Review: Monsters Inc. at DCA 12/20/05

I got my early Christmas gift from Disney with a preview ride on Monsters Inc. today. For those not familiar, it replaced Superstar Limo in the Hollywood area of DCA.

The ride is well done, better than any of the Fantasyland dark rides and about on par with Roger Rabbit over in Toontown in terms of sets and animatronics.

There is no gimmick of laser guns or spinning here, but it is a very solid dark ride that effectively and creatively tells its story.

The story should be familiar to those who have seen the movie. A little girl, Boo is loose in Monstropolis, causing a panic amongst all of the monsters. Its up to Mike and Sulley to send her home safely.

The station is themed to a bus station/taxi stand. The cars have 3 rows with room for 2 in each row. The ride begins with the ride's mounted TV screens showing breaking news- a human girl is loose in the city.

Long story short, the ride takes you through a Japanese restaurant, the streets of Monstropolis and within the Monsters Inc. building as Mike and Sully hide Boo from the Child Detection Agency and Randall, a rival monster.

There are some memorable special effects, including a holographic disappearing Randall and a color-changing Randall (with Boo beating him over the head). The end of the ride has the Child Detection Agency "decontaminating" each taxicab with wind effects.

All of the characters in the ride move, though some are more complex animatronics than others. This isn't exactly "Pirates of the Carribean," but there are a lot of characters and they are far better than the static figures we have seen recently from Disney.

The ride itself seems pretty long. Its story's pacing is fast, though the ride itself is slow.

At the end is an interactive animatronic of Roz, the Monsters Inc. secretary. She was supposed to interact with guests and comment on something that they are wearing and such, but had the same comments on both of my rides today.

She said something about "two hunks in the front row, and that she'd be in their closet tonight." A bit frisky, eh?

Anyway, it was a fun ride and better than the average Disney dark ride. IMO, it helps to fill a big need in DCA for more more story-driven or dark rides.

Thanks for the review. I figured anything that replaced Superstar Limo would be better and classier, so I'm glad to see it will probably greatly surpass those expectations. DCA is on its way to being an all-day park and it's one of my favorites.

+Danny

I'm hoping it is up and going next week! Thanks for taking time to give the review!

Great! One of the things DCA was missing was a good, Disney-quality darkride and now it seems they have one. A few more rides that that and maybe DCA will eventually get some more respect as a real Disney park!

Thanks for the report.

I just got back from a SoCal trip and must report that this is indeed a GREAT addition to DCA! For those that enjoy Disney dark classics...this will not disappoint! I happened to change a diaper right by the lady taking polling data at the ride exit...and I heard nothing but positive comments from all age groups sans teenagers!

I've nothing more to add to the ride review...