With Valentines Day this weekend, the subject of romance is no doubt on many people’s minds right now. For fans of Disney Animation, that may include revisiting some of the studio’s many fairy tale love stories such as “Beauty and the Beast.” However, some guests visiting Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will be able to take this experience to a whole new dimension by enjoying a meal inside the ballroom of Beast’s castle.
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THE LOST LUXO JR. OF PIXAR PLACE BY SAM ALLEN
From Buzz Lightyear to Bing Bong, Pixar Animation Studios has given us many memorable characters over the years. Given their popularity, its not surprising that many of them have appeared throughout Walt Disney World in various forms including rides, shows, and character meet and greets.
‘D’s Throwback Disney: Progress Comes Full Circle’ – Part 2 – by David Caamano
Walt’s four new and exciting attractions from the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair were a smash hit. All four attractions were considered part of the top exhibits at the fair. As a result, after the fair came to end, he moved all four attractions to Disneyland in California. Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln found a new home on Main Street; ‘it’s a small world’ received a new show building facade designed by Rolly Crump. Although Ford’s Magic Skyway didn’t move intact, the dinosaurs found a new home along the Disneyland Railroad and General Electric renewed their sponsorship of The Carousel of Progress. The show would find a new home as the centerpiece attraction for the New Tomorrowland expansion of 1967. Unfortunately, Walt died seven months before the new land opened, but he would have been proud. The new slogan for Tomorrowland became ‘A World on the Move’. The expansion included the openings of Adventure Thru Inner Space, the WEDway People Mover, Rocket Jets and of course Carousel of Progress. This concept of the future constantly in motion, progressing forward was truly apparent around the lagoon area by Submarine Voyage. There was a great combination of kinetic energy in this area; the Monorail zigzagged the PeopleMover above both the cars of Autopia and the submarines in the lagoon. Above all these modes of transportation, you also had the Skyway flying above. But The Carousel of Progress show was truly the heart and soul of all this progress.
The show moved relatively intact. The show received a new show building that did not include a dome similar to the fair. However there were still two levels, with a post show on the second level. Guests would enter the show from the ground level and once again during Act VI there was a speed ramp up to the second level. The first minor changed was in the set for the final scene with the family in the present/future. In this version, mother and father are seated in the living room enjoying a quiet Christmas. Mother constantly interrupts Father excited to show her latest in kitchen appliances and their entertainment center. They talk about the new and exciting community they live in, and in the window guests could see a familiar model city of the future.
The major difference to the Carousel of Progress at Disneyland was that it incorporated Walt’s final dream for the E.P.C.O.T. that never was. Out the window of mother and father’s living room was a mural of the futuristic city. In the final act guests would then ascend to the second level of the building where they could see the complete model for the community of tomorrow that is now famous from Walt’s Florida Project television show. But by 1973, G.E. wanted a change of scenery and it was time to move on.
Once the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World opened to major success in Florida, G.E. wanted to move their presence to the newest piece of Disney real estate. The company insisted on moving the show to Tomorrowland in Florida and renewed their sponsorship. But this renewal came with demands. Executives from G.E. realized that they didn’t want guests to wait until ‘a great big beautiful tomorrow’ to purchase the latest G.E. products. They wanted guests to buy products now; the future was now. So one of the first demands was to rewrite the beloved theme song. The Sherman Brothers were once again called upon to work their magic. Although they did produce a new catchy song, ‘Now is the Best Time of Your Life’, they’ve always admitted that it didn’t have the same spirit of Walt as their original song. The good thing was that the new Florida guests had no clue that this was a new song.
It’s a Small World of Flavors by Scott Shindeldecker
Where we left off last, oh, whenever that was, it’s been too long for me to keep track.
As a part of reinventing Epcot, Plan Alpha, we’re taking it as read that Soarin’ Over the World exists, but has shifted it’s entrance from The Land, where it does not belong, into World Showcase. Given it’s world-spanning nature, it serves as a fantastic “introduction” to World Showcase. We’ve started to discuss idea of creating a new, large pavilion in World Showcase, themed to the 1964 NY Worlds Fair. The new pavilion would add a permanent festival space (to be addressed later), and added a year-round attraction to the space by moving Carousel of Progress (and reverting it back to it’s Worlds Fair version, complete with Sherman Brothers song). I then teased something about It’s a Small World, and promptly disappeared for a couple weeks.
‘D’s Throwback Disney: The Beginnings of The Carousel of Progress’ by David Caamano
‘Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.’ Despite the shaky opening day of Disneyland on July 17th, 1955, Walt’s original park was a hit. Walt would quickly began brainstorming new ideas to expand his park. By 1959 Tomorrowland received it’s first expansion, and three fan-favorite attractions opened; the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Submarine Voyage and the Disneyland Monorail. But another expansion was slated to open by the end of the 1950s, Edison Square. This new land, along with Liberty Street, was to be an expansion to Main Street U.S.A. and would take place in an American city where electric street lamps were brand new and all the rage. Edison Square was to focus on the progress and innovations of man.
In the 1950s, it was the newly formed corporation, General Electric, that approached Walt about sponsoring a new major attraction at the park. They were interested in following other major companies such as Monsanto and Pepsi and wanted a piece of prime Disneyland real estate. Talks between Disney and GE would spark the discussion of Edison Square which would feature the centrepiece attraction The Carousel of Progress. It would be a show of several scenes depicting the achievements in technology; guests would walk from scene to scene….wait what?! Yes, walk. If you look closely at early sketches, behind the facades of buildings in Edison Square, there would be several stages. Guests would enter through one building from the street and walk from scene to scene. This amount of walking for parks guests was not appealing. Imagineers, such as Bob Gurr, then developed an idea for a rotating theatre, but the technology simply was not there in the late 1950s. GE was not happy with the idea and Walt was frustrated by the technical limitations for his dream show. So the idea was scrapped, and both parties parted ways, in hopes to rekindle the flame of their relationship in the future.
CHOWING DOWN WITH CHIP ‘N’ DALE BY SAM ALLEN
Located in Future World West, “The Land” is among the most popular pavilions at Epcot. A large part of its current popularity can be attributed to the fact that it the home of “Soarin,” which is currently closed for a major refurbishment…
It’s a Great Big Beautiful Yesterday by Scott Shindeldecker
Wow, what a busy last week and a half. Moving sucks. Why would anyone ever move anything?
So, let’s start off on the previously mentioned ’64 World’s Fair pavilion and festival space by discussing my plan to move an entire attraction. Let’s talk about my plan to move Carousel of Progress out of Magic Kingdom, out of Tomorrowland, and into Epcot’s World Showcase. Hey, I’m not the one doing the packing and hauling, so it’s easy for me to suggest this as a potential solution no matter the questionable sanity of said idea..
FANTASIA: THE NEXT GENERATION BY SAM ALLEN
At Disney’s All Star Movies Resort, guests have the opportunity to stay in buildings themed to some of the most popular films Disney animated and live action feature films.
Five Fast Facts: Space Mountain by David Caamano
Hello Disney nerds! Today I am giving you 10 tips and hidden secrets inside the Magic Kingdom’s beloved Space Mountain. Yesterday I wrote a brief history about Disney’s first indoor roller coaster, but today I am going show you how to experience this attraction like a true Disney Pro! First of all, here are Five Fast Facts about the attraction itself in Florida:
Five Fast Facts:
– First opened on January 15th (That’s 41 years ago today!) 1975
– Space Mountain, along with Country Bear Jamboree, is one of the only attractions to premier in Florida first, as opposed to California, and be featured in other Disney parks around the world.
– The very top of the show building measures at 183 feet tall and the building’s diameter measures at 300 feet wide, making it the largest Space Mountain structure in the world.
– It is the only Space Mountain attraction to have two tracks.
– Both tracks measure up to 60 feet high, but the steepest drop is only 26 feet. The ride only reaches a top speed of 28/30 mph. It’s the fact that the ride is completely in the dark that gives the sensation you are traveling at light speed.
Five Touring Tips:
1.) ABSOLUTELY get a Fastpass + reservation if you intend to experience this attraction. No matter what time of year, this is the park’s most popular attraction. Because it is also an indoor attraction, Florida thunderstorms don’t inhibit the ride from closing down. So on a rainy day when everyone avoids the two mountains in Frontierland, this is the park’s only thrill attraction left.
2.) Hidden Easter Eggs: When you first enter the queue, before you reach the star tunnel, take a look at the attraction poster and logo. You will notice a sign that reads, Starport Seventy-Five. The 75 is in honor of the rides opening year, 1975.
3.) Hidden Easter Eggs: Also in the same room, keep your eyes peeled for a destination sign that reads ‘Active Earth Stations’. The five stations listed honor each Space Mountain in the world in the order they opened. They read as follows:
– Tomorrowland Station MK-1 (MK for Magic Kingdom and 1 because it was the first).
– TL Space Station 77 (Tomorrowland Space Station 1977, Disneyland opening year)
– Discovery Landing Station – Paris (Paris’s Tomorrowland is named Discoveryland)
– Ashita Base – Tokyo (Ashita means Tomorrow in Japanese)
– HK Spaceport E-TKT (HK = Hong Kong and this is a E-Ticket Attraction)
3.) Riding Tips: There are two tracks for this Space Mountain, the Alpha track on the left is for the standby queue and the Omega track on the left is for Fastpass + Reservations. If you want to experience a more thrilling ride, request to sit in the second car. You will get a ‘whiplash’ effect around the banked turns and drops.
4.) Post-Ride Hidden Easer Eggs: Just after you disembark from your space vehicle, and after you take a look at your silly on-ride photo, you will approach a moving walkway that takes you back to Tomorrowland with various show scenes. There are several nods to other Disney attractions. Right away in the first show scene you will find a robot sitting at a desk. On the far left side of the desk you will see a sign that reads ‘Open Sectors’ and ‘Closed Sectors’ with various codes. When decoded, you will notice that these are either newly added attractions or closed attractions at the Magic Kingdom. Here’s a list:
Open Sectors
– FL – MAWP (Fantasyland – Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)
– AL – AFC (Adventureland – Aladdin’s Flying Carpets)
– FL – MPM (Fantasyland – Mickey’s PhilharMagic)
…….I’ll Let you guess the rest…..
– FRL – SM (Take a guess)
– TL – BLSRS (Hint: also in Tomorrowland)
– TL – MILFaFt (Good luck!)
Closed Sectors (Try and decode these!)
– FL – 20K
– FL – MTWR
– TL – SK2FL
– MSU – SB
– FL – MMR
– TL – M2M
5.) Post Ride Hidden Easter Eggs: Also while on the moving walkway, you will see a show scene that involves some luggage with special travel stickers on them with nods to now closed space related attractions. One sticker is actually a 1950s Disneyland attraction poster for Space Station X-1, check out yesterday’s post for an image. Another travel sticker reads ‘Mesa Verde’ which was one of the three destinations you could choose to travel to at the end of the Epcot fan favorite, Horizons.
D’s Throwback Disney – Looking at brief history of Space Mountain by David Caamano
When I was a young boy vacationing to Disney World with my family I was a wuss when it came to thrill rides. My sister was the thrill seeker and showed no fear. So when it came time for me to initially ride Space Mountain, I was doubtful. Put it this way…I was such a coward, that I vomited on my mother’s arms in line to ride Maelstrom at the Norway pavilion because I was so anxious and worked up. At some point in the early 1990s, I finally allowed my mother to pressure me onto Disney World’s classic thrill ride. I am now grateful for this push and since then, Space Mountain has been one of my favorites.
Tomorrow marks the 41st birthday of the first ever Space Mountain; the first indoor roller coaster on the globe and first coaster to be controlled and powered entirely by computers. With five Space Mountains in the world, the Florida version remains a classic and is extremely popular with park guests. Sponsored by RCA at the time, it opened it’s doors on January 15th, 1975 (the same year my parents graduated high school). An astronaut Mickey Mouse joined real life astronaut Colonel James Irwin in dedicating this new attraction and took the maiden voyage into space.
The dedication ceremony was a grand two-day event that was later televised as part of The Wonderful World Disney series. The hour long show aired on March 23rd, 1975 and was hosted by the daughter of tv’s most famous couple from the 1950s, Lucie Arnaz. The celebration began the night before, with an outdoor banquet for thousands of invited guests and was located at the Caribbean Plaza in Adventureland. It was a perfect vantage point from across the park to view the newly improved Tomorrowland. The next day, on January 15th, 50,000 balloons, a 2,000 piece marching band on the tracks of the People Mover and thousands of doves helped kick off the dedication ceremony. In reality, the tv special was a 40 minute commercial advertising the many entertainment and attraction offerings at the resort intertwined with musical numbers and tap dancing by stars of the time such as Tommy Tune. If you can stomach the citrus-coloured outfits of the 1970s, you can find it on YouTube.
