Guardians Of The Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!: Everything You Need To Know
Disneyland is getting ready to open their first Marvel attraction next month. As you know, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! is a retrofit of Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror in Disney California Adventure park. Yesterday, Walt Disney Imagineering gave a hardhat tour of the ride to a bunch of journalists. We weren't invited, because why would a movie website that writes daily about the MCU and theme park rides be invited to such an event? We have compiled together the more interesting information revealed during the tour. Hit the jump to learn more about the Guardians of the Galaxy ride.
The following information has been cobbled together from tweets, youtube videos and various reports from attendees. We have linked the relevant source within the text.
The Ugly Exterior Of The Collector's Fortress Is Explained As Part Of The Story
Longtime Disneyland fans have been mocking the ugly look of the exterior transformation of Tower of Terror. Walt Disney Imagineering creative director Danny Handke says the building "embodies the spirit of 'The Collector,' a villain in the movie. It's weird, it's bold, grandiose and it's arrogant, like the character." At night the lights on the Collector's Fortress will pulsate.
The Guardians are being held captive in cells at the top of the tower, suspended over "an isolated location that visitors to the tower can see only by riding a special gantry up to the tower's highest level." All the pipes on the exterior of the building are helping to power a massive generator that keeps the Guardians from escaping. Handke explained that The Collector harnesses the organic matter that they mine on Knowhere through these pipes which power the giant generator that keeps every cell and cage in the collection locked and secured.
The Queue Will Be Filled With Many Easter Eggs
The premise of the new attraction is that The Collector, Benicio del Toro's character Taneleer Tivan from the movies, has captured the Guardians of the Galaxy and has opened up his fortress for tours to show off his new acquisitions to the people of Earth. This is why he chose to build his Fortress at Disneyland Resort so that many Terrans would be able to see his prized possessions.
The ride's queue will bring visitors through The Collector's museum, filled with artifacts from the movies, comic books, television shows (like Agents of SHIELD) and even the theme park world. In total there are 2,200 props on display throughout the ride, enough to keep Disney visitors searching for easter eggs for years. And the collection in the lobby will often change.
As for what you'll see, we have heard that Cosmo the space dog is on display and that the queue features an "enormous gold-plated statue of The Collector himself in total villain mode." Guests will notice alien text throughout the facility, that they can decipher to help unearth clues to other reasons why The Collector is here. It sounds like Imagineering is borrowing from their past idea on the Indiana Jones Adventure with this one. But whatever makes that ride time more entertaining I guess.
The pre-show area is where you visit The Collector's office, and that is where be discover that Rocket has escaped and enlists the help of the visitors to help his fellow Guardians escape. I'm imagining that the room will be used much in the same way it was in the previous Tower of Terror attraction with a video screen showing a short video of the Collector (Benicio del Toro) trying to prevent the imprisoned Guardians from escaping.
Park guests will then be escorted through a "maintenance area" (a retrofitted version of the Tower of Terror's former boiler room) to the gantry to help Rocket and the team escape. The entire queue features new original music by Guardians of the Galaxy composer Tyler Bates.
Six Different Ride Experiences
The attraction will offer six different ride experiences, which are served up at random like Disneyland's popular Star Tours: The Adventures Continue attraction. The randomization includes the music that plays during the free-fall ride, the show scene that will play during it, and a different ride style.
Each version of the ride will be accompanied by a classic rock song from the 1960s, '70s, and the '80s, including "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" By Pat Benatar, "We Want The Funk" by Parliament, "Burnin' Love" by Elvis Presley, and "Free Ride" by Edgar Winter. It is strange that many of the more iconic songs that were part of James Gunn's first two Guardians films are not featured on the ride. Walt Disney Imagineering says they used Star-Lord's awesome mix as a starting point but ended up testing out 100 different songs to find the right fit.
Instead of a slower start, the ride will begin with "a high-impact zoom to the top." Rocket has a plan to blow the Fortress' power generator to free the Guardians. But when the power if cut to The Collector's Fortress and the gantry dies, resulting in the ride's signature plummet. As the emergency power kicks in, guests will see one of six different show segments. The segments are titled internally: Escape, Abelisk Attack, Drak vs. Beast, Anti-gravity, Quill vs. Orloni, and Drones.
The Castmembers Will Be In Character As Tivan's Employees
The cast members working on the attraction will be completely in character, playing the role of Tivan's involuntary employees: "Our cast members will appear to be excited when visitors first enter, but they're walking on egg shells because they know they're being watched by 'The Collector,'" said Disneyland Resort operations manager Thomas Casarez. The Collector's staff will hint that they really want to help the Guardians escape.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
As you leave the ride, you will hear some of the creatures that were part of the collection that have gotten loose, running through the building. Like the original Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror attraction, the ride will exit through the gift shop. The new store will be called "Collector's Warehouse," designed to look like a shipping and receiving department in chaos, because of what happens during the ride. The Collector's possessions (or cheesy theme park merchandise) are being sold off to the highest bidder. I guess that's at least a plausible thematic explanation for the post-ride gift shop.
MarvelLand?
When the attraction was first announced, it was hinted that it was the first step of a much larger Marvel plan in Disney California Adventure. For some time there have been rumors that the northeastern portion of the park would be turned into a Marvel-themed land. But at the preview event, Disney executives sidestepped any discussion of future Marvel plans, noting that the new ride is officially part of the park's Hollywood Land. Disney spokesman George Savvas would only say that "Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout will anchor a broader superhero presence that will grow over time at Disney California Adventure park."
MiceChat is now reporting that DCA's next Marvel expansion south of Guardians of the Galaxy will be announced at D23's Parks keynote presentation, with the plan to open in 2020.
The Cosmic Calendar
MiceChat has published the following unofficial calendar charting the attraction's debut: