Saturday, October 10, 2009

TTA's new narration not so hot

A few weeks ago, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority reopened after a refurbishment in coordination with the ongoing refurbishment at Space Mountain.

Initially, the highly popular attraction reopened with the same narration many fans have come to love. In the last week or so, however, a new narration has surfaced.

While I haven't heard this in person, I have watched some videos of the new TTA narration and I have to say I'm not that thrilled.



The video above is one of the ones I watched to listen to the new TTA script.

This new script acts much more like a preview for Tomorrowland as opposed to a narration of scenes you encounter along the "super skyway." To me, the concept of "Tomorrowland" has been completely ditched. I might expect this from a vacation planning video about tomorrowland.

The new narration also includes quick soundbites from some Disney characters including Stitch, Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear.

Especially strange is the segment inside Space Mountain. Even though you can't see anything because of the construction walls, there's no sound at all in Space Mountain. Nothing. Nada. It's pretty boring. The construction walls don't even have anything on them.

It may just be the video, but it appears this new narration is harder to hear as well. There were a couple of segments I couldn't make out.

I usually love many of the improvements Disney makes. I'll even admit I found parts of the very brief Stitch's Supersonic Celebration to be fun.

I'm not so sure about this new narration. I guess I'll have to see and hear it for myself the next time I'm there.

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced the new TTA?

5 comments:

The Artwork of Christi Bunn said...

Hi Chuck,

As I said in the chat, I am not a big fan of this change. The "keep forward facing tentacles..." and "paging Mr. Morrow..." are gone. The new narrator's voice is more like a young tenor voice. Not my favorite. It just doesn't do it for me. I was in MK on Friday hearing the old narration, then on Sunday night we noticed it had changed. I had hoped it was a late magic hours special track, and not something permanent. But then on Monday we were back, and it was still there. Very disappointing. I am sure we will get used to it, but we as a family just loved the old one.

Christi

Ryan P. Wilson said...

I am reminded of the recent changes to both the Living with the Land and Backlot Tour audio. Both of these wre moved from real narrations to prerecorded segments, now the quality of the presentation is constant, but the human interaction has been lost.

Similarly, this new soundtrack for the TTA now serves as a coming attractions narration for Tomorrowland. This preview of Tomorrowland had always been a part of the attraction, but it was done so in a subtle way that allowed these presentations to be interwoven with the storyline of Tomorrowland. As if the cohesive storyline of Tomorrowland hadn't taken enough dings in the past few years, this change in narration only adds to the woes.

Go said...

I want my " Now approacing Mickey's Star Traders".
The new narration is a let down.

Unknown said...

I didn't have an issue with the volume, just the voice and the script. The whole thing reminds me of the Monorail MK Express Loop.... just tells you what you are seeing but never stopping. With the script the TTA is no longer a ride, it's just a giant ad for all the other attractions.

Unknown said...

UGH.. not impressed. I still can't wait to climb on it for a nice relaxing ride late in the afternoon. Ya know.. when you've seen the majority of the park and your dogs are barking!!

I've done the park "backwards" before starting at Tommorrowland like some people like to do, but to me... it just doesn't feel the same. Know what I mean?

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