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 | The Eiffel Tower. Paris, France October 16, 2006 |
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July 3, 2008Adventurer's Club, RIPWalt Disney World's Downtown Disney is going through some changes, the biggest of which is the closure of their Pleasure Island club district in September: Walt Disney World will close its six nightclubs at Pleasure Island Sept. 27 and remake the 120-acre complex into a more family-friendly entertainment district. While I'm not crying too much over this in the broad sense (I found Pleasure Island's club scene to be pretty sterile and generic - a comedy place, plus themed clubs for 80s, 70s, jazz and so on), I'm really sad to lose the Adventurer's Club, which is easily one of the best things at Walt Disney World, and a personal favorite of mine and Richard's. The best summary of the Adventurer's Club comes from Re-Imagineering (who is pretty pissed off about its loss): Some guests who enter this 1930's gentleman's club wander around the mezzanine, and depart without discovering the true genius this venue has to offer. Guests who descend the staircase and sit down for a drink or two are in for the time of their lives. Richard and I would spend hours - entire evenings, sometimes - just hanging out in the club, drinking margaritas, interacting with the actors and other patrons, and laughing our assess off. When we planned our last Disney World trip, we set aside a few nights just to chill at the Club and unwind. Disney World is losing something really precious, and it's a shame. There's an online petition to save the club, not that I think it'll do much good. Adventurer's Club, you'll be missed. Kungaloosh! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 3, 2008 4:47 AM. July 2, 2008A Peek Inside Tokyo DisneySeaBlue Sky Disney ran a piece on Monday that contained links to several YouTube videos about Tokyo DisneySea. Two of them - clips from a Travel Channel special - stood out for me: Of these, Part One is better, but they're both worth a look (and will take, in total, about 16 minutes of your time). As expected, the park looks incredible - lushly detailed, with incredible production value, innovative attractions and great ideas. As I watched, I was reminded/saddened that Tokyo got DisneySea in 2001, while the US got California Adventure. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 2, 2008 12:03 PM. June 23, 2008MousePlanet Covers The "Midway Mania" OpeningIt's a terrific set of photos, but my favorite part is here: "I tell you, put Pixar and Imagineering together and you get Toy Story Mania." Lasseter also refered to the new ride as, "the start of the rebirth of Disney's California Aventure," a comment that drew a loud round of applause from the Imagineers in the audience. He mentioned the upcoming Little Mermaid attraction and Cars Land addition... It's about damn time. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 23, 2008 9:57 AM. June 22, 2008John Lasseter On "Toy Story Mania" High ScoresThe LA Times blog scored a cool video interview with John Lasseter about Toy Story Mania; the interviewer gets to ride along with John on the attraction, and find out some of the secrets to getting a high score. We also get to see a bit about how the ride operates, and what the game looks like while playing. God, this thing looks like so much fun. Check it out! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 22, 2008 8:29 AM. June 17, 2008Disneyland's 'House Of The Future' Re-OpensDisneyland is opening its rebooted "House of the Future" in Tomorrowland, and yesterday's PI had an article ("This Dream Home comes with a Mouse") about what we can expect - and one of the Microsofties who's been working on it: The Dream Home is a modern-day sequel to the Monsanto House of the Future, a Disneyland attraction from 1957 to 1967. The new Dream Home project, in Disneyland's Tomorrowland, includes some futuristic technology concepts, like its predecessor. I find it interesting - but not surprising - that they're using some of the concepts I saw during my Microsoft Home tour earlier this year. I'm curious to see what they've cooked up in Innoventions - and to see if they can keep it fresh in 2009, 2010, and beyond. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 17, 2008 7:40 AM. June 16, 2008DCA's Orange Stinger To Get A MakeoverFrom the L.A. Times Travel Blog: The Orange Stinger swing ride will get a new Disney theme and back story as part of the planned $1.1-billion Disney’s California Adventure makeover, Walt Disney Imagineering officials confirmed. Awesome, and it's about time. One more el-cheapo carnival ride down, 15 to go... Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 16, 2008 9:03 PM. June 13, 2008LA Times Reviews "Toy Story Mania"The Los Angeles Times has a glowing review of Toy Story Mania at California Adventure: After a preview ride this week, I only had one problem with Toy Story Mania: the all-consuming game prevents me from sitting back and simply enjoying the scenery. I have to play. For me, the game has already proven so addictive as to cause TSM (a.k.a. Mania Elbow) — a form of repetitive stress injury brought on by repeated tugging on the spring-action shooter. I find myself constantly shaking my sore wrist after each round of play. The ride opens officially on June 17. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 13, 2008 5:56 AM. June 2, 2008"Disney and Pixar - The Power of the Prenup"The NY Times has a good article ("Disney and Pixar - The Power of the Prenup") about how the Disney/Pixar merger is working out, two years in: When Disney bought its rival, Pixar, in 2006 for $7.4 billion, many people assumed the deal would play out like most big media takeovers: abysmally. The worries were twofold: that either Disney would trample Pixar’s esprit de corps (turning Mr. Lasseter into a drone, chanting “Hi Ho” en route to Mickey’s animation mines) or that Pixar animators would act like spoiled brats and rebuke their new owner. (My favorite detail from the story is that John Lasseter wears Hawaiian shirts everywhere.