Every few weeks our writers get together and discuss a Disney related question.  Here is this week’s question and answers!

Question of the Week: What do you think of ride overlays? There have been a few rumors floating around about an overlay of Tower of Terror in DCA, as well as the current overlay Space Mountain (Hyperspace Mountain). There are also the holiday overlays like Jingle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. Do you enjoy these? Do you wish they didn’t happen?

Melissa H. – To be honest, I am fine with the holiday overlays, but I am not a fan of the rumored ToT overlay, nor Hyperspace Mountain. I feel like the holiday ones add to the spirit of the season, but the others are an example of Disney “selling out”. If they are making a Star Wars themed land in a separate part of the park, they don’t need to turn Tomorrowland into Star Wars Land while they wait (which I feel like they’ve done at Disneyland). Also the thought of them touching one of my favorite rides to make it Marvel related (one of my least favorite things) makes me really bummed out. To me the holiday overlays are more focused on Classic Disney or keeping the general spirit of the ride. The others seem to change that.

I feel like I’m being a negative nancy, but I’m just tired of crowd pleasing via changing classic rides/attractions to make them popular non-Disney created things that are only Disney because they were purchased by them.

Leslie – I really like the holiday overlays honestly. They provide a new level of magic as a ride transforms into something new. I can’t speak for the ToT or Space Mountain overlays because I’ve never ridden those. Jingle Cruise however was definitely one of my favorites!

Andrew – I think these have to be taken on a case by case basis. Holiday overlays are just fine with me because they have to change back to the original. I’m fine with Hyperspace Mountain, as well, because of the quality of the overlay. That overlay gives that area some continuity too, with Star Tours and the Launch Bay near. The Tower of Terror rumor is an odd one. I have no idea how they can retheme that attraction to fit Guardians of the Galaxy. Still, that attraction isn’t as beloved in California as it is in Florida so I’m mostly okay with it (again depending on the actual quality of the overlay.) Just don’t mess with ToT in Florida!

Where I’m not okay with overlays is if Disney starts treating these as new attractions to the park. Overlays should be temporary and not last for a decade. They don’t add capacity to a park and they usually just add congestion due to their popularity. Building completely new attractions should be a priority, not doing overlays.

Melissa L. – I would have to agree with all of you. I really like the idea of the holiday overlays. I’ve never ridden one myself, but I am always into the spirit of the season and think it would be neat to see how they add a little magic to a ride.

I read the idea about how Disney was rumored to be changing ToT to be themed to Guardians of the Galaxy. My first thought – how in the world are you going to accomplish that!?! I don’t see how it could fit in too much, but at the same time it would be interesting to see what they do. And then for the Star Wars overlay for Space Mountain I also feel i can’t properly judge since I haven’t ridden it, but I do think it sounds cool. I would agree with Andrew though that I wouldn’t want these things to be permanent changes to the classic rides, but would be fun for a time.

Cassie – I really love the Holiday overlays! Especially, Haunted Mansion nightmare before Christmas. However, I’m not the biggest fan of overlays like Hyperspace mountain, mainly because they seem to double normal wait times for a ride I’ve done a million times. The last time I went to the parks a few months back (I want to say a Tuesday is January) the wait time for “hyper”space mountain was 1.5 hours with no available fast passes left. I was shocked. My friends who have ridden it said it was nothing special, typical space mountain with a couple of Star Wars images thrown in. Definitely not worth a double-than-normal wait.

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