tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321051062024-03-13T11:19:17.229-04:00 Passport to Dreams Old & NewFoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comBlogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-33494359721552997842023-07-08T16:54:00.000-04:002023-07-08T16:54:02.238-04:00Off Site: Walt Disney World Vs. Their Own Customers<p> This article written for MiceChat in April and June 2023 explores all of the ways Disney has tried (and mostly failed) to control their paying customers, from 1955 and leading to the present day. It also includes a story I've never shared publicly that greatly influenced my decision to leave Disney in the late 00s.</p><p><a href="https://www.micechat.com/358192-remote-control-disney-world-vs-their-own-customers/" target="_blank">Remote Control: Disney World vs Their Own Customers</a><br /></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-58286520284705323022023-06-14T20:17:00.006-04:002023-06-14T20:17:41.499-04:00Off Site: Disney World's Bermuda Triangle<p> In the interest of maintaining a complete index here, I'm cross-linking to the articles I've done for MiceChat while writing my second book. This is one of my recent favorites, an imaginative "interpretative history" of one of Walt Disney World's strangest corners. If you missed this one it's some of my best work:</p><p><a href="https://www.micechat.com/319186-the-mystery-of-walt-disney-worlds-bermuda-triangle/">https://www.micechat.com/319186-the-mystery-of-walt-disney-worlds-bermuda-triangle/</a></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-12208026488087861562023-06-14T20:14:00.003-04:002023-06-14T20:14:38.847-04:00Off Site: The Haunted Mansion and Inventing Halloween<p>In the interest of maintaining a complete index here, I'm cross-linking to the articles I'e done for MiceChat while writing my second book. I did this piece in 2021 - for what was supposed to be Halloween - celebrating that great American tradition and the Haunted Mansion's place in it:</p><p><a href="https://www.micechat.com/308943-disneys-haunted-mansion-and-the-invention-of-halloween-as-you-know-it/">https://www.micechat.com/308943-disneys-haunted-mansion-and-the-invention-of-halloween-as-you-know-it/</a></p><p><br /></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-79309362941834781432021-12-11T12:34:00.003-05:002021-12-11T12:34:27.003-05:00Disney Annual Reports 1965 - 1975<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTP9zvcyNZQPc3K99elLb8Y6KeLSegJNDDTSICW2gJRbKomQMYBEFOMq8B7Ul7veOvtrjUiiecu_0nsgc9V47y58zVCgCmNiQcS1hq1WZ08qTUIuEDqRuRMZ_tPQr5QSSIqs7/s1109/Passport+Free+Library+Header.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1109" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTP9zvcyNZQPc3K99elLb8Y6KeLSegJNDDTSICW2gJRbKomQMYBEFOMq8B7Ul7veOvtrjUiiecu_0nsgc9V47y58zVCgCmNiQcS1hq1WZ08qTUIuEDqRuRMZ_tPQr5QSSIqs7/w320-h289/Passport+Free+Library+Header.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />As a Disney parks fan, it can be easy to feel like I missed all the good stuff. Adventure Thru Inner Space! Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland! America Sings! Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour!<p></p><p>This, of course, is nonsense. Simply having experienced every one of the original EPCOT Center attractions puts me in fairly elect company, and as always, such things are always a matter of timing, dumb luck, and opportunity.</p><p>One of those timing opportunities that actually landed me in the plus category was moving to Florida when I did, which gave me access to opportunities to look at and acquire paper goods, magazines, and primary source documents at a time when being into Walt Disney World history was a pretty niche pursuit. The prices that certain things I paid a few dollars for can fetch online can be pretty eye-watering, and while the COVID pandemic has seemingly slowed down some of the worst excesses, I feel lucky to have a library of several thousand paper items that are absolutely the bedrock of the research for site. I feel lucky to have them and I'm worried about younger Disney history buffs who probably won't have access to these things in the future. Until such a time that a fan-organized library can be created that's open to the public, too much of Disney history is dependent on being able to buy your way in through pricey editions or secondhand collectibles. I don't like that.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXa-h2NSz2AwFrMKGVLesioRuWYGkoExM_rgfgt0S5ZPAPy5JhkBkGHaevh7O8Di-4WrGnmQyw9wfDVXQXxQJpRRGN63EwDMdyWCrpxDvB7ZHmDALTgcribjI8ESQd8c5SIdwdKG_osXlIdBOOw-UfSC3Ag5WedmecyHkjPWYfFhAqv6w56w=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1135" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXa-h2NSz2AwFrMKGVLesioRuWYGkoExM_rgfgt0S5ZPAPy5JhkBkGHaevh7O8Di-4WrGnmQyw9wfDVXQXxQJpRRGN63EwDMdyWCrpxDvB7ZHmDALTgcribjI8ESQd8c5SIdwdKG_osXlIdBOOw-UfSC3Ag5WedmecyHkjPWYfFhAqv6w56w=w407-h225" width="407" /></a></div><br /><p>So I'm going to do something about it. I've determined to start dumping some of these less-accessible treasures online in properly scanned versions. I'm not going to be a weenie about it and cover them in watermarks. I want these to be available to everyone. My only request is that <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">if you are a historian or author and you use any of these please credit the "Passport Free Library" and this site in your citations. </span></b></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I'm going to start with the WDP Annual Reports, all scanned by me (some from copies at the Orlando Public Library, which is where this project began). These fascinating and colorful little books are where so many of my research efforts have begun, it seems right to launch this project with them.</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Even if you don't care about financial statistics, you absolutely should download and enjoy these, as they're absolutely bursting with construction shots, concept art, descriptions of doomed plans, and general vintage Disney weirdness.</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Download, share, and enjoy them at your leisure..!</span></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1965">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1965</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1966" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1966</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1967" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1967</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1968" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1968</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1969" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1969</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1970" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1970</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1971" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1971</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1972" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1972</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1973" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1973</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1974" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1974</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/wdp-annual-report-1975" target="_blank">Walt Disney Productions Annual Report 1975</a></p><p>More content coming as I can get things scanned...!</p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-20371896145039967762021-11-21T12:48:00.000-05:002021-11-21T12:48:22.700-05:00The Passport Free Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmGt5LJVCOKK7LLpMgnBN0NcvE3s7_Qryfg8BSZtMCHbWD_BZP4uBuJq8TlcO1kzg5_Jvqan4HccAJ4npTfvMLPaPnIEkj1D3NfVMtNpS0AOpVcYHMvtEw4ojDFSrWysyPP4p/s1109/Passport+Free+Library+Header.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1109" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmGt5LJVCOKK7LLpMgnBN0NcvE3s7_Qryfg8BSZtMCHbWD_BZP4uBuJq8TlcO1kzg5_Jvqan4HccAJ4npTfvMLPaPnIEkj1D3NfVMtNpS0AOpVcYHMvtEw4ojDFSrWysyPP4p/s320/Passport+Free+Library+Header.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>Welcome!</p><p>This hub page on the blog Passport to Dreams Old & New is a collection of free primary source resources for Disney fans and historians looking to do some research into aspects of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Walt Disney Productions. These are downloadable, searchable, and shareable.</p><p><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">If you are a historian or author and you use any of these please credit the "Passport Free Library" and this site in your citations. </span></b></p><p>(Contents Coming Soon!)</p><p><b>Other Resources:</b></p><p><a href="https://www.dix-project.net">Disney Index Project</a></p><p><a href="https://www.disneydocs.net">History of Disney Theme Parks in Documents</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/heartofourcities00grue">The Heart of Our Cities by Victor Gruen (Archive.Org)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.martinsvids.net" target="_blank">Martin Smith's Videos</a></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-11312656033859022242021-10-13T20:51:00.005-04:002021-10-15T10:45:30.754-04:00Sonic the Hedgehog Could've Saved DisneyQuest<p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the 1980s and 90s, Sega was the king of arcades in Japan, and they had a plan.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega - SErvice GAmes - was actually originally an American company, distributing and servicing pinball machines in American army bases in Hawaii. With the expansion of US troops to places like Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Sega expanded with them.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXBaUa1nBbkT_mZKVv5aqa2mRU6rEwnqJsUBl9unH7Meg9MBNj_VYz5AqhybWo0VusDZALuY7sib2kdAYcEWDRmcE0_jgLs2PB9ec77r1c7gi3Uf31F6plrOluOQryiKFs-fl/s794/sperisc1.jpg.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXBaUa1nBbkT_mZKVv5aqa2mRU6rEwnqJsUBl9unH7Meg9MBNj_VYz5AqhybWo0VusDZALuY7sib2kdAYcEWDRmcE0_jgLs2PB9ec77r1c7gi3Uf31F6plrOluOQryiKFs-fl/s320/sperisc1.jpg.webp" width="246" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the 1960s, Sega was producing elaborate electro-mechanical games like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Gun Fight</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and, most famously, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Periscope</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - huge, eye-catching things full of clever gadgets to gobble up quarters. They were purchased by Gulf + Western in 1969, just on the brink of the explosion of video-based arcade games. By this time Sega was headquartered in California, with a significant secondary office based in Japan.</span></span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega’s first foray into actual arcade ownership came in 1975-6, when they purchased a chain of Southern California arcades called Kingdom of Oz. At this time arcades were actually banned in many cities across the country, a holdover from a previous generation’s war against gambling. Sega won over these municipalities by opening modern, clean, brightly lit arcades that used tokens, not quarters.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This brief flowering, however, would end with the infamous video game crash of 1983, whereupon Sega sold their locations to Time Out arcades. Sega as a corporate entity sold out as well - Gulf + Western was divesting themselves of assets, and Sega was folded into Bally. This was the official end of Sega of America, in the sense of being an American-based company. Sega of Japan organized a management buyout in 1984, and when Sega of America emerged from their partnership with Bally in 1985, Sega of Japan bought them too. In the course of two short years Sega went from an American arcade pioneer to being largely based in Tokyo. All of this background information will be relevant later, I promise.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As an arcade developer of the era, Sega was respectable but second tier. They produced their own weird knockoffs of Space Invaders and Pac-Man, just like the rest of the video game industry. Even their Japanese home console, the SG-1000, was a distant second to Nintendo’s Famicom. But all of that changed in 1985 with the introduction of Yu Suzuki's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Hang-On</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Hang-On</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wasn't too different from other race games of its era, but what made the difference was the arcade cabinet - a scaled down motorcycle that players steered by shifting their weight. The game was a smash hit everywhere, and Sega had discovered their metier.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIo-utyUdkw4xWv7XSNuMbyPC_dRQjPbxEivRLHISQaQKd6lRw2oLg9kEE_x6dq986B0cHTSdTZq2JL3NWqOKRfhJyznAp8I_blrk4zSQYPxMik1DA_wfCwtiY34DtOUblbTj/s807/16003602.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="807" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIo-utyUdkw4xWv7XSNuMbyPC_dRQjPbxEivRLHISQaQKd6lRw2oLg9kEE_x6dq986B0cHTSdTZq2JL3NWqOKRfhJyznAp8I_blrk4zSQYPxMik1DA_wfCwtiY34DtOUblbTj/w400-h239/16003602.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Around the same time, Sega made a play to re-enter the arcade market. They purchased the Time Out chain which had gobbled up their Kingdom of Oz locations, opening a handful of pilot locations which had such non-arcade embellishments as train rides and miniature golf. At the same time, Sega arcade games got bigger and crazier - grand prix games sat riders in actual cars with airbags that inflated if they crashed, </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Sega Super Circuit</i></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was a slot car track with cameras in each car, and</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> G-LOC </b></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was called </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>Gravity-Induced Loss of Consciousness</b></i></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because it actually spun players upside down inside a gyroscope.</span></span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As more and more of these massive machines made their way to arcades, SEGA began to increasingly resemble a theme park operator, and their "rides" were amongst the most profitable in the business. But these indoor simulators, bumper car tracks, and more were just too big for most arcade operators, so Sega built their own facilities to house them. This was based pretty much on the model Sega had pioneered in the arcade space - bright, modern, clean.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega hoped that they could grow this concept internationally - walled gardens of amusement rides and video games that were owned by Sega. They basically wanted to turn their arcades into theme parks.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega dubbed this dream “Joypolis”. This is the story of that dream, the international conflicts that derailed it, the market realities that buried it… and, finally, the mouse that stole it. Because the story of Sega Joypolis is also the story of DisneyQuest, Disney’s very own copycat that outlived the original. Insert your quarter and buckle up.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Curtain up. A bare stage. Suddenly, two figures appear on either end of the stage. They want to dance together, but they also kind of hate each other. Let’s get to know the two sides of this tango.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, Disney. You know Disney. Disney kinda sucks at video games.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's weird, right? They've probably inspired more video games and designers than any other company, but their own in-house efforts in the field have consistently fallen short of expectations. This is nothing to sniff at - video games generated some $180 billion in revenue in 2020, a year that saw other entertainment sectors flagging behind due to the COVID pandemic.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Disney just kinda sucks at video games, epitomized by the spectacular crash and burn of their toys-to-life game Disney Infinity </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- the market leader! -</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2016. Going back a few years before that, an ambitious attempt to create in-house prestige titles was sunk by the disappointing market debut of Warren Spector’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Epic Mickey </i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and a subsequent management shuffle. From there you have to go back to the 8 and 16 bit era to find Disney video games that anybody cares about, and none of those were actually made by Disney.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, Sega.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the West when we think of Sega we tend to jump immediately to home game consoles. Sega's console division had begun relatively inauspiciously in the early 80s with their SG-1000 system - a plastic box roughly comparable in power to the ColecoVision. Sega had the misfortune of launching their system on the very same day as the release of the Nintendo Family Computer, which you know under its international name - the Nintendo Entertainment System. The SG-1000 never had a chance.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Nintendo couldn't be everywhere, and in markets that were underserved by the company, Sega found they could get a foothold with their next 8-bit console, the Master System. The Master System was a modest success in the US and Japan, but in places like Brazil and the United Kingdom, it ate up the entire market. Yet Sega's eyes were always on the prize of capturing North American market share away from Nintendo. To aid and abet them on their quest, they hired the former CEO of Mattel to run their American division - Tom Kalinske.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtT8xI7LBukRk6iD9yaXueCfhJ5NMxVpCnNqhF-_UMO9AwBHNm2WNjTAHHduqnAbSYwVHhyphenhyphengR50nXKJ_VkkZxahNWsAbOe0aU5cdAMmcFiFX_L3FIQIACg_A1TvX8HZhTr37j/s465/unnamed.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtT8xI7LBukRk6iD9yaXueCfhJ5NMxVpCnNqhF-_UMO9AwBHNm2WNjTAHHduqnAbSYwVHhyphenhyphengR50nXKJ_VkkZxahNWsAbOe0aU5cdAMmcFiFX_L3FIQIACg_A1TvX8HZhTr37j/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="248" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chances are if you are a Gen Xer or elder Millennial who remembers Sega, you remember them almost entirely for what Kalinske brought to the table. To push Sega's new 16 bit console the Mega Drive - which Sega re-dubbed the Genesis - Kalinske ordered an aggressive marketing campaign that attacked Nintendo as a baby's toy. He signed celebrity endorsements left and right, he expanded Sega's market share, and as a crowning achievement, oversaw the launch of a character platform game designed expressly to appeal to Americans. It starred a red, white and blue Mickey Mouse with attitude named Sonic the Hedgehog. And it worked.</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm not going to go into this in too much detail, because even if you haven't read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Console Wars</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you probably know the basics of this... Sega vs </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nintendo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has gone down in history with the patina of folklore upon it, the Pepsi vs Coke for those alive in the age of the POG.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what is important to stress here is that Kalinske did his job so well that he actually made a lot of enemies over at Sega of Japan. Japanese corporate culture is even more insular and cutthroat than it is in America, and the booming success of the Sega brand in the US and Europe was considered an embarrassment in Japan. Sega Japan's Mega Drive was an also-ran in the console market, a distant third behind consoles by Nintendo and NEC. The only area in which Sega truly could be said to dominate is in the arcade.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of this set the stage for a showdown.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Big in the Nineties</b></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, a continent away, the early 90s were a difficult time for Disney theme parks. Disney had opened the Disney-MGM Studios in 1989, a half day park rushed out the gate to beat Universal Studios Florida to the punch. But the early 90s were a recession era, and the crowds coming to Orlando were insufficient to support what was there.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The park that suffered the most was Epcot, which had neither attractions old enough to be seen as classics nor attractions new enough to seem exciting. Through this era it wasn't uncommon for Epcot to be closed one day a week. It was also a victim of bad timing: Disney had built a park based around science and technology at the very start of when science and technology were about to blast off like a rocket. The difference between a cutting edge computer from 1982 and one from 1988 was jarring. Much of the technology on display in EPCOT Center's Communicore area was forward-thinking for 1982, looked just about current through 1989, and antiquated by 1992. As the first area guests encountered while entering Epcot, it needed a radical re-think.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xYxEyhZYkzuNyf0XyIjDUk5QRPIViAhn6aoM124aU4ZnI1DgtjXFEpLolziQy_LiY3GpQRNgSPzM2S-MQm53iOqv9QaON19jT3gv9vp-E8xgfGrxLxg9QxIKMgO65kURSoXe/s400/8081847015_d24d9f78b3_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="400" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xYxEyhZYkzuNyf0XyIjDUk5QRPIViAhn6aoM124aU4ZnI1DgtjXFEpLolziQy_LiY3GpQRNgSPzM2S-MQm53iOqv9QaON19jT3gv9vp-E8xgfGrxLxg9QxIKMgO65kURSoXe/w400-h269/8081847015_d24d9f78b3_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/46050386@N03/8081847015/in/photostream/" target="_blank">FigmentJedi on Flickr</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Imagineer who got the new version off the ground was Barry Braverman; the story told is that he got Innoventions approved in a single day by picking up the phone and cold-calling corporations. Taking inspiration from trade shows like CES and the Ginza district of Tokyo, the new exhibit area was dark and neon-lit where CommuniCore was bright and open; the sidewalks in front of the attraction entrance sparkled with fiber-optics. Inside were exhibits from Apple, Hammacher Schlemmer, General Electric, with Disney shows featuring Aladdin and Bill Nye. It was the 90s distilled, the last time EPCOT could truly be said to be presenting a glimpse of the future. As Eisner said, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Almost every company that's involved in Innoventions is the leading company in its field."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And the killer exhibit in it all was SEGA.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega and Disney had extensive ties in 1994. Back in 1982 as part of the dissolution of Gulf + Western, Sega had been moved into closer alignment with Gulf-owned Paramount Studios, resulting in guess-who Michael Eisner sitting on Sega’s board of directors.</span></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh3o6jF_mkMk3DOreZO2cCKwEAXcWuqxXs87ggUyBkMtVnxlBoe88OCng5Nd6acd7CcgOlmqdV2z5Te4Jqnor1QVBzX4RKUeyN4iWTW36IiSNhTwZMnX1DtTAnOp8vYVXXJC0/s1121/58876-disney-s-aladdin-genesis-front-cover.png.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh3o6jF_mkMk3DOreZO2cCKwEAXcWuqxXs87ggUyBkMtVnxlBoe88OCng5Nd6acd7CcgOlmqdV2z5Te4Jqnor1QVBzX4RKUeyN4iWTW36IiSNhTwZMnX1DtTAnOp8vYVXXJC0/w285-h400/58876-disney-s-aladdin-genesis-front-cover.png.jpeg" width="285" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In recent years, as part of Kalinske's initial effort to shore up Sega's brand recognition in the United States, he went on a celebrity endorsement spree. Kalinske knew that Sega needed a platform mascot game to compete directly with Mario, but Sonic the Hedgehog was still a year away at this point. What to do? Sega signed a character every American knew: Mickey Mouse.</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The resulting game, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Castle of Illusion</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, was a success for Christmas 1990, resulting in a sequel and a raft of Genesis-only Disney games themed to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Pinocchio</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Fantasia</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Beauty and the Beast</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But the capstone of this collaboration was undoubtably </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Disney's Aladdin</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a game for which Walt Disney Feature Animation worked with Virgin Games to bring eye-popping, smooth 2D cartoon graphics to the system. It was a system seller; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Aladdin</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> remains the third highest selling Genesis game. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1994 were banner years for both Disney and Sega, with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Lion King</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in theaters and the Tower of Terror opening at Disney-MGM Studios. Sega was riding high on the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, an early 90s phenomenon to rival Bart Simpson. The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sonic and Knuckles</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> game was arriving in November, with its memorable lock-on gimmick. Sonic was the centerpiece of the Epcot Innoventions exhibit, triumphant amidst a riot of motion and color. The Sega exhibit was pure adrenaline brain candy for 90s kids, and few who saw it in person have ever forgotten it.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upon entering, guests were greeted by an enormous Sonic the Hedgehog statue holding a golden ring. At the base of the statue, potential customers could sit and play </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Sonic 3 </i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on Genesis with a 5 minute time limit. This was the "Future" area. One wall in the "Arcade" area featured a huge setup of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Virtual Formula</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> arcade cabinets, a simultaneous multi-player racing game in scaled-down F1 cars. Other areas included "Action Adventure" and "Kids", which featured tiny game stations appropriate for the 5-7 set. Nearly every foot of the space was crammed full of Sega games and sparkling with lighting effects, and it was entirely possible to lose an hour or two just in that one area; most of us kids who saw it in person did just that. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we stop the clock right here, in summer 1994, it looks as though nothing could stop Sega or Disney and the future was nothing but roses. But both companies were sailing directly into some pretty choppy waters.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8kEtXhEg6HLUOaz5ghgSds0nSBJ3ISNpq7IZEphJKS64cysI8I8irFWd7tcFjtCf7nsY-4lqXQwNZC1fpUKMd0IMAN8VheBVS7nBzwF3l1dMHen3MbqZyGANvDJZKCktuDS-/s1396/SegaInnoventions_1994.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1396" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8kEtXhEg6HLUOaz5ghgSds0nSBJ3ISNpq7IZEphJKS64cysI8I8irFWd7tcFjtCf7nsY-4lqXQwNZC1fpUKMd0IMAN8VheBVS7nBzwF3l1dMHen3MbqZyGANvDJZKCktuDS-/w400-h325/SegaInnoventions_1994.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">The Saturn Debacle and Backstabbing</span></b></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The split between Sega Japan and Sega of America had resulted in two companies that had very different strong suits and very different business philosophies. Despite a growing reliance of Sega of America on Western development houses, Sega's hardware division in Japan still called the shots in the creation of the companies' hardware products - the core of the company.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In early 1994, Sega of Japan pitched Sega of America on a new, upgraded version of the Mega Drive / Genesis. The 16 bit console was at best a cult hit in Japan, but in the US, Europe, and South America was the market leader, having successfully pushed Nintendo into second place thanks to aggressive marketing, price cuts, and Sonic the Hedgehog. The peak of their success was no time to unleash a new version of the same machine. Head of Sega of America R&D Joe Miller reportedly exclaimed:</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Oh, that's just a horrible idea. If all you're going to do is enhance the system, you should make it an add-on. If it's a new system with legitimate new software, great. But if all it does is double the colors.."</span></blockquote><p></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The two parties agreed that Sega of America could move ahead with the project as an add-on to the existing Genesis as a way to extend its lifespan in the markets where it had been most successful.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt1xMuu0Y_eBx83xkUaM1Vp7m3XajlzMZEWh95u71sg8te4KyNSd0XEifWMewk0ZVBNsSwUSwY6_R6smcJgMkxXg8juM4K_OeuOxXm1YoN7ggG1igSp_y0I1zXi5cytgjCPl9/s1200/DwKW8Z1W0AAm_ib.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="870" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSt1xMuu0Y_eBx83xkUaM1Vp7m3XajlzMZEWh95u71sg8te4KyNSd0XEifWMewk0ZVBNsSwUSwY6_R6smcJgMkxXg8juM4K_OeuOxXm1YoN7ggG1igSp_y0I1zXi5cytgjCPl9/w290-h400/DwKW8Z1W0AAm_ib.jpg" width="290" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I must point out here that at this time Sega of Japan was a Borges Palace of intrigue and skullduggery. The company (Japan) was actually developing not one, but <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 32-bit consoles simultaneously, and now had just effectively given their American arm the green light to go ahead with a third. None of these three teams were told about the existence of the other.</span></span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the time it was well-known in the industry that Sony was working on a console of their own, to be based around CD media and using polygon technology. Nintendo had partnered with Silicon Graphics to bring some form of their 3D technology to home consoles. Sega's plan was to beat both consoles to market and eat their lunch. Almost everything about the resulting product, the Sega Saturn, is an astonishing saga of failure. But this is a blog about theme parks, not video games, so all that's important to know here is that Sega of Japan had more or less set up Sega of America to fail.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And fail they did! The add-on they had agreed to produce became the Sega 32X, a mushroom-shaped blob of plastic which pretty much was a separate, smaller Sega Genesis which mounted atop the original console. Launching at the astonishing price of $160, the 32X failed to garner much market support and did a lot to erode Sega's brand image. Sega of America producer Scot Bayless later said:</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 30pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Frankly, it made us look greedy and dumb to consumers - something that a year earlier, I could've have imagined people thinking about us. We were the cool kids!"</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega of Japan didn't much mind; they released the Saturn in Japan at the same time and it sold very well. Having declared victory over Sony and Nintendo on all three companies' home turf, they gazed across the ocean to the slow uptake of support for the 32X, which Sega of America had spent $10m to launch. If it worked once, it would work again, and Japan ordered Tom Kalinske to move ahead on pushing the Saturn onto store shelves as quickly as possible.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem here, of course, is that Sega had nothing to lose in Japan, but they had everything to lose literally everywhere else, and Kalinske knew it. Developers and retailers were promised a Christmas 1995 launch window on the Saturn and needed Sega to stick to that date to allow their business partners to be ready to support their product. Gamers had just been sold a $150 add-on and would feel burned by an early roll-out of the next big console. Despite protests, Kalinske went to the very first E3 in May 1995 and announced that the Saturn was available, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">right now</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, at a price of $399. That's the modern equivalent of about $700.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the next presentation, an executive of Sony of America approached the podium, announced the price of the Sony Playstation - $299 - and sat down. The room erupted in cheers. The 32 bit console war had been won before it started.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="280" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ExaAYIKsDBI" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Expansions and More Backstabbing</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Disney Decade wasn't going so well. Eisner had opened EuroDisney with an astonishing seven hotels. Despite the park doing modestly well and starting to build a following, there was simply no way for the park to be fully solvent because of all of those money-draining empty hotel rooms.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elsewhere, costs were ballooning on feature animation, and although nobody knew it at the time, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lion King</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was going to be the high water mark, followed by ten years of diminishing returns. Jeffrey Katzenberg had resigned from Disney in August 1994 when Michael Eisner had failed to promote him to Frank Wells' old position; Katzenberg would head off to form Dreamworks Animation and eat Disney's lunch through the 2000s. Just as badly, Disney had just been spectacularly shot out of the sky by Prince William County, Virginia for the Disney's America project in September 1994.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, the mood in the executive suite changed rapidly, and word came down from on high that Disney would no longer be building theme parks. I don't need to point out that this is complete craziness, especially in the 90s with all those fat Clinton-era dollars flying around the country. But that was the decree, and it would shape much of Disney's business decisions in the late 90s.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the same time Sega was still hoping to bring their arcade chain Joypolis to overseas markets. Sega had provided the arcade cabinets for the "Arcade des Visionnaires" at Disneyland Paris in 1993 or 1994. They also saw an opportunity in the United Kingdom, a region Sega had been the market leader in since the 80s. The very first first overseas Sega World opened in Bournemouth in 1993, and Sega set their sights on London.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enter, the London Trocadero!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have to explain what this thing was before we move forward. The Trocadero was a massive restaurant complex sitting vacant in the heart of London, as it had since closing in 1965. At some point it passed into the hands of an anonymous group known as the Electricity Supply Nominees, a group who apparently handed pensions. The ESN in 1978 presented and was approved to turn the cavernous space into what they referred to as an "entertainment destination", but really was quite simply a mall. This was part of a larger effort on the part of London to clean up Piccadilly Circus, a precursor to the Disneyification of Times Square. The interior was turned into a succession of terraces ringing a central courtyard very much like those seen in any other 80s mall. Opening in August 1984, the Trocadero housed a scattershot collection of complete nonsense including an HMV Records, a food court themed to international cities, Shaftbury's On the Avenue Discotheque, and an exhibition based around the Guiness Book of World Records. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>Sounds promising???</i></b></span></span></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZs7iDTiOgA-Ar0ofNNFQb4Ho96asiMc1VAZHazMvBQBIUbfQryBbT3cQlg45OZo-TJUEFO_oQfAFkRzk7vHrmoYPwAMvUIX0crSL700XuZmU3opPTxPLSa_LcuaetzQW_Pm3/s866/D_Sne-sXoAACUMb.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="866" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZs7iDTiOgA-Ar0ofNNFQb4Ho96asiMc1VAZHazMvBQBIUbfQryBbT3cQlg45OZo-TJUEFO_oQfAFkRzk7vHrmoYPwAMvUIX0crSL700XuZmU3opPTxPLSa_LcuaetzQW_Pm3/w400-h276/D_Sne-sXoAACUMb.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Trocadero's Mall Phase...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Trocadero was never the hit that was expected, and tenants (and owners) came and went quickly. In 1993, the basement area became home to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Alien War</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a kind of walk-through haunted house based on the Aliens franchise. But with vacancies increasing in the complex, new owners were looking for a more dramatic solution just at the time Sega was looking for a splashy new facility in the tourism center of London. Sega rented the entire Trocadero and spent $45 million converting it into Sega World London.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these disparate strands finally begin to come together here. Disney took an interest in Sega's venture, planting the seeds that would become Disney Regional Entertainment's signature concept: DisneyQuest. Imagineer Tom Morris remembered the early days of the project:</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 30pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I believe it came about because [Sega] was interested in a partnership, so that [DisneyQuest] would be leveraged with a big player. Someone gave me a tour of a huge arcade just off of Picadilly Circus in London. [..] It was five or six stories, and they had a big escalator that went through the middle of it, but there wasn't really an attempt to create an organizing principle behind it. So we had that to benchmark with, and there was a similar thing in Paris... then we decided to go to Japan to see the facilities Sega had created called Joypolis."</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This seems to have been a real thing, with Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama working closely with Imagineering to develop the concepts.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the same time, Disney was touting Sega as a potential tenant of their proposed hotel/retail complex on Times Square. This hotel would never come to be, but the mere fact that Disney was willing to name-drop Sega in front of the government of the City of New York is telling. That was in early May 1995. Across the country in Los Angeles, Tom Kalinske was announcing the surprise launch of the Sega Saturn.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Work on Sega World London progressed quickly. Sega built a huge escalator that would bring customers from the entrance ticket booths to the top floor of the Trocadero amongst a futuristic blinking light show. The rest of the facility would be experienced moving from floor to floor in a downward spiral, with each floor having thematic groupings of arcade machines ("Sports Arena", "Carnival", "Flight Deck", etc) and one or two major attractions on each. Besides the large attractions, the facility had a McDonalds, a children's play structure, a bar, and of course... a Gift Shop.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQROP7U7O9gwECnznweuASoWgmpzxph937qJy3Knt4cH2DyJJLLHLhsyHO9KyOXf8eASuutKiD_VE6g0OL8P7N3q8QDdqFDaSoIgEo0AlLsNrBzcHuwq1JPCCnEJ318WWAKUIJ/s1200/0_TrocaderoJPG.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQROP7U7O9gwECnznweuASoWgmpzxph937qJy3Knt4cH2DyJJLLHLhsyHO9KyOXf8eASuutKiD_VE6g0OL8P7N3q8QDdqFDaSoIgEo0AlLsNrBzcHuwq1JPCCnEJ318WWAKUIJ/w400-h300/0_TrocaderoJPG.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...And what Sega turned it into.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The major attractions on each floor varied in size and complexity. The downstairs "Sports Arena" area with the bar had a few Sega AS-1 simulator machines, including one showing "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Michael Jackson in Scramble Training</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">". There were at least two other simulator attractions: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Aqua Nova/Plane</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t, a Star Tours-style motion simulator with 3D glasses and a scoring system,</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Space Mission,</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which used a motion platform and ran off Sega's VR-1 headset system.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3arUsq2_dvZeTL7q7HKb9ZohpAl92IIpF3GV8D35rAycLX2zwDl9ggLYFq7EgFgB7OQUjmVEYl_uBSs-qXg0Jak3sM22SeniFRaoSZEnockBquZ84zZ3pi6HNZF6VvTGqas-j/s512/Osaka_ATC_Ghost_Hunters_2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="512" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3arUsq2_dvZeTL7q7HKb9ZohpAl92IIpF3GV8D35rAycLX2zwDl9ggLYFq7EgFgB7OQUjmVEYl_uBSs-qXg0Jak3sM22SeniFRaoSZEnockBquZ84zZ3pi6HNZF6VvTGqas-j/w400-h285/Osaka_ATC_Ghost_Hunters_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ghost Hunt" in Osaka Joypolis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of more interest to theme park fans are three more traditional themed attractions. The least impressive is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Beast in Darkness</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This seems to have been a walk-through haunted house which primarily used audio elements to convey the impression of being stalked by a huge monster. Far more impressive is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Ghost Hunt,</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> an honest-to-goodness ride-through haunted house attraction. Unlike at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Buzz Lightyear</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or Sally's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Boo Blasters</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the ghosts in this one took the form of computer generated images that appeared on a transparent windshield between the riders and the sets, meaning Sega was using Augmented Reality back in the 90s.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the final attraction we should all recognize is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Mad Bazooka</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which Disney copied pretty much directly for DisneyQuest.</span></span></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Xc_etshx9hxYTk2D8aCaRX9NnSAgerTD7G-uUB-WwQ0_xb1fLnw5-7WsZFx1_oFfvUVIrHigfmzMjRAEbL8pU4PAFwU_WygpZIYTio0GM0zRd65791FtPV9m9NGh-6oZph9k/s500/Madbazooka.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="500" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Xc_etshx9hxYTk2D8aCaRX9NnSAgerTD7G-uUB-WwQ0_xb1fLnw5-7WsZFx1_oFfvUVIrHigfmzMjRAEbL8pU4PAFwU_WygpZIYTio0GM0zRd65791FtPV9m9NGh-6oZph9k/w400-h290/Madbazooka.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep.</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>But...!</i></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In September 1995 Sega announced that they would be moving forward to bring their arcade locations to the US... not with Disney, but with DreamWorks SKG. They hoped to open 100 locations by 2002.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's hard to know exactly what to make of this, though a deciding factor may not have been Jeffrey Katzenberg but Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was and is a video game enthusiast; he included Sega’s “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Killer Shark</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” electromechanical game in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Jaws</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a throwaway joke. Spielberg actually helped design an attraction called "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Vertical Reality</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" that appeared at GameWorks locations. David Kaplan in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Newsweek</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> described this as such:</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: arial;">"Vertical Reality consists of an enormous central column of three video screens, rising 25 feet to the ceiling, replicating a skyscraper. Twelve players, arrayed in a circle, are strapped into seats that climb up a pole. Each player gets a cybergun to kill cyborgs (probably clones). The more killed, the higher you go; if you're hit, you fall a level. The winner makes it all the way to the top to get a shot at Mr. Big (probably looks like Michael Eisner) - and gets the full free fall. Wheeee!"</span></i></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's hard to say why the Disney-Sega partnership fizzled. Eisner was notoriously tight-fisted at this point in time, and the prestige of Steven Spielberg must have been a major draw. But the repercussions of this decision would echo for years through both Sega and Disney.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Failure to Launch</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega World London opened in May 1996 and the response was... pretty bad! As with the Sega World locations in Japan, admission was a separate price than the games were, meaning once you had paid your £12 (modern US equivalent, over $30), the larger rides could cost up to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 each. Multiply that by a family of four, and you begin to see the problem.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout its life span of only three years, attaining the balance of admission to ride cost was a constant struggle, with the attraction going through phases of free admission but high cost rides and vice versa. Sega GameWorks in the US was just as expensive, with admission costing an eye-watering $20 to enter in 1997 and major attractions costing $4. Bit by bit more and more of the Sega World London building was closed off and machines were grouped closer and closer together, until the Trocadero exercised their option to cancel the lease early. All told, in three years Sega World London failed to generate even </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£ </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3m revenue.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In May of 1996, the Saturn's early lead on the Playstation in Japan had fallen to second place. The Saturn premiered at second place in the US and never gained any market traction, partially thanks to its confusing release, and partly due to the anticipation surrounding Nintendo's N64 console. Ironically, it was an exact inversion of the situation that led to Sega's success with Sonic in 1991; the Sony Playstation was lower priced and had better games. Sony didn't even bother to compete with Sega, focusing on the launch of their mascot platformer Crash Bandicoot one week before the arrival of the Nintendo system. The N64 pushed the Saturn down to third place, and into the dustbin of history.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Sega World London generating a fraction of its needed profits, outside Japan every single division of the company was imploding. Tom Kalinske tendered his resignation with Sega in July 1996. Hayao Nakayama resigned as CEO of Sega of Japan in 1998. Sega of America went through two more CEOs in four years, finally pulling out of the console market in January 2001 with the failure of the Dreamcast. Sega would never return to the heights it had reached in 1994.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcvoZOJPt4C2dy01SeI2B5hBxcxVEfWr8j1gmfzujGBu9LFOmHOGlEyyGC-tITnQfO-p77M5MdThs9zChyphenhyphenWKht15XPxboNswXVu_XCo7P8dvRs-D8coLgJJQeZszgHhv5OOtV/s960/downtown_disney_west_side_concept_art.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcvoZOJPt4C2dy01SeI2B5hBxcxVEfWr8j1gmfzujGBu9LFOmHOGlEyyGC-tITnQfO-p77M5MdThs9zChyphenhyphenWKht15XPxboNswXVu_XCo7P8dvRs-D8coLgJJQeZszgHhv5OOtV/w400-h225/downtown_disney_west_side_concept_art.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so finally there was DisneyQuest.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's hard to say why Disney moved ahead with DisneyQuest once Sega departed. Sometimes projects just develop enough momentum that nobody really pumps the brakes, and it's possible that this is what happened with DisneyQuest.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's possible that Eisner got really bullish on regional entertainment, although he doesn't seem to have cared all that much about any of the offerings that division of the company came up with. In fact, according to David Greising in the Chicago Tribune (Jul 18 1999), Eisner initially wanted to cancel the project. Greising reports that this occurred "four years ago", placing the theoretical date sometime in 1995. In Greising's reported version, Eisner's complaint was centered around the arcade not leveraging enough Disney IP, which makes me wonder if the initial pitch was essentially a mildly upgraded Sega World. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it's important to know about Sega World London and to draw the direct line between it and DisneyQuest because it helps show how Disney both copied and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>improved</b></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the Sega World formula. Instead of a McDonalds they had a Cheesecake Factory. Instead a fancy escalator they had a fancy elevator. Even the idea of bringing visitors up to an upper level and letting them wind down through the exhibit to the ground floor exit remained, a feature implemented </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>exclusively</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> due to the unique nature of the Trocadero structure... but repeated for DisneyQuest.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WDI ended up developing all of the key attractions for DisneyQuest in-house, meaning the costs for each ballooned because they were being engineered from the ground up. Had Sega and Disney moved ahead as partners, WDI could have cherry-picked through Sega's impressive catalogue for arcade attractions to retrofit, reducing development costs. Practically everything done at DisneyQuest could have been done cheaper with Sega; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>CyberSpace Mountain</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> could have been built off a Sega R360. The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Alien Encounter</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> rail shooter was a specially engineered box that mimicked a Sega AS-1. Disney spent huge sums on bulky VR headsets while Sega had already developed slim, cost-optimized versions for their arcades.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Mad Bazooka</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> becoming </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is only the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> obvious one, because nearly everything in DisneyQuest had already been engineered before by Sega.</span></span></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq2vmCs9oVwchsvK0N4QJUnQzIZ3N8hS5fE37zM844k0SlRGLSYPArjCaXV223awv6sXqm8hAT3WtZ1LxFmpUm_S99xtxgsINh2_6U2Zhb4OOC_0wbm4cbQRuicf_q3lMlSBq/s435/0e21a52bf6cf76c6079aa5c723ce8059.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="435" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq2vmCs9oVwchsvK0N4QJUnQzIZ3N8hS5fE37zM844k0SlRGLSYPArjCaXV223awv6sXqm8hAT3WtZ1LxFmpUm_S99xtxgsINh2_6U2Zhb4OOC_0wbm4cbQRuicf_q3lMlSBq/w400-h266/0e21a52bf6cf76c6079aa5c723ce8059.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this theoretical scenario, Sega would have developed the game component of the experience while WDI could have focused instead on the theming and layout of the facility. I really should emphasize here for those of you who weren’t there in 1998: the rides and experiences at DisneyQuest were </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">very impressive</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> for their time, but I sure would have killed to see what</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><i> Space Channel 5</i></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Shenmue</i></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">-era Sega could've done with those games.</span></span></p></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wise or not, DisneyQuest was a go and Disney announced the formation of Disney Regional Entertainment in 1996. The division was headed up by Art Levitt, former CEO of Hard Rock Cafe, which pretty much says exactly what Eisner's goals were here.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their first concept was Club Disney, an inexplicable attempt to copy Chuck E. Cheese and Discovery Zone. Disney was somehow not deterred by the recent bankruptcy of Discovery Zone in 1996. Jay Rasulo (!) told the Tampa Bay Times: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I would say that the customer is probably similar (to Discovery Zone's customer), a young family, but our concept is much more diverse. It's active, creative, interactive."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Times went on to interpret his vague statement by clarifying: "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No ball pits are planned, for instance.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" But Club Disney was merely the overture; the big project was DisneyQuest.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DisneyQuest ended up opening two locations, one in Walt Disney World and the other in Chicago. The Chicago location closed after only 2 years; it wasn't making enough money to afford its downtown rent. The end of the DisneyQuest project meant that the Orlando location was cursed to a 16 year zombielike existence as bit by bit its various components broke down and were never replaced.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This gets to the heart of the real problem: the mid-90s were maybe the worst time possible for Disney to be entering the arcade business. The entire video game industry was making the leap to 3D, a transformational technological shift that would end a lot of careers in the industry. Even the established players were struggling.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Everything in DisneyQuest was dependent on novelty, not gameplay. It was fun to do things like Ride the Comix or the Alien Encounter attraction once, but I - someone who grew up on Nintendo and Sega - never once felt compelled to pay to go back into DisneyQuest, and I don't think my experience is at all unusual. If the gameplay isn't there, then the only leg a game has to stand on is the technical polish, and all of the DisneyQuest games looked embarrassingly dated by 2002. Conversely, you can put a four year old down in front of Super Mario Brothers and they can still have fun despite the fact that the game looks exactly like it comes from 1985. This is where Sega's absence hurt the most.</span></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQ6n1DgDrmikFgnwgX7NwGUI6nUgRXQw6YDC0qe3MEWeBxx4nLBgG2Uouaj8mKyfwIkprl_OXZdBojQzFpdCXtFy_ra36eXOQ21T7UMaPD7n5MOifZHiJhC6jq_t4-D-wMdTY/s590/DQ02-590x413.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="590" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQ6n1DgDrmikFgnwgX7NwGUI6nUgRXQw6YDC0qe3MEWeBxx4nLBgG2Uouaj8mKyfwIkprl_OXZdBojQzFpdCXtFy_ra36eXOQ21T7UMaPD7n5MOifZHiJhC6jq_t4-D-wMdTY/w387-h271/DQ02-590x413.jpg" width="387" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">And then there is the fact that people expected DisneyQuest to be, well, more Disney. When you tell people that Disney is opening an indoor theme park in their towns they picture Mickey Mouse, Main Street, and fireworks, not a windowless box with VR headsets. This was one of Michael Eisner’s biggest miscalculations during his tenure as Disney’s CEO. You can’t just stick the Disney name on <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anything</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and expect people to accept it at face value. The name Disney carries in-built connotations of quality and opulence. And yet he made the mistake again and again, at DisneyQuest, at California Adventure, and Disney Studios Paris, and these are ventures that the company is still paying for decades later.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you know, the thing is, this could have been </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>great</i></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Sega’s arcade installations were often called "theme parks" in the press through the 90s; the use of the term is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>important</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as it is intended to convey that Sega Joypolis is something more than an arcade. In the course of researching this article, I found myself looking again and again at the Sega attractions for Joypolis and Sega World London and saying "I'd pay to ride that", or "That looks like fun." </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact is, Sega has continued to operate a Joypolis in Tokyo and successfully merge gameplay and attraction fun; they have an indoor roller coaster where you play a basic rhythm game while riding; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it looks fun</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They have a crazy indoor arena where you spin around on the end of a pendulum and shoot at screens on either end of the arc; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it looks fun</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd give a lot to know if Disney walked away from Sega or if Sega walked away from Disney; given the self-destructive impulses reigning at both companies at the time, either seems credible. But it feels like they were both so close to pulling it off; it's easy to imagine that with costs spread between the two companies and with Sega doing what they were good at and Disney doing what they were good at, both could have come up with a concept that would not have flamed out so quickly. Sega would have continued to push the tech forward and develop new games, Disney could have focused on appealing common areas, and they both could have created viable product.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can't tell me that one or two DisneyQuest locations wouldn't still be operating today if it had an actual indoor coaster and a version of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Ghost Hunt</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> themed around the Tower of Terror or something like that.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuWEEZbiqc3zghyphenhyphenLYcXNfWDs_MPnGysnEtWjkbIib3aX_lEN6Y10VB6tC4qLeuLoHBub9xbdTozktkZycZ_26o7U05rzR6HdfNhbgzkyMmOLDdsY6tfvzA4yYL7DJL5LqusGp/s861/5-gameworks-schaumburg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="861" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuWEEZbiqc3zghyphenhyphenLYcXNfWDs_MPnGysnEtWjkbIib3aX_lEN6Y10VB6tC4qLeuLoHBub9xbdTozktkZycZ_26o7U05rzR6HdfNhbgzkyMmOLDdsY6tfvzA4yYL7DJL5LqusGp/w400-h293/5-gameworks-schaumburg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GameWorks Chicago in its 90s glory</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's not as if Sega's GameWorks venture ended up any better for them. Concurrent with the Disney installation at Epcot, Sega repeatedly announced - and then did nothing about - a partnership with Universal Studios in Los Angeles. I've held this part of the story back until now because I couldn't find anything in press clippings that made any better sense of what was going on behind the scenes, but even as Disney was hyping up Sega's presence in their projects in Orlando and New York, Universal kept promising a Sega "theme park" in Hollywood.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To me this confirms that Spielberg, not Katzenberg, was the mover behind the scenes due to Spielberg's connections to Sid Sheinberg and Universal - the Dreamworks SKG offices were on the Universal lot. The timing suggests that Sega was interested in moving into Universal's new CityWalk complex, and a Sega GameWorks was actually announced for the Florida CityWalk in 1997, but nothing ever came of this.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DreamWorks SKG pulled out of GameWorks in 2001, at a time when most of the Joypolis locations in Japan were closing. Sega GameWorks stuck it out alone in the US for another nine years before shuttering most of the locations in 2010.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sega itself only barely survived this era. Their majority shareholder, Isao Okawa, had been funneling his personal fortune into the company to keep them afloat. Upon Okawa's death in 2001, he forgave the company's debt to him and gave the company a reported $700m worth of stock. Sega used these assets to restructure as a third-party game developer; without them, there was a very real possibility they were going to close. The Saturn and Dreamcast weren't just market failures - they basically killed Sega as it existed at the time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both of these eras of Disney and Sega are as discussed and obsessed-over periods of corporate chaos as you can find. Fans of video games and theme parks continue to debate and discuss them, but what fascinates me is how closely entwined these stories actually are. It's hard not to look at Eisner babies like the Disney Decade and Disney's America as obvious missed opportunities, but those were risky, weird ideas that may not have worked even had the stars aligned. But a Sega DisneyQuest, with Sega tech and Disney show unified? That one may actually be the biggest missed opportunity of all. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end it may have been Sega president Hayao Nakayama and his notoriously prickly personality that sank both of those ships. In 1993, when Sega was still ascendant and DisneyQuest was not yet a twinkle in the eye of Art Levitt, he sat down with the New York Times and confidently announced "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our target is Disney</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">". You can't get into bed with the multinational media giant you want to challenge to market supremacy.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nakayama's bravado is admirable, but the prediction made in the same article by author Andrew Pollock was more accurate. He wrote:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 30pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Instead of becoming the Disney of the electronic age, Mr. Nakayama's Sega might just as well become the next Atari, a video game company that experienced meteoric growth on the strength of one product in the early 1980's -- only to nearly collapse when the market shifted."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Putting this article together was a massive undertaking. As the only writer I know of straddling both the theme park and retro gaming scenes, I had long been puzzled by the obvious links between Sega World London and DisneyQuest, and once Tom Morris provided the "missing link" in his interview on the podcast linked below, I really felt a responsibility to get the larger story on paper that both communities were perhaps unaware of. This involved synching up the stories of two massive, drama-prone corporations, and this really was only possible thanks to the amazing research of other writers who have delved deeper into the indivdual components of this story than I ever could. I stand upon the shoulders of the giants listed below:</span></p><p><a href="https://segaretro.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sega Retro</span></a></p><p><a href="https://progresscity.podbean.com/e/the-progress-city-radio-hour-episode-25-town-hall-tom-morris-part-ii/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Progress City Radio Hour: Tom Morris Interview, Part Two</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sega-Arcade-Revolution-History-Games/dp/1476672253" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Sega Arcade Revolution by Ken Horowitz</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-History-Video-Games-Pokemon-ebook/dp/B003FCVF6I/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven L. Kent</span></a></p><p><a href="https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Alien_War" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Alien War Trocadero</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXfkwyVW1_E" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Expedition Theme Park: Alien War</span></a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/kFYoEHquL5c" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Disney Channel Making of Epcot's Innoventions</span></a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/hU1HLeQfzkk" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dave Luty: Sega at Innoventions</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDNKPoCy42M" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dave Luty: The History of Sega World London</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZQGtnEL2xs" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kevin Perjurer: The Failure of DisneyQuest</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjilAAhp8NI" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Norman Caruso: The Story of the 32X</span></a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/RL9l2Z7sh2g" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Norman Caruso: Sega's Three Biggest Mistakes</span></a></p><p><a href="https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9703/970310/03120017.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Newsweek: Spielberg is the Ultimate Game Boy</span></a></p><p><a href="https://segaretro.org/Press_release:_1993-07-04:Sega_Takes_Aim_at_Disney%27s_World" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">SegaRetro: Sega Takes Aim at Disney's World</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjqaahPy9g"><span style="font-family: arial;">Coaster Studios: Sega Joypolis Review</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Many thanks all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">--</span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial;">If you enjoy very long, very elaborately researched articles about theme park history, you found the right site! Try starting out <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-theory-hub-page.html" target="_blank">here</a>, or <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-mall-as-disney-disney-as-mall.html" target="_blank">here</a>!</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Or if you want even more, I have an entire book about Disney's Haunted Mansion, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926/" target="_blank">available on Amazon here</a>!</span></i></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-65882232748869410822021-04-09T12:40:00.001-04:002021-04-09T12:42:55.829-04:00The Mall as Disney; Disney as the Mall<p></p><blockquote><i>"What [</i>Disneyland<i>] is all about is inhabitation, the human act of being somewhere where we are protected, even engaged, by a space ennobled by our presence Inhabitation is a powerful reality that architecture is supposed to be all about but more often isn't. It is a reality vividly present at Disneyland, whose own reality is so often dismissed."</i> - Charles Moore</blockquote><p></p><p>It doesn't take all that much looking to find them, the people who have never quite gotten over the conversion of Downtown Disney to Disney Springs. Head to the correct corners of the internet and they will be there, ready to tell you that Downtown Disney was special and unique and Disney Springs is... just a mall.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"A huge outdoor mall with too many people"</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>" Its like a shopping Mall with little Disney experience. You could be in a Mall anywhere."</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Downtown Disney at least felt like you were still in the "Disney Bubble" Disney Springs is just another high dollar outdoor mall like you can find in any major city."</i></p><p>Let's stop for a moment and unpack that idea. It's been an insult in our culture for a long time, ever since the multi-regional mega malls became successful enough to become a threat. Time was, any shopping could get done at these gigantic indoor behemoths, anchored by Sears or JC Penny, temples of commerce, social centers of their communities. Time was... never to return, for the bubble of the mall was a fairly short one and failed to survive the 1990s. Today, the United States is littered with fading and failed malls and, after two decades of attempting to reverse the trend, developers are throwing in the towel. These places are being transformed into apartment complexes, community colleges, and office buildings.</p><p>And yet the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, aka the Walt Disney World Village, aka the Disney Village Marketplace, aka Downtown Disney, aka Disney Springs, lives on. If it's just a mall, it has long outlived the usefulness of that insult.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5uHXwB581vL6eX9167wbbVRQgYVxhA_9OCiAl7SbQhTUq5lZLFbbzzybH0YcehzUmjyFN1gu1P_3YMjzyfMFwlS1x67CGUPjYnOOnZFUjww36USMoqkaoq50j8w2dNp3oIfM/s500/70d9f5892e2cf92a8dea66f15fa83b08.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="500" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5uHXwB581vL6eX9167wbbVRQgYVxhA_9OCiAl7SbQhTUq5lZLFbbzzybH0YcehzUmjyFN1gu1P_3YMjzyfMFwlS1x67CGUPjYnOOnZFUjww36USMoqkaoq50j8w2dNp3oIfM/w400-h254/70d9f5892e2cf92a8dea66f15fa83b08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Yet in another way malls do live on. There is an entire online community of people devoted to documenting these crumbling relics of the 20th century, and entire music genres devoted to evoking, through some layer of knowing despair, the cheery canned soundtracks which once filled the neon-lit malls of the cultural imagination.<p></p><p>The mall, especially the mall of the 1980s, has graduated in its own lifetime to become a touchstone, a composite image of a time that never existed in reality. The Generation X teens who hung out there and the elder Millennial kids hopped up on cola remember the excitements and pleasures of these places in their prime, and have gone on to turn the mall into the 1980s equivalent of the 1950s diner, the chrome and neon burger palaces commemorated in films like Grease and American Graffiti.</p><p>In short, the mall is culturally important in the same way that Disneyland is, and for many of the same reasons. As temples of curated but no less real pleasures, as products of the socially programmed 1950s, and as examples of real estate development which failed in all but a few key locations, the mall is very much a twin of the Disneyland-style theme park.</p><p>--</p><p>Quick, name the most successful and influential mall in history!</p><p>What did you come up with? The Mall of America? West Edmonton? King of Prussia? </p><p>How about Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_vGSDA394qk6ehK4tp0dkM66WShLdPx16DjH3zD9JjF89-vY2bc1qeqxPZHxuNocqNIJpUlBEMNRv6XwBe7F4GQb-5L1TqmS7N8m5Ljr0R826iScP0iXwC0lfQtgWDM4PM7P/s900/tumblr_p7g9anB9xq1urd4bco1_1280.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="900" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_vGSDA394qk6ehK4tp0dkM66WShLdPx16DjH3zD9JjF89-vY2bc1qeqxPZHxuNocqNIJpUlBEMNRv6XwBe7F4GQb-5L1TqmS7N8m5Ljr0R826iScP0iXwC0lfQtgWDM4PM7P/w400-h271/tumblr_p7g9anB9xq1urd4bco1_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Opening smack in the middle of other influential retail developments - Wisconsin's Valley Fair opened in March 1955 and Victor Gruen's Southdale Center in October 1956 - Main Street drank deep of the cultural times, saw a trend, and learned its secret name. A curated mix of stores and exhibits tied together with a unifying aesthetic and steeped in the kind of bleary-eyed nostalgia my generation now feels for malls themselves, Main Street has flourished while the rest have declined. It's never lost its major tenants, it has never succumbed to seediness, it continues to draw crowds, it has opened multiple new locations around the world, and it has managed to adapt to changing times without losing its essential qualities for nearly seven decades now.<p></p><p>Moreover, Main Street more than any other single component of Disneyland wiped out fifty years of amusement park tradition at a stroke. Old-style amusement parks had multiple entrances, but Disneyland made you pay to get in, a new and controversial idea at the time. Main Street is such a pleasure to traverse that nobody much seems to mind that the only entrance and exit is through a mall. Indeed the entire concept that theme parks could have multiple entrances is now such a novelty that Disney has successfully monetized the concept by attaching it to other Disney owned revenue centers such as hotels.</p><p>It's little wonder that no serious critical look at Disneyland has failed to observe Main Street with a mixture of disgust and awe, the ultimate and best mall, the anchor that made the success of the rest possible. Umberto Eco wrote:</p><p></p><blockquote><i>"Disneyland's Main Street seems like the first scene of a fiction whereas it is an extremely shrewd commercial reality. Main Street - like the whole city [Disneyand], for that matter - is presented as at once absolutely realistic and absolutely fantastic, and this is the advantage (in terms of artistic conception) of Disneyland over the other toy cities. The houses of Disneyland are full-sized on the ground floor, and on a two-third scale on the floor above, so they give the impression of being inhabitable (and they are) but also of belonging to a fantastic past that we can grasp with our imagination. The Main Street facades are presented to us as toy houses and invite us to enter them, but their interior is always a disguised supermarket, where you buy obsessively, believing that you are still playing."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>As if recognizing the impact, in 1965, the city of Santa Monica a few miles north would permanently cordon off the north-south stretch of downtown shopping on Third Street, turning what was an organically grown strip of shops into a kind of Main Street, a kind of mall. But Disneyland, retail, and city planning go even deeper than that.</p><p>It is no coincidence that Victor Gruen was both the inventor of the enclosed shopping mall as well at the author of <i>The Heart of Our Cities</i>, the book Walt Disney read and adopted as his blueprint for his EPCOT city. Gruen advocated for rebuilding existing communities on the shopping center plan, which is pretty much exactly what EPCOT was going to be, with the entire downtown being an enclosed, climate controlled Gruen wonderland with a great big hotel at the center of it. After Walt's death the EPCOT city was killed pretty much immediately, but the hotel did survive. When author Anthony Harden-Guest interviewed Walt Disney World Master Planner Marvin Davis about the EPCOT project, Davis pointed to that central hotel EPCOT and said:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"The proposal first was just to build this as one of the original hotels, then later on we'd be building the balance of [the city].."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>In other words that central hotel slowly morphed into the Contemporary Hotel, which is why there still is a monorail running thru it today, exactly as it would have had as part of the EPCOT City. And so it is appropriate that the Contemporary's Grand Canyon Concourse is one of the few places left in the United States to see exactly what Gruen's ideal shopping mall would have been like. It is functional, except with hotel rooms instead of apartments and offices above it (many Gruen shopping malls are intended to have office spaces). It is linked in with mass transit, offers climate controlled shopping and dining, lets in natural daylight, and dominated by public art. Any company except for Disney would have demolished the building by now.</p><p>--</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1amlxkQb99B_u-Mv5_DTidkupj0a_SLL5eQZsCfKRhP1NP99aSgTXTCsO6YMYr8Qrr8QZmeLzfwwoRjltMsn1CwSX7iz8DK57wARkhqUEy1oyb8NCne2Aan2cjJUkpySOSV88/s900/LBVSV597069.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1amlxkQb99B_u-Mv5_DTidkupj0a_SLL5eQZsCfKRhP1NP99aSgTXTCsO6YMYr8Qrr8QZmeLzfwwoRjltMsn1CwSX7iz8DK57wARkhqUEy1oyb8NCne2Aan2cjJUkpySOSV88/w400-h266/LBVSV597069.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Gruen-style mall was intended to be an enclosed downtown city dropped into suburbia, but not everyone wanted that, and for a few decades there was a competing style: the shopping village. Originating in Southern California where inclement weather was less of a concern, the village model split apart the traditional Downtown into a series of charming, sometimes lightly thematically unified shops.<p></p><p>This was a popular option in areas where maintaining some sense of historical character was desirable; as a child in New England I knew a lot of these but didn't yet know they are part of an actual retail trend. I covered one of the earliest and most influential of these themed, landscaped malls in my post on t<a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-weird-history-of-ports-o-call.html" target="_blank">he very surprising history of San Pedro's Ports O' Call</a>, but through the 60s and 70s they sprouted up all over, often in areas not yet capable of supporting a fully indoor mall.</p><p>If the dream of a functional EPCOT city died with Walt Disney, it didn't entirely go away. Although Disney's claim in 1982 that their EPCOT Center park was the realization of that idea was spurious in the extreme, some of the ground work done for that project did end up in the Vacation Kingdom in 1971, including a mass transit system, hidden underground areas for utility work, a modern hotel with a monorail running through it, and an automated trash disposal system. But if Disney had no intention (really no interest) in actually building that city, they did think they could build something else, something pretty close to another kind of planned city where they had recently been spending a lot of time.</p><p>That was Bayhill, Florida, a fairly early example of the now-common golf retirement communities built throughout the Sun Belt. By the late 60s Bayhill had been purchased outright by Arnold Palmer, and the Disney executive team was spending a lot of time in the ranch houses, clubhouse and golf links alongside Lake Tibet. Their property had a lot of lakes, too...</p><p>I go into the history of Lake Buena Vista, Disney's 70s timeshare community that never quite got off the ground, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/06/lake-buena-vista-and-shaping-orlando.html" target="_blank">here</a>. But suffice to say, they tried again and again for nearly a decade to copy what they saw up the street in Bayhill and never quite managed to get anyone interested until Eisner took over the company in 1984 and all of those ambitions went away. But they did build a "downtown" for their planned community, and they based it pretty nakedly on Ports O' Call Village. Though much more obviously compromised in original effect than either Main Street or the Grand Canyon Concourse, much of the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village remains intact today.