Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

[Werner Weiss]

Superstar Limo was the only dark ride at Disney's California Adventure when that park opened in February 2001. Now Superstar Limo is the first entry in the new California Adventure section of Yesterland.

Link to Superstar Limo at Yesterland.

What are your thoughts about Superstar Limo?

[Werner Weiss]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

I'm having trouble viewing the photos.

Are you having trouble viewing the photos on the Superstar Limo page at Yesterland or other links that were mentioned in this thread?

The Superstar Limo page has 23 images if I remember correctly, so it loads more slowly than other pages at Yesterland, especially with slower connections such as dial-up. The images are all standard jpeg (jpg) files, so they should render properly with any browser from the past 10 years, once the page has finished loading.

[Walt Jr.]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

I'm having trouble viewing the photos.

[captainaustrailia]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

I did get on the SSL once. It was indeed one of the most lame excuses for a ride imaginable.

The figures were poor to unrecognizable caricatures; the storyline, such as it was, was nearly incomprehensible.

It had a "let's ride it again" factor below zero.

I do miss its next door neighbor, though. I wonder what will go into the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire -- Play It!" building?

[PragmaticIdealist]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

The attraction had potential and there were a few clever ideas, but, on the whole, the thing has to be regarded as one of the biggest atrocities in Disney history.

If anyone has seen legitimately funny satires of L.A. and the entertainment industry, such as Steve Martin's "L.A. Story" and the hilarious "Action", starring Jay Mohr (now available free of charge on AOL at http://video.aol.com/video-category/action/2047 ), then one knows what missed opportunities there were with this D.C.A. attraction.

I was impressed, though, by the resourcefulness of many of the people who were involved with the project. For example, the facade that guests had to pass through to find the attraction building, itself, may have been conceptual and abstract, but the metaphor was certainly a creative solution to the budgetary constraints the designers had. Also, the announcements scripted used the style of an old-fashioned newsreel, and that idea was quite ingenious.

[winniepooh]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

That is not a pretty sight!

But a good article though. Now I know what I didnt miss out on.

[Pinniped]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

No, not a good ride, though I am glad I got to DCA in time to ride it once before it vanished. It just had to be seen to be fully "appreciated."

I agree, though, that the Joan Rivers announcements in the queue area were the most horrifying part. (Part of the problem is that you heard them over and over, if the ride had a l ine -- which it did when I went, though I gather that wasn't the case for long.)

I wasn't overly impressed by the Monsters Inc. ride either, but I wonder if I'm just getting too jaded to appreciate the new dark rides. I'm not a fan of Buzz Lightyear or Winnie the Pooh either (though Pooh was somewhat better than I had been led to expect). (I do like the Buzz online game, though...)

[ni_teach]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Never rode on it, but did watch a ride video with my mouth agape (and not in a good way.)

For what it's worth, though, I always liked the exterior facade.

I did ride it and my mouth agape at the exit and all I could think was "WTF????" It was the great's mis-fire Disney has ever built. I know that the ride had some supporters, but the ride was awful.

[MickeyMania]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Never rode on it, but did watch a ride video with my mouth agape (and not in a good way.)

For what it's worth, though, I always liked the exterior facade.

[The SeaDog]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Super Stupid Lamo shouldn't be in Yesterland, It's where it belongs...on the garbage heap. A poor attraction from the start and only got worse. Most of the "celebrities" were poorly done, the maintenance was a nightmare and everybody HATED the video screen characters. Melanie Griffith? I thought it was Vanna White standing next to Antonio. That always irked the DECO dept. SSL was useful in one respect. It taught a lot of folks at WDI (aka the bean counters) how NOT to make an attraction. In truth SSL was the shining example of everything that went wrong with DCA. Poor planning, cheap attractions, penny pinching ideas, and a total lack of imagination. Wow I'm glad I got that off my chest. Thanks Doc.

[barfownz]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

This is the only attraction i remember the most out of all yesterland attractions.

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

SSL was greatly enhanced with alcohol consumption. Fortunately, DCA adequately provided such refreshment.

Had this attraction opened at DL instead of DCA, it would have been shut down during its first week of operation.


"DCA: in desperate need of a two-drink minimum"

[Alchimedes]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Never had the chance to ride it. From ride through videos and pictures that were posted here, it looks like I didn't miss much. I understand "trying" to theme it with the Hollywood set, but it just seemed out of place.

[RenMan]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

In closing, I thought that if someone was going to quote me it was going to be because I wrote that John Lasseter is not very demanding when it comes to songs--though, in fairness, his movies aren't musicals, and Pixar's background music (for example in "The Incredibles"), is often an excellent match for their stories.

I'll quote you on that one. you know, it's funny, I love pretty much everything that Pixar has done so far, but I've never thought critically about their music... and I'm a professional musician! I guess their musical choices have worked well enough for me because they've unobtrusively supported the storyline. I don't think it was their goal to make tunes that would hit the pop charts or that you'd come out of the theater whistling.

[danyoung]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Actually, it's so rare to come across "I was wrong" that I want to hold you up as an imperfect hero.

I crack myself up sometimes, when I'm sure of something and that the other guy is totally wrong. I'll race off to the internet on my white steed, convinced of my righteousness and my holy cause, only to find out bit by bit that I was grossly misinformed. But it's happened enough times in my 50 years of living that I don't really find it so hard anymore to say I was wr...... I made a mista........ Sorry, I just can't say it again . . . . .

[Sadako]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

I never rode it, but watched ridethroughs of it.

I found it funny that before the audio I thought that the Cindy Crawford AA was actually Jillian Barberie.

It's also amusing to see how in retrospect those AA's were used for Monster's Inc. Like Drew Carrey is the CDA officer who says "Have you seen this child?" right before you enter the Monster's Inc. building.

[jcruise86]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Good idea, bad execution. I think a wild ride through Hollywood would have been incredibly fun, like Mr Toad meets Great Movie Ride. However, we got Pooh meets ABC.

Sounds fun, but how about Mr. Toad meets the Haunted Mansion? Frightened ghosts could be entertaining and empowering for little kids. ("I ain't 'fraid o' no ghosts!")

[jcruise86]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

. . .I was wr.... I was wro........ I WAS WRONG!!!!

Sorry, Danyoung, I'm having trouble reading your font--would you please repeat that?

Actually, it's so rare to come across "I was wrong" that I want to hold you up as an imperfect hero.

In closing, I thought that if someone was going to quote me it was going to be because I wrote that John Lasseter is not very demanding when it comes to songs--though, in fairness, his movies aren't musicals, and Pixar's background music (for example in "The Incredibles"), is often an excellent match for their stories.

[E-ticket]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

Good idea, bad execution. I think a wild ride through Hollywood would have been incredibly fun, like Mr Toad meets Great Movie Ride.

I've heard that this was actually the original concept, having papparazzi chase you through Hollywood, but the whole Princess Di thing happened right around the planning stage, so they axed it.... and you see what we wound up with.

THE WORST part of the ride, however, was mercifully not pictured in Werner's article..... PUPPET JOAN RIVERS! Run in horror, children. RUN!!!!

[HeyBaloo]

Re: Nov. 10, 2006: Superstar Limo

I never got to ride on SSL, but it seems I didn't miss much. I wonder where that Cher animitronic is??? One problem with Monsters is that if you haven't seen the movie, it doesn't make any sense. Also the doors scenes in that movie are one of the best parts, and the scenes in the ride are ok. The door idea alone is enough to develop a ride.....thatswhatI'mthinkin'