Zootopia Land Forces a Rethinking of Shanghai Disneyland- and the Once Proposed Addition to Disney's Animal Kingdom

As a movie, Zootopia was a fun and better than average coming of age detective story, but nothing I saw more than once or found myself raving about. As a fully developed theme park land, however, it may be an entirely different story. 

Big, bulky, and in many ways impressive but at the same time very awkward looking, Shanghai Disneyland is the equivalent of your distant cousin pumped up on steroids. Everything about it is massive, loud, and in your face. Even the perennially sweet Fantasyland loses its charm there. For better or worse, it is one of a kind.

 

Nick and Judy in Audio-animatronic form. Pretty cute!

Back to the newest land to open soon in China. The only ride to be found is Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, a trackless dark ride with terrific sets and a handful of Audio-Animatronics. Although the POV videos on line reveal too much time in front of screens, the attraction as a whole seems fast paced, very creative, and quite immersive. 

How does it compare to other trackless rides before it? Hard to say exactly as I haven't ridden it. But it looks to be in good company with those that came before: Tokyo Disneyland's iconic Pooh's Hunny Hunt and brand new Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast; the clever Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland; the charming Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and the budget busting Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at both Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. There's also Ratatouille : L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy at Walt Disney Studios Paris- something I totally forgot about until reminded by "B" below in the comments. Thanks, B!

 

The park map reveals a fully realized land.

Would a new trackless ride based on a movie I've seen once make me go to China's second Disney theme park? No, but the land its in does make me reconsider the appeal of the park. There's so much design detail to be found throughout the land that it feels full of energy. That's something sorely missing from the ambitious but lifeless Galaxy's Edge. Congratulations to the Imagineering team who created this land.

Detail is everywhere!

With TRON Lightcycle Run now at the Magic Kingdom, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure is all that's left to make me want to travel there. Well, that's not 100% true as I'd like to see China, but there are many more places I want to go, and I don't have time or money at this point in my life to see them all. There are enough differences that make this park unique that maybe bundled together I'd consider it. Adventure Isle's ropes course does appeal to me.

Striking!

Now, the bigger question: Would I want to see this Zootopia land come to Disney's Animal Kingdom? Maybe. It would have to be hidden far enough back in the park as not to interfere with the very natural and yet international feel of what's gone before it. Especially at night. There's a vibe at Animal Kingdom that would be destroyed if it was prominently placed in view of everything else. 

The skyline.

Perhaps if Zootopia was first built in place of the original very cheap looking Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama and not as a replacement for Dinoland U.S.A., there would be a more favorable fan response to it. That said, the land is so well done in China that maybe you could convince me to replace Rafiki's Planet Watch with this. The movie's characters are already coming to the Tree of Life's theater show to replace It's Tough to Be a Bug. 

Will more characters invade the beautiful and elegantly understated Animal Kingdom? You know it's inevitable. So, I think we'd better be prepared.

(Photographs copyright The Walt Disney Company.)