</p><p>Yet culture changed as it always must. Gruen's enclosed malls returned in the late 70s, giving birth to the 80s mall today enshrined in myth and legend. Families fled urban centers for the suburbs. Where adults saw peace and security, their children - Generation X - saw stifling conformity. These kids fled the suburbs to the more open artificiality of the youth culture of regional shopping malls. This powerful story has totally pushed the shopping villages, built by and for our parent's parents' leisure, off the map entirely. But go looking in the right places and they're there still, and Disney's example was part of a trend like many others.</p><p>--</p><p>Disney Parks retail developments mostly slept out the 80s, the boom years for malls. The nearest example is the Old Port Royale at Caribbean Beach, the resort's key amenity cluster separated, like the Contemporary Resort, from it's check-in area. Since redone in a classier style, the original Centertown area was pure 80s whimsical mall architecture, with faux Caribbean facades lining an entirely unconvincing "street". </p><p>Disney's mall for the 80s was Pleasure Island, a kind of postmodern extension of the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village done up in the then-popular trend of industrial chic. Starting especially in the late 80s and early 90s, retail began to merge the Gruen-style big box with the quaint shopping village into what we now recognize as "lifestyle centers", anchored by large chain restaurants.</p><p>Pleasure Island takes the existing lifestyle center trend and feeds it through the meat grinder of the 80s trend of "adaptive reuse". Adaptive reuse is currently very hot in the United States, but the current trend is for minimal use of exiting stone and wood whereas in the 1980s these crumbling post-industrial buildings were being turned into gonzo neon wonderlands. The influential example here is Pier 39 in San Fransisco, but the trend was everywhere through the era; remember The Old Spaghetti Factory, with its faux streetcars themed to wherever the restaurant happened to get built? Much like that chain restaurant, the industrial chic history of Pleasure Island was entirely imagined, with disused shipping facilities becoming roller arenas and baby back ribs being sold in restaurants themed to warehouses which have exploded. </p><p>But lifestyle centers were just getting started. The gonzo theming of these high-profile big city chic dining experiences eventually trickled down to the middle class, with the rise of the chain themed restaurant in the early 90s that was kicked off by Hard Rock Cafe. Planet Hollywood made the trend mainstream, but it had sprouted like crab grass in any place that was ripe with tourists ready to plunk down their fat Clinton-era dollars on novelty. Steven Spielberg opened a sub shop that looked like the inside of a submarine, The All-Stars Cafe and ESPN attempted to copy Planet Hollywood but with sports, Rainforest Cafes created a boom economy in walk-under aquarium and gorilla animatronics, and even David Copperfield attempted to get in on the action. Some small restaurants even re-christened themselves "Road Kill Cafe" and re-named all of their menu items with gross puns on local wildlife extinguished on the nearby highway. In the white-hot days of POGs and Gateway PCs, you had to have a gimmick or go home.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdyeI-GYVtlcvM2qPLVh24bJjMcn_Lp4z35bRDkonQudi4UX4YLTvtuOyNepeiy8iuEuQbOUYO5gTpWMZY8JIpHhoZyaTofItYr7OoVjshECvLX7eRyp78twdVDyd_ZWdcwpI/s2048/00000IMG_00000_BURST20180303174234078_COVER.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1959" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdyeI-GYVtlcvM2qPLVh24bJjMcn_Lp4z35bRDkonQudi4UX4YLTvtuOyNepeiy8iuEuQbOUYO5gTpWMZY8JIpHhoZyaTofItYr7OoVjshECvLX7eRyp78twdVDyd_ZWdcwpI/w383-h400/00000IMG_00000_BURST20180303174234078_COVER.jpg" width="383" /></a></div>Perhaps the enduring temple of postmodern design, themed lifestyle centers, and mega-chain novelty restaurants remains Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. Opening in 1993, even to the viewer jaded by a thousand listless outdoor malls, CityWalk remains startling and enlivening. Anchored by a movie theater and concert venue, it's one of the most exciting public spaces in Los Angeles, a constantly surprising winding journey that ends with the entrance to one of the best theme parks in the country amidst splashing fountains and bustling outdoor life. Disney, of course, needed a clone of this too. And so was born Disney WestSide, with the existing Pleasure Island AMC and Planet Hollywood now joined by a raft of novelty shops and restaurants, with the concert venue becoming a Cirque De Soleil. At this point the Village Marketplace (formerly Shopping Village), Pleasure Island, and the new West Side became re-christened Downtown Disney, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/06/lake-buena-vista-and-shaping-orlando.html" target="_blank">introducing twenty years of logistical and traffic nightmares</a> which have only just now been solved. Victor Gruen would not have approved.<p></p><p>Nobody has ever quite replicated the effect of that original CityWalk - including Universal - but the West Side is one of the weakest imitations around, a dull strip of stucco with a constantly rotating cast of uninspiring stores. In Los Angeles, home of some of the finest shopping malls around, the subsequent Downtown Disney built outside Disneyland may not be all that interesting, but it's leaps and bounds above West Side, which is now 22 years old and has somehow never quite found a reason to lure tourists very deep into its concrete canyon.</p><p>--</p><p>The other trend which totally changed the American landscape in the 90s was the arrival of the big box. Big box stores were nothing new, of course - as discount, suburban outgrowths of big city department stores, they had been a force in the economy since the 1970s and the ascendency of K-Mart. But the 90s were right smack at the highest ebb of the effects of the white flight to the suburbs that had decimated American downtowns and also, crucially, an era when the huge regional shopping malls were starting to decline.</p><p>General changing tastes and concerns over those lawless teenagers who were spending so much time at the mall were causing malls to rethink their strategy and renovate themselves into sterile white environments without any of those planters, fountains, and public art sculptures designed to encourage shoppers to linger - open floor space in malls would become home to endless rows of kiosks selling cheap tat and aggressive merchants that encouraged shoppers to keep walking. This deadly combination would eventually doom the mall and push shoppers out of the mall and into the big boxes that dominate shopping life today.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsiHGj7Pj4BNTXbe4YONmwYfYJYe-yZ-3QWsr0pZg8C2cJ4Gl3MB3h6s6GoWv7tJs12TRyBRz55Uk_YzTHgjgn_dbnd5M2Vp6J4COJoVjbDs6gnI2q7zusla8MSSTE66nviXX/s339/World+of+Disney+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="339" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsiHGj7Pj4BNTXbe4YONmwYfYJYe-yZ-3QWsr0pZg8C2cJ4Gl3MB3h6s6GoWv7tJs12TRyBRz55Uk_YzTHgjgn_dbnd5M2Vp6J4COJoVjbDs6gnI2q7zusla8MSSTE66nviXX/w400-h374/World+of+Disney+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In 1995, a cluster of shops on the south side of the Disney Village Marketplace once home to the sprawling chalet-style Christmas Shop would be pulled down. Taking its place would be a new store, World of Disney, described in panting hyperbole at the time as the "largest Disney merchandise outlet in the world". As long as a football field! Nearly 6,000 square feet! A jumbotron showing Disney movies! Buy buy buy!<p></p><p>Of course, the entire concept of the "world's largest Disney store" is an absurdity because Walt Disney World itself was already just that, but the ruse worked and World of Disney has remained in demand despite selling pretty much the same stuff found everywhere else at Disney. Additional locations opened in Anaheim and Shanghai, and the Disney Store on Times Square was even briefly rebranded as a World of Disney for about four years.</p><p>Everything about World of Disney, from its intentionally confusing layout, division into departments, and endless rows of cashiers and chain-branded concept reveals it to be essentially Disney's Target, an all in one stop for American accustomed to buying everything under one roof. It's an odd and revealing facet of Michael Eisner's leadership that he decided that Disney must have a chain of big boxes too, and it worked - with the parking lots stretching out into infinity.</p><p>--</p><p>Directly down the street from the Disney Studio in Burbank is a massive lifestyle center called The Americana at Brand. It sits across from the Glendale Galleria, one of the earliest and most impressively sprawling covered malls in the region. There is nothing in particular to do at The Americana, but it is none-the-less constantly packed, because it's a pleasant public space in a city that's nothing but streets. There's a red line street car that goes around the small complex in a loop, a few chain restaurants and a movie theater. There's also a Bellagio-style fountain show, and at Christmastime, it "snows" inside the courtyard, just like at Disneyland. When I lived in LA, I used to go there about once a week to sit on the lawn watching the fountains go and eat a crepe. The upper levels are all offices and apartments. It is, in fact, almost exactly what Victor Gruen wanted his shopping malls to be, minus the mass transit hub radiating outward.</p><p>By 2012, Disney's plans to revitalize Downtown Disney, forced more by circumstance than desire, were hitting road blocks. It's almost as if some Disney executive were caught in traffic next to the Americana and watched the bustle of crowds and thought to themselves, "maybe we should just get somebody who knows what they're doing to design this for us."</p><p>Which is exactly what they did, bringing in retail architecture firms by the truckload to redevelop Downtown Disney into Disney Springs. The result is pretty but a little plain, with food trucks and architecture reminiscent of St Augustine and reclaimed wood interiors and exposed Edison bulb pendant lights. It drops a bell jar over the early 2010s, capturing the mood of an era more perfectly than anything Disney has built since Future World at EPCOT Center.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FyTSkOBMfcDrP1JHGQKr67MPoBwJY1yKkECgMFueLtkMrcGmZiZ8Asuo5dRsNRQaAw29jjLM0teSy-DX8RIUzeRKu1xPYEXUx7j-huKcERECcY3-FrUz4Tn3px4p6Wyg0nRJ/s680/DisneySprings3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="680" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FyTSkOBMfcDrP1JHGQKr67MPoBwJY1yKkECgMFueLtkMrcGmZiZ8Asuo5dRsNRQaAw29jjLM0teSy-DX8RIUzeRKu1xPYEXUx7j-huKcERECcY3-FrUz4Tn3px4p6Wyg0nRJ/w400-h265/DisneySprings3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It is very high end, but it is just a mall, which of course Downtown Disney always was to begin with. Disney Springs is as accurately of its era as the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village's chalet style shops and dark wood and brick toned interiors were of the early 70s. I've made this mistake myself; Lake Buena Vista was the way I cut my teeth into doing primary-source historical research and I thought the Shopping Village was a visionary idea in 1975. It was great, but it was based on the same retail trends everything else that followed was, and I just didn't know any better. Whatever is already at Disney the first time you go there becomes your default understanding of what that place is, and anything that changes is an unwelcome intrusion. The change from Downtown Disney to Disney Spring was ambitious, extensive, and comprehensive, far more elaborate than the rebuilding of California Adventure.<p></p><p>But as I hope I've demonstrated, there wasn't a single mainstream retail trend that Downtown Disney wasn't chasing to begin with, the difference is that while any other retail or hotel operator would have torn down the old stuff and rebuilt it in the new style, Disney just kept adding onto it piecemeal. And instead of thinking of it as just a mall, I'd encourage everyone to think of Disney Springs as one of the few places in the world where you can walk through almost 50 years of retail design history. 80s industrial chic sits cheek to jowl with modern lifestyle center stucco just down the street from a ludicrous 90s big box and a 60's style chalet village. The styles have been constantly refreshed, not preserved intact, but you can still spot it if you know what you're looking for.</p><p>Nobody looks out for retail history, not the retailers, not the public. If you look carefully and in less well trafficked corners of the world you can find intact retail from the 80s, but you’ve really got to get lucky. We wouldn’t be nostalgic for the idealized 80s mall if we could go out and find them. These things are ephemeral, vanishing, and disrespected - by the time enough time has passed for anyone to be nostalgic for something as ephemeral as a design trend, most of it is gone. </p><p>It will sooner rather than later come to pass that Disney Springs will be reworked into the newest trend as mandated by the newest managers and all that reclaimed wood and exposed filament light bulbs will become but another memory, partially preserved in amber alongside all of the other trend fossils at Walt Disney World.</p><p>And in that sense ironically Disney World <i><b>is</b></i> a museum, where a modular concrete slab structure is still called “The Contemporary”, where a rotating furniture gallery from 1964 spins ever onwards, and where all those years between then and now collapse into an instant.</p><p>It's just a mall - same as it ever was - but what a mall, with what a history.</p><p><i>If you enjoyed this piece on the intersection of history and themed design you should check out my book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926/">Boundless Realm</a>, all about the intersectionality of Disney's Haunted Mansion and popular culture!</i></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-50935705275350018572020-12-18T11:51:00.001-05:002021-12-03T19:44:02.088-05:00The Weird History of Ports O' Call Village<p>Today, I'm bringing you back. Back to a time when, in a relaxed milieu of quaint shingle structures embracing a body of water, sophisticated adult shoppers could mingle through boutiques like a tobacconist, fashionable resort wear, and candle shop, or perhaps take a relaxed cruise across a bay.</p><p>There was fresh seafood, a permanently moored fanciful ship, and the logo was a cartoon bird flying in a circle. The Walt Disney World Village.......... was a <i><b>complete knockoff </b></i>of Ports O' Call Village in San Pedro, California, one of the earliest and most influential retail developments in history.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LbbyW4hJi0WcHUKay2_GezpP0gI2K7IXTcXG5RGm0K5dQcFuldl8NuM_KumeExzaK9igOxmChC36wtpy5c5wIUKmc5LpLWxtASzmFIGRiDUiOM7ISHvsLgG4ltBuo0mYHRW0/s1326/POC+Bird+Logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="1326" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LbbyW4hJi0WcHUKay2_GezpP0gI2K7IXTcXG5RGm0K5dQcFuldl8NuM_KumeExzaK9igOxmChC36wtpy5c5wIUKmc5LpLWxtASzmFIGRiDUiOM7ISHvsLgG4ltBuo0mYHRW0/w400-h143/POC+Bird+Logo.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>What? Hold on here.... let's back this boat up and start from the beginning. What the heck is the Ports O' Call Village?</p><p>There are two players in this drama we must get to know: David C Tallichet Jr, and the Los Angeles Harbor Commission. The harbor commission had a strip of government land inside the harbor that they wanted to make some greenbacks on, and Tallichet had a shiny new restaurant in Long Beach called The Reef.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1wVq1T-8L8829kCiB3BbKXcKhfhmy9nIWzMi9DMZqotvHuizKdTYVQT02gwH20TANBYdAhPpfMLkG4UHTgC3sMVzR37_JXknpmwMGSIvUSSaQCt8X6bo9tU9yz9LCh_HvrQR/s2048/Port1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1259" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1wVq1T-8L8829kCiB3BbKXcKhfhmy9nIWzMi9DMZqotvHuizKdTYVQT02gwH20TANBYdAhPpfMLkG4UHTgC3sMVzR37_JXknpmwMGSIvUSSaQCt8X6bo9tU9yz9LCh_HvrQR/w400-h246/Port1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Tallichet in flush times</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>David Tallichet was a former WWII pilot who had worked as a manager of a Hilton hotel in Long Beach, back in those heady days when Hilton was regarded as the gold standard of hospitality and was just then starting to expand overseas.</p><p>Tallichet rounded up some investment partners, including George Millay - eventual creator of Sea World - and embarked on a series of restaurant ventures starting in Long Beach with The Reef in 1958. Tallichet's main idea was to build each restaurant to match and emphasize a scenic location and cross that with Disneyland-style theming - he built Polynesian restaurants overhanging the Pacific, aviation restaurants alongside airport runways, and sophisticated retreats in the hills ringing Los Angeles.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9w3ahTR74e4fZ0HlzE3rNE27zNS7M11l1CUf-Vot4FtE8kOAz483Iq9kq7Yy6-RRUMMwCGzcg5bqdn4KkluMdVr0ZJBglQj17zzyxiLn1aDr7DNO77fcDyRUseiGw5ghqzpu/s421/POC+Int.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9w3ahTR74e4fZ0HlzE3rNE27zNS7M11l1CUf-Vot4FtE8kOAz483Iq9kq7Yy6-RRUMMwCGzcg5bqdn4KkluMdVr0ZJBglQj17zzyxiLn1aDr7DNO77fcDyRUseiGw5ghqzpu/s320/POC+Int.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>At the same time, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission was seeking new tenants to revitalize a strip of land alongside the harbor in the city of San Pedro, then home to several old fishing piers and little else. The terms were good and the location, alongside the water with real ships passing in and out, had potential unlike any other restaurant in the area. Tallichet's Ports O' Call Restaurant, housed in a Polynesian longhouse and surrounded by a forest of tropical foliage in pure Adventureland tradition, opened in Feburary 1961 and proved an immediate success. A lagoon at the entrance, ringed with jungle-thick, had a Chinese junk partially sunken in it. Rooms inside were themed to Hawaii (Waikiki), Tahiti, the Hong Kong Yacht Club and a Japanese "Tea Room" - a concept lifted wholesale from Steve Crane's Kon-Tiki Ports chain in Hiltons across the country.<p></p><p>It was such a success that Tallichet went back to the Harbor Commission and secured another parcel of land a little south of Ports O' Call where he built another concept - the Yankee Whaler Inn. Housed in a Colonial New England style white clapboard structure, servers were dressed as 18th century nautical sailors and the kitchen issued forth chowders, scampis, and the largest lobsters that could be obtained. Both restaurants, as well as Tallichet's other ventures The Reef in Long Beach, Castaway in Burbank, and the Pieces of Eight in Marina del Ray, were designed by Vernon Leckman.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoG0I6Wy0nOhzrTTLlhoWLZhs0xx4vtR70Nl1pk13MfcXAPy7x7sBPMZCIoAPw3LzgMlk03qSjDXln8Y6ec9DzdjQHZa9cqc7Ru4r5lHtCL0dspJRa8QwdrXJhqQkNZRuqqMM9/s1227/Whaler+Ext.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1227" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoG0I6Wy0nOhzrTTLlhoWLZhs0xx4vtR70Nl1pk13MfcXAPy7x7sBPMZCIoAPw3LzgMlk03qSjDXln8Y6ec9DzdjQHZa9cqc7Ru4r5lHtCL0dspJRa8QwdrXJhqQkNZRuqqMM9/w400-h301/Whaler+Ext.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>The combination of San Pedro, then just starting to attempt to revitalize itself from decades of a rough waterfront reputation, and Tallichet's trendy themed restaurants, seemed impossible to beat. We're not sure if their next step was suggested by Tallichet or the commission, but it's when the project got truly creative. The first modern themed mall in America was announced. Tallichet pulled out all of the stops, including hiring Victor Gruen Associates for the master planning of the development.</p><p><i><b>"1.5 Million "Village" Approved"</b></i>, crows the headline of an item in the San Pedro Pilot of May 1962. The piece goes on...</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>"One of California's most important recreational developments since Disneyland is scheduled for construction this year in the Port of Los Angeles. David C. Tallichet, president of the Ports O' Call Restaurant Corporation announced today that the Harbor Commission has given its approval for the 1 1/2 million Ports O' Call Village immediately adjacent to the Ports o' Call Restaurant in San Pedro.</i></p><p><i>[...]</i></p><p><i>According to Tallichet's project manager, Edwin G. Gilfoy, the development will be remiscient of a 19th century fishing village, with cobblestone streets, gas lights and the aura of the sea.</i></p><p><i>"We have already purchased a 230 foot ferry and brought it down from Northern California for refurbishing", Gilfoy said. The old ferry will be moored in front of the Village and will house an Oriental and European import shop, a fantasy toy land, and a milk luncheon shop in the fashion of an old showboat."</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Later in construction in 1963, Leckman provided details to the Los Angeles Times:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>"Wood frame construction is being used through the development, with most exterior walls of heavy redwood and batten. Some finished redwood, shingle, plaster, tile, brick, and stone walls are also being utilized. Roofs are shingles and shakes, while streets and roads of the village will be of cobblestone to recapture the typical atmosphere of an 18th Century waterfront village.</i></p><p><i>"Nothing is being spared to recapture the authentic old world atmosphere," Leckman said, "Finishes are designed to weather quickly so as to enhance the weather-beaten appearance. Even the nails are ungalvanized so as to encourage rusting."</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Oh, and about that ferry boat, the SS Sierra Nevada, which was built in 1912 and long serviced as a form of mass transit across San Fransisco Bay. Tallichet actually bought it all the way back in 1961, as we discover in the Oakland Tribune, where we find that he paid $19,750 for it during an eight-day auction, and furthermore that <i>"The 49 year old ferryboat will be moored next to one of Tallichet's waterfront restaurants and rented to Sausalito merchant Luther W. Conover as a variety import store. Conover converted the old ferryboat Berkeley into the Trade Fair store two years ago in Sausalito."</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OIKMYGrnj1ymRK-E_Y3lqGpCIePy6c2kqQ81LASVN6fJS547443FyV3Ym0mxKeUNQW5bGHx3Bx39-8cYPmyp0hzgZwG6cmYimZpta4v3YjKLd1Xh2nSxf2DFFwThXD3MDgBQ/s1329/POC+Ferry+Buy.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1329" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OIKMYGrnj1ymRK-E_Y3lqGpCIePy6c2kqQ81LASVN6fJS547443FyV3Ym0mxKeUNQW5bGHx3Bx39-8cYPmyp0hzgZwG6cmYimZpta4v3YjKLd1Xh2nSxf2DFFwThXD3MDgBQ/w400-h241/POC+Ferry+Buy.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Tallichet, on the Right, buying the Sierra Nevada.</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Tallichet, whatever his other faults, began over-promising almost immediately. With his Shopping Village venture not even yet open and less than a year after the initial approval from the Harbor Commission, he announced yet more expansions.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibXqrUpYETbRwQaXDGwQ4-dC5BNV75GFboGrkcG2A7Ok1d_rqLEFdExRhmJVvKQkjPYZr3njIkMljAtBkxtXxjV6bjDE00Vu4zLNinf1CLanwI-PLqsDEOFnfiLWJh9Zt9-T1Y/s1083/POC+Gangway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1083" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibXqrUpYETbRwQaXDGwQ4-dC5BNV75GFboGrkcG2A7Ok1d_rqLEFdExRhmJVvKQkjPYZr3njIkMljAtBkxtXxjV6bjDE00Vu4zLNinf1CLanwI-PLqsDEOFnfiLWJh9Zt9-T1Y/w400-h250/POC+Gangway.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Gangway aboard the "Sierra Nevada" along "Flint Lock Lane"<br />at Ports O' Call Shopping Village</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"<i><b>2.7 Million 'Port Village' Seen - Approval sought for 14-acre development</b></i>", the front page of the News Pilot blares. The details spun below are dizzying and need to be recounted to make sense of the rest of our story:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"The commission, under Chairman Dr. George Wall, gave a village development organization representing Dave Tallichet and Norm Hagen a go-ahead to develop a long-pending Southland redevelopment project. The group approved the program in principle which would allow Hagen, who operates the existing sports fishing landing, and the Tallichet Group, to combine forces <b>under a 50-year lease to develop the entire 27 acres,</b> including the parking lot, as a unit under one operating body."</i></blockquote><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBVPGJh8f4S1h5b6aguTp5ssMd12zvjRLTwoQql9MCsnqrQhcJqMIdQVDeaHV2lY33mloFRiAXAPKC3wyfqRa1Q6E0VeZ9nj2NNN5wPpJGZT0arbY2j0PMQYYnQUI39qAjass/s1029/POC+Map.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="828" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBVPGJh8f4S1h5b6aguTp5ssMd12zvjRLTwoQql9MCsnqrQhcJqMIdQVDeaHV2lY33mloFRiAXAPKC3wyfqRa1Q6E0VeZ9nj2NNN5wPpJGZT0arbY2j0PMQYYnQUI39qAjass/s320/POC+Map.png" /></a></div><br />I've already indicated that Tallichet built the Yankee Whaler just south of the Ports O' Call Restaurant. The Ports O' Call <i>Shopping Village</i> opened just <b>north</b> of the Ports O' Call <i>Restaurant</i>. Immediately north of <b><i>that</i></b> was Norm's Sportfishing Pier. Demonstrating that Tallichet and Hagen had every intention, as of 1963, of working together to knit all of these businesses together into one huge shopping and recreation center, Tallichet built a third restaurant - Bay of Naples - just north of Norm's Pier. <p></p><p>Just read these plans:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"The multi-million dollar project will include four international villages, one with a Chinese flavor patterned after the port of Hong Kong, and three others drawing upon world famous ports. [...] Further plans call for the redevelopment of Norm's Sportfishing Landing into a Fisherman's Village area, including the expansion of the present sportfishing facilities; a high caliber amusement zone; an international village; a number of a new restaurants; a motor-hotel with 75 units and 60 boat slips and a three-story office building totalling some 55,000 sq. feet."</i></blockquote><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqX3_xwv5rB9tTGGi56oTmvsxZeGoCtzSSkiiFZRAiznl3O_pBLeec_CTGvP5JMd6THyvIwbKbiLueE-tCKJdylbqZ6ctoZ85ydc4s0ODmB_FMbouHNQL62nn07GdTj-EQfxbM/s800/Scan-180116-0002.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="800" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqX3_xwv5rB9tTGGi56oTmvsxZeGoCtzSSkiiFZRAiznl3O_pBLeec_CTGvP5JMd6THyvIwbKbiLueE-tCKJdylbqZ6ctoZ85ydc4s0ODmB_FMbouHNQL62nn07GdTj-EQfxbM/w400-h259/Scan-180116-0002.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The completed Village in 1963. The 1961 Ports O' Call Restaurant, surrounded<br />by foliage with drive-up roundabout, is on the far right.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Fuai6SuxXHiW3kExCITuPMpYrxNbzxz1B-LIU8yiqtVT8cleEk1YXjyl1fGNvvhE1As37agMRI2N6x6nvaapfqR96c5uuFOI6E0C9Y7QG9MW5thrYcAVYGuthORmcZlwRQx2/s1552/s-l1600.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1552" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Fuai6SuxXHiW3kExCITuPMpYrxNbzxz1B-LIU8yiqtVT8cleEk1YXjyl1fGNvvhE1As37agMRI2N6x6nvaapfqR96c5uuFOI6E0C9Y7QG9MW5thrYcAVYGuthORmcZlwRQx2/w371-h237/s-l1600.jpg" width="371" /></a></div>It must be pointed out that the early 60s were boom years for this sort of insane development speculation. The optimistic 50s had still not quite subsided, land prices were falling, suburbs were rising, and there seemed no ceiling on what fanciful projects the public would embrace. C.V. Wood, the man erased from Disney history, had gone on to poach design talent from imploding Hollywood studios like MGM and succeeded in building an unlikely chain of Disneyland-style amusement enterprises, most famously Freedomland in New York City. Roy Hofheinz in Houston had rode an unlikely rocket to success through politics and television, eventually building the Astrodome and his own Texas Disneyland, Astroworld, tied together in a recreation empire he called the "Astrodomain". And, of course, there's real estate developer Angus G. Wynne, who did what C.V. Wood and David Tallichet could not by opening Six Flags Over Texas, Georgia, and Mid-America -- places that still exist today.<p></p><p>Still, Tallichet's plans are absurdly ambitious, and eventually would come back to haunt Ports O' Call Village down the line. But for the moment, June 28, 1963, was all upside for Tallichet as the project finally opened. 1963 newspaper advertisements promote Hudson's Bay Company (a home wares store), Ole Legende Cove (imported foods), The Californian Men's Casual Wear, Casa d'Italia, Anthony Kane Jewelers, Wing's Chinese Art, The Mermaid's Dowry (sea shell gifts), Hickory Farms (yes, they once had stores), Murata Pearls from Japan, Thorsen's Scandanavia Shop on the Sierra Nevada, The Wheelhouse cafe, the Petal Pusher Flower Shop, Wynne's Boutique, Village Smoke Shop, a pet shop, and the Candy Cove. Rounding everything off, Tallichet had been operating an excursion boat for harbor cruises and cocktail parties, variously known either as the MV Princess or the SS Princess, of which I could find very little useful information.</p><p>The News Pilot may have slipped Dave a Mickey, however, when they casually revealed that the entire project cost $10 Million, not the $1.5 Million announced (unless, of course, that was a typo).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKzfiB7XtyeP2ei4Vxu3u34QIXhyphenhyphen3J6jkjXIsh41mi6hMRnvKJxFswVva8Lr6xX4zqWeLopVjfD78z-Gfq9gtizPXRi4jvyjvILBXS7VZiyHtBZ_CrWaStLjNVtlZhj43R_51/s2048/Port8.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1758" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKzfiB7XtyeP2ei4Vxu3u34QIXhyphenhyphen3J6jkjXIsh41mi6hMRnvKJxFswVva8Lr6xX4zqWeLopVjfD78z-Gfq9gtizPXRi4jvyjvILBXS7VZiyHtBZ_CrWaStLjNVtlZhj43R_51/w344-h400/Port8.jpg" width="344" /></a></div>Regardless, the Ports O' Call Village was, for 1963, entirely unique. Malls had not yet flourished across the country - most of the major malls in Los Angeles would not appear until the 1970s - and the Village instantly made the Port of Los Angeles into a destination on any tourist itinerary. A September 1963 advertisement boasts:<p></p><p><i>"No getting around it, the new Ports of Call Village is really a very astonishing place. We beat our drum and shout it from the mountain tops, yet everyone who visits the Village for the first time says the same thing: "Why, I didn't know it was anything like this..!" We hide behind light posts all day just to listen to them. We know its an astonishing place... it was meant to be that way. But, people don't believe it until they see it."</i></p><p>In August 1963, announcing the arrival at the village of a "<i>folk music hootenanny</i>" (can't make this stuff up...), the Village estimated that around 85,000 people visited during the past weekend.</p><p>It took the Port Commission and Tallichet some time to make their next move. Writing almost fifteen years later in 1977, News Pilot author Mike Daugherty speaks of plans to build a maritime museum at the port, born of technological advances in the shipping industry which was wiping out the old fashioned traditions of the old port city. San Pedro's Beacon Street district, once a notorious strip of dives and whore houses catering to sailors on shore leave, was shortly to fall victim to urban renewal. Harbor Commissioners, led by Dr. George Wall, hired Ray Wallace to design an appropriate museum stylized after the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSnaYjpA2NiY_svhezhauESU6IYnoxjc2LJ89CK3LGEZUXwv9RCPCcg4kb8P8WkEZaiAYjQQ3Lhzi5MPh565rpX32PNvmKi6eYv3rF6SU_N7BW-ipi9HFlyFZHyqXVvFJkq4ua/s1929/POC+Museum.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1929" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSnaYjpA2NiY_svhezhauESU6IYnoxjc2LJ89CK3LGEZUXwv9RCPCcg4kb8P8WkEZaiAYjQQ3Lhzi5MPh565rpX32PNvmKi6eYv3rF6SU_N7BW-ipi9HFlyFZHyqXVvFJkq4ua/w400-h268/POC+Museum.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"His plans included replicas of an old San Pedro church, the Exchange Hotel, a railroad museum, and the port's first pilot and marine exchange station. He says the village area would have included some retail shops, but the [historic] sailing ship would have been the main attraction."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>To this end Tallichet apparently invested $8000 and agreed to allow the Museum group build in open land south of his Yankee Whaler Inn, pending that an appropriate sailing ship could be procured. Al Atchinson, who was on the Maritime Museum Association, accuses Tallichet of retracting his support for the project and moving ahead with an expansion of the shopping village on his own; Tallichet cites "political problems" at the port at the time. Daugherty notes, <i>"One harbor commissioner was found dead in the harbor waters and four others later were indicted on bribery charges connected with construction of the Pacific Trade Center."</i></p><p><b><i>....Excuse me??</i></b></p><p>It's True! In 1964, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty appointed Pietro Di Carlo, prominent area businessman to the Harbor Commission. Under Yorty and Di Carlo, Los Angeles was aggressively moving forward with a World Trade Center project, intended to be split between Los Angeles Airport and Terminal Island and viewed as key to the continued economic success of the port. The project was announced, ground was broken, but no trade center appeared. Ominously, rumbles of conflicts of interest arose in the pages of the Los Angeles Times.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VPLGswRNxM6kYXN0KKH-ptnOvHq8bVFmPKzLqOlqLT_h1Vfse7Nu0oL2O6bXBSxve1Oofb_4eM5MOVkg8-h_O4yCEtL3Ylj3OGZ-WUsOKP0nzr9xj3cqkHl48aAwEI48Mgxn/s800/POC+street.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="735" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VPLGswRNxM6kYXN0KKH-ptnOvHq8bVFmPKzLqOlqLT_h1Vfse7Nu0oL2O6bXBSxve1Oofb_4eM5MOVkg8-h_O4yCEtL3Ylj3OGZ-WUsOKP0nzr9xj3cqkHl48aAwEI48Mgxn/w294-h320/POC+street.png" width="294" /></a></div>And then, on November 7, 1967, Di Carlo was found floating face down in a slip at the old San Pedro Ferry building. Mayor Yorty screamed foul. A few weeks later, a Grand Jury was convened to investigate charges of embezzlement, and handed down their indictments on December 29, while Mayor Yorty was on vacation in Acapulco. Essentially, board member George Walton had voted to approve the plans presented by board member Kevin Smith who owned the construction company which had been awarded the contract the build the Trade Center - all actors appointed by Yorty, of course. The trouble is that Smith had recently taken out quite a large number of shares in Cabrillo Savings and Loan, owned by... Pietro Di Carlo, as well as possible monetary kickbacks and trading of office furniture.... the Trade Center never got off the ground. Ironically, the building where the body was found is today the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.<p></p><p>But Tallichet had been granted approval for his ambitious plans for the entire strip of land, with its hotel and amusement park, so he went ahead and started building while the Harbor Commission was dragging their feet on plans for museums and trade centers. The Shopping Village was already directly connected to the Ports O' Call Restaurant, and his next venture would connect the Ports O' Call to the Yankee Whaler Inn, allowing free access to the entire strip of Tallichet holdings, and also Norm's Pier.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5FJVt1YPsXw_khpPnB0GydSfIVgT4BNMuJkcP6NVOt_Kk-33X9STJ7AECTmgxbqlIMF5UM3XB6x2Zc7W7vo9OdO-k29KUhj57gqDVUdDYpR96aBr9Z_Kc81xUs_h7sEw0cwJ/s1282/WW+Bridge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1282" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5FJVt1YPsXw_khpPnB0GydSfIVgT4BNMuJkcP6NVOt_Kk-33X9STJ7AECTmgxbqlIMF5UM3XB6x2Zc7W7vo9OdO-k29KUhj57gqDVUdDYpR96aBr9Z_Kc81xUs_h7sEw0cwJ/w400-h250/WW+Bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>A bridge was built across the lagoon in front of the Ports O' Call, leading visitors into the most thematically ambitious section of the Shopping Village, the Whaler's Wharf. The Valley Views from Van Nuys was suitably impressed:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"To say the new buildings are authentic reproductions is certainly true and they are as cute and quaint as one could imagine. They've even gone so far as to build some of them off plumb, with caving roof lines, crooked doors, and walls that appear to careen off into the water. Streets are narrow and winding, paved with brick and including the center drain for runoff water..."</i></blockquote><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5WiLDY4yUYO7uYuHGBE9kwdOInpYgg-NtronHdqMBOjfDOIHyI50WgXoVZnSg1xnoxniiuOrnf8jp_jpy0tPWBMEkFV0G6ulBHHvBYAJZpBN6TARdjoNdUw-3XiNHfPnd4LM/s1270/WW+Popcorn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1270" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5WiLDY4yUYO7uYuHGBE9kwdOInpYgg-NtronHdqMBOjfDOIHyI50WgXoVZnSg1xnoxniiuOrnf8jp_jpy0tPWBMEkFV0G6ulBHHvBYAJZpBN6TARdjoNdUw-3XiNHfPnd4LM/w400-h251/WW+Popcorn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Looking at photos and postcards of the Whaler's Wharf, it's hard not to be impressed. It may be a mall, but in intimacy and execution its darn close to the real deal, and far more atmospheric than Liberty Square at Magic Kingdom. Decades later, in his essential <i>Los Angeles: The City Observed</i>, architect Charles Moore waxed poetic about Ports O Call and the Wharf in particular:<p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>"The first phase, in the middle, is a particularly relaxed mixture of California Ranch board-and-batten and shakes, a somewhat Spanish stucco, and a little Beverley Hills ornamented French, just like everything else in Los Angeles - especially in the early 60s.</i></p><p><i>[..]</i></p><p><i>...An old Nantucket whaling port theme was kept in mind and carried out with considerable verve. The shops are mostly two stories, but they seem small and cute, arranged informally along winding brick streets or wooden wharves or intimate plazas. The buildings come in a number of persuasions, covered in clapboard or shingles or sometimes brick, but they all seem to belong here, united by certain details, like small-paned windows in white frames and by the luxuriant foliage and the care that went into them. Three full-size, square-rigged sailing ships, which go out on harbor and dinner cruises, are berthed at one of the wharves; their intricately rigged masts float above the little buildings at least as realistically as the Matterhorn at Disneyland does above Main Street."</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwJM-ilCTjUcRlXmAT2ght4ZhzmWVRz-ZVIvsTDF4QKSdPqVymRhsjvtGaJMz_Uq95_GEVNbzG9JPjUAjczCIOL4beO4Ii_U0K7qXZKsi5h95UVz7RgF1bfvQho07ykwfGM1D/s1102/WW+2nd.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1102" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwJM-ilCTjUcRlXmAT2ght4ZhzmWVRz-ZVIvsTDF4QKSdPqVymRhsjvtGaJMz_Uq95_GEVNbzG9JPjUAjczCIOL4beO4Ii_U0K7qXZKsi5h95UVz7RgF1bfvQho07ykwfGM1D/w400-h253/WW+2nd.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>At least one of those ships was named the Buccaneer Queen and was built - at first as a hobby - by Gary Nevarez, a retired police officer from Venice. The News Pilot of September 1971 informs us that its sails were used in the filming of <i>Mutiny on the Bounty</i>, presumably the ill-fated 1962 version with Marlon Brando. It was operating at the Ports O' Call possibly as early as 1965, and today seems to sail from Cabo San Lucas in Baja, Mexico.<p></p><p>1967's Whaler Wharf represented not just a high point for themed shopping, but it's the high point for the entire Ports O Call project. Perhaps Di Carlo turning up dead in a slip just north of Ports O' Call really was a sign of things to come, but very soon the bloom would be off the rose and times, as always, were changing fast.</p><p>--</p><p>In May 1970, the Harbor Commission approved plans for a 328-foot sky tower attraction to be built in the parking lot across from the main entrance to the Shopping Village at a cost of $425,000. Modeled on the Sky Towers at Sea World and Marineland, admission was to be set at 60 cents per adult and 30 cents per child and said to be ready for January 1971.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEFcNq18DUHFEPWvuiXYR1lEbwy58mJoygXAB7KIoiIirgqEomNB_PubSPLm-klE14JzGmiAZVXWzhLbO7nem9nrP72RzzLlyRna2YXhOPMIcdm2vnWECnq6xt5N5Q8xm-ONj/s1131/POC+Skytower+Build.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="483" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEFcNq18DUHFEPWvuiXYR1lEbwy58mJoygXAB7KIoiIirgqEomNB_PubSPLm-klE14JzGmiAZVXWzhLbO7nem9nrP72RzzLlyRna2YXhOPMIcdm2vnWECnq6xt5N5Q8xm-ONj/w171-h400/POC+Skytower+Build.png" width="171" /></a></div>January came and went, as the Sky Tower went up in pieces, until March 1971, when high winds in the area caused the tower, around two-thirds complete, to crack. Two sections at the top of the tower were removed and then work stopped as engineers and management studied the issue. Two years passed, until Janurary 1973, when work resumed. Ports O' Call promised the structure would be ready by April. That didn't happen either.<p></p><p>The Skytower <i>finally</i> opened on Saturday, May 25, 1974, three and a half years behind schedule. On its second day of operation, 25 people were trapped in the passenger capsule and had to be evacuated via fire ladder. Two days later, the same incident repeated itself, although the tower was able to resume operation after an hour and the rescue team was not called.</p><p>In September 1977, the Sierra Nevada ferry sprang a leak. The four shops and two restaurants aboard were closed, and the manager of the shopping complex told the News Pilot that the repairs would cost more than the boat was worth and it would be scrapped. Yet in September 1978, the Sierra Nevada still floated... in Long Beach Harbor, apparently derelict after being blown onto Terminal Island during a storm. This happened because the owner of the vessel, a salvage operator named Al Kidman, was currently in federal prison on Terminal Island (!) after damaging the Cabrillo Beach Fishing Pier with a half-sunken boat. And so, from San Fransisco to Los Angeles and finally Long Beach, the Sierra Nevada passes out of history.</p><p>Incidentally, the Sierra Nevada's sister establishment docked in Sausalito also sprung a leak in 1970, although the fate of the 1898 Berkeley was a happier one - she was purchased by the Maritime Museum of San Diego where she exists today. There were brief rumblings of the SS Catalina coming to Ports O' Call Village to replace the ferry, but this never happened. At some point following the removal of the ferry, the walkway to the former location of the ferry and the buildings bordering the gangplank were pulled down. Since the Shopping Village was literally built around the ferry, this meant that the carefully planned effect of meandering through cobblestone streets was permanently compromised, much as if the buildings housing Cafe Orleans and French Market at Disneyland were pulled down but the rest of the area left intact. Ports O' Call was now more of a C-shaped grid of buildings facing open harbor space.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpeYaKu1cx8btaJVy0qHTU_-wWIX2hyMv-iToRW-19eGQxG4SRtrwhqUIXEpNXWmbr0Wkh9fhceAYsY_0VUGQM5rXUs2pTLNNPlGYhSLqdb4vFNZh4FepOKbR9pS29jsTKbKX/s900/portscardwithtower.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpeYaKu1cx8btaJVy0qHTU_-wWIX2hyMv-iToRW-19eGQxG4SRtrwhqUIXEpNXWmbr0Wkh9fhceAYsY_0VUGQM5rXUs2pTLNNPlGYhSLqdb4vFNZh4FepOKbR9pS29jsTKbKX/w400-h266/portscardwithtower.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It appears as if the Skytower ceased regular operations in 1979, meaning it got five paltry years of operation. By 1980, Ports O' Call was offering free rides in the Sky Tower with a $5 purchase in any shop, presumably only running the attraction on days when the offer was valid. The Sky Tower attraction closed quietly in either 1983 or 1984 - as a representative told the Los Angeles Times, it simply never paid.</p><p>Things were generally not rosy at Ports O' Call by the 1980s. In 1984, merchants in the village banded together to plead against a rent increase. The News Pilot reported that <i>"promised work on walkways, landscaping, lighting, roofs, signs and building exteriors and an inoperable skytower are all months overdue. In the case of the walkways, the situation is so bad that that some village visitors have suffered injuries and filed lawsuits. Yet rather than replace those walkways, the old ones have been patched and re-patched, work that as repair can be billed to tenants. [..] Tallichet would have to pay if new walks were installed."</i></p><p>The Harbor Commission agreed, opining that Tallichet had never fully fulfilled the terms of their 50 year agreement - no Mexican or Danish Villages, no motor hotel - and was negligent in maintaining his properties. This bad publicity did cause a minor spending spree at Ports O Call. Repairs began, and The Ports O' Call restaurant closed in September for what was reported to be a $1 million renovation, although employees complained they were not informed of the closure until a week before. The new look added a second level with banquet facilities, although the Polynesian theme was done away with almost entirely. Described as "Nautical Victorian", photos of the place which survive online resemble more an 80s retirement home recreation room with bits of tropical decor here and there - a sad end for a restaurant which once had a sunken ship out front.</p><p>In 1986, the Los Angeles Times reported that discontent amongst the Merchants had not abated. Tallichet's firm had vacillated over what to do with the unprofitable Sky Tower for years, and as of 1986 was considering selling it to Bob-Lo Island in Michigan. <i>"The Sky Tower is a landmark and we would prefer that it stay"</i>, one was quoted as saying, <i>"The majority of the merchants want the the Sky Tower left up and operational."</i> The Los Angeles Time article enumerates massive complaints, including delayed lease negotiations, rotting wooden walkways, termites, and painting of surfaces that was only done at eye level.</p><p>The Sky Tower was indeed pulled down and relocated to Michigan, where it operated until the park closed in 1993. This did nothing to help Ports O Call. By 1986, there were newer, better malls in places like Santa Monica, Glendale, Thousand Oaks, and Culver City. Moreover, the Ports O Call concept had been copied in a more modern, whimsical style at Shoreline Village in Long Beach. Why drive all the way out to the port? The decline had begun.</p><p>--</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcdfBJTfmPhVh63FfunAKsQMjXPiZ6VYEGAqQS3bnzFZaacGBRoFVo0N19MuwlSQXfMzqQ5kvXDSC5wDcQxRWwh7sXl4A8chyfARsBTl8bgOMCmlQ1EOQl88YpLae9U8vWsk_/s2336/POC+Then+Now.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="2336" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcdfBJTfmPhVh63FfunAKsQMjXPiZ6VYEGAqQS3bnzFZaacGBRoFVo0N19MuwlSQXfMzqQ5kvXDSC5wDcQxRWwh7sXl4A8chyfARsBTl8bgOMCmlQ1EOQl88YpLae9U8vWsk_/w400-h153/POC+Then+Now.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAm0CRvKINZAJKJJenZngQXTVXQ2cvBE4anb4ZA_bf4tI77Dlnj98ErPSO6e9s8H8rINdLkGCSy4sUtWMD_dnSWw-6AFp7CQmCaHnsGkge6mGwtq_UoeQ5OA0w-0MsB5PiGtN/s1221/Screen+Shot+2020-12-12+at+1.15.19+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1221" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAm0CRvKINZAJKJJenZngQXTVXQ2cvBE4anb4ZA_bf4tI77Dlnj98ErPSO6e9s8H8rINdLkGCSy4sUtWMD_dnSWw-6AFp7CQmCaHnsGkge6mGwtq_UoeQ5OA0w-0MsB5PiGtN/w400-h266/Screen+Shot+2020-12-12+at+1.15.19+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYLt8fcUF5E" target="_blank">American Woman RV on YouTube</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table>By the time I saw Ports O' Call in 2012, the decades of neglect had not been kind. The few operating shops seemed to specialize in cheap tat like $5 t shirts and wind chimes. The Yankee Whaler Inn and most of the Whaler's Wharf had been pulled down years ago, leaving a few inexplicable and closed up New England style shops sitting out all alone by the water. As hilariously and accurately described by author Eric Brightwell, its specialty seemed to be "<a href="https://ericbrightwell.com/2018/01/12/california-fools-gold-exploring-san-pedro/">family fare with palpable menace</a>".<div><br /></div><div>But the story of the Ports O' Call is also the story of all failed shopping malls, even those without historic verisimilitude, pirate ships built by retired policemen, leaky ferries and broken sky rides. What once was viewed as a source of civic pride and a community center slowly gave way to decay and endless cycles of deferred re-investment until it was too late.<p></p><p>Ironically, the one part of the complex spared this fate was Norm's Landing. As Tallichet and the Harbor Commission dragged their feet on the endless Sky Tower debacle, Norm's was saved from imminent removal long enough to weather the storm. In the 70s, Norm's had begun operating a seafood restaurant, and in 1978 the Harbor Commission approved the construction of a second seafood restaurant nearby. This was the legendary San Pedro Fish Market, and by 1982 it had expanded and swallowed whole the adjoining restaurants, as well as Norm's Landing itself.</p><p>Today, the San Pedro Fish Market still operates, having outlasted every single business around it. It's a cheap, boisterous, loud place. You join the endless hordes filing past the gigantic seafood case, standing on tile that looks exactly like it was installed in 1982. Your pick out your seafood, it is weighed, and you carry it over to the kitchen, where they cook it on huge, flat top griddles, from which emerges ludicrous, heaping piles of seafood on plastic trays. You buy a cheap Mexican beer and carry your seven or eight pounds of seafood outside to an endless seating area alongside the harbor. It's kind of skeevy, and it's awesome.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDqnF4GS3pIyQ0a94_ic-TMVo-S7LNZaWMa8YtkHlqxnGZNRqRBOxVGqAPmIU1QoqBEhPv0AUAPYWAKDWH8J2swZGP07CWsDtg83Zwt-gsSJa95JFuECaey5OGmKZggk2oNJJ/s1000/Photo-Sep-11-7-32-37-PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDqnF4GS3pIyQ0a94_ic-TMVo-S7LNZaWMa8YtkHlqxnGZNRqRBOxVGqAPmIU1QoqBEhPv0AUAPYWAKDWH8J2swZGP07CWsDtg83Zwt-gsSJa95JFuECaey5OGmKZggk2oNJJ/w400-h225/Photo-Sep-11-7-32-37-PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In other words, even if Norm's Landing itself is a distant memory, the whole Norm's Landing <i>ethos</i> of cheap food and entertainment has far and long outlasted the rest of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission's over-reaching ambitions to bring high class culture circa 1962 to a place which once was home to screamingly drunk sailors staggering their way towards Beacon Street. No money may have been spared to bring tourists and swells down to the waterfront, but in the end it was the cheap thrills of working class pier that outlasted them all, as it has in all places and all times. You could eat your weight in fish then stagger south to a weirdly derelict collection of shops and wonder what any of this was doing here, as I did. That's why this essay exists.</p><p>David C. Tallichet died in 2007. Very little of his restaurant empire remains, and it's uncertain how much more of it will end up surviving Covid-19. Tallichet opened more shopping villages, including a failed one in Tampa and a little-loved "Londontowne" venture alongside the Queen Mary in Long Beach. If it ever reopens, Proud Bird at LAX is a place where you can get a pretty decent burger and watch the planes land. The former WWII airman ended up amassing a massive collection of vintage fighter planes and will be remembered perhaps by that specialist community better than for his development career. It was his personal B-17 bomber that appeared in the 1990 film <i>Memphis Belle</i>, and he flew it across the country to the shoot himself.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1GR9Mlp6ESOqulCpuEnFe-rKyzajJDyIvRLglhGopyTQRjhyphenhyphendSxk4BX5XiUEARp4UNXZVb42HVKpE6UBhL3VvdfNpvHx9f6vcZPf384IXI3PUJZRKWQvvYANdnjBKpgtI1D8/s800/49547793852_19be0180c2_c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1GR9Mlp6ESOqulCpuEnFe-rKyzajJDyIvRLglhGopyTQRjhyphenhyphendSxk4BX5XiUEARp4UNXZVb42HVKpE6UBhL3VvdfNpvHx9f6vcZPf384IXI3PUJZRKWQvvYANdnjBKpgtI1D8/w400-h266/49547793852_19be0180c2_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The last standing part of Whaler's Wharf in 2018 / <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/baldmike2012/49547793852/in/photolist-2iunoTN-2iENdFJ-WaAnyw-QVpNtK-ddQhAM-24gXpsf-ddQjV5-ddcwqC-PyRGLv-despui-RsYGL1-ddbSkK-deFGnz-de8DVT-deJfpV-25RrHzU-deFH1u-deFKCK-despF3-26h1i8Z-247672v-2duQwR7-JN4z3K-QSL135-DUszBX-2haxVt1-de8EgV-deFHcR-deFE9n-desoVM-26xGfpH-desqe3-V8txgN-2hb5za3-R6UDQD-2bwyBgt-FtLbCQ-U2h73R-JKsPiF-dVbRxq-dUGHxj-dUB8aT-7e6Knr-dVu4Zx-9epP-2ha3K53-2jSJDWf-Yg1bXL-2jSJBGq-2h8YKYT" target="_blank">Michael Nyiri on Flickr</a></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 2016, Harbor Officials announced that the entire strip of property that once was Tallichet's empire would be re-developed. They evicted all of the of the shop owners, largely operated by minority business owners, causing a furore amongst locals. In 2017, the remaining operating restaurants closed - Acapulco, the Crusty Crab, and a few others. The last one standing was the historic Ports O' Call, no longer part of the Specialty Restaurants Group and gone slightly to seed - the owners simply ignored the eviction notice, kept booking parties, and claimed they were able to stay open. An injunction was filed, a Judge upheld the rights of the Harbor Commission, and the 1961 landmark was torn down. The upcoming $150 Million dollar replacement, The San Pedro Public Market, looks exactly like the generic bullshit you'd expect to be built in 2020.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfjBKy3YllJNgP0diWeatwEr0Oebbj9t7tss7lijqLEBP10dYjA1g5P5dA-vERH2lMFBcj_KPv210WgzjjJT_eCHOIc-2jjg38bK28EVdnVslKrS_my9c1SswIKmIasK5fpBz/s1860/TDB-L-DEMOLITION-110932_27604475.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1860" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfjBKy3YllJNgP0diWeatwEr0Oebbj9t7tss7lijqLEBP10dYjA1g5P5dA-vERH2lMFBcj_KPv210WgzjjJT_eCHOIc-2jjg38bK28EVdnVslKrS_my9c1SswIKmIasK5fpBz/w400-h238/TDB-L-DEMOLITION-110932_27604475.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ports O' Call Village comes down / <a href="https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/11/08/demolition-resumes-on-whats-left-of-ports-o-call-village-in-san-pedro/" target="_blank">Daily Breeze</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>----</p><p>Except!</p><p>When it came time for Walt Disney Productions to plan their downtown of shops and restaurants for their <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/06/lake-buena-vista-and-shaping-orlando.html" target="_blank">proposed Lake Buena Vista timeshare community</a>, they quite naturally looked to the most prominent local example to pattern their own shopping village on.</p><p>Remember that in 1973, the main early Southern California malls such as the Glendale Galleria were still several years away. It’s not that indoor malls were unheard of - the downtown of Walt’s Epcot city was patterned after those - but they mostly had begun being built in the 1950s before the industry briefly shifted to the model typified by the Ports O' Call.</p><p>It was a short lived trend, and the gigantic climate controlled box would return to favor as a hangout for youths, destroying the memory of the quaint shopping villages of the 1960s. But in the early 70s, a landscaped network of shops was considered the more modern and adult option, and one of the best examples in the country was just down on the harbor.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTC3aY5TIq7FgzpWht2k5PR4VAu-t5L-EzJNdE_AiuAzBrcNvKnsHhrLW8gEngB2QB5D7dNT4AOk7zuypC9pB89eHPvHq9m0iCzZoc98hkiPtXuv3YOdc2BAjdW-UYETm9XXSP/s499/3917163698_19dc3291ab.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="499" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTC3aY5TIq7FgzpWht2k5PR4VAu-t5L-EzJNdE_AiuAzBrcNvKnsHhrLW8gEngB2QB5D7dNT4AOk7zuypC9pB89eHPvHq9m0iCzZoc98hkiPtXuv3YOdc2BAjdW-UYETm9XXSP/w400-h266/3917163698_19dc3291ab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Disney took it all - the weathered wood, the waterside location, the flowers and statues, the boat rentals, the quaint carved signs, the seafood restaurant on the water, even the candle shop. When it came time to expand they added a big white boat, although theirs was a paddlewheel, not a ferry, and they built it as an actual structure sitting on a foundation in the water which is why it's still there today. Many early promotional descriptions refer to the Walt Disney World Village as "New England Style", which may be crossed wires - parts of Ports O' Call definitely were New England, but the Buena Vista Village was not.<p></p><p>And it's not like Disney was alone, as the Ports O' Call begat imitators local and national - just in Southern California there was San Diego's Seaport Village, Long Beach's Shoreline Village, and Huntington Beach's Old World Village. And then again of course the Walt Disney World Village would soon expand and be copied all around the world. And although the exact model of Disney shopping complex that would proliferate was based more on the Paris Disney Village from 1992, without Disney's pioneering effort to expand their merchandising power in 1975 I doubt that any of those facilities would exist.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFAA9lQciRX3XZ7Loe2EJcqh3anQ0eTs2ox5r5KnTdK7CUX8L_yfl6Ph8SNXaT0JKv2dFGZ3lv0DyYGP8TvHxg-3HDTkZwEPtmRkzoUlDTs_NDD7awOHeSFL4u_-4NxkWg8C6/s1426/POC+WDW+Village.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1426" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFAA9lQciRX3XZ7Loe2EJcqh3anQ0eTs2ox5r5KnTdK7CUX8L_yfl6Ph8SNXaT0JKv2dFGZ3lv0DyYGP8TvHxg-3HDTkZwEPtmRkzoUlDTs_NDD7awOHeSFL4u_-4NxkWg8C6/w400-h253/POC+WDW+Village.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In 2020, Disney was able to resume operations at their amusement facilities in Shanghai, Orlando, Anaheim, and Paris only after rolling out operations of their shopping areas, demonstrating they key monetary and operational role these little areas have come to have for the company.</p><p>So in a way, Ports O' Call does live on, <i>through</i> Disney, the entity that inspired the whole project to begin with. Ports O' Call, from whence was launched a thousand shopping malls, still carries on in our culture, unloved and forgotten -- in its own way one of the most influential retail developments in history. A quite astonishing place, now a pile of rubble alongside the port which inspired it.</p><p>--</p><p><i>Passport to Dreams Old & New has yet more rigorously researched articles on stuff you've never heard of - begin at our portal for <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/lake-buena-vista-hub-page.html" target="_blank">the Disney version of Port O' Calls, Lake Buena Vista</a>, then move on to our <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html" target="_blank">Walt Disney World History Hub</a>!</i></p><p><i>Or check out the author's brand new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank">Boundless Realm: Deep Explorations Inside Disney's Haunted Mansion.</a></i></p></div>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-69821903597064342122020-10-04T02:24:00.006-04:002020-12-11T12:23:36.087-05:00Now Available! Boundless Realm: Deep Explorations Inside Disney’s Haunted Mansion<p><b>Great News! My first book is now available through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boundless-realm-foxx-nolte/1137748481" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>, and other sellers! <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank">Click here</a> to grab it, or keep reading to find out what went into this massive project!</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXikOVTMsfY24hEyIZmNTlosR2ibdWA4mVMHr_wpLyfFxQF3P4mfu-mV47EmdUMEGt85ujYXr6A-uylWCaBxAFdRRy5OliaN_ftlxI7q7CQ30Qh8jANu8SFkPTaQCSWhifrgw_/s2048/BR+Promo+2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXikOVTMsfY24hEyIZmNTlosR2ibdWA4mVMHr_wpLyfFxQF3P4mfu-mV47EmdUMEGt85ujYXr6A-uylWCaBxAFdRRy5OliaN_ftlxI7q7CQ30Qh8jANu8SFkPTaQCSWhifrgw_/w400-h266/BR+Promo+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>In September 2014, I lost my job.</p><p>While sitting outside wondering what I was going to do next, a stray thought occurred to me: <i>maybe I should finally write that book.</i> If only I had known...!</p><p>For some time before that, the idea had been percolating in my mind that I probably <i><b>could</b></i> write a book about the Haunted Mansion that would be unlike the other two books already written. Write what you know, as the saying goes, and I definitely knew the Haunted Mansion. Some time before I had read Roy Blount Jr.'s <i>Hail, Hail, Euphoria!</i>, a sort of text-based audio commentary for the Marx Brothers comedy <i>Duck Soup</i>, which moves along through the film point by point while allowing time to stop discuss matters requiring more elaboration. That struck me as an interesting way to structure a book about a theme park attraction. So I started writing one day.</p><p>The trouble is that I had no idea <i>how</i> to write a book except that I needed to write <b>a lot</b>, so I just kind of started writing. And writing. And writing. This is a terrible way to write a book, I probably don't need to say, but it was the only way I could think of to force myself through it. And one reason the book took as long as it did is because I very much invented what the thing was about as I deleted sections, added others, re-thought the format, and slowly discovered what the tone and shape of my first book was going to be. </p><p>Along the way the book stopped being wholly a 'virtual tour' of the attraction and began to widen out beyond the typical scope of a Disney book. On this blog I’ve often struggled to give full expression to the scope of my interests, but in this book they roam free, wide, and loose, causing frequent detours into history, or film culture, less exhalted corners of theme park design, or dreams and folklore. Each chapter in the book is, like the essays on this site, roughly self contained, but unlike here they can also build and twist back into each other since they are laid ut in a fixed linear way. So, if you just jump in and want read my thoughts on one section of the ride, that works as a contained unit, but as the book goes on the resonances between sections build into a more holistic portrait of a great piece of art. If you’ve ever wondered what a 300 page Passport to Dreams post would be like, here is your answer.</p><p>Yet I’ve also tried to keep the book fast moving and fun, and the result is, I believe, the first Disney book of its type published anywhere. This is the first critical monograph on an attraction ever published, attacking the question of what makes the Haunted Mansion so great from any angle I can find. Like it says on the cover: deep explorations.</p><p>And that's my best answer to why we need a <i><b>third</b></i> book on the Mansion. It really digs into why and how the thing works so well, and why this weird ride from 50 years ago still garners fans. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx9Al6B-9uBUMXKTRwDrx_kucFMG-4sJxLXRmqqkLD2vldplD_W78pXOsfpGQ4Jtz9Z8_cTyaHvDAGhGkreQDFEjd3ZeI6A0lNx-qyMXvCCUncDfPOJqXmRvTgdGOLY4u_YME/s2048/BR+Promo+5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="2048" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx9Al6B-9uBUMXKTRwDrx_kucFMG-4sJxLXRmqqkLD2vldplD_W78pXOsfpGQ4Jtz9Z8_cTyaHvDAGhGkreQDFEjd3ZeI6A0lNx-qyMXvCCUncDfPOJqXmRvTgdGOLY4u_YME/w400-h238/BR+Promo+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Look and Design</b></p><p>Those who enjoy the level of fiddly detail I poured into my previous giant project, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/12/another-musical-souvenir-of-walt-disney.html" target="_blank">Another Musical Souvenir of Walt Disney World</a>, will find much that is familiar here. I wanted to make this book as intensely involved with the Mansion as I am, and I’ve made sure that every inch of this book is full of little touches that speak to its pedigree - like me - of a result of this intense involvement.</p><p>For instance, the illustrations. There were from the start certain things that I could not publish - either because I could never secure the proper clearances to do so, or because good photographs simply not existing. So I ended up rendering around 30 illustrations, which are almost as moody and detailed as the ride itself is.</p><p>I wanted the book itself to feel almost as if it’s inhabiting the same universe as the ride, not just lifting design cues. It would have been easy to throw the Haunted Mansion font everywhere and call it a day, but my goal here was to have an end result that felt as if you had gotten out of your doombuggy and pulled a book off the shelf in the ride’s library scene and it just happened to be this book. </p><p>I also wanted this book to be the sort of thing you would feel comfortable reading in the bath tub (where I do a lot of my reading) or popping in your luggage to take to Disney. I want you to enjoy and use this book, which is why it’s a reasonable size and only available in soft cover. As a twelve year old I dragged that huge Imagineering hardcover book with me everywhere, and it sure looks like it today. As a Disney book collector, I've also been encumbered with such volumes as the Taschen Walt Disney Film Archives, a thing of beauty that cannot reasonably be stored on existing book shelves. My book is intentionally the opposite of the monster eight pound books we have all been accumulating with increasing regularity.</p><p>There will be a digital version available, although only for Amazon's Kindle format. There are unfortunate technical reasons for this, as it became quickly apparent that targeting the more broadly supported EPUB format would involve essentially redoing all of the months of work we had just put into the print version. The Kindle version has all of the same content in a roughly comparable format, but the layout and text choices are compromised and in my opinion the book looks significantly worse. This is par for the course for eBook formats, so if you have the option, I hope you'll spring for the print version.</p><p>The title was a constant problem. My preferred original title was <i>Sympathetic Vibrations</i>, but there's already plenty of things out there already called that. For a long time I called the book <i>This Old Dark House,</i> which is what the central "tour section" of the book is called. I liked this because it made reference to the "old dark house" thriller genre which I feel the Mansion is directly descended from, but it's a sort of dopey thing to call a book. I knew I needed something better, something that ideally implied that the book had a certain historical perspective and was unusual. I landed on <i>American Phantasmagoria</i>, which I liked a lot. In the end, the name <i>Boundless Realm</i> occurred to me earlier this year, which is just about perfect. It's a line from the ride - although not an obvious one - and it implies the there's going to be a lot of ground to cover here. In concert with a cover image which intentionally leans more into "40s horror movie" territory, it really implies that this is going to be a Disney book with a difference.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-jiG63PvXZ8zUhO50KxgMA6hOscKsgwyvg4qTLXojCoWTu8V3szipLV6cbuf8xkVt1PzGH2lG0Bjx6IOy8m1SiRuIovkVzWIYMu0u0h4CBrmUaS-fOI3M6camkRkGaObNzgZ/s2048/BR+Promo+3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1942" data-original-width="2048" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-jiG63PvXZ8zUhO50KxgMA6hOscKsgwyvg4qTLXojCoWTu8V3szipLV6cbuf8xkVt1PzGH2lG0Bjx6IOy8m1SiRuIovkVzWIYMu0u0h4CBrmUaS-fOI3M6camkRkGaObNzgZ/w400-h379/BR+Promo+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Delays and Delays</b></p><p>Some of the delays occurred as a result of simply needing to wait for Disney to finish things. I had written a chapter on <i>Phantom Manor</i>, actually one of my favorite sections in the book, when Disney announced they were going to close that ride for a huge refurbishment which they then kept extending. I wanted to wait to see what they did, which ended up being the right choice because the changes they made really ended up affecting the content of my chapter, which had to be revised.</p><p>And then so much time had passed that it didn't make any sense to not just wait for Chris Merritt's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Davis-His-Own-Words/dp/1484755758" target="_blank">monster Marc Davis book</a>, just to double check that his research didn't flatly contradict any of mine, which thankfully it did not. I had a manuscript, illustrations, a cover.... ready to rock and roll, right?</p><p><b>Except!</b> It turns out <b>actually getting anything</b> published is another nightmare!</p><p>After slamming into this brick wall for a few months, my preferred publisher returned the opinion that a combination of the worldwide pandemic and the Disney connection meant they would not be pursuing this. I began talking to other authors about their experiences, and found that besides official publications and of course Theme Park Press, nearly every Disney book is self-published. Maning every author out there had been also turned down by multiple publishers.</p><p>If nobody else had yet succeeded, I figured my chances of breaking through were limited. That was a rough month for me, but I began to explore my other options.</p><p>I ended up partnering with David Younger, whose massive, ludicrous tome <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Theme-Park-Design-Themed-Entertainment/dp/0993578918/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=theme+park+design&qid=1601308426&s=books&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Theme Park Design</a> is in my opinion one of the best books on the subject ever produced. Together, we've decided to launch <i>Boundless Realm</i> as the first in a hopefully ongoing series of high quality, scholarly books on aspects of theme park design less as a publishing house and more as a kind of collective effort of authors. This book would literally not have been possible without David's help and I could not be prouder of it.</p><p>David is also selling a bundle copy of his textbook and my book <a href="http://www.themeparkdesignbook.com" target="_blank">through his website</a>, if you'd like to grab them together. </p><p><i>Boundless Realm</i> is the culmination of a pattern which has been building in my life since I was five and went to Disney for the first time. That pattern continued through getting on the internet for the first time, building early websites, moving to Florida, starting this blog, and writing, and writing, and writing. The resulting book is handsome, very readable, erudite, and very, very me - exactly as I hoped. You could say it's the end product of three decades of living with a passion.</p><p><i>The Haunted Mansion</i> has been a golden thread that has wound through the pattern off my life through up and downs but has never stopped bringing me joy and pleasure. For you, that thread may be <i>Splash Mountain</i>, or <i>Indiana Jones Adventure</i>, or <i>The Beast </i>at King's Island, but I think everyone will recognize the passion in this passion project. It's just surreal to finally see it out there in the world. I hope you love it as much as I do.</p><p><b>Reviews for Boundless Realm:</b></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1325538536376860672">Cory Doctorow</a></p><p><a href="https://touringplans.com/blog/2020/10/25/book-review-boundless-realm-deep-explorations-inside-disneys-haunted-mansion/">Guy Selga at Touring Plans</a> (Review Copy)</p><p><a href="https://themeparkuniversity.com/disney/boundless-realms-a-perfect-read-for-haunted-mansion-aficionados/">Josh Young at Theme Park University</a> (Review Copy)</p><p><a href="http://www.imaginerding.com/2020/11/08/boundless-realms-haunted-mansion-book-review/">George Taylor at Imaginerding.com</a> (Review Copy)</p><p><a href="https://www.radio.com/podcasts/the-jim-hill-media-podcast-network-21475/disney-dish-episode-291-why-doesnt-shanghai-disneyland-have-any-indoor-roller-coasters-347851062">Len Testa on Disney Dish</a></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/X7p10qGhnKM">Jeremy Harris on Matterhorn Matt</a></p><p><b>Boundless Realm is available at:</b></p><p>Amazon:<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank"> Print and Kindle Editions</a></p><p>Amazon Canada: <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank">Print and Kindle</a></p><p>Amazon UK: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boundless-Realm-Explorations-Disneys-Haunted/dp/0993578926" target="_blank">Print Edition</a></p><p>Barnes and Noble: <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boundless-realm-foxx-nolte/1137748481" target="_blank">Print Edition</a></p><p>Bookshop.Org: <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/boundless-realm-deep-explorations-inside-disney-s-haunted-mansion/9780993578922" target="_blank">Print Edition</a></p><p><i><b>Thank you for all of my readers over the years for your support! </b></i></p>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-18932494711093697742020-08-21T11:54:00.000-04:002020-08-21T11:54:06.243-04:00Harold's Lost World of Snow<div class="separator"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator"></div><div class="separator"></div><div><i></i><blockquote><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIPOjvwkEbGVIenVjjj4DxrBK83uadGvwPiOQvPZZbYpOMFdT8f63pRDtQTOSStUue3imQyQ5b0PvEzK_o63SPDGZps8Sqw0yKxLP4FDr2RLlCbAdBU1r-kSLpfvJnvON-MYw/s900/Castle+Horn.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="572" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIPOjvwkEbGVIenVjjj4DxrBK83uadGvwPiOQvPZZbYpOMFdT8f63pRDtQTOSStUue3imQyQ5b0PvEzK_o63SPDGZps8Sqw0yKxLP4FDr2RLlCbAdBU1r-kSLpfvJnvON-MYw/w255-h400/Castle+Horn.png" width="255" /></a></div>"It will be going the same speed it always has, but it will seem faster."</i> - John Hench, Disneyland Line, December 1977</blockquote></div><div><br /></div>In 2003, I took my first trip to Disneyland, and Disneyland is one of those places that rewires the way you think. Besides absolutely taking my head off and stuffing it back on in a new way thanks to their incredible Pirates of the Caribbean - still my favorite ride ever - I discovered one of the great loves of my life: the Matterhorn Bobsleds.<div><br /></div><div>I've spent a long time thinking about the Matterhorn, and a long time riding it, and it's one of those rides where I find my ardor for the experience cannot be contained by a logically structured essay. I suspect many folks are the same way about certain things: they can't say why they like it so much, but they do. I probably have never loved a roller coaster more than I love the Matterhorn, which says a lot about my priorities.</div><div><br /></div><div>For one, comfort isn't one of them. The Matterhorn was rough in 2003, and after installing new bobsleds apparently made out of pottery and saran wrap in 2012, it got rougher. Those 70s Arrow Development sleds didn't seem to sit as low to the track and had better shock absorption, but the 2012 bobsleds are like a gigantic speaker pushing vibrations right up into your posterior. I haven't really cared; I've kept riding the thing, my feet pushed into the nose of the car, my hands gripping the handle bars, body tense and ready to absorb the pain.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do it not because the Matterhorn is a great rollercoaster, or even because it's a landmark roller coaster. The Matterhorn, along with the 1975 Space Mountain, shakes you like a rag doll, which modern coaster enthusiasts absolutely do not like. They prefer their terror to come from drops and g forces, not being rocked around like a dead cat in a barrel being sent over Niagara Falls. As I said, I don't much care for roller coasters. I love the Matterhorn not at all because it's a coaster, but because it's an amazing <i>experience</i>, and there's only one of them in the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's hard to say how much I would have liked the 1959 Matterhorn, with its hollow interior. What can be said is that the decision to enclose a roller coaster inside of an artificial mountain is one of those Walt Disney ideas which has become so ubiquitous in our culture that it is almost impossible to imagine a world where it does not exist. I'm fairly certain Walt got the idea from the Rutschebanen at Tivoli, a sort of scenic railway that dashes in and out of a scenic alpine mountain (with a fake cow in a field on top!). But as usual at Disneyland, the scale of the effort and the decision to combine it with a world famous peak made all the difference. The Matterhorn turned the idea of a fiberglass mountain into a genre, and Space Mountain would make it into an institution.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is also just something about the other-worldlyness of the Matterhorn that works in some impossible to articulate way. The way it rises up and hooks with the little shadow just under its peak added by Fred Joerger - the way it hangs there against the hazy California sky, seemingly always further away than it really is. You can walk all the way around it, something you cannot do with any other stateside Disney mountain. That fact, and its central location, transforms the Matterhorn into something that exists for the pleasure of everyone, even those who do not ride. This is landmark design for pleasure, and it's been repeated endlessly since - I'm certain that the size and dreamy unreality of the Matterhorn is the basis for the height and effect of Cinderella Castle in Florida, for instance.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcsXSGJhP3sf8Z4L4gVMHmbknpGw9OxWe3lMr_nYyoKv78hbByEO8q3zF0cOMDn6PIC7aow0OJ6DlRZBEEUConzvcCsX3omj0eptcR-QqOvEpX6Ob3uaR1XNYvIgMYk7aiTiX/s682/VP61-51+-+Abominable+Snowman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="682" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcsXSGJhP3sf8Z4L4gVMHmbknpGw9OxWe3lMr_nYyoKv78hbByEO8q3zF0cOMDn6PIC7aow0OJ6DlRZBEEUConzvcCsX3omj0eptcR-QqOvEpX6Ob3uaR1XNYvIgMYk7aiTiX/w400-h224/VP61-51+-+Abominable+Snowman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And yet all of that is literally just on the surface, what was put there in 1959. What I really love is the 1978 version, which in my opinion is an absolute stone classic in how to perfectly structure a themed experience, and do it so simply it's almost subliminal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Storytelling in three dimensions is hard, and even harder because it rarely needs to conform to dramatic beats. Instead it could be said that most successful rides need to introduce a dramatic <i><b>situation</b></i> directly involving riders, then build and riff on that situation in a variety of interesting ways. Riding bobsleds down a fake mountain is pretty interesting already, but the wrinkle of introducing a rampaging monster really pushes the Matterhorn over the top. The idea supposedly goes back to Walt Disney, but how easily it could have turned out wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTb4syA8UR5iWP-TsaY06mOZvsE_Pn28huSHjxfGKzOAIys6PAf9rzmkBwnF20ei2QhniYQc1rL8EvOSGTtP4kmDTq67y1B9vu2xaG5NISH5eiEe79ZybUe7GbGWvkWkYBlil/s1125/matterhorn-sunset-16x9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="704" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTb4syA8UR5iWP-TsaY06mOZvsE_Pn28huSHjxfGKzOAIys6PAf9rzmkBwnF20ei2QhniYQc1rL8EvOSGTtP4kmDTq67y1B9vu2xaG5NISH5eiEe79ZybUe7GbGWvkWkYBlil/w250-h400/matterhorn-sunset-16x9.