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 2, 2008 6:49 AM. May 17, 2008"Toy Story Mania" ReviewMiceAge's Kevin Yee has a (spoiler-filled) review of Orlando's Toy Story Mania - he gives it a "D+", meaning it's "but a sliver away from being an E-ticket attraction." If you're eager to know more about TSM, give it a read. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 17, 2008 9:47 PM. May 13, 2008"Toy Story Midway Mania" Ride VideoDestinations In Florida managed to attend the annual-passholder soft open of "Toy Story Midway Mania" in Orlando on the 10th, and filmed it. The video is up on YouTube. The ride looks ... incredible. Lushly themed, highly creative, interactive - it makes Buzz Lightyear look like Pong. (And admittedly, it's supposedly even better with the 3D glasses on!) The California Adventure version of "Midway" is a clone of Orlando's, and is slated for soft-open sometime next month. My argument for taking a Labor Day trip to Disneyland gets stronger by the minute... (Tip of the hat to Disney and More!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 13, 2008 7:26 PM. February 15, 2008"Disney's Night Kingdom" Coming In 2011?This has shaped up as a big week of Disney theme park news here on the blog, but (apparently) when it rains, it pours: today, Jim Hill has the scoop on the forthcoming fifth theme park that will open at Disney World in Orlando: "Disney's Night Kingdom." Disney's Night Kingdom's operating hours will be 4 p.m. to midnight (5 p.m. to 1 a.m. during daylight savings time). Price? $520 million. Slated for 2011. Fingers crossed! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 15, 2008 9:34 AM. February 14, 2008Disneyland's "House Of The Future" ReturnsBoth The Disney Blog and the LA Times Travel Deals blog report that Disneyland's (lame) "Innoventions" pavillion will be re-opening shortly as "The House of the Future" - an attraction that originally appeared at Disneyland from 1957 to 1967. Only this time, it's powered by Microsoft and HP: The two-bedroom demonstration home with a kitchen, living room, dining room, study and backyard (but no bathroom) will feature current and near-future technology, including: The new "House of The Future" is slated to open in May. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 14, 2008 7:51 AM. February 13, 2008Blue Sky Disney On DCAMonday's Blue Sky Disney report contained a bunch of stuff on California Adventure's rebuild, from Toy Story Mania to the Little Mermaid ride, and "Carsland": The entrance to the area right past the HBL will lead to the jewel of D(C)A... Carsland. The land which will take up 20 percent of the park will have 3 attractions upon opening four years from now... Radiator Springs Racers, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Roaming Tires. But the new land was designed to hold at least two more attractions. By the Second Phase we should see at least one more D-Ticket or a plussed C-Ticket at the least. It's all rumor and speculation, of course, but the details are tantalizing (and certainly exciting) for Disney aficionados. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 13, 2008 3:49 PM. February 10, 2008"Will Disney Keep Us Amused?"The New York Times has a great article today about the renovation of Disney's California Adventure: Visit Disney’s California Adventure — a 55-acre theme park next door to the fabled progenitor of the modern amusement Mecca, Disneyland — and you will find a noisy reminder of what happens when a company loses its focus and cuts corners. Definitely worth a read. Elaine and I are talking about a Disneyland trip in September to ride "Toy Story Mania" -- anyone interested in goofing off with us? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 10, 2008 12:49 PM. December 10, 2007Tower Of Terror Opens At Disneyland ParisDisney And More posted a terrific, in-depth article yesterday about the opening of the Tower Of Terror at the Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris. The ride is a clone of the California Adventure version (rather than the superior, original one in Orlando), but the theming looks lavish and over-the-top, which is a welcome change from the bare-concrete-and-billboard aesthetic that's been used at WDS since its launch (frankly, WDS makes California Adventure look like Tokyo DisneySea). Elaine and I saw the Tower of Terror under construction in 2006 and on the honeymoon; I'm kind of bummed I missed the opening by a mere 10 weeks. (Oh, and be sure to check out this photo, taken from the top of the drop tower -- that's Space Mountain 2 in the distance!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 10, 2007 10:11 AM. November 28, 2007Toy Story Mania PreviewDisney has put up a Flash-based preview of "Toy Story Mania!", the new attraction opening next year at California Adventure (and Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando). There's concept art, video clips of the ride designers, and annoyingly catchy background music. If you're not familiar with the ride concept, Wikipedia has a good summary: Park guests will wear 3-D glasses aboard spinning vehicles that travel through virtual environments based on classic carnival midway games. Ride vehicles will seat up to eight and will record each guest's score as points are acquired with toy cannons firing at virtual targets. Similar technology has been used in various park's Buzz Lightyear attractions and Tokyo Disneyland's Monsters, Inc.: Ride n' Go Seek interactive dark rides. The queue will feature a huge Mr. Potato Head audio-animatronic figure that will interact with the public. We're hoping to make a trip next September, and "Mania!" will almost certainly be one of the first things I ride. (Tip 'o the hat to The Disney Blog.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 28, 2007 7:34 AM. October 22, 2007MousePlanet's Disneyland UpdateThis morning's MousePlanet has a good summary of the changes coming to California Adventure (and a little editorial about it as well): Last Wednesday the Walt Disney Company finally unveiled the long-awaited plans to renovate and retheme Disney's California Adventure. Here is a brief overview of the plan, compiled from the official announcement made by Disney President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo, as well as reporting from national and local news media. They also link to this gem of a map in the Orange County Register, visualizing how the park will be changing over the next five years. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 22, 2007 7:45 AM. October 18, 2007Al Lutz: The Goods On DCAAl Lutz has the detailed scoop - straight from yesterday's Disney Cast Member briefing - on the changes coming to Disney's California Adventure. As expected, it's all good news: Finally, it was time for Bob to unveil plans for the biggest piece of the Phase One expansion, the new Cars Land section of the park. The Radiator Springs Racers attraction using a third generation Test Track ride system, with dual tracks and a custom built show building, is clearly the headliner here. Bob showed several pictures as he explained that the ride will have indoor and outdoor ride sections, with the indoor show scenes featuring all of the Cars characters before the ride turns into a thrilling road race with you and another car racing side by side. Check it out. (The concept art alone is pretty exciting!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 18, 2007 9:11 AM. October 17, 2007WSJ: Disney Spending $1.1bn To Fix DCAWow, it's official: Since its 2001 debut, the Walt Disney Co. theme park Disney's California Adventure has floundered in the shadow of its legendary neighbor, Disneyland. To fix it, Disney is now planning a $1.1 billion overhaul -- the most extensive makeover the company has ever given to a theme park. ... The Disney Web has been covering this for some time, but it's still terrifically exciting that Disney has gone so public with it - and so public about why they need to overhaul DCA: Even so, California Adventure has had special problems. On a recent afternoon at the Disneyland Resort, 18-year-old season-pass holder Megan White made a standard complaint: "Disneyland is a magical place, but California Adventure is just a theme park you can get anywhere." Ms. White, of Valencia, Calif., adds she spends most of her visits at Disneyland, only entering California Adventure for one or two rides because it has "no imagination." Translation: it was built on the cheap, and people know. Good on ya, Disney, for swallowing the bitter pill. I can't wait to see what the newly relaunched park looks like. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 17, 2007 9:37 AM. August 29, 2007More On DCAYesterday's Al Lutz column at MiceAge has some more scoop on the changes coming to California Adventure. It's a must-read: Tied in with the project to radically remake the entrance is a plan to rebrand and retheme the current Hollywood Pictures Backlot section directly to the east of the existing Sunshine Plaza. Instead of a fake Hollywood backlot themed to being a fake Hollywood, the area will be redone to actually be Hollywood during the Golden Age of the 1930's. ... This is all really exciting, and I personally can't wait to see how it all turns out. Elaine and I will be down at Disneyland in early '08, and I'm hoping to see the Orange Stinger for, maybe, the last time. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 29, 2007 11:45 AM. July 23, 2007Fixing California AdventureLast week's travels took me out of the news loop - RSS or no RSS, it's hard to stay current on the road. So imagine my surprise (delight!) when I returned home, booted a browser, and discovered that Disney management has finally, finally decided to Do The Right Thing at the Disneyland Resort. They're going to spend [pinky to lips] a billion dollars to fix Disney's California Adventure. Al Lutz has the scoop (as usual): While the final budget wasn't the shoot-for-the-stars 1.5 billion plan that John Lasseter encouraged Imagineering (WDI) to dream up, the Board did plunge right in and approve right around one billion dollars in improvements and additions for California Adventure (DCA) into early next decade. The end result is that the creative folks in WDI's Glendale headquarters are downright giddy, and the suits in Team Disney Anaheim (TDA) out back are just as giddy but slightly shell-shocked at the huge budget numbers that have been approved to fix DCA. This is, without question, unbelievably cool. Since its launch in 2001, DCA has been an underperformer for both its owners and the public. Many believe (as I do) that the park suffers from being done on the cheap - it offers off-the-shelf carnival rides, makes extraordinarily light use of themeing, and suffers from a relative dearth of genuine attractions (remember, this is a park where tortilla-making is listed as something to do). Disney has tried to fix the park here and there - it closed Superstar Limo, built Tower of Terror, brought back the Main Street Electrical Parade. And yet none of this has been sufficient to give the park what it needed - a character of its own, a heart, a reason to exist other than being across the Esplanade from Disneyland. In February of 2006, I wrote: The park needs to be rebooted. It's salvageable. I'm greatly encouraged by John Lasseter's appointment as the senior creative guy ("Principal Creative Advisor") in charge of the theme parks - John's a former skipper on the Jungle Cruise, and loves Disneyland as much as the hard-core fans. If anyone will fix DCA - with imagination, spectacle, and vision - it's John. My hunch is that DCA will be a radically different (and radically better) park by the time it turns 10. And now - almost unbelievably - it looks like Bob Iger has finally decided to fix the problem. I'm in shock. Delighted, but in shock. Concept art isn't available (yet), and Disney is still mum about what's officially in store. But John Lasseter is a class act, a guy who loves stories, loves Disneyland, and loves to delight people. If he's got the power of the purse, I expect that DCA will finally blossom into something worth raving about. Let's sweep out the cheap carnival games, the crummy Orange Stinger, the paper-thin Hollywood Backlot. Let's put in some fantastic Pixar-themed attractions, bring over the Rockin' Roller Coaster from Orlando, and dial the park ambience up to 11. I'm telling you, construction walls never looked so good. In all seriousness - DCA turns 10 on February 8, 2011. It's a Tuesday. Anyone up for a midweek trip to California? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 23, 2007 9:24 PM. July 19, 2007L.A. Story(With a happy nod to Steve Martin's genius movie of the same name) Work has brought me to Los Angeles for the past two days, which was much less in-n'-out than Oklahoma City (e.g., I was on the ground for more than 24 hours), but still didn't provide the kind of free time I need to see the sights, kick back, and enjoy a little vacation. Plus, it's not like I'm ready to just run around like a frat boy at Daytona Beach: customer visits can be exhausting, mentally and physically, and by the end of a good half-day or day-long session, I've generally got a hard drive full of notes and a head full of cotton. Back to the hotel, sleep, repeat as necessary. And yet, it was still a lot of fun. To wit:
