WEB SLINGERS is the newest ride at Disneyland Resort, having opened in Disney's California Adventure back in 2021. Later this year, a clone of this ride will also debut at my beloved home resort, Disneyland Paris making this one of the attractions I was most keen to experience in California - it's basically a sneak peek right?
It's fair to say that I went in to WEB with pretty low expectations. From the moment I heard it would utilise a similar ride system to Legoland's Ninjago: The Ride it's been quite a struggle to maintain any excitement. IMO Ninjago is a pretty frustrating ride, usually resulting in sore arms, sore losers and a general sense of unfairness. The system requires a lot of physical effort, whilst seeming to offer little in the way of accuracy. Sure, kids (and other instinctual agents of chaos) have a great time waving their arms around. Competitive adults on the other hand? Not so much. (I do really enjoy the effects, the queue and the station though!)
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly bitter about the whole land too, having never been able to experience the land based on a movie I hold very dear to my heart, A Bugs Life. I mean, look at what we lost. (Photo: Disney Wiki) But hey, the world moves on, IPs change and we all know that it would be mad for Disney not to have Marvel in their parks at this point.
So, with my expectations stacked against it, did Web Slingers turn out to be a
good time? Let's have a talk about what worked, and what maybe... didnt.
As you'd expect with any modern ride based on a popular IP, Web Slingers starts with a pre-show introducing us to Spider-Man (presented here as the MCU web slinger, played by Tom Holland) and the scenario we find ourselves in. I had a really great time in this pre-show and found it funny and engaging with a room full of easter eggs! Following No Way Home, my goodwill towards Tom Holland is at an all-time high (an impressive feat) so it's no surprise that I really enjoyed his part here, and it felt more authentic than some similar pre-shows.
Another thing this attraction did well was the use of the Spider-Bots. I loved the appearance of the bots throughout the queue, pre-show, ride and exit. They kept appearing in unexpected places throughout and were always really well executed. The bots themselves are (of course) available for purchase from the gift shop, and these looked the part but kinda reminded me of those robotic toys they used to have bumping around on a table in The Gadget Shop (RIP). I'd be lying if I said we got a good look at them though as when we visited the WEB shop, it smelt horrendously of sewage(?!?!?!) so we practically ran straight back out that door.
I'm still not quite sure why, but the biggest surprise for me within the attraction was the vehicles. The concept art for these beasts has been floating around for years, but somehow I didn't quite grasp quite how large they'd be. They are enormous. I genuinely think each one may be larger than my kitchen. Honestly, I thought these things were really cool and genuinely quite exciting to board.
As previously mentioned, I am very much not a fan of the ride system used in Ninjago and from what I'd heard I was expecting this ride to be exactly the same. Thankfully, the system used here was much more sophisticated - I loved the little screen on the dashboard that showed your body's movements! - and I found it more responsive and accurate. Once the scoring started however, this didn't make much of a difference to the 'gameplay'. If you didn't enjoy frantically flinging you arms around at Legoland, well I'm not sure you'll enjoy it much more here. Though regardless of where I flung my arms, I still managed to deploy webs so there was no need to hunt for the 'sweet spot'. So yeah, the system is better than expected but I don't think I'm ever going to be a huge fan of a ride quite this energetic!
The ride also allows you to perform more elaborate moves, including slinging two webs at once as well as pulling various buttons and levers within the scenes. I only managed to successfully pull one lever in our ride but I think adding a little complexity in this way definitely adds re-rideability. I can't wait to get on it in Paris and work on my lever technique!
Overall, Web Slingers is a solid-enough family attraction which will be a very welcome addition to Walt Disney Studios Park (admittedly, any addition to that park is very very welcome). I'm still not sure it was what DCA needed, with Toy Story Mania just around the corner, but it's undoubtedly great to have an attraction ridable by younger Marvel fans. Plus, if the number of kids wearing WEB merchandise is anything to go by, it's definitely a hit in that demographic! Not every ride needs to be an E-ticket, and as a supporting ride within Avengers Campus California, WS pulls it's weight. I'm certain it will do so brilliantly alongside the upcoming Iron Man coaster in Paris.
Speak again soon,
Claire
x
Comments