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>Lets begin on the approach to the Matterhorn from the Hub. As we draw near, there is a surprise: the trees part, and a huge waterfall comes into view. The waterfall instantly suggests that there is going to be more going on in the Matterhorn than we expect, yet the Matterhorn looks picturesque, inviting with its alpine trees and flowers. A mountain stream winds around the base of the mountain, which somehow <i>looks like</i> cold mountain water thanks to the contrasting landscape around it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet thats not quite the whole story. The whole top of the mountain is open, effectively turning its upper echelons into a gigantic loudspeaker which bellows out the unearthly roars of its resident monster. Even less comforting is the whistling wind which can be heard everywhere around it. This is the introduction of the dramatic conflict of the ride; the Matterhorn looks peaceful, welcoming, and charming, <i><b>but.....</b></i></div><div><br /></div><div>For my money no other theme park deployment of this concept comes even close to the raw elemental energy of this juxtaposition - the Matterhorn looks welcoming and inviting while also warning you to stay away. In the 70s, WED did a lot of this sort of stuff, and perhaps the wolf howl that emenates from the Florida Haunted Mansion and the booming cannons which once heralded the facade of Pirates of the Caribbean are predecessors. But those were really just atmosphere, whereas the approach to the Matterhorn initiates the <b>dramatic conflict</b> which will inform your entire experience: <i><b>what's gotten into the Matterhorn?</b></i></div><div><br /></div><div>The 1978 Matterhorn operated on the principle of suspense, and so the dramatic thrust of the story (<i>will I escape?</i>) mapped perfectly onto the build and release inherent in all coasters. This was an experience where the physical sensations of being on a coaster really meant something. The slow approach, the cheerful yodeling music, the wait at the bottom of the mountain ready to be released into the pitch black interior all built up anticipation. Of course all rides create anticipation, but the cheerful <i>gemutlicheit</i> of the Alpine landscape had an edge to it thanks to those unearthly roars.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that the ride was going to be scary was announced instantly by the lift hill's perpetual gloom. The long monster roars were interspersed with screaming sounds, supplied by a speaker. The suspense of the lift hill is briefly released once the bobsleds peak and slowly begin to head downhill, then replaced with another kind of suspense. One of the best Disney jump scares of all time - the glowing eyes in the dark - illuminate with a ferocious roar, and now the rest of the ride is a long downhill slide where you are never entirely sure where the Snowman will be next. I've been on the Matterhorn probably a hundred times and I still sometimes forget exactly where the second Harold is.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6byHDa-e_U57bnZ9xvuaVl73YUASti6wfBqmFqlBOaJS6jAzY8mX0MkBN572jHId1Dym3wa5K7_hiIxB38551Jmd2YWW3CbSgULnqkM4amy0kc3trj-NqXvmYP3K7knAjto8/s1334/Blaine+Harold.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1334" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6byHDa-e_U57bnZ9xvuaVl73YUASti6wfBqmFqlBOaJS6jAzY8mX0MkBN572jHId1Dym3wa5K7_hiIxB38551Jmd2YWW3CbSgULnqkM4amy0kc3trj-NqXvmYP3K7knAjto8/w400-h300/Blaine+Harold.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Harold is one of the best designed theme park monsters of all time. The original design is a perfect distillation of a monster; long white hair offsets his blue face and hands, defining a fierce looking body shape as a <i>silhouette</i>, instantly comprehensible as a threat. Long hair above the eyes de-emphasizes the forehead, making the creature seem less human. Two thirds of the face is an open mouth full of teeth, the white teeth highlighted against the dark scream of a face. The nose is tiny, almost invisible, and the eyes are asymmetrical, making the yeti seem fantastical, an appropriate resident of Fantasyland. Harold was literally reaching hands, a mouth full of teeth, glowing red eyes, and almost nothing else.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the thing is, nothing else <i><b>was needed</b></i>. Under the best circumstances you could get maybe 5 seconds to look at him, and those key elements: <i><b>mouth</b></i>, <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">red eyes</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">reaching hand</span></b> read perfectly from a speeding bobsled. As Ken Andersen told the E Ticket in 1993:</div><div><blockquote>"<i>You didn't need a lot of animation because you were moving. You were moving so darn fast that what you did was supply the movement for the characters.</i>"</blockquote></div><div>That was the brilliance of Harold: he hardly moved, but he looked and felt alive. The long downhill escape, as well as his sudden reappearance, caused riders to fill in with their imaginations far more than was really going on. More than any mountain-dwelling monster who has suceeded him, Harold really <i><b>felt</b></i> like he was chasing you, popping through secret caves and dashing down rock wall faces in an effort to cut you off. The physical structure of the ride itself worked perfectly to put you off the wrong foot; was that roar coming from ahead of or behind me?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Matterhorn was a long build of suspense, followed by a chase down to the bottom, the splash of the glacial pond the release of the tension. Compared to the Matterhorn, Big Thunder was one damn thing after another and Space Mountain was just weirdness, but the Matterhorn felt like real peril, and it was peril created with some light-up eyes and three figures that moved only just enough to create a sense of motion. It was, in its own way, brilliant.</div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't really start to understand just how <b><i>good</i></b> the Matterhorn was until Expedition Everest opened at Animal Kingdom a few years later. I admit that the Matterhorn created in me false expectations of a suspenseful, "boo" kind of experience, which Everest really isn't. Beautifully mounted, the attraction doesn't introduce its dramatic conflict until over a minute into a three minute ride. It's nearly another minute until we see the shadow of the Yeti, who honestly seems more interested in tearing up railroad tracks than chasing riders, and there's a final confrontation mere seconds before the ride ends. But the real thing that I couldn't believe when I rode Everest in previews, the thing I walked off the ride saying, is that the multi-million dollar yeti was gone by so fast you could barely register that he moved at all. Fusty old Harold inside the Matterhorn gave just about as good of a show at a fraction of the cost, and his mountain had actual caverns inside it!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8o-MeABLPUm4vDdUY86-OdW5HFvrNjoBSlmniVgQtJo09VPdSg7eOobwSuf-yTQU1RSyGKIpG_yyys0Czvp-nqHvcVZxiI7Af-ayUiKpXGCb5N5IXAxKbPVCg-mjIJYQMEFJF/s513/cvbjhtyu98-613x409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8o-MeABLPUm4vDdUY86-OdW5HFvrNjoBSlmniVgQtJo09VPdSg7eOobwSuf-yTQU1RSyGKIpG_yyys0Czvp-nqHvcVZxiI7Af-ayUiKpXGCb5N5IXAxKbPVCg-mjIJYQMEFJF/s0/cvbjhtyu98-613x409.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>For my money, Disneyland's new Snowman figure has the same issue. He looks terrifically fierce, and he snarls and lunges at the cars, but the pure, streamlined, <b>communicative power</b> of that goofy 1978 figure has been lost. The new figure has a visible forehead, which makes him look a bit more human, and his mouth opens and closes, a detail often lost because you're by him way too fast. He seems almost realistic, and to me this makes the new Snowman less visually appealing, less like an appropriate resident of Fantasyland.</div><div><br /></div><div>But really the biggest issue is that those reaching hands are gone. The new Snowman is grabbing the ice wall around him like he's climbing out of a cave, but that image of him reaching for the cars was <i>really important</i>. Look at the silhouettes; there's no comparison.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6fwnsMvrNlFLUJOT6KBae-MDg_nkrPSub93IibRairXOqotpKwrzcn99LNwNleXHj23dnhrWjl6RSgF6eEty4MlQnIuPYe884Hk87x7qOmdu5x2wTZqJg-DD0IWRQn222lkg/s2570/IMG_0259.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="2570" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6fwnsMvrNlFLUJOT6KBae-MDg_nkrPSub93IibRairXOqotpKwrzcn99LNwNleXHj23dnhrWjl6RSgF6eEty4MlQnIuPYe884Hk87x7qOmdu5x2wTZqJg-DD0IWRQn222lkg/w640-h306/IMG_0259.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The new guy seems like less of a threat; when you pass him a second time, he's twisted around to the side as if he isn't even expecting you to come upon him. He's louder, and he looks meaner, but its harder to feel like he's really and truly out to get you.</div><div><br /></div><div>The trouble is that the window of comprehension for understanding something you coast by in a bobsled can be measured in micro-seconds, and the new Snowman just doesn't cut it. Blaine Gibson had fully absorbed this fact of theme park life and was a master at sculpting figures just the correct side of impossible to read in a flash. Think of all the figures in Pirates of the Caribbean, sculpted in mid-smile or mid-scowl. Think of the Hitch-hiking Ghosts, with their hugely exaggerated extended thumbs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Think of how much artistic skill it takes to correctly draw attention to something as small as a <i>thumb</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Blaine sculpted Harold's scowling face in a permanent scream for a reason, and he gave him huge reaching hands for a reason, and grossly exaggerated their size so you couldn't miss them. That version of the Matterhorn's monster was fit for the job.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a similar track, the same team in 2015 removed the ice crystal scene and replaced it with a new hoard of destroyed Matterhorn ride vehicles, like bobsleds and skyway buckets. The previous ice cavern scene was nothing amazing, but you could look over and see the crystals and hear the music and instantly understand that you were looking at some crystals. The new scene just looks like some random stuff, and you're past it before you can figure it out. Worse, nobody going into the Matterhorn fresh in 2020 (<i>2021?</i>) is going to understand what they're looking at, making it a weird in-joke that doesn't really look like anything. That's a shame, because most of the Matterhorn is spent looking at snowy rocks, and anything to make it feel a bit more like a real place was a help. Like the Snowman figure upgrade, it was a great idea on paper, but in practice is a misfire.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQc6-MVHJWGch_wuKUUheXVXAKi74lZb9N4Hg8jMpXdX2zODcAaOCkThd319eLoHhyphenhyphenEdNZmgTryi6vdL2VMYtBIiF1zaMQy09TRtXAQQaOMXl66devhvWe42vjudwAwK46uxz/s400/Matterhorn_Bobsleds_%2528Both_Sides%2529__Disneyland_Full_Ride_Throughs.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQc6-MVHJWGch_wuKUUheXVXAKi74lZb9N4Hg8jMpXdX2zODcAaOCkThd319eLoHhyphenhyphenEdNZmgTryi6vdL2VMYtBIiF1zaMQy09TRtXAQQaOMXl66devhvWe42vjudwAwK46uxz/s0/Matterhorn_Bobsleds_%2528Both_Sides%2529__Disneyland_Full_Ride_Throughs.gif" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/MLJRfuCUSBQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">From This 2014 Video</span></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>But the change that really stings me is moving your initial encounter with the Snowman to the lift hill. This makes some sense, but those glowing eyes were truly a perfect jump scare, and set the tone for the rest of the downhill chase. The slow ascent up the mountain in the pitch darkness listening to the wind howling built up terrific suspense, increased by the fact that Disney pumped in occasional scream sound effects to this scene. Was it another rider on the coaster, or was it....?</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, the lift hill crested, and the first few moments of the ride were gentle. You relaxed. Then Harold's eyes lit up in the darkness and scared the tar out of you. I screamed on my first ride. And then you spent the rest of the ride on edge, expecting Harold to come bounding out at you again at every turn. That was the moment the ride had been building towards since you first laid eyes on it with its beautiful flowers, glistening waterfall, and baleful whistling wind.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm sure new riders enjoy the Matterhorn plenty, and I'm not here to make some absurd claim like Imagineering "ruined the ride". It's still lots of fun. But the previous version changed the way I look at theme park rides because of how much it was able to do <i>with so little</i>. That 1978 refurbishment, when you get right down to it, was a lot of rock work, three figures that only barely moved, some sound effects, and light-up eyes on a stick. But they totally transformed the tone and <i>feeling</i> of the Matterhorn, and gave it unique shape and rhythm. And they did it without changing the track.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's what the Matterhorn became for me, a kind of yardstick I use to measure all other rides: did the designers get the absolute maximum out of what they chose to build? I find this useful because it de-emphasizes the tech and the design density that Disney and Universal tend to get caught up in and looks simply at effect. Does what they spent money on really work?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Matterhorn brought Harold to life with the simplest means, and did so in a way that was straightforward, understandable without words or preshow videos, and easy to maintain. The new version is flashier, but in sacrifing that elemental sinplicity of what was done in 1978, it is in my opinion significantly less powerful.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because that's something that maybe gets lost in discussing the Matterhorn; it is one of the <i><b>great scary</b></i> Disney rides. Harold was designed to startle jaded 70s teenagers - who may otherwise have brought their business to a place like Magic Mountain - and did so in a way that was not so intense you couldn't still bring a six year old on the ride. Harold has moved out now, and try as I may, I've never quite warmed up to the new guy. The Matterhorn I fell in love with at 18 is now another resident of Yesterland, and I miss it dearly. That hollow wind still blows in my heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>--</div><div><br /></div><div><i>While I have your attention!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I thought I'd take some time to answer a few questions I've been getting recently about this site and to explain what the future holds for it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I should probably begin with some context: this site, and text-based blogs generally, are enjoying a fraction of their old readership.</div><div><br /></div><div>Time was, I could spend 2 weeks writing and editing a post that would reach an audience of over 20,000 people. Today, my posts are averaging about 2,500 people and capping out at around 7,000 on the high end. And the fact is, I haven't met a single person under the age of 25 who is a self-professed retro theme park fan who learned about them reading sites like this. They've learned everything they know on YouTube. It's fair to say that the time of the informational blog seems to have passed. </div><div><br /></div><div>Which is why I wrote a book. That book is one reason I began posting shorter form pieces (like music loops) in 2015. The past few years have been weird for this blog, and this year has been a desert. This is because I've been seriously perusing getting the thing published since last November and the complexities of doing that have taken up all of the spare time I used to devote to writing blogs.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is that the book is coming out this year; my next post will be its announcement! The bad news is that given the time commitment of writing blog posts vs the work that goes into writing a book, it makes more sense to write more books. I've already begun work on my second book, and now that I have a publisher, I hope to get it done in 2-3 years instead of 5 years this time.</div><div><br /></div><div>This site has seen a spike in readership since the pandemic began, and its been wonderful seeing old readers and new coming back to enjoy my writing. I never wrote a word on this site for money or fame, <b>and I have no intention of stopping writing</b>. I actually have about four unfinished pieces right now that have been either delayed by work on my book or other issues. </div><div><br /></div><div>So basically: more content is coming! I thank everyone who has stuck it out with me or has just recently discovered my stuff. It is amazing to me what this little writing exercise has turned into, and I want to keep it going as long as possible.</div><div><br /></div><div>So till next time: stay cool, my friends.</div>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-61233346612761974502020-04-30T11:42:00.001-04:002024-02-19T18:11:24.124-05:00Haunted Mansion Video Treasures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikppTx77V1LztT4qKHB7ExJz_BRJ1_nctSbZiRKHSG8y9lmsTd3HHnR4yWPVkZGDmEBRRPbg25u9AJwb95tHOFtQZuat3l1MnaBVDqN6jdCnjicOVfFgMGRo_LHE80IoAfQ10N/s1600/PhotoFunia-1587920953.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="371" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikppTx77V1LztT4qKHB7ExJz_BRJ1_nctSbZiRKHSG8y9lmsTd3HHnR4yWPVkZGDmEBRRPbg25u9AJwb95tHOFtQZuat3l1MnaBVDqN6jdCnjicOVfFgMGRo_LHE80IoAfQ10N/s320/PhotoFunia-1587920953.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
To this author, perhaps the greatest boon to my life afforded by the modern internet is video streaming - the ability to watch nearly anything at any time for reasonable cost in decent quality. And although I remain an enthusiastic supporter of physical media, the internet has become a digital Aladdin's cave of delights for fans of the weird and obscure. Writing this during the Coronoavirus shutdown, I've recently gone for strolls around Disneyland and Disneyland Paris from the comfort of my home thanks to the modern wonder of streaming high-definition video. And this, in a lifetime where I remember leaving my computer on for an entire week attempting to download <a href="https://youtu.be/_lKtlHjv2g0">Sam Raimi's first horror film</a> through a telephone line.<br />
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I picked up the habit of mass video accumulation early. Around 1995 I became obsessed with taping things off television, and I still have a box of around 50 VHS tapes from Disney Channel and other sources that I've never been able to part with. A few years later, I was involved with the Haunted Mansion fan community as it existed through mailing lists and Yahoo groups at the time, and one of our hobbies was trading tapes through the mail of various home video ride-throughs. Please remember that this was a time when RealVideo was just about the best online video streaming option, and you still had to pay for the wonders of QuickTime video. Creating and mailing video cassette tapes was the more convenient option!<br />
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Well, I held onto those videos for a long time. A few years back, my good friend Michael Crawford helped me get a few of <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/11/lost-and-found-from-golf-resort.html">my stranger video treasures</a> transferred, but I still knew there were goodies yet to be discovered. Late last year, I bought a new old stock VCR. It took several weeks of experimenting, but I'm finally getting results I'm happy with from my capture setup. And so here now are a few of the better tidbits that obsolete technology has granted me an archive of!<br />
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First up is a video of extreme importance to me and of nearly no importance to anyone else - <u>j</u><strike>ust how we like them on Passport to Dreams</strike>! Along with<a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/09/fun-house-dark-ride-documentary.html"> Discovery Channel's Fun House documentary,</a> this is probably what kicked my Haunted Mansion fanaticism into overdrive and turned me into the theme park person that I am today. It's a short excerpt from a show called <i>Walt Disney World Inside Out</i>, which Disney Channel ran weekly through 1996 and 1997.<br />
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Hosted by J.D. Roth (from <i>GamePro TV</i>!) and Brianne Leary (from <i>CHiPS</i>!), it was essentially part of the promotional mission surrounding the resort's 25th anniversary. Certain highlight sections ran between Disney Channel programming as "Inside Out Spotlite" segments, and this was the most memorable.<br />
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For context, you must realize that as a child my ability to see <i>anything</i> from the interior of the Haunted Mansion was limited to a few photos in a souvenir hardcover book and the <i>Day at the Magic Kingdom</i> VHS tape. So seeing a program that not only gave me a good look inside a personal obsession, but went further and explained how certain effects were done, absolutely floored 11-year-old me. I don't think I had even considered at that point that the ride <i><b>was</b></i> made up of illusions with secrets behind them, so seeing J.D. Roth put his hand through that bust rewired my brain.<br />
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From a historical perspective, this is the <i><b>only</b></i> good look I've ever found at the remarkable film bin looping devices invented by Ub Iwerks for WED in 1954. He actually engineered these things as part of his assignment to create <i>Cir-car-rama</i> for Disneyland, allowing the film to circulate endlessly through a giant series of spools without ever getting out of synch with each other. These same looping projectors were also used in the Main Street Cinema, using prints purchased from the Blackhawk Films library. The Haunted Mansion's 16mm 1-minute bins are cool enough, but the 70mm 15 minute bin loops for the Hall of Presidents were things of beauty, 25 feet tall. I wish I had thought to take a few pictures of them before the show switched over to digital in 2008.<br />
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This segment is also just quality Disney programming, perfectly judged to increase your appreciation of just how complex these attractions are without revealing too many secrets. <i>Walt Disney World Inside Out</i> was a show wildly variable in quality - there's episodes where they do nothing but poke around The Disney Institute - but when it's good like this clip, it can be very memorable.<br />
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Moving swiftly on, let's take in some vintage ridethroughs! These sorts of videos used to be easier to find online before YouTube became the dominant source for streaming video it is, but the migration to that platforms meant that a lot of older material simply never made the leap. Who remembers going to <i>Visions Fantastic</i> and downloading Disneyland videos?<br />
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These three vintage ridethroughs are amongst the best that I know of, but they actually aren't mine! These were on one of the tapes I traded for in the early 00s, and recorded by Brian Follansbee. For their vintage they really are excellent, shot with a higher end camera than most consumers ever had access to by a rider who really knew where each little detail was.<br />
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First up, the Magic Kingdom Haunted Mansion in glorious, low-fi murky regular vision! This is the category of video that is the toughest sell today, when we all have video camera on our phones that handle dark environments much better than this. But there's still value in this, and this is by far the clearest pre-2007 Mansion video I know of. Certain areas, like the first third of the ride, are near total losses but other areas like the Corridor of Doors are nearly exactly how they looked in real life.<br />
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It's also the best view I have of what the controversial "windblown" bride looked like in real life. Flash photos always made her look dopey, and as the years went on and more and more of her lighting and wind machines broke and were never replaced, she looked worse and worse. But when she was brand new she at least was <i>impressive</i>, and that is captured well here.<br />
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Some stray observations before we move on. First, the line. For the past fifteen years, Walt Disney World has been so busy and so plagued with the scourge known as Fastpass that it seems almost incomprehensible to look back at a time when except on the very busiest days you could walk on Haunted Mansion with a very modest wait. There were no interactive queues and other such nonsense things to get in your way; once you got through the turnstiles at the porte cohere, that little corner of the park with the family cemetery butting up against the front door was as serene as an actual graveyard.<br />
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Second, take note of the entrance area. This particular arrangement - with the front gate that had been put in the early 90s, plus the hearse and fountain which had replaced a large planter and tree in 1997 - ended up lasting a mere 2.5 years. In 2001, Disney put up the Fastpass building which clutters up the area today, added a covered-over fountain smack in the middle of the walkway, and took down the central gates with the dead wreaths on them which much better communicated the idea of "old, closed-off estate". The intersection of strollers, Fastpass building, former Keelboat dock, and gate in this area has been a logistical disaster for at least the quarter-century, and I really wish the park would tear the whole area out and rework it.<br />
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Let's take a moment to enjoy the "Aging Man" effect in its full original form here, and actually facing the proper direction! The 2007 digital morph, although certainly smoother, has never struck me as being as eerie or oeneric as the original effect here is, with simple fades between each stage in the deterioration. This is almost certainly a device built in 1969 for use in the Disneyland show, back when they were planning on a full 6 stage transformation for each of the portraits. It was crated up and shipped to Florida instead, and I wish I had thought to take a picture of it before it went digital in 2007.<br />
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As for the direction of the portrait, it's been wrong since then. The projector is aimed at the ceiling; it bounces off a mirror and onto the scrim, meaning it's reversed twice once you view it from the other side in the Foyer. Whoever composited the video flipped it to account for the scrim but didn't know about the mirror. That's another small touch I hope they fix when they upgrade the projection to HD. <i>(Edit, Feb 2024: they did!)</i><br />
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Before real low-light video cameras became a thing, the most coveted form of ride video was night vision, in which your camcorder spit out a beam of infrared light. In retrospect, it's bizarre that home camcorders even had this option, given that it makes people look like weird glowing demons. However it was amazing for theme park nerds who wanted to take in every detail of their favorite rides, so let's take another spin through, this time, in phosphorescent green!<br />
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We begin with a decent look at the Load Area in its mostly original state; I believe the lights along the loading belt went blue in the early 90s and that the red and white wallpaper replaced an earlier pattern sometime around that time. In the 1997 refurb a couple of theatrical lights were dropped in through the ceiling around the corner, pointed down to illuminate the pinch point where the line becomes single file; just a few years later, wall sconces would be added to properly illuminate the floor space. At the same time, weird elevated urns on shelves would be installed to disguise speakers for the safety boarding announcements. Finally, in 2007, the "Sinister Eleven" portraits would migrate to the load area, the wallpaper would be replaced again, a "ledge" would be added to lower the apparent ceiling height, and a solid black wall separating the queue from the doom buggy track would be built.<br />
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Practically every old-school Florida Mansion fan was unusually fond of that table, chair and lamp on the other side of the buggies; it was a weird little tableau that suggested that perhaps an unseen ghost was doing a little late-night reading! All of those props are in the Attic now and although I'm not hardline enough to insist that their removal ruins the scene or anything, I do wish that WDI would add some stuff over in that corner because it did help the Mansion feel more like an actual house.<br />
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I'd also like to bring up the Corridor of Doors. Nearly the whole soundscape of the Mansion was re-mixed and re-jiggered in 2007, and largely I think they did a terrific job - although many of the changes are subtle, it's one reason I think the Florida Mansion feels very fresh and dynamic. And while many Mansion fans have bemoaned the loss of the original Graveyard vocal tracks, I think the removal of the original Corridor of Doors voices is just as big of a loss. Generally, the 07 sound mix veers heavily towards ominous rumbles and creepy whispers - the sort of thing that we recognize from horror films of this millennium. The 1969 Corridor of Doors tracks are definitely way closer to old fashioned haunted house album tracks if you sit down and listen to them individually, but they never played that way in person because you simply didn't have time to sit there and listen to each one. The new version of the scene is still creepy, but the original was <i>way creepier</i>.<br />
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So let's talk about the Attic scene. The pop-up guys up there always were a controversial feature of the ride, and I think at its heart the reason is because you had just come from the Ballroom, the spectacular visual highpoint of the ride, and around the corner was a skeleton dude bobbing up and down on a stick.<br />
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But, you know, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2011/10/start-to-shriek-and-harmonize.html">they didn't have to suck</a>. Were the figures properly hidden, and dropped down out of sight immediately, you wouldn't have to be stuck looking at a static head on a stick slowly being ratcheted out of sight. Making the situation even worse, in 1997 WDI decided to put glowing purple top hats on every one of them, meaning that even the ones properly hidden could be spotted thanks to their dumb glowing top hats.<br />
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Then there's the separate case of that first fellow on the right as you entered. I have no idea if he was simply malfunctioning for 8 years, but more often than not he looked the way you see in this video - way too far up, bouncing around in midair, looking stupid. When I was a little kid, this guy came out of an open trunk on the floor and scared the heck out of everyone. It still works that way in Tokyo Disneyland, the last place on earth to enjoy this simple effect. I have a suspicion that someone in Imagineering wanted the popups to be this way, to give "riders a hint" before they appeared.<br />
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But the thing is, the only positive thing you can say about a head on a stick that pops out to scare you <i><b>is that it scared you</b></i>; with the exception of rubber spiders bouncing around in webs earlier in the ride, it's the crudest thing in the Haunted Mansion. I miss these guys, but I don't miss the way you see them in this video, looking stupid and not properly hidden. If you're going to have a jump scare, <i>you need to commit to having a jump scare</i>, and I think without at least one or two in the attraction, the Haunted Mansion is missing something. The Attic is supposed to be the dark heart of the ride, the room you were never supposed to see, and on that count Connie doesn't cut it.<br />
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And, oh, hey, the graveyard of my teenage years! The Singing Busts were out of synch. Somehow, after the switch to "laserdisc technology" as our ghostly friend George put it to J.D. Roth, they were never quite able to synch them up properly. Also, the Old Man was REALLY loud, and the mummy didn't have a vocal track. Was that way until 2007, as best I can tell. Also, if you listen REALLY carefully, you can barely hear the "La-da" singer track by the Hearse, still lurking around in the late 90s. This was a graveyard vocal removed from Disneyland for some reason and some folks are obsessed with it.<br />
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Alright, let's hop a plane over to California for one last bit of Mansion-y goodness.<br />
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Again, this was a short-lived incarnation of the Mansion. A 1995 refurbishment introduced changes to the Seance Room and Attic, as well as the red wallpaper in the stretch room (which I've always preferred) and an upgraded sound system. Many of these changes were subsequently removed by further changes in 2005, meaning it's increasingly difficult to find good versions of this incarnation of the ride.<br />
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The "I Do" version of the Attic has always struck me as a pretty good middle ground between keeping the popups and decreasing the intensity of the scene. Interestingly, in this version of the scene the popups rose one at a time, from the back of the scene to the front. I'm fairly certain that the first guy in the hatbox right by the entrance was supposed to come up every time another one did, but he appears to be broken on this day. Sadly, this pattern did make it possible to go thru the whole scene and not see a single popup. I know because I accomplished this feat more than once in 2003. Videos from the early 90s do show the pops all rising at once, as they did at Magic Kingdom, so perhaps starting in the 90s Imagineering began exploring ways of lowering the intensity of the Attic.<br />
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The two other notable changes occur nearer the start of the ride. Imagineering has imported the "Leota tilty table" effect designed for Phantom Manor, which I've never liked all that much. It's fine in Phantom Manor because there isn't much else going on it that room, which I'm fairly sure has a smaller diameter circle around Leota anyhow. I think the "flying Leota" used at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom is a much better upgrade to the scene.<br />
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The other change is the reintroduction of some Ghost Host dialogue in the Corridor of Doors. Supposedly the attraction opened with this in 1969 and it was removed a few months later, perhaps as part of the same refurbishment which saw them move the bride and deal with <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/10/raising-or-lowering-dead.html">cellar flooding</a>. I've never liked these lines, and was sort of afraid they would introduce them to Magic Kingdom in 2007 as part of that refurbishment. However, I can see how they help keep the Ghost Host more of a participant in the attraction during Disneyland's shorter ride, because without them he gets you on the ride, commands you to listen, then leaves a minute later!<br />
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Also, I like and miss that "Dead End!" sign outside the Unload area.<br />
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When we talk about Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, especially on sites like these, it can be so fun to dig into the history and details of the places that we forget that they're constantly changing, in ways big and small. Time races by regardless, and now that the mere <i>look</i> of analog video is nostalgic, I hope these small documents of a time long since past are helpful or at least fun. Everyone stay healthy and let's hope for a return trip through the Mansion soon!<br />
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<i>Looking for more spooky fun? Head on over to our <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/haunted-mansion-hub-page.html">Haunted Mansion Hub Page</a>, or check out this index of articles on <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">Walt Disney World History</a>!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-44155283857140326382020-01-29T12:05:00.000-05:002020-01-29T12:05:39.441-05:00Disney World's Universal DecadeAs far as theme park fans are concerned, the decade of the 2010s began in June, when <i>The Wizarding World of Harry Potter</i> opened at <i>Islands of Adventure</i>. As far as national media coverage was concerned, this was the largest theme park story in about ten years - the only thing that came close was the opening, and resounding flop, of <i>Disney's California Adventure</i>. And for possibly the first time ever, Universal was getting the sort of press, the sort of reports of opening day insanity, and the critical platitudes that, in any other situation, would have gone to Disney.<br />
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Everyone saw the shots from opening day, with the line snaking out of <i>Islands of Adventure</i> and nearly to the park next door. As an idea - <i><b>as an image</b></i> - here was something that was to set much of the stage for the next decade of theme park design.<br />
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But even more importantly than the hype and the opening day line was the fact that here Universal had finally delivered on the promise of something Disneyesque, which is to say: something that was lavish and also something that people <b>wanted</b> badly. The keystone ride, <i>Forbidden Journey</i>, remains a charming conjuring trick built on old-school illusion and misdirection that has not dimmed in impressiveness despite ten years of tech challengers. But the true reason the place worked is it delivered those experiences people <i><b>really wanted</b></i>.<br />
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This is something Disney had really lost sight of in the 90s and 00s: delivering <i>the kind of experience people want in a way they are prepared to pay for</i>. <i>Animal Kingdom</i>, especially in its original form, was too lecture-y to emotionally connect, <i>Epcot</i> had been stripped of much of its warmth, and DCA included smarmy sex jokes and gorillas in Cadillacs. Universal let you drink a Butterbeer, buy a wand, and enter Hogwarts. Adult fans of Harry Potter who grew up on the book series bought themselves a wizard robe, stood in front of Hogwarts, and cried. It was powerful wish fulfillment, and it was coming to them from Universal. And all of this was happening at exactly the wrong time for Disney, who had spent much of the last decade pursuing their most coveted demographic of... six year old girls.<br />
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In June 2010, Walt Disney World was a confused mess of projects. The largest project was New Fantasyland, tearing out what remained of the 20,000 Leagues lagoon site in favor of a paltry single ride and six heavily themed meet and greets skewing towards children. <i>Your child can color princess pages in Aurora's house from Sleeping Beauty!</i> It had been five years since the last major addition - <i>Expedition Everest</i> - and <i>Toy Story Mania,</i> though enduringly popular, was not the sort of headliner that sells vacations. It would be another two years before the Little Mermaid omnimover at Magic Kingdom would open for business, and there was little else on the horizon. <i>Pleasure Island</i> had been abruptly shuttered in 2007, and while various replacements had been announced, very little actual work was taking place. Across the country, California Adventure's overhaul had been announced and was still ongoing, and although the <i>World of Color</i> fountain show had been enthusiastically received, much of the best parts of that park were still in the future.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Gentlemen, I give you the future!</b></i></td></tr>
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Indeed, the overwhelming sense as a Florida based Disney fan was that the true show was happening elsewhere. Hong Kong Disneyland's <i>Mystic Manor</i> attraction was shaping up to be a tribute to old-school Disney attraction values, and Walt Disney Studios Paris was receiving a trackless <i>Ratatouille</i> ride. California Adventure, so long scorned by the internet and the kind of theme park visitor who never likes to travel west across the Mississippi, was receiving ambitious and prestigious upgrades. It felt as though Walt Disney World's doldrums would never end.<br />
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Its also worth remembering that 2010 was the year WDWs attendance finally began to fall, and this happened nearly in harmony with Universal's ascendancy. Universal Orlando, which had spent much of the decade since the opening of <i>Islands of Adventure</i> in comfortable slumber as a favorite of locals and niche enthusiasts, suddenly began to do the kind of business its parks were designed to do. Tourists who never previously would have considered heading crosstown began to descend to see their Disneyesque <i>Harry Potter</i> area -- and they actually liked what they saw. Shops had to put up makeshift queues to control Potter-crazed fans of all ages. Abandoned corners of <i>Islands of Adventure</i> such as the Captain America Diner suddenly sprung to life. What Disney had feared in 1989 and 1999 had at last come to pass - Universal was peeling off vacation days from visitors. All Disney had to counter The Boy Who Lived was a pack of princesses. Resentful fans built castles in the sky, fantasizing about Disney's imaginary Potter Swatter.<br />
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Something had to be done, fast. The Fantasyland area was reworked, with half of the Princess meet-and-greets pulled and replaced with a family coaster. That was fine in the short term, but Disney still had nothing with the in-built fan base and cross generational appeal of Harry Potter.<br />
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With Marvel tied up with Universal and Lucasfilm's acquisition still in the future, Disney announced they had acquired the theme park rights to James Cameron's <i>Avatar</i>. It was the confused shrug heard round the world. <b><i>But in retrospect</i></b>, it was something more. It was the start of a new phase in Walt Disney World history.<br />
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<b>The IP Invasion</b><br />
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Michael Eisner was the boy who ran away from the polo club to become a television executive. A product of a wealthy New York City family and the Hollywood culture of the 1970s, Eisner loved big, flashy, prestigious ideas -- <i>Disneyland outside Paris, WOW!</i> Under Eisner, Disney could build modernist architecture palaces, teach you American history, and market Tim Allen as Santa Claus. What Eisner was bad at was where road meets rubber; burned on <i>EuroDisney</i> and <i>Disney's America</i>, in the second decade of his term he became gun shy on spending. This leads to many bizarre missed opportunities from 1994 to 2005; Eisner could never bring himself to build a proper <i>Lion King</i> ride anywhere in any of the four Disney resorts in the world, despite that feature being the crowning fiscal achievement of his tenure. So Eisner liked big ideas with no money behind them; <i>a celebration of man's progress to welcome the 21st century at Epcot, WOW!</i> But what that actually was, was fabric on poles and a pin stand.<br />
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In comparison, Bob Iger is, on the big ideas front, a dullard. Bob likes to give people more of what they've already said they wanted - he did not miss the opportunity to get a Frozen ride open wherever he could as quickly as possible, whereas one feels that Eisner would have been more comfortable having Elsa blast snow at you on the <i>Backlot Tour</i> at MGM or something. Having spent his entire term as CEO trying to mop up the mess left by the underspending at DCA, <i>Hong Kong Disneyland</i>, and <i>Walt Disney Studios Paris</i>, where Iger excels is making sure these projects are properly funded to return lavish results. The difference in quality between fit and finish on Hollywood Boulevard at the entrance to Disney-MGM Studios and Buena Vista Street at California Adventure is massive. This combination of safe ideas applied to the parks with good budgets has characterized this decade of theme park development, and the model is explicitly drawn from <i>Wizarding World of Harry Potter</i>. Fans call the IP Invasion.<br />
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The warning signs were there early on. In 2009, <i>Avatar</i> shot to the top of the box office charts - a big, dumb, lavish James Cameron space epic. And while the show has retained a cadre of fans and is probably on track to become a nostalgic favorite of a certain age group of 2010s youngsters, the reputation of the film has declined precipitously in the decade since its release. Square in the flush of this decline, but well ahead of its very well hyped sequels, Disney announced and built a full on lavishly scaled themed area for the film in Animal Kingdom.<br />
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<i>Pandora: the World of Avatar</i> is nearly as impressive for its conceptual acrobatics as it is for its scale. Set many decades after the events of the film (series?), the alien planet Pandora has become a site of eco-tourism and the land represents a sort of national forest on Pandora, which works so well to slip <i>Avatar</i> into the larger environmental concerns of <i>Animal Kingdom</i> that you almost don't notice the strain. Grounded by an alright if interesting boat ride and a sort of deluxe version of <i>Soarin</i>', besides its unbelievable scale by far the most interesting thing in the area is a series of meandering paths through the center of the area that allow you to wander in, through and around the weird alien plants and animals. It's like a tiny <i>Tom Sawyer Island</i> out in the open of the land, and as a convincing sort of primordial alien swamp it provides the necessary depth behind the "wow" of the floating mountains that I'm not convinced either attraction delivers.<br />
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<i>Pandora</i> is also the only theme park area in history where you can cause a huge plant to "pollinate" all over a crowd of pedestrians by rubbing it, so that counts for something. Plant sex! In my Animal Kingdom!<br />
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If in 2014 <i>Avatar</i> could be ridiculed as a ludicrous misstep, Disney then went another step and announced <i>Maelstrom</i> at Epcot would close in less than six months to be converted into <i>Frozen After After. Maelstrom</i> had become, for a certain generation of Epcot fan, nearly the last tangible connection with the heyday of the park, and the news was not taken lightly. The replacement ride, while arguably more lavish and containing some very impressive audio animatronics (which is something you definitely can't say about <i>Maelstrom</i>), comes off more as an overbearing song highlight reel than a true attraction. <i>Maelstrom</i> was too cheap, too confused, and too weird for its own good, which gave it an endearing, memorable charm which made it many friends.<br />
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If you directly compare <i>Frozen Ever After</i> to something like <i>Peter Pan's Flight</i>, it's not a bad ride. But to this writer, there's a hollow feeling that not every opportunity was actually embraced. The long ascent up the lift hill, mysteriously dark in <i>Maelstrom</i>, has become a flat projection extravaganza which manages to be far less impressive than <i>Maelstrom's</i> flat painted viking ghost and laser-eye. An area which once contained some of <i>Maelstrom's</i> most interesting and weird scenery has become an endless corridor of projections of Elsa singing<i> Let it Go,</i> which feels suspiciously like riding through the editing timeline of a music video. But the true heartbreaker for this author is that the main gag of <i>Maelstrom</i>, where the boats threaten to plunge through a hole in the side of the building backwards, has been sealed up. That's like removing the ride from inside the <i>Matterhorn</i> but keeping the mountain. But really, the problem is that no matter how you try to define the question, Arendelle in <i>Frozen</i> is <b><i>not Norway</i></b>. The attraction and the meaning of the area that supports it are at ludicrous cross-purposes. After a year of rumors that seemed far too bizarre to be true, in 2017 Disney announced they were going to convert the <i>Tower of Terror </i>at<i> California Adventure</i> into a <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i> attraction, and fears that this slapdash method of IP placement would continue seemed to be confirmed.<br />
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The real elephant in the room here, of course, is <i>Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge</i>. This new area contains brilliant theming, one solid ride and one absolutely remarkable ride, clever experiences, and an IP that many have a strong emotional attachment to. In Florida, where it replaced a weird fake New York that Eisner built to make a Bette Midler movie, it's a home run, and will be even more of one when its adjoining immersive Star Wars hotel will be open. Nine years later, this is finally something as good or better than Universal's Potter areas.<br />
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But it absolutely is the wrong fit at Disneyland. Yes, its removal caused the dramatic reconstruction of a neglected corner of the park, and it bolsters and complements Disneyland's strong roster of attractions brilliantly. It improves crowd flow, and the theming to visually cut it off from the rest of Disneyland is cleverly done. But it <b><i>does not</i></b> belong at Disneyland, no matter how you try to slice it. One could opine that that ship sailed back in 1987 when <i>Star Tours</i> opened at Disneyland, but it's hard to escape the feeling that this is new territory for Disney.<br />
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I will say it if Disney has forgotten it: this is a bad look for a company whose core product is nostalgia. I will say it again: <b><i>Disney's core product is nostalgia</i></b>, and once you take that away, the thing that gives Disney its edge over, say, Time-Warner will dissipate. In fact, this may already be happening.<br />
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This isn't going to end anytime soon. Epcot, that fan favorite down in Florida, is currently undergoing a huge renovation that will introduce Pixar, Marvel, and Disney animated characters across the whole of the park. Given that Epcot has been a disjointed mess since the 90s, perhaps this will be a shot in the arm, but it's hard to escape the message: that Epcot you knew is over. Just a few weeks ago, Disney announced that the new restaurant next to <i>The American Adventure</i> is going to be hosted by Sam the Eagle from the Muppets, which makes almost no sense at all.<br />
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The IP Invasion surges on.<br />
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<b>The Adult Retreat</b><br />
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Not everything that happened in the 2010s was a full on dunk in brand synergy. Finally completing their promise to rebuild t<a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/06/lake-buena-vista-and-shaping-orlando.html">he troubled <i>Downtown Disney</i> area</a> into something operationally manageable and modern, Disney went full on weird with <i>Disney Springs</i>. Designed at a honeypot to trap locals and Instragram influencers, there's not much <i>Disney</i> at <i>Disney Springs</i>, and it's kind of amazing.<br />
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<a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/06/disney-springs-and-invented-florida.html">Themed after Florida</a>, a place Disney otherwise goes to amazing lengths to ensure you never see, <i>Disney Springs</i> is a bees nest of semi-haute restaurants, high end shops, weird bossa nova music, and theming intentionally reminiscent of Rollins College in Winter Park. With its restaurants with hanging Edison bulbs, reclaimed wood, exposed brick and menus awash in buzzwords like "crafted" and "local", <i>Disney Springs</i> drops a bell jar over the early 2010s in a way that perhaps no Disney product since EPCOT Center has perfectly encapsulated its era. There may be no Disney characters, sure, but there is a beautiful artificial spring, hand painted murals, a totally bonkers invented "history", garlands with tiny chandeliers at Christmas, a speakeasy buried under a pizza restaurant, and a place where you can wander on a dock and check out a millionaire's collection of rare boats. It's totally bizarre, and I suggest everyone enjoy it for what it is now before Disney paints Mickey Mouse and Elsa over every available surface in the next decade.<br />
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There certainly has been increasing alarms being rung in some corners of the Disney fan sphere as renovated rooms in resorts at diverse as the All Stars and Wilderness Lodge return from refurbishment with minimal details and clean, modernist furniture. While this may seem at first glance to be a <i><b>removal</b></i> of theming, hotel rooms by their very nature are intended to change and update every few years, as Disney has done every decade since the 70s. And while a case could be made that the new rooms are both less themed and more like the bland "airspace" world ushered in by AirB&B, one fact that should be considered is that room occupancy has continued to decline at Walt Disney World - which explains so many rooms being removed from inventory to be sold as DVC units, and possibly pressure Disney to more fully reflect what a modern traveler would expect to find in the "outside world" in 2020.<br />
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And if the removal of theme had stopped there, behind closed doors, it may not have been worthy of comment. But in the 2010s, the <i>Polynesian Resort</i>, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/11/sunrise-over-polynesian.html">that amazing time capsule of 70s Disney kitsch</a>, suffered a fate worse than update.<br />
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Going beyond the necessary room updates and removal of room inventory for DVC, <i>Polynesian Resort </i>was perhaps the first Disney hotel to be fundamentally <b>downgraded</b> as a result of its remodel. Meandering pathways through tropical gardens were widened into freeways to accommodate a new revision of the RCID building code which required firetrucks to have clear access into the interior of the resort. Even worse, Fred Joerger's beautiful interior atrium and waterfall was removed and paved, replaced with a tiny statue of Maui surmounting an insultingly tiny trickle of water. It drove a stake thru the heart of the life of the place. Whereas the Polynesian Lobby just ten years ago was bursting with activity, today its a space nobody wants to linger. There were bright spots, such as the addition of the wonderful <i>Trader Sam's Grog Grotto</i>, but this really was a case where Disney paved paradise. And again, it's that <b><i>nostalgia</i></b> thing: once you remove that, you can't go back. I'd be curious to know if the Polynesian has retained it status as the most sought after rooms on property.<br />
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A more successful case study may be found south, at the Gran Destino Tower, questionably tacked onto <i>Coronado Springs</i>. <i>Coronado Springs</i>, a bizarre 90s fever dream of Latin America, now hosts a tower that looks very much like any Hilton in the world, even more questionably inspired by Salvador Dali and the Spanish, ie European Espana, artistic heritage.<br />
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If this sounds totally incoherent it <b>is</b>, but taken strictly as Disney's first full on attempt to create a Disney version of a modern, high end resort, it actually succeeds. The lobby bar serves the kind of drinks you'd expect to find at a destination bar in New York. The interior finish is lavish without being overbearing in its execution. The rooftop restaurant, Toledo, serves an amazing spread of food with views of Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. If the <i>Grand Floridian</i> felt lavish but stuffy, Gran Destino feels lavish and chic. It doesn't <i><b>exactly</b></i> feel like you're at Disney, and I think that is the point. This is for the sort of traveler who stays at the Kimpton wherever they go, and with it and the slightly more family friendly brand new <i>Riviera Resort</i>, the question of what Disney is going to do with <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-contemporary-resort-in-1970s.html">their dowdy old <i>Contemporary Resort </i></a>seems ever more pressing.<br />
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In a way it feels like this past decade was the era when Disney finally embraced their adult fan base, and whether that's due to <i>Harry Potter</i> wands or not, that may be the biggest story here. It certainly isn't children driving up the grosses of Marvel movies, or buying $200 lightsabers. And while the mainstream media may still be able to generate clicks with articles about "childless millennials" at Disney, a quick review of the internet shows that the majority of content generated about Disney is from that age group - this blog is written by one.<br />
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And while it may be difficult to reconcile a Disney that will tear down Epcot AND sell you an adorable Figment pillow, Disney is not what it was a short time ago. Disney is a multi-media, multicultural juggernaut, and any money they think they can get from you, they will take. Disney made 80% of the top box office attractions in 2019, a number that would have been staggering in 2008. They rode their tide of childless millennials to glory, sweeping aside all in their wake.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hollywood Studios seen from the top of Gran Destino /<a href="https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2019/07/10/full-review-toledo-tapas-steak-seafood-at-gran-destino-tower-at-disneys-coronado-springs-resort/"> Disney Food Blog</a></td></tr>
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<b>Interactive Everything</b><br />
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The first time I saw an iPhone was late June, 2007. I was working at the <i>Hall of Presidents</i>, and a guest who had waited in line to buy one on the first day was showing it off in the lobby. At the time, the idea that that little chunk of metal would change the world was laughable. Remember that devices such as the Nokia N-Guage had been coming and going since the Millennium making similar claims, but the iPhone was the one that stuck.<br />
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In retrospect, Disney's response to the whole thing was just as strange. To be clear, people had always brought small distraction devices to Disney to help kill the time spent in line, and in 2007 seeing a kid with a Nintendo DS in line for <i>Space Mountain</i> was exceedingly common. The world of social media and Angry Birds were still yet a few years away, and Disney's knee jerk response was that this new world of technology was going to need to be met head-on with... <b><i>competition</i></b>.<br />
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In 2009, the <i>Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure</i> debuted, based around the retrospectively quaint notion of lending guests a flip-phone running proprietary software to cause various effects to activate around World Showcase. That same year, the new queue of <i>Space Mountain</i> debuted with a wall of video screens playing Wii-esque mini games involving docking ships and sorting luggage. These were merely an appetizer for the deluge of interactivity to come.Disney was prepared to wage a full-on war for your attention, and the places guests consistently were asking for more things to do was while waiting in line.<br />
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<i>The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh</i> and <i>Dumbo</i> received playground-esque play areas appropriate to the kiddie set they were courting, although <i>Dumbo</i> ended up using a pager system concept which turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. <i>Test Track</i> was rebuilt with the concept of interactive queue integration baked into the concept of the ride, although the refresh has remained controversial with nostalgic fans. The most controversial addition was the lavish <i>Haunted Mansion</i> queue, decried by traditionalists but largely enjoyed by the public. <i>Peter Pan's Flight </i>received a new but largely passive queue experience, and a "build-a-doll" feature planned for <i>Small World</i> ended up being only half implemented. Probably the best of these various queue refreshes, <i>Big Thunder Mountain Railroad</i>, seems to stop the line more than Operations would like.<br />
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All of this was intended to be built on the back of Disney's massive, extraordinarily costly MyMagic+ initiative. An attempt to tie together a number of internal software upgrades, MM+ was ambitious and was intended to roll out to <i><b>every Disney resort around the globe</b></i>, unifying all of them under one system and application. To say it didn't work out that way is an understatement.<br />
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To be clear, Disney needed to massively upgrade their tech infrastructure to begin with. Each line of business within the resort used a different tech solution often hacked together using existing technology, none of which interfaced with each other properly, requiring lines of business as diverse as a hotel front desk to manually input data to be sent into, say, the reservation bank at the Crystal Palace. Let's not forget that Disney is the same company that's been pulling boxcars around with magnets as a "transport system of the future" since the early 70s. The idea was to streamline key items as diverse as park admission, purchasing, hotel room entry, reservations, photographs, and more into one easy user-end software interface.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mouseplanet.com/10286/Disney_Stuff__Pal_Mickey">Chris Barry</a></td></tr>
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Which today sounds like a no-brainer, but remember that in 2011 and 2012 the idea that absolutely everyone would own a smart phone, tablet, or Apple Watch - probably more than one - was still in the future. As a result, starting in 2009 Disney began to test and implement a vast array of tech built around RFID, a technology they had been using in the parks since the early 2000s. Only the true dinosaurs like me will recall the 100 Years of Magic "Magical Moment" pins, ungainly chunks of plastic which would light up whenever you were experiencing a "magical moment", such as the end of the fireworks. These were essentially reacting to a gigantic blast of infrared RFID information installed in various attractions, huge beams of which can be seen in night vision home videos from 2001 until 2007. This infrastructure would then be re-introduced in the form of Pal Mickey, a talking, vibrating plush with an RFID receptor installed in his nose. Pal Mickey, a forward-thinking attempt to help guide guests around the parks, had a number of interesting ideas that were never fully implemented, such as Mickey directing you to attractions with short waits. The difference was the Magical Moments pins cost $10, and Pal Mickey was <i>an $8 rental on a $50 deposit</i>. <b><i>In the early 2000s.</i></b><br />
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So Walt Disney World bought in full hog on RFID. Park admission, room keys, and purchases were streamlined into a clunky but functional user interface all tied to a rubbery bracelet sent to you in flashy packaging. Obviously modeled on the "Livestrong" bracelet fad, MagicBands continue to be sold at Disney, but their actual utility is less than a fraction of what was imagined. Early MagicBands included batteries to enable to use of long-range RFID, and Disney was, until the actual complexities of running such a torpid system became apparent, busily installing RFID receivers all across the roofs of Magic Kingdom. That's right, Disney, the ultimate nanny state, wanted to use these bracelets to keep tabs on nearly everything about what their guests were up to, from purchasing patterns to bathroom use. A glorious future was envisioned where Mickey Mouse himself could upsell you on an ice cream cone outside of a bathroom because Disney knew you had gone exactly 2.5 hours since your last snack.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney's dream of the 2010s</td></tr>
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Again, the ambition and absolute folly of building a tech infrastructure like this in 2011 based on close-range RFID emitters is retrospectively staggering. In the end, MyMagic+ would never leave Walt Disney World. A torpid, costly affair supposedly tipping the budget scales above two billion, a combination of the protracted <i>Avatar</i> project and MyMagic+ shot parks executive Tom Staggs down in flames. The other Disney resorts looked upon Orlando's efforts with indignation. Many of the elements that really did improve the guest experience, like the removal of turnstiles in favor of touch points, were absolutely impractical at places like Disneyland. Slowly, Disneyland and then other parks rolled out their phone apps, each built in a separate silo from each other.<br />
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The two projects that were truly going to demonstrate the power of the system - <i>Pandora</i> at <i>Animal Kingdom</i> and <i>Shanghai Disneyland</i> - came and went without significant MyMagic+ presence. Although Walt Disney World has maintained the MyMagic+ name and wristband element, nearly nothing of that decade-ago tech remains operational. There never was a full integration of all of Orlando's Disney systems, for the same reason that there never has been one - any job where you deal with the public is bound to be a messy one, and Disney has simply never managed to take the guesswork out of it. In the end, trying to build a tech infrastructure based on something like Bluetooth in 2016 instead of 2011 probably would have been a bigger success... but there's another problem, and it's a problem that Disney used to be the masters of.<br />
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It's that no matter how carefully you design a user-end interface to solve all of the problems of your line of business, <b><i>people are still people and getting them to use it the way you want is a fool's errand</i></b>. People are still gonna people. Disney used to be masters at understanding people and invisibly guiding them towards designed, <i>profitable</i> experiences. Someday, stand on the monorail platform at Magic Kingdom and just watch the people. Watch the monorails gliding in and out, the doors popping open, the people constantly flowing in and out, each one and individual from cultures around the world but each being helpfully guided by design through an area. Watch how gracefully they navigate each other and a space and moreover watch how it happens again and again and again. Compare that to the mess of humans milling around waiting for a Fastpass to become valid.<br />
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<i>Rise of the Resistance,</i> Disney's best attraction since <i>Indiana Jones Adventure</i>, opened this last month. There was no interactive queue. Scratch that: there's <b>no queue</b>. The ride works on a pure reservation system, with groups being called to wait in a short line to board. We're back where we started, with what Imagineering knew back in the 50s and 60s: the <i>park itself </i>is the interactive queue, and anything that complicates the space between that and getting on a ride should be as minimal as possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSADLeHtSl3NOv_YkI8Zb47g2ra3OOtkThBknknbLSzyilAv7dIoZNxD4iP9frv-hjf19MKNcgMWb8A8MKDCgoNrjvMbySwHhfAFvM_VbNQZi6eI5aEnHHvkAhv5PqDmVr8aPa/s1600/EPEoBqmXsAkUnaj.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="422" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSADLeHtSl3NOv_YkI8Zb47g2ra3OOtkThBknknbLSzyilAv7dIoZNxD4iP9frv-hjf19MKNcgMWb8A8MKDCgoNrjvMbySwHhfAFvM_VbNQZi6eI5aEnHHvkAhv5PqDmVr8aPa/s400/EPEoBqmXsAkUnaj.jpeg" width="277" /></a>But really nothing tells the story of MyMagic+ better than a tiny spot in the interactive queue for the <i>Haunted Mansion</i>. The third crypt has a peek-in scene where a book of verses is writing itself. There's a disembodied voice to prompt you to complete the rhyme. It's a circa-2011 version of voice recognition, an early form of Alexa or Siri. It's all wrapped up in a clever package, but if you stand there and watch the way people interact with this thing, not one guest in 25 understands what they're being asked to do. There's even a recorded narration constantly asking you for input: <i>"Muses! Speak up!"</i>.<br />
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Nobody does. After a year, WDI went back and added telephone receivers to provide a visual aid to help this gag sell. Guests broke off the receivers and still they do not speak up. What they <i>will</i> do is walk past the crypt, see the book writing itself, and exclaim "<i>Harry Potter!</i>".<br />
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Harry Potter.<br />
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<b>Clearing the Cobwebs</b><br />
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Much of the best stuff that happened at Walt Disney World this decade was all about old-school park design values. <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2011/08/every-cloud-has-silver-lining.html">The decade was kicked off</a> with <i>The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management </i>being destroyed in a kind of literal act-of-God freak fire, paving the way for the return of a tighter version of the original show. A few months later, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2012/04/you-do-have-wings-orange-bird.html">The Orange Bird returned to Adventureland,</a> setting off a merchandise trend that has yet to subside. It was a strange time to be a classic Disney fan.<br />
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With the noteworthy exception of <i>Space Mountain</i>, nearly all of the Magic Kingdom classic attractions are in great shape. A 2015 <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> refresh finally made that attraction into the showpiece it deserves to be, with many of the figures looking better than they have since the 80s. Stalwart attractions like <i>Jungle Cruise</i> and <i>Riverboat</i> have kept up with their maintenance, while <i>Haunted Mansion</i> continues to be wildly popular and receive suspect additions - most recently, an on-ride photo.<br />
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Disney <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/11/stitchs-great-escape-ten-years.html">finally put <i>Stitch's Great Escape</i> out of its misery</a>, gutting the show's animation and is now using the lobby as a meet and greet. Magic Kingdom seems to be in no hurry to replace the attraction, perhaps understandable because that space has never managed to house a significant attendance draw. Instead, a copy of Shanghai's TRON ride is sprouting up next to Space Mountain and WDI is on a rampage around Tomorrowland, trying to bring back an updated version of its original Space Age look.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Removing the Future That Never Was / <a href="https://wdwnt.com/2020/01/photos-removal-of-peoplemover-decorative-accents-continues-at-magic-kingdom/">Derek Sterling</a></td></tr>
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Less positively, in 2013 <i>Country Bear Jamboree</i> was retooled into a version that cut nearly a third of its run time, doing very little to retain much of its original wit while gaining very little in terms of pace. The figures themselves were lavishly redressed, and hopefully the full 15 minute show can be restored in the future. Meanwhile, <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> continued to receive suspect updates to the Auction scene, a rare situation where my feminism and desire for park preservation were at loggerheads. The resulting scene isn't any worse than the other 2006 tampering, and far better than the atrocious 90s fixes to remove implied rape in the Chase scene, but its now kind of shocking to consider that the ONLY scene remaining in the Florida ride where you can hear X Atencio's original iconic script is in the Jail scene. Given all of this, it would be nice if WDI saw fit to remove Barbossa from the Bombardment scene and reinstate Paul Frees' original Blackbeard captain. Barbossa hasn't even made sense as the captain of the "evil" pirate crew looking for Jack Sparrow since the first film, anyway.<br />
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While efforts to move crowds around this most crowded of Florida parks continue, the most significant this decade were the leveling of the Skyway station and the the rebuilding of the Hub. The Skyway project turned into one of the nicest bonuses to come with the New Fantasyland project, a leafy corner devoted to <i>Tangled</i> with some nice details. The Hub project was badly needed and while not all of Operations' lofty plans to issue Fastpasses to preferred viewing corrals have quite worked out, on the busiest days the extra space has made a huge difference. It's not the Magic Kingdom hub I grew up with, but it's flashy and not bad at all.<br />
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Overall <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2012/09/lightning-in-bottle-storybook-circus.html">the removal of Toontown</a>, the re utilization of the former 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Skyway attractions, and the rebuilding the of the Hub, Main Street bypass, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/03/understanding-adventureland-veranda.html">Adventureland Veranda</a> and finally at long last the entrance plaza have finally cleared away most of the badly utilized spaces around the park, though those shops in Adventureland and Caribbean Plaza remain poorly capitalized upon. With TRON rising out of the ground quickly. Magic Kingdom is finally receiving her first genuine capacity addition since 1993 (!). The park is just about in the position you want a legacy park to be in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNbxrz6RoLVscwffYFfjR9vSdXBeKIYuM8P0AprawX6m-Hx6q_u-hS72izT0rQh6tglvdnhj2JPrvmTzFOdlzgg4pkypqCt5rqg8ntALOBqI-uDnMJF9aT-YOWDhxQG9vfs0X/s1600/StarWarsLand-aerial-08182016-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1392" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNbxrz6RoLVscwffYFfjR9vSdXBeKIYuM8P0AprawX6m-Hx6q_u-hS72izT0rQh6tglvdnhj2JPrvmTzFOdlzgg4pkypqCt5rqg8ntALOBqI-uDnMJF9aT-YOWDhxQG9vfs0X/s400/StarWarsLand-aerial-08182016-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogmickey.com/2016/08/photos-latest-look-star-wars-land-toy-story-land-demolition-hollywood-studios-81816/">BlogMickey / @MickeyExtreme</a>, August 2016</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, across the resort, Walt Disney World's most ill-conceived addition has a new lease on life. The entire rear of <i>Hollywood Studios</i>, a "backlot" which saw less than one year of active production and then stood untouched for nearly 30 years, is finally gone, and with it <i>Catastrophe Canyon</i>, the <i>Backlot Tour</i>, a temporary movie set playground that set an unfortunate precedent, and more are finally gone. And while the Toy Story area that was built nearby is less than ideal, the Star Wars area that superseded much of that old backlot is an absolute winner, especially compared to its previous life as a fake city street with no real purpose.<br />
<br />
Less easy to applaud is the decision to scrap that park's final opening day attraction, the problematic but lavish <i>Great Movie Ride</i>, in favor of a screen-based Mickey Mouse attraction. But it's a brave new park out there now, and certainly of the slate of four parks, the <i>Studios</i> had the most to gain and least to lose by wiping its slate clean. Let's hope in the next few years this freshening up continues and we say goodbye to poorly utilized areas such as Animation Courtyard, the Beauty and the Beast tent show, and the Indy Stunt Show. Disney went from barely a major player to the 500 pound gorilla on top of the Hollywood box office in just ten short years, and their movie theme park really ought to reflect this.<br />
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<br />
In these quarters we're less sure of the fortunes of Epcot. Currently in the midst of a protracted multi-phase reboot a'la <i>California Adventure</i>, it's still so early in the going that it's hard to say if Disney is going to end up with a conceptually unified park, something that Epcot hasn't really been since the turn of the Millennium. Certainly, it's been hard to say goodbye to stalwarts such as <i>Illuminations, Impressions de France, and Universe of Energy</i>, but on the same token <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-ideology-of-future-world-part-1.html">the Disney that built EPCOT Center is no longer with us</a> and that park is never coming back. And while the probability of the newest incarnation pleasing EPCOT Center purists is probably below zero, there is a chance to build a park that feels more like a futuristic showplace and less like a community college from the 80s.<br />
<br />
I personally gave up on ever seeing my preferred version of Epcot again ten years ago, so this quarter is cautiously optimistic. If nothing else, the new films at <i>The Land</i> and <i>Canada</i>, bowing this month, are actually far closer to the education and inspiration message of the Epcot of old than their 1996 and 2007 replacements were.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77zonNBhmqn8W19M_Kt5meJlUvkvYvxeAZ5Oh-niSF-9PIJ9ubOjRC7XrBmxvibVddQ5eFHPV-wHUYgqdOsOrjm3iwycufX4ycIPdvwqW6oPB9En_InMtRTS5-77XfS0Gb8XF/s1600/Lime-Garage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="900" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77zonNBhmqn8W19M_Kt5meJlUvkvYvxeAZ5Oh-niSF-9PIJ9ubOjRC7XrBmxvibVddQ5eFHPV-wHUYgqdOsOrjm3iwycufX4ycIPdvwqW6oPB9En_InMtRTS5-77XfS0Gb8XF/s400/Lime-Garage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
For this observer, the best trend of the past decade has been the sudden awakening by somebody somewhere in the organization that the Orlando property's infrastructure is embarrassingly outdated and that Disney has the capital necessary to fix it. <i>Downtown Disney</i> was once the property's biggest logistical nightmare, with traffic that frequently gridlocked the roads around it. With the reconstruction into <i>Disney Springs</i> came new overpasses, parking garages, elevators, escalators, and even pedestrian access bridges across the intersections. This all works wonderfully today and parking spaces can be located from the road in under ten minutes from both directions, which compared to the <i>Downtown Disney</i> of 2005 is sort of a miracle.<br />
<br />
The success of that project kicked off a rash of upgrades across the resort, and new traffic patterns, off ramps, security processes and more have been a constant for the past four years. But none has been more visible than the Skyliner, a Doppelmayr lift system connecting <i>Epcot</i>, <i>Hollywood Studio</i>s, and several hotels. Despite opening month hiccups the system works amazingly well and has already caused Disney to reduce their reliance on buses within the network. The system transported <i>a million people</i> in <i>less than a month</i>. As a passenger with me in one of the buckets exclaimed a few weeks ago, "the Skyliner is legit".<br />
<br />
Hopefully, the Skyliner system will be expanded with a new hub at <i>Coronado Springs</i> and spurs connecting <i>Coronado</i> to the <i>Beach Club</i>, then on to <i>Blizzard Beach</i>, <i>Animal Kingdom</i>, and <i>Animal Kingdom Lodge.</i> From there, a north spur could easily cut through wetlands north of <i>Coronado Springs</i> and bring guests to the <i>Transportation and Ticket Center</i>. This would effectively put most of the resort on mass transit. Even more pressingly, hopefully Disney will soon invest in a new automated monorail fleet and replace the aging, literally falling apart monorails they are still running.<br />
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In short, its hard to avoid feeling that Walt Disney World is finally getting to the point it should have been at ten years ago. Genuine expansion and hard looks at existing problems are finally rolling forward, hopefully setting up the resort for its next ten years of improvements.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisupbyjdcqrd5rOfr4UU5zXqF-Dtcs3VHXnUcu-oKsk0xNAfQDDmk2DfeQOiNwrV7FJ9rbtoCFt8hhSWymeOquqRBMSEnw_iLlZCvMQreuWSWU8sh-VYAfUchl4kxddE__MshK/s1600/skyliner-gondolas-disney-world-aerial-transportation-285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="800" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisupbyjdcqrd5rOfr4UU5zXqF-Dtcs3VHXnUcu-oKsk0xNAfQDDmk2DfeQOiNwrV7FJ9rbtoCFt8hhSWymeOquqRBMSEnw_iLlZCvMQreuWSWU8sh-VYAfUchl4kxddE__MshK/s400/skyliner-gondolas-disney-world-aerial-transportation-285.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.disneytouristblog.com/review-skyliner-gondolas-disney-world/">Tom Bricker</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>You Can't Go Home Again</b><br />
<br />
But, you know, its not all clear skies ahead. While the past few years have been a whirlwind of new additions, Disney spent all of the 00s and half of the teens obliviously treading water while raising prices constantly. Day tickets crossed the $100 threshold years ago. Left and right, upcharges and add-ons have spread like crabgrass. Parking a car at thr hotel overnight? That'll cost you. Planning on using your tickets later? That'll cost you. Want to refill your Coke? That'll cost you, too.<br />
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With hotel occupancy down overall, its hard not to feel that Disney has finally crossed that event horizon from popular destination to once in a lifetime spree. The trouble is, the tighter they squeeze, the more money's gonna run thru their fingers. Disney travelers have long relied on outside grocery stores and stroller rental companies to take the sting off the tail of Disney prices, and with recent moves to curtail these competitors one wonders at which point vacationers are going to stop buying those high profit resort drinks or simply decide to go elsewhere next year.<br />
<br />
Myself, I'm wondering what Disney is going to do when the market declines again. Tourism has always been a boom and bust industry, and attendance has dropped precipitously at the start of the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s. We're very much waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when that happens Disney has always had a robust local market to appeal to in the past. Given the discounts I've seen being marketed locally and the sudden lifting of summer blackouts last year when <i>Toy Story Land</i> was not enough the entice visitors to Orlando, I'm starting to wonder if that market is still going to be there for them when they need it. I can't speak for everyone, but when it came time to renew my pass several years ago, I decided a Nintendo Switch was more appealing. And I have Disney posters on my wall. <i><b>Disney's core product is nostalgia</b></i>, and you <b>can't have</b> nostalgia when you've <b>torn out </b>a lot of what makes people nostalgic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwuCFSkb8A68IaWmJc5D15tHqht21-oBYL0fTFQSH5_xTeRh0ulRmPSK12OUWmPcKy6MV1jeCq9gYcLROF91a-r2-gGuRHcP0F1ZXZ3S15hMnI1ocKWdl6ZX1f8eQq9GTka8E/s1600/Photo-Mar-10-11-51-17-PM-1200x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="1166" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwuCFSkb8A68IaWmJc5D15tHqht21-oBYL0fTFQSH5_xTeRh0ulRmPSK12OUWmPcKy6MV1jeCq9gYcLROF91a-r2-gGuRHcP0F1ZXZ3S15hMnI1ocKWdl6ZX1f8eQq9GTka8E/s400/Photo-Mar-10-11-51-17-PM-1200x800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bulldozers finally came for River Country / <a href="https://wdwnt.com/2019/03/photos-demolition-begins-at-old-river-country-site-ahead-of-new-dvc-hotel/">Cameron F</a></td></tr>
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It's also been frankly bizarre to see Universal, the company who kicked all of this off by snatching the golden chalice and waking the sleeping dragon, stumble as badly as they have in Orlando. Following their second, marvelously realized Harry Potter area, they've mostly been content to open nice hotels and underwhelming replacements. Universal Orlando's "third park", Volcano Bay, is a nicely themed water park that still falls short of the theming Disney lavished on their two water parks a quarter century ago. And despite acquiring <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/12/nintendos-universal-worlds.html">the property of my personal childhood dreams</a> - Nintendo - progress on getting the thing open in Orlando has been stalled by a series of false starts. It's now wrapped up in a frankly bizarre venture to open a park nowhere near their other two in a move which seems doomed to boondogglery. The cross town rivals briefly looked competitive, but each year that passes the gap seems to widen and widen.<br />
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They say you can't go home again, and that's true for the Walt Disney World of the 20s.<br />
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After losing much of the history and charm at the <i>Polynesian</i> earlier in the decade, in 2019 the final, untouched pocket of old school WDW fell. The bulldozers arrived at Fort Wilderness to clear away <i>River Country</i> for a new hotel. Like the <i>Gran Destino</i> it will probably be very nice and probably pretty incoherent - its ostensibly about nature, and Pocahontas or something but it looks like a mid-century Radisson.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtE_O_9rLntQKP2BnhUdTlS0jk4cxK6IFM4MoUhocywOKwIKYa5kmhBhkVhhZkCl18fnV_vR4Lp2HSGWKz0MJilrPYbWmOYzFL2Z9EHV4rKSv1oQPOCzuPRJaMNgsXZGLGsTbw/s1600/EFBiQItXUAAAsD3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1533" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtE_O_9rLntQKP2BnhUdTlS0jk4cxK6IFM4MoUhocywOKwIKYa5kmhBhkVhhZkCl18fnV_vR4Lp2HSGWKz0MJilrPYbWmOYzFL2Z9EHV4rKSv1oQPOCzuPRJaMNgsXZGLGsTbw/s400/EFBiQItXUAAAsD3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/bioreconstruct/status/1175547547546468353">@bioreconstruct</a></td></tr>
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And with that, the Walt Disney World I fell in love with as a child was finally gone. That same Walt Disney World that was still almost kinda hanging on when I worked there, the one I began writing this blog about, has finally sailed its <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2011/02/buena-vista-obscura-world-cruise.html">last phantom sidewheeler steamboat</a> across Bay Lake and vanished.<br />
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It almost, nearly, made it to 50.<br />
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If you're reading these words there's a good chance that it was your version too. But the thing is, there is out there right now somebody who never rode the <i>Backlot Tour</i> or <i>Alien Encounter</i> or <i>Horizons</i> who will love it, and perhaps they'll be the next ones to pick up this thing we were part of and carry it forward.<br />
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It's not our Walt Disney World anymore... but it might just be somebody's.FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-68022788524153157652019-11-22T12:03:00.000-05:002019-11-22T12:03:40.066-05:00Dead Media from Tokyo Disneyland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbiKeXm24qw0cqSTodRJlqWjPGnBSsFZ8t9YcT_DhpXWZGpRzUkmNBb9HT3AR4gRTuARBb8VjIGOviExts9j0AlLm1HOW4ZqG9GDVfdRvdAk9JnAtLzRUka-L3SCWku-bNvg1/s1600/s-l1600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="786" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbiKeXm24qw0cqSTodRJlqWjPGnBSsFZ8t9YcT_DhpXWZGpRzUkmNBb9HT3AR4gRTuARBb8VjIGOviExts9j0AlLm1HOW4ZqG9GDVfdRvdAk9JnAtLzRUka-L3SCWku-bNvg1/s320/s-l1600.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
Once, a long time ago, listening to music at home meant buying records. And, in those days, Disney records were in a league of their own. The Disneyland record label consistently made something that was viewed as a banal part of everyday life fun and interesting with elaborate gatefolds, slipcovers, and lavish multi-page books. Disney's key target demographic was children - cheap plastic record players had become increasingly common through the 1960s, and "storyteller" records with included storybooks were a good way to keep children entertained. Releases such as Country Bear Jamboree and The Enchanted Tiki Room are fascinating objects for modern theme park fans because of this lavish attention to detail.<br />
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Sadly, by the late 70s and early 80s, buying a Disney album on LP had become just about the worst way possible to experience the product. Long gone were the lavish booklets and clever custom programs and the quality of the records - which had never been all that hot to begin with - had degraded to near paper-thin. Late-stage landmark Disneyland Records releases such as <i>The Official Album of EPCOT Center</i> and, yes, <i>Mickey Mouse Disco</i> and <i>Mousercise</i> are just lousy products - thin-sounding, with cheap packaging. It's a fairly depressing state of affairs for collectors who enjoy these items as mementos, even if the actual contents of the discs are rarely exactly earth-shaking.<br />
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But there is an exception, and I recently discovered it: the LP release of the <i>Official Album of Tokyo Disneyland</i>. It's weird, and lavish, and surprisingly interesting.<br />
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To begin with, the booklet is back. Except this time it's something more akin to the "Pictorial Souvenirs" produced for stateside parks in those days, making it a pleasant complement to the other early Tokyo Disneyland souvenir products, such as their guide maps and souvenir picture book.<br />
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We've covered Disney's <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2011/09/people-ive-met-in-past-part-one.html">exceptional photographic publicity</a> from this era before, and interestingly Tokyo Disneyland got the royal treatment in 1982 and 83 - even photographs which could have been duplicated from identical areas at Magic Kingdom, such as inside <i>It's A Small World</i>, got brand new excellent photography.<br />
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Best of all, the center of the LP booklet is a reproduction of the park's 1983 map poster, the one where the spot that would one day be occupied by Star Tours has the Queen of Heart's soldiers "painting the roses red". These delightful vintage items are among the most expensive on the second-hand market, so having a medium-size reproduction here is a real treat.<br />
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Go ahead, pop it on the turntable and give it a listen.<br />
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The contents of the LP are fairly interesting as well. The nearest analogue is the 1980 "<i>Official Soundtrack of Disneyland/Walt Disney World</i>", but in comparison that release was frankly a budget affair - dropping together various tracks from already-released albums in basically random order. But in terms of arrangement and sequencing, the TDL effort vastly exceeds it.<br />
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For instance, the 1980 DL/WDW release has a few tracks that paste together some of the more popular shows, such as <i>Country Bear Jamboree</i> and <i>Hall of Presidents</i>. These are clearly cut down from the existing mix-down versions done for lavish LPs released in 1972, giving the tracks a rushed, inelegant sound.<br />
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In comparison, the TDL equivalents of these tracks are actually mixed from isolated source elements, possibly because the music elements were available having been utilized in creating the new Japanese language soundtracks. The new versions are much better, and give us opportunities to hear things not heard in any other version of these soundtrack releases - the piano introduction to Teddi Barra's number in <i>Country Bear Jamboree</i> presented without Henry's narration being a high point.<br />
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The entire first side of the album is dedicated to Fantasyland. Walt Disney Productions was very concerned that Japanese audiences would not connect with the other areas of the park, which is why the Americana aspects of the park are de-emphasized - renaming Frontierland to Westernland, for instance. But Japan HAD been a clearing house for Western animation and cartoons through the 50s and 60s, and the emphasis on their cartoon back catalogue here both reflects Disney's strategy in Japan and sets the stage for the cartoon mania which still grips that park.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0YFXvLVrHOOzbnYyJccKeKy26ylv62IDO_gIJLjLiYNRF97A-7UzepRj3ymtdRQwFWxWEi0n7Wgyiwxfkvj4xU_aSguvWCMuGPeGpC1DdJNB3M_a5JAG65RG6p8rBLk9_Ov1/s1600/Daring+Journey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1088" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0YFXvLVrHOOzbnYyJccKeKy26ylv62IDO_gIJLjLiYNRF97A-7UzepRj3ymtdRQwFWxWEi0n7Wgyiwxfkvj4xU_aSguvWCMuGPeGpC1DdJNB3M_a5JAG65RG6p8rBLk9_Ov1/s320/Daring+Journey.png" width="313" /></a>The extra space allows the Disney sound engineers to do some interesting things. Background and incidental music is featured, something that would never happen on Western releases until the 21st century. The version of <i>Mickey Mouse Revue</i> finishes with a cut-down version of the attraction's theater entrance music, ending with funky guitar riffs which nearly scream 1971. Elsewhere, attraction underscore is presented for <i>Peter Pan's Flight</i> and <i>It's A Small World</i>.<br />
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The crown jewel is <i>Pinocchio's Daring Journey,</i> which was heavily marketed within Japan as being designed exclusively for Tokyo Disneyland (it wasn't, and managed to remain exclusive to Tokyo Disneyland for about three months, but theme parks could get away with things like that in 1983). Practically a quarter of the first side of the platter is devoted to this ride, with a mix of what I believe is attraction underscore and Famntasyland area music. It's bizarre to listen to this record as elaborate mega-attractions like <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> blip by in one-minute sound clips while <i>Pinocchio's Daring Journey</i> goes on... and on... and on. The soundtrack on this record is longer than the actual attraction is.<br />
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Side Two continues with excellent Japanese-language compressions of <i>Tiki Room</i> and <i>Country Bear Jamboree</i> and is highlighted with a short version of <i>Meet the World</i>. The Tokyo Disneyland record is not only the best park soundtrack of its era in both technical and presentation areas, but also paves the way towards the modern Disneyland soundtrack.<br />
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But before I had the record, I had the cassette.<br />
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Purchased in a bulk lot of Tokyo Disneyland items, I picked up the cassette on a whim because I was intrigued that it was devoted entirely to Fantasyland - before I knew that it represented Side A of the LP release. But I was fascinated by the oddities of its tracks, especially the <i>Daring Journey</i> track, and was intrigued enough to import the LP from Japan to continue the search. Here, in the interest of completion, is the cassette version of the Fantasyland tracks.<br />
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I'd still like to know how this was released. There's no indication of it being, say, Cassette 1 of 2, and it appeared in my life all alone, in its own vintage plastic case with no insert. A compact cassette can hold much more music than an LP can, so if Disney simply wanted to issue the TDL soundtrack on cassette, they were perfectly capable of doing so without splitting off the Fantasyland tracks over two sides. What I suspect is that this was released as part of some sort of book and tape combination, probably focusing on the Fantasyland area of the park, and the book has since gone missing.<br />
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It's an oddity, to be sure, but an oddity that crosses over through a lot of my interests - there can't be too many others who are invested in theme park music, vintage releases from Japan, write a historical blog such as this, and who have the equipment <i><b>already</b></i> sitting around to digitally transcode both records and cassette tapes of both.<br />
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It's a narrow window, sure, but even minor players like these in the history of how a park was promoted upon opening can be interesting, never mind the very first overseas Disney theme park, the first black ship launched into foreign waters. It's an auspicious moment that looks both backwards and forwards at the tail end of the Post-Walt era before Disney would rapidly become very, very different.<br />
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If you enjoy Disney Park obscurities and weird old music, then you're in the right place! Check out our <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">Walt Disney World History Hub</a> for more deep dives and <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">Park Music Hub</a> for more old music rescued from weird old formats!FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-8886740164799965362019-05-10T10:48:00.000-04:002019-05-10T10:48:37.829-04:00Meet Beverly: The Italian ConnectionIf you've been to Epcot in the past 20 years, you've almost certainly come across <i><b>it</b></i> at the Coca-Cola free soda exhibit... a clear, odorless, intensely bitter soda being dispensed under the amusingly bland name "Beverly". So infamously unwelcome is this product it's become a common prank to trick somebody into drinking it, or take the "Beverly Challenge" and watch the imbiber squirm:<br />
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Look online and you'll find plenty of colorful adjectives to describe it: the worst taste in the world, like old socks, like puke.<br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<i><b>But there's more to the stuff than that!</b></i> And with the Coke exhibit likely ready to be torn down in the next couple of years, let's take a quick tour of what Beverly actually is, learn some history about it, and perhaps gain some perspective on what is actually a fairly interesting little beverage that's been making hapless American tourists gag for 20 years.<br />
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<b>Italy, Meet Beverly</b><br />
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Beverly is an aperitif drink, which is a tradition essentially unknown in the United States but beloved in northern Italy.<br />
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You almost certainly have come across forms of the aperitif recently in the United States, with the bitter Italian subcategory of drinks lately being very vougeish among drinkers. The most infamous is currently the Negroni. As author Mark Kingwell memorably noted, the Negroni is not a drink for fence-sitters - it's strong, bitter, and thick, and those who love it love it precisely because it's overkill.<br />
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If you're allergic to bitter flavors and all you've had in the way of experience is Beverly and perhaps a sip of Negroni you're going to be tempted to write the whole thing off right now... but wait. There is an aperitif for every palette.<br />
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Perhaps more fundamental to the concept of the aperitif is the ubiquitous Italian vermouth, a mild red wine spiced up with various botanicals. Poured into a tall glass over ice, it's as basic and Italian as an aperitif gets, and a gentle start to an evening of leisure.<br />
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But the thing is, I can't really convey what an aperitif is<i> in toto</i> by pointing out examples, because simply an aperitif isn't a single product so much as it is a whole range of practices - a whole way of thinking about things that went down in flames in the United States with the death of the cocktail hour. And while elaborate drinking rituals have returned in city centers over the past two decades, as Americans we still don't have an instituted culture of stopping the work day with a lightly alcoholic, sparkling drink as a prelude to dinner.<br />
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That's really what can't be conveyed here, in this country where we have trouble keeping work out of the rest of life and cannot stand any dickering around over matters such as stopping to enjoy a casual drink and snack at the cusp of the evening. But it's a very civilized way to start the evening, if you're so inclined to give it a try - and the options available to you are numerous.<br />
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There are as many apertif beverages as there are towns in Italy, and they cover the entire range from sweet and welcoming to minty and medicinal. The most common options are Aperol, Cynar, Ramazzotti, Campari, Montenegro, and Averna, but there are hundreds. The other thing to understand is the most common way of taking these beverages is to top them up with sparkling water or prosecco, which utter transforms them. Bitter Campari, which taken straight from the bottle will remind many Americans of cough syrup, lightens up into a surprisingly sweet, round drink redolent of blood oranges when lengthened with seltzer. It is therefore appropriate to think of these bottled mixers as being comparable to the concentrated syrup that Coca-Cola is made from - tough to drink on its own, but add carbonated water and the flavors open up dramatically. Pre-diluted bottles of the most popular options, such as Campari, are sold throughout Italy for easy imbibing.<br />
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Which brings us back to Coca-Cola.<br />
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Coke introduced Beverly in Italy in 1970 in an effort to hedge their way into the popular regional drinking traditions. Advertised as "Cold as Helsinki - Sparkling as Rio - Dry as El Paso", advertisements of the day show a non-alcoholic, deep red (!) beverage alongside newspapers and revelers. And if you were a gigantic corporation trying to establish a toehold in an international market that had remained stubbornly loyal to traditional local beverages, what would you do to sway drinkers to try your new product? You'd probably model it as closely as possible on the most popular aperitif on the market, wouldn't you?<br />
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The flavor profile Coke chose to emulate was Montenegro, among the lightest and sweetest of the amari on the market. Montenegro is among the most approachable options on the market, herbal and sweet straight out of the bottle rather than harsh or minty as many are - the Montenegro American website suggests such options as a "Monte Mule", "Monte Manhattan" or "Montenegroni" for home mixographers. But to an American Epcot fan, all it takes is one sip and you'll immediately know - <i>this tastes like Beverly. Actually - this tastes </i>better<i> than Beverly</i>.<br />
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Around 2007, I began to become interested in getting ahold of the real bottled Beverly, but could find nobody who could import it for me. According to the World of Coke website, Beverly was discontinued in 2009.... if it was widely available at all by then. Traditional amari won... at least in Italy.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>World, Meet Beverly</b><br />
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Coke and Disney have always had a traditional partnership, but it wasn't until the 80s when the company laid down sponsorship money for The American Adventure at EPCOT Center that Coke really solidified their hold on Disney - a position they have yet to cede. Ahead of the opening of Animal Kingdom, Coke negotiated a new deal with Disney for a series of drink stands across the resort, which resulted in some of the tackiest features of Walt Disney World's absolutely most garish period. Animal Kingdom got off easy, with the beautifully realized Dwolla drink bar in Asia. Of the rest, the least egregious was the expansion of the Refreshment Outpost in World Showcase's "Africa" section into the Refreshment COOLpost. Disney-MGM Studios got this terrible freestanding oversized 6-pack of Coke:<br />
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Instead of the Hot Set, this was the COOL set, and the lid of the giant bottle would pop open and spray passersby with water. I still can't believe this survived for two decades.<br />
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Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland stand, the COOL Ship, at least somewhat fits in with the rest of the area, although why we are still subjected to stacked shipping boxes of cola is the definition of suspect theming. Perhaps the stacked futuristic shipping boxes of Coke were a necessary counterbalance to the stacked futuristic shipping boxes of Fed-Ex which once littered the open floor space in the Space Mountain queue?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBP4ql_3UvY2eKtu2XJcM9JL4CYifgBtU5TFqW4blcFgROD9Bpo7GZ0lgPT8kXScUoed_GUY735MY_P-OlZgd92FHB8Wyl0FiFTbTTOoeEuL_-ITOMWEjwDpYkOc0yEONyQVFl/s1600/cool-ship-00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="652" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBP4ql_3UvY2eKtu2XJcM9JL4CYifgBtU5TFqW4blcFgROD9Bpo7GZ0lgPT8kXScUoed_GUY735MY_P-OlZgd92FHB8Wyl0FiFTbTTOoeEuL_-ITOMWEjwDpYkOc0yEONyQVFl/s400/cool-ship-00.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the official photo, look how proud they are.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But poor Future World got the worst of it, starting with the Test Track COOL Wash, where blinking lights inform us "Frozen When Flashing!". Mist and fans spray water out in all directions, car wash bristles reveal the shape of cola bottles when spinning, and a Test Track car in the center of it all has the last remaining crash test dummy. Here it is in 2007 with its original Test Track colors:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Iger, tear down this car wash!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But somehow none of that was quite as bad as a giant igloo in the middle of Epcot, emblazoned with the pink text "Ice Station Cool".<br />
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Opening in July 1998, Ice Station Cool at least was the most elaborate of these experiences, offering a short tunnel where the temperature was kept near freezing thanks to a pair of air curtains and a show machine regularly produced snow drifts. This emptied into a shop themed after an arctic exploration base stocked with Coke t-shirts. The drinks were dispensed by these strange contraptions aimed a gigantic globe on the rear wall of the shop.<br />
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The most memorable aspect of Ice Station Cool was the frozen caveman glimpsed halfway through the cold tunnel, of course captured in ice at the moment of his demise clutching a bottle of Coke. Personally, as a frequent visitor to Epcot in 2004 and 2005, the most memorable aspect was the raised rubber treads on the floor, which were perpetually sticky with spilled soda. By that time the air curtains had been turned down and the snow machine would simply dribble some cold water on your head. But perhaps, in the end, truly the most noteworthy thing about Ice Station Cool his that it unleashed Beverly on an unsuspecting population.<br />
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In 2005, Ice Station Cool was closed and reworked into Club Cool, the form that it exists in today. This basic installation was copied and brought back to the World of Coke attraction in Atlanta, where it is known as the "Taste It!" exhibit. The original flavors were Krest Ginger Ale, Fanta Kolita, Beverly, Vegeta Beta, Kinley Lemon, Lift Apple, Smart Watermelon, and Mezzo Mix.<br />
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As you have probably realized by now, I have remained a fan of Beverly since I began to become accustomed to bitter flavors in my 20s, and more than once repeated shots of Beverly have saved me from dehydration after a full lap around World Showcase on a summer day. I've been the subject of intended pranks to "tricking" me into drinking it, which I have always done and reported my enjoyment. To me, the bitter taste of Beverly is as much a part of Epcot as Spaceship Earth.<br />
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What I'm not convinced of, however, is that what Coke is distributing there is actually a fair representation of Beverly.<br />
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In the research dives for this article I've only ever come across very old Italian advertising for Beverly, which to me suggests that even before Coke officially pulled the plug on the stuff in 2009 it was effectively off the market anyway. What Beverly tasted like in Italy in the 70s we'll never know, but I'm not convinced that the Epcot version is an accurate version. For one, it's not red, which we know for sure the product was on launch. Additionally, it's much, much bitter-er than Montenegro, which it's transparently modeled on. Third, it's being distributed for free in a theme park by the division of the company that never produced it. I think Coke is offering a fairly crude approximation of Beverly, that the real product in the 70s was likely much better balanced, and of course the pure volume of the stuff being mixed with carbonated tap water and dispensed into tiny paper cups all but ensures that the flavor will never be quite right.<br />
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But the fact is that even if the flavor was dead accurate, the context would always, always be wrong. Epcot tourists have certain in-built expectations when they see Coca-Cola, and something dry and bitter is not one of them. Additionally, placed right in a row of sweet flavors, the bitter, medicinal taste will always hit harder than if it were sampled, say, before the rest. Presented across a bar, in a tiny glass, and offered as something reminiscent of a Dry Martini, Beverly would have an opportunity to find an appreciative audience. But Coke knew very well what they were doing here, and they set up these tourists to gag and groan and spit and do all of the things they've been doing since July 1998.<br />
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Except some of us. Some of us who really like it.<br />
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We have no idea if the Coke exhibit is going to be relocated once Communicore gets torn down in a few years, and with Beverly off the market, what's a fan of bitter soda to do?<br />
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<b>Home Bar, Meet Beverly</b><br />
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Once I came across Montenegro and immediately recognized it as the basis for the taste of Beverly, I began excitedly experimenting. Perhaps it would be easy enough to simply dilute the stuff with seltzer and I could enjoy Beverly at home?<br />
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It wasn't that easy. Over my years of making Negronis at home, I've learned that amari react in strange and unusual ways to being tinkered with. As a syrupy mixer, they have a background taste that some of their least kind critics compare to cough syrup. Diluted, the sweetness becomes properly checked and the fruit flavors emerge. Stirred with other spirits, the bitterness comes forward and the syrupy quality remains. Shaken up with ice, the syrupy quality vanishes and a pleasant, surprising dryness emerges - one can easy make a Negroni into a dry, summery drink by shaking it up with and orange wedge, whereas the stirred version is a strong, brooding drink.<br />
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In this case, the Montenegro simply turned into orange soda once it was diluted with seltzer, far too sweet to hit those familiar Epcot Beverly notes. I would have to get creative.<br />
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In this case my blueprint was a spin on the Negroni called the Lucien Gaudin, which balances the aggressive Campari with triple sec, resulting in a surprisingly sophisticated cocktail. Again the gentle nature of Montenegro required careful handling and rebalancing.<br />
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The result is a beverage that tastes reminiscent of Beverly but with the edges sanded off. It's orangey-sweet and not too strong, which required a new name...<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u>Velvet Beverly</u></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u></u></b>1 tsp St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur<br />
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth<br />
3/4 oz Montenegro Amaro<br />
1 oz Dry Gin</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Stir until very cold and strain into a cocktail couple. Garnish with a fancy lemon peel.</i></blockquote>
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The Elderflower Liqueur can be substituted for Triple Sec, Maraschino or indeed any other cordial you enjoy. Go easy on the teaspoon - most of the sweet in the drink comes from the Montenegro, which should be kept in check.<br />
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Even those of you who prefer to keep things on the sweet side will perhaps next time stop by Club Cool and think of Beverly in a different way. When your palette becomes fatigued by the sugar, try a sip or two to cleanse your taste buds. Or pour yourself a cup while you're leaving and sip it as you stroll into World Showcase, as a refreshing and fortifying end to your sugar high.<br />
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It's a fascinating product, a failed attempt to emulate a fortified cordial invented in 1885 half a world away, then re-created to shock and surprise theme park tourists in Orlando. Even 20 years later it's a stranger to this land - dislocated, out of time - but sometimes it's the strange things I treasure the most. <i>Ciao!</i><br />
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<i>We have more entries on Walt Disney World drinks, real and invented:</i><br />
<a href="https://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/11/lets-have-drink-on-it-adventureland.html">Jungle Navigation Co. Punch</a> | <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-have-drink-on-it-seven-seas-drink.html">The Seven Seas Drink</a> | <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-have-drink-on-it-howling-dog-bend.html">Howling Dog Bend</a><br />
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FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-24598787243943902642019-04-12T00:43:00.000-04:002019-04-12T00:43:12.588-04:00Five Batshit Crazy Rides<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay everybody, put on your silly hats, because today we're all about really weird rides.<br />
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As a Disney World-obsessed child growing up on the other side of the country, although Disney was a major influence on my interests, the fact is that it was not an everyday, every week, or even every-year thing. Just as big of an influence on me, in those multi-year stretches between the family vacations, were less-ambitious examples of theming: malls, miniature golf courses, oddball restaurants, and regional amusement parks. So while the obsession really took hold between the ages of eight and ten or so, the fact is that I have more, and stronger childhood memories of something like Lake Compounce or Riverside Park or Lake George than I do Walt Disney World.<br />
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On this blog, we spend a lot of time talking about the prime cuts: the Disneys and Universals of the world, which offer beautifully, fully realized environments. But just as compelling to me are the lesser steaks, the parks that operate on smaller budgets and milder ambitions, that make do with less. They may not be as rich and juicy, but there's a lot of flavor to chew on in places like Knobels, or The Enchanted Forest, or Silver Dollar City.<br />
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Which is maybe a longwinded way of saying: I love Pirates of the Caribbean, but I love the weird shit too, and there is simply not enough of it on this blog. And while these five examples may not per se be on the same level as a handmade mini golf course in Michigan, they aren't exactly on the Disney or Universal or Efteling level either. What they are is truly, truly bizarre, sometimes ambitious, fascinating, and, yes... batshit crazy.<br />
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<b>Mammut Tree, Conny Land, Switzerland</b><br />
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We'll start with something fairly mild. As the park says, "to conquer this tree, you need nerves of steel"!<br />
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A landmark in Conny Land, the Mammut Tree looks like a gigantic redwood with its top blown off. On the ground level, pedestrians can walk around and through the root system of the tree. In the air, a cable car takes riders through a hole in its top. Looks harmless, right?<br />
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Except! when the car passes through the <strike>terrifying</strike> Mammut Tree, doors close around the car and it's trapped and, then... well maybe you should just watch the video, but there's wind, sparks, fireballs, and... yodeling.<br />
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Conny Land has other oddities, like a shuttle coaster that stops you upside down and a Universe of Energy-inflected dinosaur dark ride, but it's the weird, inexplicable "mammoth tree" that captures my heart. It's like a non-sequitir given physical form.<br />
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<b>Gremlins Invasion, Warner Brothers Movie World, Germany</b><br />
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When I was about ten years old, Gremlins was one of my favorite things in the world. It's the perfect "starter" scary movie - crazy, a little gory if you're ten, suspenseful, and sweet. It's gone on to be recognized as something of a classic in years since, but in the depths of the 90s with the world having moved on all I could do is rent the thing and keep spreading the word and wondering if I was the only one who loved this movie as much as I did.<br />
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Suffice to say, had I had access to this attraction as a ten year old, Gremlins Invasion / The Great Gremlins Adventure would maybe be my favorite ride ever.<br />
