Shane said:
[...] I assume that they will theme the exterior of the building to match the rest of Pantopia, with at least the level of detail as DarKastle. I would hate to see a giant metal building to ruin the look of the area.
Before I even read this post, I thought this is exactly what we shouldn't expect.
I'm kind of disappointed to just see this instead of a possible removal and a new dark ride. That said, that area is very tight. It's almost a wonder that they have Sand Serpent there, but they also have the huge Pantopia warehouse behind it.
I hope that Shane is right, but I would expect something more like the original Catapult at BGW before any theming was added (strobes and fog at best). Otherwise, I would love to see some wind, and a maybe a few cool projections. Although it definitely would be good to see, I don't see how Verbolten's set style would work with such a small ride envelope.
Even if that's possible, it could look cheap very easily. I would say 80% or more of Verbolten relies on perfectly timed lighting cues rather than its flat set of theatrical rigging. The upkeep on ride lighting and audio is very difficult when the maintenance people aren't theatrically-inclined. Look at any BGW ride with special effects. Things only seem to get fixed when vigilant Entertainment people take their mandatory rides.
I'm excited by the potential that this has, but also worried that this may be a cheap gimmick, based on several recent SEAS investments. Remember, Joel Manby himself said in a roundabout way that there goal right now is to build more for less money. Until that changes, I don't think we can expect anything resembling the likes of DarKastle.
Edit: Or even anything that resembles the exterior of DarKastle, for that matter.