Damn, it's good to be home. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 19, 2007 11:33 PM. June 11, 2007The Subs Are Back!Marnie sent me this Chicago Tribune article ("Back From The Depths") in e-mail today, and I realized I'd been a bad, bad blogger. (Missing Disneyland news? For shame!) Yep, Disneyland's newest attraction (re)opened today -- after laying dormant for nearly a decade, Tomorrowland's Submarine Voyage has received a "Finding Nemo" overlay and is once again circling the lagoon: Reinvented as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, the long-dormant and eagerly anticipated attraction immerses riders in a 12-minute journey through a coral reef, exploding volcano and shark-infested wreck as they search for the orange-and-white clown fish of movie fame. With its impressive animation and spotlessly reconditioned bright-yellow submersibles, park-goers might just forget that the area of the theme park containing the ride — which Walt Disney himself helped conceive — was nearly paved over. I'm pretty jazzed about this, and have been following the redevelopment of the subs since Al Lutz started covering the project on MiceAge. Now, I never had the opportunity to ride the original subs - my first Disneyland experience was in 1985, and as memory serves they were closed for refurb. And when I (finally) came back in 2001, they'd been permanently closed (along with the PeopleMover/Rocket Rods). So I don't have the kind of emotional attachment to the subs that some do, but it's damn exciting to see Disney continuing to invest in their parks, and doubly exciting to see Tomorrowland gain another attraction. The lagoon had been sitting empty for a loooong time, and "Nemo" will add more motion, more color, and more vibrancy to a pretty-damn-cool part of Disneyland. I can't wait to ride it when I'm down next. (In the meantime, I'm sure Gina or Tony will exercise their season passes and send me taunting e-mails...) UPDATE, September 6, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 11, 2007 3:46 PM. May 9, 2007Custom Google Map Of The Magic KingdomThe Disney Blog is running an article this morning with a link to a custom Google Map that shows the distinct geospatial location of most of the attractions, restrooms, and so on inside the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Switch to the satellite photo (like this Space Mountain link) and zoom around! Link. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 9, 2007 9:40 AM. March 17, 2007Behind The Scenes At Club 33Napa Valley Register reporter Jennifer Huffman got a cool, behind-the-scenes tour of Disneyland's Club 33: Club 33 was created by Walt Disney in 1967 as a private retreat for guest dignitaries and other VIPs, said Bracco. Named after its "address" in New Orleans Square, only 480 corporate and individual members belong, paying between $9,500 to $25,000 to join, plus $3,175 to $5,925 in annual dues. A simple letter to Disneyland requesting a Club 33 application is all it takes to apply, said Bracco. But be prepared to wait seven to 10 years for your chance to join. More than 1,600 people await their turn. And while members get into the park for free, there's no free lunch -- they still have to pay for their meal. It's a great article, and it makes me a little wistful that Elaine and I didn't get to see more of Club 33 when we were at Disneyland. We did see some of it (the "Walk In Walt's Footsteps" tour takes you in the lobby - check out the photo of us ... in the elevator!), but we didn't get to see the private upstairs. Pity. (Tip o' the hat to The Disney Blog for the link.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 17, 2007 11:25 AM. February 20, 2007Gav n' Lane's California Adventure
(Yes, I'm talkin' about Disneyland.) We're home now - and wiped out from the nonstop craziness - so I wanted to recap some of the highlights and goodness from the trip. To wit:
If you're interested, my Flickr photostream is available. (And, yes, I really am trying to turn Elaine into the most-photographed woman in the world, this side of Princess Diana.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 20, 2007 10:32 PM. January 30, 2007Disney's "Music Behind The Magic"On Sunday, Khan, Christine, Elaine and I went down to the Experience Music Project to see their "Disney: Music Behind The Magic" exhibit. It's actually pretty cool. The exhibit itself is rather small - the EMP doesn't have a lot of floor space (which is odd, given how hulking the structure is), and they've put the Disney stuff at the top (smallest) level of their facility. When you get there, you're treated to a walk-through of Disney memorabilia ("Mickey Mouse Club" sweatshirts; original Disneyland vinyl records, an Audio-Animitronic bird from the Enchanted Tiki Room, etc.), as well as a number of flatscreen narratives about films, and some interactive exhibits. For me, the best part about the exhibit was seeing just how far animation has come over the last 60 or 70 years. Venerable films like Snow White are displayed alongside integrated animation/live action in Mary Poppins, with The Little Mermaid nearby. It's astonishing to see the quality of the images, color and sound leap up the evolutionary ladder as they've move from one era to the next. Another goodie is all the archived footage of Walt Disney at work in the studio with his animators and musicians, each goofing around and trying this thing or that. Walt's a personal hero, and I never get tired of seeing old footage of the guy (Disney's recent "Treasures" DVD releases are a good resource for that sort of thing). Seeing the whole exhibit won't take more than an hour; we actually had to blow through it in 45 minutes (EMP closes at 5; we arrived at 4. Note to self: next time, check the Web site for hours of operation), but I didn't feel like I missed too much. It's not a big exhibit (and, at $20 a head, fairly spendy unless you're going in to the EMP for a few hours), but worth a look if you're in to film or a Disney buff. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 30, 2007 8:36 PM. January 4, 2007Rockin' Space Mountain!Screamscape has a blurb this morning about the new "Rockin' Space Mountain" (formerly "Rock It Mountain") flavor of Space Mountain at Disneyland. Disney’s converted both Space Mountain and California Screamin' into "Rockin'" versions from now through April. This gives each ride a new soundtrack (by the Red Hot Chili Peppers), as well as some new effects and whatnot. (Whee-ha! Lane and I are going in February!) There’s a not-very-good YouTube video of Space Mountain (what do you expect? It’s in the dark) up now . Check it out! UPDATE, January 6, 2007: A better-quality version of this has surfaced on YouTube. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 4, 2007 10:54 AM. October 17, 2006Paris, Day Three: Space Mountain: Mission 2
Getting to DLP is about the easiest thing ever - just take the RER "A" train to its Eastern terminus in Marnee-la-Vallee, get off, walk out of the station, and turn right. You're there. Like Disneyland in Anaheim, Paris has two parks. The US has Disneyland and California Adventure. Paris has Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios. We'll get to Walt Disney Studios in a sec. Disneyland Paris is very much modeled on Anaheim's Disneyland, and less on Orlando's Magic Kingdom. The park has a keenly Parisian feel that comes through in the art design, landscaping, painting, and attractions. For example, Paris' Sleeping Beauty Castle isn't as small as Aneheim's, or as large as Cinderella Castle in Orlando - instead, it takes a middle path, choosing iconography over landscape domination. Food, too, is different - in addition to the usual American-style stuff (burgers, fries, etc.), the food choices reflect local tastes, such as baguettes and Nescafe. (And yes, the restaurants all serve wine.) But probably the best example of the park's Paris-ifcation is that Disneyland Paris doesn't have a "Tomorrowland" - rather, it has "Discoveryland", which is kinda what Tomorrowland might've been if the future envisioned by Jules Verne came to pass. As a wicked example of what that means from a theming perspective, consider Space Mountain. Formally known as "Space Mountain: Mission 2", the ride is completely different from its predecessors in Orlando, Anaheim and Tokyo. Rather than the clean, white, futuristic lines and space-station motif of the other Space Mountains, Mission 2 uses an ornate, Victorian look; the idea is that you're being launched out of one of Verne's ancient "moon cannons" into the farthest reaches of the universe. What's killer about this is that you actually induction-launch at a steep angle along the outside of the building (with a big burst of steam), then arc and dive into Space Mountain proper from the top. (I shot a 30-second video of this with my camera; it's cool. 46.7 MB, QuickTime required.) The music wasn't working when we rode (which kinda sucked), but the effects (planets, stars, supernovas) are done in a very Rock n' Roller Coaster-ish style. (Oh, yeah, and the ride has a couple loops in it.) If you like Rock n' Roller Coaster, Space Mountain: Mission 2 won't disappoint. The entire park is done up for Halloween, with these "pumpkin guys" running around and causing mischief. (Check my photostream for details; suffice to say, Richard would love it.) It's a very cool, creative motif, and complemented with a "Disney Villains" parade every afternoon. Sadly, there's no "Haunted Mansion Holiday" in Paris. Paris has some original rides, such as "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril" - a classic outdoor roller coaster, with some Indy-ish theming, and it's actually kinda cool. There's no clone of this ride at any Disney park that I know of. Most of the other rides are Paris-local adaptations of the greatest hits from the other Disney parks - Pirates of the Caribbean, "it's a small world" (closed, sadly, for the holiday overlay), Big Thunder Mountain, and the Phantom Manor (aka the Haunted Mansion). Without question, Big Thunder at Paris is the coolest, baddest version of the coaster, ever. Let's start with the great stuff: it's an island. Thunder Mountain sits smack-dab in the middle of the Thunder Mesa lagoon, so to get you out to the island they acutally run you under the lagoon. (How cool is that?) It's fast, it's smooth, it's fun, and just excellent. I'd say it beats Space Mountain: Mission 2 in terms of overall quality. It's that good, and that novel. Overall, DLP isn't as dense as its cousin in Anaheim, but it's certainly worth a visit. I'm not sure, exactly, who the market for this park is. Local Parisians? Families from Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK? Disney fans from the States? The park's inability to make a profit is somewhat legendary, but there are good things, here. The local color is a nice change from Disney's usual strategy of cloning a successful ride and then transplanting it into all its other parks. We wrapped up our Disneyland visit right as the Villains parade was getting under way, and popped over to the Walt Disney Studios park. I didn't know a whole lot about this one - I've visited Disney-MGM studios, of course, and have spent time in the Hollywood Backlot area of California Adventure. So to say that I was underwhelmed, well, would be kind. This puppy is barely a park, and it's clearly been built on the cheap. Disney Studios has exactly two(!) rides - Rock n' Roller Coaster and a "flying carpet ride". The rest are "ride experiences" like the behind-the-scenes tour, or some of the stuff you get at Universal Studios. (Suddenly, California Adventure doesn't look so bad.) They do have a Tower of Terror (very visibly) under construction, but