Decades in Review

As we enter a new decade, and in a spirit of reflection, I find myself comparing the things I love about Disneyland and Walt Disney World to the things I love much less.  Although I have a fascination with ‘vintage’ I do love the occasional new attraction that knocks my socks off.  Notice I use the word occasional.  Sadly I find myself less and less impressed as time goes by.

Let’s look at this 55-year progression (or digression).  The above timeline is a visual representation of my opinions.  It’s very simple.  Blue = I like.  Red = Sub-par.

Shocking?  To most of the readers of this blog, this may not be.  To most theme park-goers, probably a bit of a shocker.  The argument arises that Disney’s audiences are ever-changing.  The classic Walt quote inevitably gets thrown at guys like me, “Disneyland will never be completed.  It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”  Well-said, Uncle Walt.  We do not disagree.  Remember, he used the words imagination and grow.  It seems to me that he’s saying, “Let’s improve and push ourselves to new levels.”  Not: “Let’s ruin things that people already love in an attempt to sell more merchandise.”   Ok ok.  Getting a little bitter, I know. 

“But isn’t park attendance always increasing?  Aren’t lines at Test Track still an hour long?  Does that not tell you something?  We need to give the guests what they want.” 

People generally like what is placed in front of them-- especially if they don’t know that something far greater was there a few years before.  Before we know it, Future World will represent a whole lot of non-futuristic nothingness.  Magic Kingdom will be covered in ill-placed, random characters where they should never be.  The latest Disney popcorn flicks will continue to encourage management to pull up the bull-dozers to things we’ve cherished since childhood.  Disneyland and DCA will look like a Disney Channel version of Six Flags. 

Look at the timeline.  Is that where we are headed? Let’s pray this ain’t so.

Happy New Year!

HORIZONS MURAL, "The Prologue and the Promise" [ High Res ]

click to enlarge

Remember leaving Horizons and seeing this Robert McCall highly detailed masterpiece?  Boy, the future sure looks great.  I can't wait to wear tight-fitting jump suits with my wife and kids and our dog, standing on a grass hill overlooking our cool-looking city.

Click on the image below for a high resolution version of this image.  It may take a couple of minutes to fully load, for it is pretty large.  I have yet to see another image of this mural on the web at such high quality.  It's a scan from a print I once borrowed from a friend at WDI who has an amazing collection of EPCOT Center printed materials.

Here you see Robert McCall in action.  It appears he has some help.  I just noticed in the above high res image there are two signatures.  One from Robert T. McCall and one from Louise McCall (his wife).  Check out the smaller canvas of "The Prologue and the Promise" behind Louise- used for reference, no doubt.  Anyone know where that smaller one is today??

Related links:
http://www.mccallstudios.com/index.html  
http://mesaverdetimes.blogspot.com/ 
http://futureprobe.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-of-bob-mccall.html

Ride Vehicle Concept - Part One

Concept by Mitch

Who doesn’t love the feeling of slowly drifting through the cool air on the slow-moving waters of the Pirates of the Caribbean?  The old PeopleMover was a joy because it let you relax and look at Tomorrowland from above.  The feeling you get paddling down the Rivers of America, steering your own Autopia car, or zipping around every bend of Big Thunder Mountain.  Most ride systems offer sensations you feel nowhere else but at Disney.

There are dozens of types of ride vehicles and ride systems.  Some are connected to tracks, some move through water, some are connected to tracks in the water.  One particular ride system of note, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, featured the world's first tubular steel roller coaster track.  Epcot’s Universe of Energy transports up to 600 guests in a moving theatre which breaks up into six multi- passenger vehicles. WED-developed Omnimover systems maintain constant motion at a specific speed throughout the entire course of the attraction.  (Omni mover = a blend of the words OmniRange and PeopleMover- coined by Bob Gurr).

Ride systems serve many functions, not the least of these is helping advance an attraction’s story.  To enhance this story, vehicles offer a variety of sensations including speed, falling, quick movements, slow movements, etc.

“This concept“, Mitch says, “is a ride system that can be applied to any number of attractions with any number of storylines.  Attractions with a need for a variety of thrills can have them.  Rides that require a less intense journey will enjoy unparalleled sensations non the less.”

This concept seats eight riders per vehicle.  The track system resides far above it’s passengers- virtually out of sight, out of mind and never blocking the view.  “The inspiration behind this concept came from a thought I had about the lack of visibility on certain attractions.  Most rides offer a pretty good view of the surrounding scenery.  There are, however, people sometimes sitting in front of you or to the sides of you, blocking the view a little.  This design offers you a 180+ degree viewing range because the people closest to you are sitting to the side and slightly back from where you are sitting.”

“Attractions with tracks on the ground have story-telling scenery on either side of the track.  This concept allows for scenery to be placed throughout the show area, uninterrupted.  Adding to that, the scenic elements of the sets will be visible from more angles.  You’ll be able to see things from the front, sides, and back.  Almost always, sets are designed to be viewed from a single angle.”

Mitch says he has been riding the same rides for decades and never tires.  “However”, he says, “I  appreciate attractions that offer a slightly different experience each time you ride.  I loved the old Mr. Toad‘s Wild Ride at Walt Disney World because the two tracks showed you different things to look at.”  With this concept, people sitting on one side of the vehicle will see pieces of the ride that their friends sitting on the other side wont see.  This will encourage them to get right back on the ride to experience the same story from a different view.

Best of all, “this ride system will offer a range of motion unmatched by any other vehicle.  The forward motion with computer-programmed rotation back and forth offers a sensation like no other.”

Thank you, Mitch for sharing your concept.