We are in an age of abundant projection-heavy, screen-based attractions at the Disney Parks and there’s no sign of turning back anytime soon with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure coming soon to Walt Disney World. Well, beyond these announced attractions, Disney has plans to build a ride in what they call a “black box” that would rely heavily on screen and projection technology, allowing the theme of the entire ride to be changed in just weeks, if not days.
Much like the other attractions listed above, the ride would be trackless, featuring free-roaming vehicles that could easily be reprogrammed. With screens and projectors making up most of the attraction, scenes could be altered (possibly overnight) from one version to the next. The idea here is that a ride could be changed from one intellectual property to a more current “IP” in little-to-no time.
The “black box” term comes from the appearance of the attraction when everything is turned off. It is essentially a giant warehouse with projection and screen surfaces, a blank canvas. There will be little to no physical props in the attraction so they can change them over faster and at any time.
It is unclear where in Disney’s Hollywood Studios this will be going, but it should be the next phase in the park’s ongoing overhaul following the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge this Summer. An opening timeframe has also not been indicated by sources.