I have no idea who would consider paying money to get in to this park. It's a second gate that shouldn't be one - we got in for free (the default ticket is a one-day park hopper), and I'm glad - if I'd spent an extra $5 for this, it'd have been too much. Really. What am I talking about? Well, take a look at this photo that depicts the outside of the Rock n' Roller coaster at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando. Note the giant guitar, the integrated lights, the festive feeling. Yes, it's just a roller coaster, but the ride feels like a place, an event, a happening. Now look at the companion entryway at Walt Disney Studios. We have a billboard. And a cheap one. Period. No theming, no nothing. It's actually tacky. This, um, efficiency manages to insinuate itself throughout the park. It's very un-Disneylike, and it's penny-wise, Euro-foolish, in my opinion. Ah, well. We rode the coaster twice and called it a (happy) day. (Flickr photostream is available.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 17, 2006 8:39 PM. August 9, 2006Orlando, MGX & Expedition Everest
Gina wrote me on Tuesday with the following: When were you in Orlando? I was looking at your Flickr photos and it looks like you did expedition everest? Short answer: yeah, I was in Orlando. And yes, I got to ride "Expedition Everest." But due to the loss of my hard drive, the post I'd worked on that was All About My Trip To Florida wound up getting lost. So here we go, as best as can be reconstructed from that other storage system called "long term memory." I went to Orlando on July 18 to attend the Microsoft Global Exchange, or MGX. MGX is a week-long conference for Microsoft's sales and marketing professionals; they fly in from all over the world to see executive presentations, hear about new products, watch demos (MGX is demos-a-go-go), and network with one another. Microsoft rented both the TD Waterhouse Centre and the Orange County Convention Center for the duration; TD Waterhouse is where all the executive sessions are held, while the interactive learning stuff is in the Convention Center breakout rooms. The scale of the show is just crazy, and the whole thing tends to be a party! party! party! atmosphere (for instance, the closing-night party was at Universal Studios Florida - we got run of the place, including complementary food, drink, and booze). (MGX has been known to get out of hand - rumor is that Microsoft isn't allowed to book another company function on Maui ever again after one particularly, um, "rowdy" year.) So I fly down to Florida for the week and wind up staying in the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel. I'm bunked down with Balu, a classmate from UW, and we're both pretty busy with sessions, meetings, and whatnot. For a Disney geek like me, this is a bit torture-ish: just outside my window I can see the top of the Contemporary Resort and Space Mountain, as well as the top of Everest over at Animal Kingdom. But, lacking time to do much of anything personal - let alone Theme Parkin' - I'm stuck with my nose to the glass, staring into the candy store from the sidewalk. Ah, well. So MGX wraps up on Saturday night, people are going crazy at Universal Studios, and I slip out around midnight to head back to the hotel. My flight leaves Sunday night at 6:30, and I've figured out that I've got an oasis of personal time - about five hours, tops - to get up in the morning, pack, and hit Animal Kindgom before I have to get back to the hotel and head for the airport. And so, on Sunday morning at 11 AM, I'm in the single-rider line for "Expedition Everest", bypassing entirely the 60-minute wait. And, after about 20 minutes of anticipation, I'm through the line and sitting in the coaster, slightly disbelieving that the previous day I'd been watching Steve Balmer hold court in front of 14,500 people at a sports stadium. Here's the verdict on "Everest": it's good. It's not the best thing I've ever ridden (and it's not the best coaster on property -that's still the "Rock n' Roller Coaster"), but it's a solid addition to a park that needs it. In many ways, "Everest" is a cleaned up, modern version of Disneyland's "Matterhorn." Both rides have the same general motif (snowy mountain), gimmick (encounter with the Abominable Snowman and the Yeti, respectively), and ride mechanism (both are roller coasters). The difference, of course, is 50 years; where the Matterhorn is the first-ever steel-tube coaster in the United States (and looks it), "Everest" is a clean, smooth, well-balanced, modern thrill ride. Just not too thrilling. And that's the point, I think, for Disney. This coaster is supposed to be fun enough for the teens, but not too scary or intense for Mom, Dad, and Little Gav. They've succeeded on that score - it's a coaster with street cred, but not too much attitude. I rode it twice, and then I was done. With a few hours still remaining on my personal shot clock, I upgraded my ticket to a Park Hopper and zoomed over to Epcot to ride "Soarin'." A 75-minute (!) wait later, I was flying over California. (And grinning like a madman - I love that ride.) That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. And if you want the pictures, check out my Flickr photostream. (PS - if you've ever got the opportunity, going to a theme park by yourself is a ton of fun. Single rider lines reduce your wait, and you feel like you've got run of the place. I'd forgotten how great it was when I did my day at Magic Mountain in 2004.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2006 11:25 PM. June 22, 2006Backstage At Disney WorldSunday's Washington Post had a great article about what it's like to take one of the (several) "backstage tours" at Disney World ("Behind the Scenes at Disney World"): Did you even know you could peek behind the curtains at Disney World? They do almost nothing to promote these stunning backstage ops. But in fact, any civilian willing to pony up $12 to $199 can ogle a bit of what goes on within one of the most painstakingly designed, constructed and managed patches of all human civilization. The author sampled three different tours: "Keys To The Kingdom", "Backstage Safari" and the "Epcot Seas Aqua Tour." I wholeheartedly recommend the backstage tours. Back in 2002, a group of us spent a week at the World and took an entire day on "Backstage Magic." We kicked off at EPCOT, headed out to the Magic Kingdom, and then finished up at Disney-MGM studios. Amazing day. The "Utilidors" under the Magic Kingdom are damn impressive, but the stuff that blew me away was a lot of the under-the-hood stuff at places like EPCOT's "American Adventure". We got to see all the audio-animimatronics in action, and see how ingeniously the show buildings are designed to provide the best possible guest experience. One other thing that I found intriguing was Disney World's own recycling and trash-handling operation (the formal Disney name is "Environmentality"). From the article: Trash is a big deal in a place that moves a couple of Super Bowls' worth of people through every day. On our first backstage stop, a utility area behind Pirates of the Caribbean, Matthew points out a rubbish compactor the size of a four-unit apartment building. Remarkably, before the garbage is sucked here from around the park by a Swiss-built network of pneumatic tubes, it's sorted by hand to pull out recyclables and all the wallets and cameras people toss by accident. The combustibles are burned to generate a third of Disney's electricity. If you're headed to the World and want to take a tour (and you should), check out WDWInfo's page on the subject. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 22, 2006 11:29 AM. May 29, 2006NPR On Expedition: EverestNPR had a segment on earlier this week about Disney's "Expedition: Everest"; turns out that the ride feels fast, but actually ... isn't: At a mere 50 miles per hour -- less than half the top speed of some of its competitors -- Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom makes its way along snow-capped mountains surrounding a realistic Tibetan village. The clip is about 4:30; you'll need RealPlayer or Windows Media to listen. (Thanks to Diana for the link!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 29, 2006 9:31 AM. May 23, 2006RockIt Mountain: The Video!There's a video on YouTube that was recorded inside the new RockIt Mountain version of Disneyland's rebuilt Space Mountain. The picture is crap (I mean, what did you expect?), but you do get to hear the rock n' roll soundtrack, and can make out a few details. RockIt Mountain isn't open yet; this was a special thing done at a Grad Nite on the 11th. I don't know what the planned launch date of the conversion is (it was going to be this month, but Disneyland management delayed it); hopefully it'll be running when I'm there in September. You can get the video here. UPDATE, September 4, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 23, 2006 7:20 PM. February 16, 2006Walt Disney's ApartmentThe Orange County Register has a really cool narrated, VR multimedia tour of Walt Disney's private apartment at Disneyland. (Flash required) The apartment is 500 square feet (and above Main Street, USA); Walt stayed there while the park was being built. After the park opened (and he became increasingly famous), the apartment became a haven for him when he needed to get away from the crowds and just grab some alone time. Like Club 33 (or the Matterhorn's basketball court), this is one of those Disneyland places that give the park some of its charm and mystery. Be sure to give yourself a good 5 or 10 minutes to walk through it. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 16, 2006 9:23 PM. February 13, 2006Five Years Of California AdventureDisney's California Adventure turned five on February 8th (last Wednesday). Today, MousePlanet has an update on the non-event birthday celebration, and a long-form thread about what's changed in the park since its launch. Five years. Wow. In 2001, we took all of Media Access down to Disneyland as a celebration for the company's over-the-top performance in 2000. California Adventure had been open just two weeks; we put everybody up at the Grand Californian and basically ran around the parks like drunk five-year-olds. It was fabulous. Even then (especially then), I think everyone was struck by the feeling that something wasn't quite "there" with the new park. The place seemed odd ... empty ... hard to figure out. Yes, it was novel and shiny and new, but the place was light on attractions, long on overpriced restaurants and stores, and featured a demo of tortilla-making as something to do. Since our first trip, it's become obvious to everybody that DCA is a broken park. Yes, it's got some great attractions ("Soarin' Over California", anyone?), but DCA never evolved into a cohesive whole in the way that Disneyland did. Clearly built on the cheap (and with the cynical expectation that anything with the Disney brand on it turns to gold), DCA has staggered as it's tried to find its footing. Cheap fixes ("Who Wants To Be A Millionaire") didn't work, and neither did expensive ones ("Tower Of Terror"). The park needs to be rebooted. It's salvageable. I'm greatly encouraged by John Lasseter's appointment as the senior creative guy ("Principal Creative Advisor") in charge of the theme parks - John's a former skipper on the Jungle Cruise, and loves Disneyland as much as the hard-core fans. If anyone will fix DCA - with imagination, spectacle, and vision - it's John. My hunch is that DCA will be a radically different (and radically better) park by the time it turns 10. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 13, 2006 8:23 AM. January 18, 2006"Expedition: Everest" Ride VideosWow! Ricky Brigante (host of noted DisneyWorld podcast Inside the Magic) has secured not one, but two different ride videos of the soon-to-open "Expedition: Everest" at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The quality's shockingly good for what it is - which is basically a guy with a camcorder sitting in the back, trying to capture the ride and enjoy it at the same time. (Did I mention the coaster goes backwards? It. Goes. Backwards.) The first video is here (36.7 MB, QuickTime), and the second is here (33.1 MB, QuickTime). (I can't believe I missed the window to ride that puppy by only a few weeks. Dammit!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 18, 2006 11:38 AM. January 8, 2006Day Six: Segways Rock!
