or maybe as caricatures of celebrities from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The vehicles and track were okay, it's just the show itself that was miserable. And, from all indications, so will the next show in this building be.

Meanwhile... having grown up with Knott's Beary Tales, I am refraining from saving its replacement.

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The problem is that they are turning the kingdom of the dinosaurs into just another roller coaster. :(

I rode it a few times. it was alright nothing spectacular but not as bad as some. The hills burning was kinda funny

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Originally Posted by Disneyfreak

The problem is that they are turning the kingdom of the dinosaurs into just another roller coaster. :(

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Knotts is about thrill rides. It has been going that way since the 70's

If i had to say something good about SSL, I'd say that the abstract styling of the sets and backgrounds were really good. It's unfortunate that the caracatures of the stars were weak and a different style altogether. Look for Cher's cutout on ebay.

Reading an unofficial guidebook the other day that was a few years out of date it referred to the SSL as 'not the best ride in the park but cute'. Hmmm...personally I remember my expression on the on-ride photo as being perplexed. I seem to recall the queue area having some mildly amusing expressions on the intercom but overall found the ride to be frankly quite bizarre and perhaps ill-thought out

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Originally Posted by Metal God

Knotts is about thrill rides. It has been going that way since the 70's

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Then why was the ride built in the 80's?

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Originally Posted by Disneyfreak

Then why was the ride built in the 80's?

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I thought the timeframe was off a bit myself. Yes, Knott's was caught up in the Loop craze of the 70s, but the obsession with thrill rides didn't really start until the untimely death of Soap Box Racers. To me, Knott's is about panning for gold and the Bird Cage Theater and Mystery Lodge and Grizzly -- er, Big Foot Rapids and Camp Snoopy. And Mrs. Knott's fried chicken. And Boysenberry everything. And Funnel cakes. I'm like Tom Brady on SNL about funnel cakes... But I digress. Knott's was about creating family attractions with the occasional Corkscrew or Montezuma's Revenge (and what a charming name for a ride, btw). In many ways, Knott's was a perfect blueprint for the kind of park DCA could have been. And in some ways, DCA did take a few lessons, but the wrong ones.

In all fairness though, it's also important to note that one of the reasons we saw Dinosaurs built was that Dinosaurs were extremely trendy at that time. They were everywhere. Plus, as with the SuperMonster Limos, the park needed a new attraction, and it was easier to replace something in an existing building than build something new from the ground up. Plus, it was also built in a space above a sprawling arcade complex. In the 80s, this was always packed. But over the years, the kids and the games themselves have become few and far between. So it makes more sense to tear out the buildings for a new ride now than it did back in the 80s.

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Originally Posted by ModHatter

I thought the timeframe was off a bit myself. Yes, Knott's was caught up in the Loop craze of the 70s, but the obsession with thrill rides didn't really start until the untimely death of Soap Box Racers. To me, Knott's is about panning for gold and the Bird Cage Theater and Mystery Lodge and Grizzly -- er, Big Foot Rapids and Camp Snoopy. And Mrs. Knott's fried chicken. And Boysenberry everything. And Funnel cakes. I'm like Tom Brady on SNL about funnel cakes... But I digress. Knott's was about creating family attractions with the occasional Corkscrew or Montezuma's Revenge (and what a charming name for a ride, btw). In many ways, Knott's was a perfect blueprint for the kind of park DCA could have been. And in some ways, DCA did take a few lessons, but the wrong ones.

In all fairness though, it's also important to note that one of the reasons we saw Dinosaurs built was that Dinosaurs were extremely trendy at that time. They were everywhere. Plus, as with the SuperMonster Limos, the park needed a new attraction, and it was easier to replace something in an existing building than build something new from the ground up. Plus, it was also built in a space above a sprawling arcade complex. In the 80s, this was always packed. But over the years, the kids and the games themselves have become few and far between. So it makes more sense to tear out the buildings for a new ride now than it did back in the 80s.

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I really wouldn't mind if they were planning to replace it with something of the same or better quality but the truth is that theme is on the endangered list at Knotts and it is not pleasent.

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Originally Posted by Disneyfreak

I really wouldn't mind if they were planning to replace it with something of the same or better quality but the truth is that theme is on the endangered list at Knotts and it is not pleasent.

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Very true. Like I say, between the loss of Beary Tales and Soap Box Racers, Knott's really went from my A list to the Bs, but I just see the park taking a downward slide lately, from themepark into amusement park.

Of course, that's the same trend eating away at DCA. Paradise Pier had a nice CONCEPT, but the execution, the inclusion of these generic carnival rides led to a disappointing lack of theme. People say there needs to be more for kids to do, and the point seems to have been that there needed to be more for the parents to do WITH their kids, but TDA took them too literally, and now we have a Bug's Land that has virtually nothing to do with California. And now with Monsters invading HPB, and Pixar being the basis of a parade and virtually every new attraction being developed for the park, theme is a slight breeze away from being extinct.

Soap Box Racers was the E TICKET to end all etickets it was just so fun. I was beyond pissed when they tore it down to make way for another "EXTREME COASTER".

Soap Box Racers > Everything else

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Originally Posted by Ghostbuster626

Soap Box Racers was the E TICKET to end all etickets it was just so fun. I was beyond pissed when they tore it down to make way for another "EXTREME COASTER".

Soap Box Racers > Everything else

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Heck yes it was. And now that Knott's doesn't have it, DCA could build a new and improved version in the Route 66 area. They could apply the Victorian boardwalk theme to the whole Paradise Pier land, they could retheme the north side clockwise from Pizza Oom Mow Mow to the San Fran facades near Golden Dreams into Old Monterey and use the basic soapbox ride tech to create ride on Zorro's horse Tornado, or perhaps a comical race to catch Zorro, led by Sergeant Garcia. Best of all, it's already proven to be a great ride, full of theming opportunities, that is fun for the whole family. For DCA, that'd be a home run.

Bravo on theme. For me an attraction gets extra points for being on theme. Since SSL was slightly on theme for California AND Hollywood, I raise it 1/2 point to 1 on a scale of 10. I know I'm being generous here because gianted headed celebraties don't really exist in Hollywood. Still, it was a good try at being on theme, just a really bad try at a ride.

Yoy know what? I don't think the ride is as bad as everyone thinks. In fact, lots of people never rode it in the first place. They just jump on the bandwagon because everyone else does. Kinda like when all the Anti-Bush stuff started. A lot of people didn't even have a real good understanding of the issues. Fahrenheit 9/11 comes out and EVERYONE starts hating Bush lol!

And about Kingdom of the Dinosaurs... Come on guys, the ride had crappy effects, crappy sound, and crappy smells. Personally, I think they should have updated it rather than scrap it. I'd rather see a a new dark ride than a roller coaster there however. It was basically a glorified "Tunnel Of Love" anyway, and I don't miss it THAT much... Someone put money in to make Calico Mine Co. better before that is scrapped too!!!

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Originally Posted by Soulquarian

Yoy know what? I don't think the ride is as bad as everyone thinks. In fact, lots of people never rode it in the first place. They just jump on the bandwagon because everyone else does. Kinda like when all the Anti-Bush stuff started. A lot of people didn't even have a real good understanding of the issues. Fahrenheit 9/11 comes out and EVERYONE starts hating Bush lol!

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Oh, come now, people hated Bush long before 9/11, much less Fahrenheit 9/11. Heck, if it hadn't been for his failure to prevent the worst incident of terrorism on American soil, his approval numbers would have been in the cellar.

The same is basically true of SuperSnooze Limo. For one thing, they previewed it on Rosie O'Donnell. So, you didn't necessarily need to ride it to see how bad it was. Many of Disney's more public failures are because they just aren't good enough concepts to even get people TO ride them, or buy a ticket for them. Yes, even though the same administrations closed rides like PeopleMover and the Subs, their closure of SSL elevated it to levels of mythic badness. But, really, having been on it myself, it is easily as bad as people say, if not worse.