First look: Disney's plans for a Spider-Man roller coaster

Are we seeing the end of Disney making roller coasters with diegetic tracking?

By this, I’m referring to the way Space Mountain and Rock N’ Roller Coaster feel the need to completely submerge their tracks in the dark so that it feels like theres no track at all. Or, the way Big Thunder Mountain, Expedition Everest, Seven Dwarves Mine Train and several other Disney coasters feel the need to dress up its track as some sort of mining railroad in order to fully commit to the illusion that you’re not on some twisting piece of metal you’d see at Six Flags. Even with Incredicoaster, the characters clearly acknowledge the existence of a roller coaster made in their honor, which therefore makes the track on that ride also exist within the story of the ride in a diegetic way.

With some minor exceptions (Goofy’s Sky School for example), I’m pretty sure that the Tron coaster was the first time Disney made a major roller coaster with non-diegetic track, as the white track during the initial launch isn’t really supposed to represent anything specifically within the story of Tron, but rather you’re kind of just supposed to forget it exists in your head.

With this outdoor Spiderman coaster, it might be too early too tell, but it really does seem like Disney is going all-in on these coasters with non-diegetic track. And, even though it does suck just having to “pretend” track isn’t there, Velocicoaster and Hagrid’s Motorbike prove that if that if the theming is good enough, having non-diegetic track is a little bit more excusable.

Bizarre to see what the resort is promoting as a new themed land sporting a single entry-exit point off of Zootopia… with that said, this coaster looks far superior to the structure currently occupying that plot of land (the massive temporary tent Shanghai Disneyland built in an attempt to manage demand for Zootopia), the visuals of the coaster trains zooming above the pathway should be incredible, and the park could really use a nice, long roller coaster ride since Seven Dwarfs and Tron are both rather short. As Juan noted, the blueprints make the attraction look more Universal than Disney (perhaps fitting if the rumored Marvel theme comes to pass).

As a frequent Shanghai Disneyland guest, I'm somewhat concerned that the new land looks way too small to have any prayer of handling the demand the coaster will surely inspire once it opens in a few years. As I type this, a spot check of the Shanghai Disneyland app tells me that the Zootopia tent is holding an 80 minute line (actual wait time likely less) on a school day four months after Zootopia opened. With what appears to be an even smaller land (and no obvious room for a tent), I shudder to consider how the park will cope with demand for the new attraction.

I'm curious...will there be more Spider-Man/ Avengers theming around this new attraction? I find it very strange that it would just be plopped between Fantasyland and Zootopia there.

"And, even though it does suck just having to “pretend” track isn’t there, Velocicoaster and Hagrid’s Motorbike prove that if that if the theming is good enough, having non-diegetic track is a little bit more excusable."

Completely agree on Hagrid's Motorbike where the track is very much non-diegetic (but it is totally worth suspending your disbelief for). However, the track on Velocicoaster is diegetic because the theme is that Jurassic World has built a rollercoaster inside a velociraptor paddock.