We headed off to Epcot (Got the Soarin' FastPass? ... check!) for lunch at the UK, and then strolled around Innoventions for a bit. Innoventions is a series of exhibits and interactive games that help people "visualize the future" - but, since the future has this bad habit of actually happening, the exhibits tend to be three to 10 years out of date. When we were here last, some of the Innoventions stuff was laughable ("One day, people may use their computers to listen to music!" ... at which point I walked off the ride and spun up my iPod), and a lot of the exhibits seem driven more by what product a given corporate sponsor (e.g., IBM) wants to push, and less about engaging the imagination or educating people about new trends and tech. This time, though, we both saw something that really blew us away - the Segway. Look, I know the Segway is old news. Gob drives one on Arrested Development partly as a way of mocking them. I've read the book about its creation So it turns out that Disney offers Segway rentals. And it further turns out that they have two options - an inexpensive, hour-long classroom thing, and a more-expensive, two-hour long thing where you get to drive the Segway around Epcot's World Showcase before the park opens. We quickly hit the Guest Relations booth, only to be told that they were all booked up for the morning of Monday, the 9th. Phooey. Gregg's Greenlake Cycle allegedly rents Segways, though, and now we're all hot to try them. Richard gets pretty excited with shiny new tech, and I swear to God that if they took AmEx at the Innoventions booth, we'd be shipping one home by now. He practically drooled on the floor model. So we strolled. Strolled over to Norway and rode "Maelstrom." Strolled to France and watched the French film about French things that was clearly made in the 80s. We then hit Soarin' (yes!), and caught the boat over to MGM to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster one ... last ... time ... before the park closed (made it by 5 minutes, too!). For our final act, we thought we'd pop over to the Magic Kingdom and ride a few classics. The park formally closed at 8, but folks staying on Disney property (that's us) can take advantage of "Extra Magic Hours" - basically, the park stays open an extra three hours for resort guests. What they don't tell you about Extra Magic Hours is that they only operate a subset of the park's attractions. Richard wanted to do the Jungle Cruise - but it wasn't open. "it's a small world" was running, but a good chunk of the other rides were shuttered. So we did Small World, a final run through in Space Mountain, and called it a day. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 5:50 PM, but hotel checkout's at 11. (Travel days suck for trying to squeeze in that one extra thing anyhow, so that's likely for the better.) That means the vacation's over. Six days seems like the perfect number for relaxing, partying, and riding a good buncha stuff. (Heck, my Flickr photostream is sporting 329 shots!) I've had a blast, but I'm excited to get back. (Frankly, I feel like I've been gone a month or so!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 8, 2006 2:41 PM. January 7, 2006Day Five: Minigolf Smackdown!
Of course, "sleeping in" in Orlando isn't quite the same as "sleeping in" in Seattle; with the three-hour time shift, getting up at 11 AM here means we're really getting up at 8 AM back home. So while 11 AM feels luxurious and indulgent at first blush ... it's not so much. Ah, well. The fourth (and final) Disney park on our list was Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is the newest, smallest, and - frankly - weakest park among the four; its attractions are pretty lightweight, and the place lacks a "killer ride", ala "Rock n' Roller Coaster" to get people through the turnstiles. On the plus side, Animal Kingdom does have a lot of animals (natch) for you to look at, so it appeals as a zoo. It's a half-day park, tops. Thus, we hit a few rides, had some lunch, visited the petting zoo and called it an afternoon. (One distinct bummer about timing: Animal Kingdom is about to open their killer ride, called "Expedition Everest", in a few weeks' time. It's rumored to be the biggest and best roller coaster on the property. Cast members are currently able to participate in test rides, but it's not open to park guests at all. Which, for a coaster guy like me, really sucks.) During our time at Animal Kingdom, Richard and I ha d begun arguing about who was the better minigolfer - aka the 'ol "Don't Make Me Kick Your Ass On The Putting Green And Embarrass You In Front Of Everyone" conversation. I mean, I'd won the first round handily at Winter Summerland, and then he'd gone and had a good day at Fantasia Gardens two days later. But now we were stuck - Richard's mouth was clearly on a trajectory to get the rest of him in trouble, so we had to take our action back to the green and get this matter settled. We returned to Winter Summerland, loaded up with putters, two cans of Foster's, and a scorecard, and hit the "winter" half of the course. The game was close. I was ahead for the first few shots, but Huff pulled away after I had a disastrous Hole 8. Two of my famed holes-in-one put us within one point of one another, but then I got shafted with two bad short-game putts in a row on #16 and #17. In the end, he took me by four points. Bastard. As you might imagine, it's going to be a looooooooong flight home. And I swear, if I have to hear "boo-yah!" one more time, I'm going to murder somebody. Our evening entertainment was the Adventurer's Club (again) - we wanted to be able to spend a few hours soaking in the environment, participating in games in the Mask Room and the Treasure Room, as well as the final evening sing-a-long. Two funny notes. First, Richard purchased a maroon sweatshirt at the Epcot Canada pavilion a few days ago. It s |
Elaine and I spent this past weekend (with chunks of Thursday and Friday thrown in for good measure) getting in touch with our inner 5-year-olds by goofing off at 
Today, we got to check out Disneyland Paris.
We're leaving tomorrow, so today was the get-it-done-before-you-go day, handling the few things we thought might be fun to do (once), and a few others we wanted to do again. (But no rush.)
, seen one or two in passing (a guy in my building at work has one), and so on. But watching the demo, where the Disney employee was, well, dancing with the silly thing, my jaw hit the floor. They're amazing in person.
Today was a sleep-in day.