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The premise begins with absolute lunacy and only gets weirder from there. Passing through a receptionist office and into a screening room at "Warner Brothers Studio", visitors are treated to a collection of bloopers from films past and present hosted by... Sandra Bullock? Okay...<br />
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After several minutes of this, we suddenly cut to the set of ALF, where ALF is chasing the household cat under a sink. He's then attacked by the Gremlins, who electrocute the cameraman shooting the television program. As ALF encourages viewers to flee, the projector breaks and the famous "film break" segment of Gremlins 2 plays. An employee rushes into the theater to hurry the audience to a load area where the ride operator has been killed by the Gremlins, but no worry - ALF and Gizmo are at the ride controls!<br />
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Some context here. There were two versions of this attraction, one in Australia and one in Germany. The Australia version featured Beetlejuice, which I suppose makes <i>some</i> sense as that character was then at the height of his popularity and was also a fourth-wall breaking, horror comedy kind of character. If you squint a little, you can see why somebody would make the connection.<br />
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Meanwhile, over in Germany, ALF had been something of a cultural phenomenon, and he took a much larger role in the German edition of the attraction, piloting the vehicles through the Warner Brothers Film Archive and appearing in the pre show. While touring a film archive under attack by Gremlins while Beetlejuice appears and cracks wise is plenty bizarre in itself, the inclusion of ALF as a major character elevates the simply weird into the truly sublime.<br />
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You wanna know what? This ride is pretty good. It uses entirely dimensional sets, it has decent gags, and it's perfect for the Gremlins - attacking a movie studio and re-enacting scenes from <i>Singing in the Rain</i> and <i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i>. There's a decent Pepper's Ghost gag where ALF and Gizmo electrocute a number of Gremlins, and another moment where the ride vehicles pass each other and trailing behind the second vehicle is a ride car filled with Gremlins. The finale where ALF arrives in a fire truck has never made much sense, but if you've gotten this far into the ride, what do you honestly expect? The Gremlins pack themselves into boxes, the film archive burns, and the perfect late 80s pop culture dream state ends.<br />
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In the past ten years, Gremlins Invasion has graduated from obscurity to minor infamy due to the ever-vigilant novelty consuming nature of social media, but right there at the intersection of crazy and possibly good sits a ride starring Sandra Bullock and ALF that was torn down for a Van Helsing coaster. It is, in its' own small way, perfect.<br />
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<b>Donkey's Sherry, Shima Spain Village, Japan</b><br />
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This one only exists thanks to the diligence of park designer Dave Cobb, who knew weird when he saw it back in the 90s. Donkey's Sherry is vastly bizarre and makes one wonder what other strange rides once existed across the globe that were never documented and since have been lost.<br />
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A fever dream starring anthropomorphic donkeys, rather than the cute Disney-style characters you may expect, this is entirely "musician of Bremen" style donkeys, upright animals wearing clothes. As the ride begins, the donkeys are manufacturing the sherry, crushing grapes in huge wooden vats, drinking the sherry, dancing in the town square, getting drunk.... and then things get weird.<br />
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The absolute masterstroke of Donkey's Sherry, if it can be said to have one, is after all of the escalating insanity with executioners, conquistadors, and a burning city, is the puzzling final scene, where we are left to wonder if the whole thing was the drunken hallucination of an animal. Honestly, we're left to wonder if it wasn't a drunken hallucination of *ourselves*, but no matter. there may be plenty of questionable in Donkey's Sherry, but find me another ride that wordlessly suggests a twist ending with nary a bit of narration.<br />
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<b>Looney Tunes Adventure, Warner Brothers Movie World, Germany</b><br />
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Here I go picking on poor Movie World Germany again. For what it's worth, this park has a really interesting history which predates its Warner Brothers branding in the 90s, and Warner did a lot of interesting things with it when they bought it. It was the only place in the world with a rapids ride themed after The Never-ending Story, a stunt show based on Police Academy, and a Batman Returns motion simulator. It was.... very odd.<br />
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Much like Gremlins Invasion, Looney Tunes Adventure was a copy of a similar ride originally built at Movie World Gold Coast in Australia. In both attractions, we enter the Looney Tunes Studio where a pre-show room has an actor interacting with animated figures of the Looney Tunes characters. It seems we're just in time to participate in the filming of their newest picture, to be set in, depending on one's location, either the outback or the Black Forest of Bavaria. So off we go into the ride and board a boat...<br />
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Where even to begin? The animatronics were designed by Sally Corporation, and honestly with the exception of Bugs, who's very difficult to translate into three dimensions, I think they're pretty good. But mein gott, this ride is just strange. The juxtaposition of the Looney Tunes, faithfully realized in three dimensions, with realistically created trees, rocks, and Bavarian architecture is just strange. But what pushes the whole thing from peculiar to haunting is the fact that there is absolutely no musical soundtrack during the ride! The Looney Tunes act out their comedy at the sluggish pace provided by mid-range animatronics circa 1996, viewed from a slow moving boat, and scored to a backdrop of birdsong and croaking frogs. The result is queerly suspenseful, but strangely compelling, in a mirror-world kind of way.<br />
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Oh, and another thing. I gave a simplified version of the actual story in the description above, because it was already confusing enough that their was a somewhat similar but also very different Looney Tunes Adventure in Australia. In the pre-show, you see, we're welcomed to "Hollywood" (the sign is on the mural in the background) and told that Bugs Bunny has gone to Germany to scout new film locations! In order to make the film, we must, <i>and I kid you not</i>, <b><i>dig a hole through the earth to Germany</i></b>. Speedy Gonzales asks if he can get good tacos in Germany, and no, I didn't just make that up. So we're led to the set of an old Science Fiction film, where Marvin the Martian is at the controls, and we ride his gigantic drill, <i>Flight to the Moon</i> style with televisions and a shaking floor, to the Black Forest. This is why Bugs says "Welcome to Germany!" when we see him in the first scene.<br />
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So at the Looney Tunes Adventure at Movie World Germany, we're transported to Hollywood for a pre-show, then through back immediately to Germany in the most bizarre way possible. Here's a video with both of the pre-show rooms, and a better view of the baby dragon encountered at the finale:<br />
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What can I say? It's strange, very strange, and I wish like hell I could have seen it. I'm sure the same kid who would ride El Rio del Tiempo six times and who grew up to write this blog would have loved every strange moment of it.<br />
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<i>(Thanks very much to <a href="https://mysuperendeavour.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/looney-tunes-river-ride/">this blog post</a> and this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes_River_Ride">wiki article</a> for helping make sense of blurry videos in other languages!)</i><br />
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<b>Hollywood Tour, Phantasialand, Germany</b><br />
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I don't know what it is about Germany that just breeds crazy rides, but I'm well aware that 4 of the 5 on this list are located in Germany or Switzerland - and I didn't even get into Europa Park! This is also the only true knockoff on this list, but boy howdy, it's a dilly.<br />
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Phantasialand is honestly a very well realized park, with compelling rides and far, far above average textures and theming. One simply has to look at the facade and queue of their enclosed drop tower, Mystery Castle, to see that they're working at a much higher level than their competitors. Their version of Main Street is a lushly realized vision of Berlin at the height of its pre-WWI spendor. They have a very interesting Chinese variation of the Haunted Mansion, one of the most inspired such "reinterpretations" in the world. Oh, and there's Hollywood Tour, which is honestly insane.<br />
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To get on this ride you climb up! up! up! many staircases until you reach a barely decorated loading room where an animatronic of a director holding a martini - who may or may not be Alfred Hitchcock - addresses you. Then you board a boat, drop into a cavern, and...<br />
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The type of internet commentator who likes to shriek that any less than perfectly realistic animatronic is "creepy" will have a field day here, but really, those are the cheap shots. This ride is almost perversely strange, and the low budget figures are just part of it. It's the whole thing, the strange music, the slow pace of the boats, the reckless and entirely bizarre idea to replicate a mashup of the Great Movie Ride and the Universal Studios Tram Tour as an animatronic boat ride...<br />
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I love, for instance, that it recreates the <i>Jaws</i> scene at the Tram Tour in bizarrely specific detail - including the now-removed fishing guy in a boat who's pulled underwater. The entrance from The Great Movie Ride is there, as is<i> Wizard of Oz,</i> but in other cases they're riffing and coming up with their own weird versions of iconic scenes, like Frankenstein or an unspecified giant spider movie. The whole thing builds up to an experience that's appropriately named... it's oneiric, half remembered, hallucinated.<br />
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It's a mutt, but I love mutt rides - after all, the Disney and Universal park franchises now have options all over the world, but there's only one Hollywood Dream.<br />
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<i>What's your favorite batshit crazy ride from outside the world of the billion-dollar attractions? Leave the details in the comments, and if you enjoy reading about Theme Park design, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-theory-hub-page.html">check out our archives here</a>. Thanks for reading!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-17641540535272176242019-01-25T12:07:00.001-05:002019-01-25T12:07:26.889-05:00Caribbean Plaza: The Sound of the Sun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(It's BGM catch-up month here at Passport to Dreams, with two shorter posts this month to get a record of the remaining fully identified original loops online!)<br />
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Caribbean Plaza had its signature attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean, ready in December 1973 but didn't really mostly come online until April 1974, when all of its shops and snack bar were operational. At some point in that few-month period, a new piece of BGM arrived.<br />
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And so from December 1973 until July 3, 2006, Caribbean Plaza echoed with steel drums. Although highly atmospheric, much of the steel drum music begins to sound the same after enough time, and for years it was thought that the same steel drum music had been playing in the Plaza since it opened.<br />
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Thankfully a few years ago Mike Lee came forward with a 1991 live recording of Caribbean Plaza, which he identified as the music he had heard playing in the Plaza when he was a child. Since many of the original 70s BGM pieces survived until the early 90s, this was entirely credible as the original Caribbean Plaza loop.<br />
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Interestingly, it turned out to be merely the first 9 of 12 tracks of a single vintage album, played entirely in album order. Given our educated guess back in 2013 that the original Main Street BGM was simply one album played entirely in album order, this definitely fit an established pattern.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Caribbean Plaza Area Music (1973 - 1993)</b><i>Running time: approx. 30:00</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Sixty-Nine<br />02. Patsy<br />03. Coc-che-ohco<br />04. Erica<br />05. Landlord<br />06. Mamma, this is Ma's<br />07. Mambo Lake<br />08. Love in the Mist<br />09. Linstead Market </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>All tracks are sourced from the 1967 album Trinidad: The Sound of the Sun by the Westland Steel Band. Thanks to Michael Sweeney for identifying the tracks.</i></blockquote>
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The Westland Steel Band LP has cycled through various owners over the years, and currently can be legally streamed through YouTube. I've created a playlist of the full Caribbean Plaza loop:<br />
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20 years later, Disney was modernizing Magic Kingdom's sound system and many old Jack Wagner loops, stored and delivered on magnetic tape, were being phased out and replaced with new ones as the new, CD-based delivery systems came online. Down the street, Adventureland Veranda's languid tropical strings were replaced with upbeat drumming from an endless loop of a single CD released by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Balafon-Marimba-Ensemble/dp/B000000E52/">Balafon Marimba Ensemble</a>. When Caribbean Plaza got its CD player, WDI imported a track from the then-new Disneyland Paris.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Caribbean Plaza Area Music (1993 - 2006)</b><i>Running time: approx. 60:00</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Fire Down Below [3]<br />02. Grass Skirt [3]<br />03. Trinidad Girl [4]<br />04. Mary Ann [3]<br />05. Spear Dance [3]<br />06. Grenadine Jump-Up [1]<br />07. Zulu Chant [3]<br />08. Badjan Mambo [1]<br />09. La Paloma [3]<br />10. Soca Batiste [Edited: 00:00 - ~05:39] [2]<br />11. Jungle [3]<br />12. Calypso Non-Stop [Edited: 00:00 - ~07:00] [2]<br />13. Native Mambo [3]<br />14. Beef Island Merengue [1]<br />15. Spur Dance [Edited] [3]<br /> <br />[1] <i>Bomba!: Monitor Presents Music of the Caribbean</i> by Various Artists (Monitor Records, MFS 355)<br />[2] <i>Steel Band: Antigua & Trinidad</i> by Various Artists (PlayaSound)<br />[3] <i>Steel Band Music of the Caribbean</i> by Various Artists (Legacy International)<br />[4] <i>Steel Bands Carnival</i> by Various Artists (PlayaSound)<br /><i>Notes: Playlist based on 2009 live recording of El Pirata y el Perico by Horizons and compiled by wedroy1923 with assistance from eyore, Filmographik, and needmagic.</i></blockquote>
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One of the goals of the area music conversion in the 90s was to get more music playing in more places of the park, and to get more consistency across the musical signatures of the various areas. As a result the new loop played in areas which previously did not have music, such as the snack stand complex across from Pirates of the Caribbean. This allowed the 1993 loop to survive the area's switch to Pirates of the Caribbean movie music in July 2006 and be recorded and documented in 2009.<br />
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Speaking of the Pirates franchise movie score BGM, the history of that version is an interesting story in of itself. While it overtook the steel drumming in 2006, it's gone through multiple versions and locations over the years.<br />
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While the hour-long length of the thing strongly suggests it was created for Magic Kingdom from the start, the movie score music was actually used at Disneyland in the attraction's foyer area, displacing the iconic Pirate's Overture for at least a few weeks before being removed. The movie score music actually stuck at Magic Kingdom, where it very soon began to feel at home amongst the sun-washed plaster walls. The original version of the loop was retired in 2007 when the score for the third film, <i>At World's End</i>, was made available, replacing several redundant cues and greatly improving the variety of the loop.<br />
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El Pirata Y El Perico was given a mild facelift in 2011 and re-christened "Tortuga Tavern", at which time the 1993 steel drum loop was removed and replaced with a new loop of nautical and ocean-going music. Interestingly, as of Summer 2018 this Tortuga Tavern music now appears to play in the main corridor of Caribbean Plaza, with the movie score being relegated to the extended queue outside of the attraction.<br />
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I'm sure kids born in the early 2000s will one day be nostalgic for the Jack Sparrow music, which did indeed lend a sleepy area of Magic Kingdom a certain gravitas. My nostalgic preference is for the sound of the steel drumming music, but there's honestly nothing inherently wrong with any of these choices; what should the 16th-century Caribbean "sound" like anyway?<br />
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<i>Miss the original Pirates of the Caribbean? Take a listen to my <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2017/06/pirates-of-caribbean-two-soundtracks.html">restored soundtrack of the 70s version here</a>.</i><br />
<i>Want more theme park music? Check out the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">Passport to Dreams Park Music Hub</a>!</i><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">DEAR READERS:</span></b> Starting in 2019, Passport to Dreams will be going off its monthly update routine, to focus on providing more of the long-form writing this site excels at as well as clear time for larger projects that need to get finished. If you'd like to get updated on when new posts arrive, please follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for your support!FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-91236805155577838332019-01-18T00:35:00.001-05:002022-10-30T13:34:33.594-04:00Musically Setting the Stage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This post was updated in October 2022 to correct a sourcing error and clarify a point about the Disneyland Main Entrance BGM</i><br />
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The Main Entrance music at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom is one of those few that average people get pretty emotional over. Specialist news websites report when it has been changed, and a quick search shows these pieces of music are among the most frequently reposted on sites like Tumblr and YouTube. There's just something about it.<br />
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What is that exactly? Is it the upbeat orchestrations? The sweeping feeling? Or is it simply the act of being there, hearing the music again?<br />
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But if you stop and think for a moment, there's absolutely no hard and fast rule that Disney was absolutely going to play upbeat Disney music just outside its gates - in fact, there was no rules about the music that was going to be played at all. And yet many of the choices made by Jack Wagner back in 1971 and 1972 have remained fairly consistent as various versions of in-park music have come and gone, and the Main Entrance music hasn't ever strayed too far from that original musical template. So let's take a look at those early entrance loops.<br />
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Two versions of them circulate through collector's circles, a short version and a long version. In most cases, I would be inclined to believe that the short version is simply an incomplete recording of the long version, as is the case with several shorter versions of the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/02/that-infernal-swiss-music.html">Skyway Music</a> in circulation. But in this case the track order of each is significantly different.<br />
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Also, the run time of the short version is about 44 minutes, and <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/02/that-infernal-swiss-music.html">as we have already established on this site</a>, most of the really early Magic Kingdom loops run about as long. Therefore, in the lack of other compelling evidence, I'm inclined to treat this shorter version of the Main Entrance music as the original version, which was later padded out to one hour in the mid-70s when other loops such as Main Street and Frontierland were also altered.<br />
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And oh yes, since we're talking about Walt Disney World here, it's worth remembering that this music played at both the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Magic Kingdom.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Transportation and Ticket Center / Magic Kingdom Turnstiles</b><br />
<i>Short Version, (1972 - 1975) </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Me Ol'Bamboo [3]<br />
02. Mickey Mouse Club March [4]<br />
03. Whistle While You Work / Heigh Ho [4]<br />
04. Pop! Goes the Weasel [4]<br />
05. Parade of the Wooden Soliders [4]<br />
06. Step in Time [6]<br />
07. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious [6]<br />
08. The Work Song [6]<br />
09. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? [8]<br />
10. Winnie the Pooh (Songs from Winnie the Pooh) [8]<br />
11. The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (Songs from Winnine the Pooh) [8]<br />
12. Colonel Hathi's March [2]<br />
13. The Bare Necessities [2]<br />
14. Disney Medley No. 1 [2]<br />
15. Disney Medley No. 2 [2]<br />
16. March of the Cards [2]<br />
17. it's a small world [2]<br />
18. When You Wish Upon a Star [1]<br />
19. A Marching Band (We're the Mouseketeers) [8]<br />
20. A Wonderful Day Like Today [2]<br />
21. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes [6]<br />
22. Roses of Success [3]<br />
23. Trotter's Mile [3]<br />
24. it's a small world (Choral Version) [5]<br />
25. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah [1]<br />
26. Chim Chim Cher-ee [1]<br />
27. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious [Mary Poppins Medley] [8]</blockquote>
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We know for sure this has to have been installed in 1972 because the WDW Band record wasn't available until then. And then, here's the version that played until it was replaced by the Disneyland Paris main entrance music in late 1991:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Transportation and Ticket Center / Magic Kingdom Turnstiles</b><br />
<i>(1975 - 1991) </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Mickey Mouse Club March [4]<br />
02. Whistle While You Work / Heigh Ho [4]<br />
03. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers [4]<br />
04. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins Medley) [8]<br />
05. Winnie the Pooh (Songs from Winnie the Pooh) [8]<br />
06. Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (Songs from Winnie the Pooh) [8]<br />
07. Disney Medley No. 1 [2]<br />
08. March of the Cards [2]<br />
09. it's a small world [2]<br />
10. When You Wish Upon a Star [1]<br />
11. it's a small world (Choral Version) [5]<br />
12. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah [1]<br />
13. Chim Chim Cher-ee [1]<br />
14. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins Medley) [8]<br />
15. Me Ol'Bamboo [3]<br />
16. Mickey Mouse Club March [4]<br />
17. Pop! Goes the Weasel [4]<br />
18. Step in Time [6]<br />
19. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious [6]<br />
20. The Work Song [6]<br />
21. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? [8]<br />
22. Winnie the Pooh (Songs from Winnie the Pooh) [8]<br />
23. Colonel Hathi's March [2]<br />
24. Bare Necessities [2]<br />
25. Disney Medley No. 1 [2]<br />
26. Disney Medley No. 2 [2]<br />
27. A Marching Band (We're the Mouseketeers) [8]<br />
28. A Wonderful Day Like Today [2]<br />
29. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes [6]<br />
30. When You Wish Upon a Star [1]<br />
31. Trotter's Mile [3]<br />
32. Hip Hip Pooh-ray! (Songs from Winnie the Pooh) [8]<br />
33. Little Wooden Head [7]<br />
34. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah [1]<br />
35. Keystone Cops [9] </blockquote>
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[1] <i>Academy Award Songs [Vol 1. and Vol. 2] by Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra (Decca, 1969) </i><br />
[2] <i>Disneyland Band by Disneyland Band (Buena Vista Records, 1969)</i><br />
[3] <i>Fantasmagorical Themes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Irwin Kostal and His Orchestra (United Artists Records, 1968)</i><br />
[4] <i>Hi-Fi Music for Children: From 2 to 92 by Russ Garcia and His Orchestra (Liberty, 1957)</i><br />
[5] <i>It's a Small World (Especially at Christmas) by Disneyland Boys Choir (Buena Vista Records)</i><br />
[6] <i>March Along with Mary Poppins by Members of the Famed U.C.L.A. Band (Disneyland, 1965)</i><br />
[7] <i>Pinocchio: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Disneyland, 1963)</i><br />
[8] <i>Walt Disney World Band by Walt Disney World Band (Buena Vista Records, 1972)</i> </blockquote>
[9] <i>Capitol Hi Q Series Release 093 'Cartoon'</i><br />
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This longer loop also played outside of Disneyland's main entrance during the same era, although with some differences - including possibly the removal of "Roses of Success" and "Wonderful Thing About Tiggers". However, these music loops could and did change higgledy-piggledy all through the 70s, so approach this information with caution.<br />
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I feel like I haul this observation out every time we look at an old Jack Wagner loop, but isn't it delightful how absolutely odd this thing is? Jack seems to have begun with the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Band LPs as his basic sound, then branched out to Russ Garcia's extremely oddball <i>Hi-Fi Music for Children </i>and Irwin Kostal's <i>Fantasmagorical Themes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.</i></div>
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I've recently discovered that many of today's Disney fans don't know about <i>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang</i>, but the capsule version is that it was a 1968 attempt to create a Disney-style movie launched by the creators of the James Bond franchise. They were through in their poaching of the talent that made Mary Poppins sing, including the Sherman Brothers, Irwin Kostal, and Dick van Dyke. The Disney Studio, which prized loyalty over all else (and still does), rankled at the insubordination represented by the Shermans' departure. So it's very amusing to see that music from that film used to play outside of Disneyland and Magic Kingdom - a modern equivalent might be if the soundtrack to <i>Anastasia</i> played somewhere at WDW.</div>
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EPCOT may have legendary entrance music, and the Studios parks have famous movie themes, but nothing quite replaces that emotional feeling of standing in front of the train station and hearing a beloved Disney song drifting on the breeze. Despite all of my hemming and hawing on this site over total musical obscurities, that it's that emotional connection that Disney really invented and perfected in the middle of the 20th century. It's things like this that are why we're here.<br />
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<i>Want more theme park music? Check out the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">Passport to Dreams Park Music Hub</a>!</i><br /></div>
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FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-36106129562828852562018-11-23T11:32:00.000-05:002018-11-23T11:32:39.189-05:00Weird WDW: Eulogy For A Dancing Hippo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It doesn't feel like it anymore, but there's still a lot of weirdness left at Walt Disney World. The past ten years have seen a shocking amount of expansions, reboots, reconstructions and rejiggering, not all of which have sat well with fans. But travel outside of the well worn haunts to the distant corners of property and you will find remnants of the 90s and even 80s still hanging on, passive observers of a Disney nearly unrecognizable.<br />
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One of these corners is Fantasia Gardens, a miniature golf course Disney built only after a long legal battle with the hotel entities that own the Swan and Dolphin. The Swan and Dolphin themselves were once emblematic of weird WDW, but they were redone in the 00s and again recently and their teal and salmon decor and rococo, trellesed madness has long since been subdued. But keep walking.<br />
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Out on the edge of nothing, backed into a corner by an onramp, is one of WDW's great forgotten corners - the Swan and Dolphin's picnic pavilions. While it seems that the nearby tennis courts were originally constructed in 1990 with the opening of the hotel complex, part of Disney's agreement with the operating partners for those hotels was that the space across the street was earmarked for any "entertainment complex". Five years and much gnashing of teeth later, Fantasia Gardens opened in 1995.<br />
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The Swan and Dolphin have always been more heavily favored by a certain class of business traveler than families, and so perhaps the idea of adding picnic pavilions to complement the full array of meeting facilities seemed a good one at the time. But I can think of no other area at Walt Disney World that has lived out such an abandoned, twilight existence as the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Dancing Hippo" pavilions. At least River Country, Discovery Island, Wonders of Life and the ImageWorks were in use at one point in time; I don't think I've ever seen the picnic pavilions in actual frequent use.<br />
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Visited today, it's clear that cast members treat these pavilions as a backstage area, the event space strewn with chairs, burnt out light bulbs and intermittently in use fans. Between the two pavilions, in an antechamber that hasn't seen a simple dusting in many years, are two bathrooms, cleaned and stocked daily, for the patronage of nobody. There are areas of the Disney convention centers, especially the less popular ones like the Grand Floridian, where the bizarre disjunction between the effort to keep them maintained and the actual patronage feels as acute, but rarely as at Fantasia Gardens.<br />
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In college, when I was a rebellious Cast Member, I'd sometimes park at Fantasia Gardens and walk into Epcot the back way. I'd pull into the unmanned parking lot and wonder at those bulky warehouses on the other side of the pond, silent and empty. I'd visit the lobby of the Dolphin, stroll the Boardwalk, then enter Epcot and make the World Showcase loop. It was a pleasant afternoon, and each visit began and ended with the pavilions on the edge of forever, as dark and empty as they always were.<br />
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Disney is about to tear these down, and the Tennis Courts too. An expansion has been deemed necessary, and a small tower is being built on the former parking lot and tennis courts. The pavilions will become the new parking lot for Fantasia Gardens. By the time you read this, they may already have been dismantled.<br />
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In our current amped-up, plugged-in world of Disney fandom, consider that the closure of the garish Hanes T-shirt shop at the Village was deemed worthy of a minor round of complaining, and yet there are people who practically live at Walt Disney World but who have never even seen the Sorcerer's Apprentice and Dancing Hippo pavilions. They've been around for 23 years, meaning they lasted longer than many of the original EPCOT Center attractions, but they've entered life and are now leaving it as desolate and forgotten as ever.<br />
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Weird Walt Disney World is still out there for you, if you're willing to go find it.<br />
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<i>Do you enjoy Walt Disney World History? Passport to Dreams has you covered with <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">a full history resource</a> full of facts, photos, video and more! Dive in!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-38740461247833962322018-11-02T01:11:00.000-04:002018-11-03T12:39:11.134-04:00Let's Have A Drink On It! Adventureland PunchI tried hard, I really did. After the last, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-have-drink-on-it-seven-seas-drink.html">surprisingly successful installment of this series</a>, I knew summer was coming soon and a nice, summery WDW drink would be appreciated. The Monorail Yellow, a classic Disney variation on the Pina Colada, seemed as good and summery a place to start. But after about two months of testing, with summer come and gone, I have to concede defeat. You shouldn't make a Monorail Yellow; instead, you should make a Painkiller*, which uses the same four ingredients in a vastly improved proportion.<br />
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(*For my notes on this process, see the comments)<br />
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Which left me pretty well out of ideas for a new drink. However, with the holidays on the horizon I had been thinking of the large-bore old fashioned punch recipes of times past. With large gatherings of friends in the future, what if I created a new punch in honor of Adventureland? After all, the punch tradition evolved into the cocktail, and probably began at English colonial outposts in places such as Macao and Bombay. And while my own efforts to put together a tiki-esque drink in honor of Adventureland had met with mixed success, surely if there was any drink that could represent Adventureland, it was punch.<br />
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<b>Punch - Getting Drunk the Long Way</b><br />
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Punch? You mean that stuff that's made at Christmas out of 7-Up? Well, no, not exactly.<br />
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In this case we're going to make a genuine 19th century-style punch, which provided the template for the cocktail and eventually morphed into the Tiki Drink. And although the techniques are similar, a punch requires a slightly different mentality than a cocktail. If you're accustomed to the cocktail way of doing things, you're going to be tempted to make substitutions - but please, don't. This section exists to show you why you need to think of building this drink differently.<br />
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Punch was intended to be made in a huge vat and it was, essentially, the evening's entertainment for a group of people. This differs from a batched cocktail primarily in the fact that punch was only rarely iced and was intended to last a very long time. This means that water was always added to the punch to dilute the alcohol <i><b>before</b></i> it was consumed - it was designed to remain the same flavor of the course of how ever many hours it took the group to demolish the contents of the punch bowl. Compared to this, cocktails are intended to be consumed fairly quickly - indeed, much of the charm of an Old Fashioned or a Zombie is in the way its flavors change as the ice melts and dilutes it over the course of its life. Cocktails dilute while they sit; punch is already diluted to the proper levels in its construction.<br />
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The dilution in punch was often accomplished with water - sometimes boiling, if the punch was a winter time drink intended to be served hot. Several of the most infamously strong punches were diluted with champagne, like the Chatham Artillery Punch. So when you assemble this recipe, please don't be tempted to over-chill the contents - it's intended to be cool, but not cold. You also need to drink it slowly, not just because it's stronger than you think, but it can be hard to stop drinking punch once you start!<br />
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The other item you need to be mindful of is punch's main distinguishing characteristic vs a cocktail... the oleo-sacchrum compound, which I will be calling the "sherbet" in this article. "Oleo-sacchrum" is faux latin for "oil sugar", and that's basically what it is: sugar infused with citrus oil. You make this in a big batch at the start of the recipe, and it has a heft and body which cannot be replicated by any shortcut method. The sherbet is what makes a punch a punch, and what makes this recipe delicious, so you will need to take the time to do it properly. I promise you, your patience will be rewarded.<br />
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Finally, besides the somewhat time consuming creation of the sherbet, the real trick in punch making is getting the proportions correct. After some testing and reading up on the subject, I have decided to embrace the proportions of 1:1:4:6 as the most delicious and easy to remember.<br />
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We're off for Adventureland, and punch awaits! But first, let's take a quick tour through our ingredients before we get into the nitty gritty of how to make the thing.<br />
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<b>One of Sour, One of Sweet</b><br />
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The Sherbet, or oleo-sacchrum, is the kind of thing you read about and shake your head, but any home drinker who has mixed up their own simple syrup can do this. To be fair, the cause has not been helped by those who advocate for soaking the sherbet for four hours or some absurd interval. They didn't have that sort of time, not even in India in the 18th century, when getting roaring drunk on punch was just about the only thing worth looking forward to. The creation of the sherbet will be expounded in painful detail during the construction phase.<br />
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By the way, the term "sherbet" is historically correct and borrowed from the famous dessert. If the liquor component of the punch is added and the whole thing bottled, this is called a "shrub" and was a common labor saving technique in the 17th and 18th centuries.<br />
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<b>Four of Strong</b><br />
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Here we get into murkier territory. Limes cannot be used to prepare a sherbet, as their oil is far too bitter, yet lime is absolutely the citrus of choice if we are going to be using rum as our main strong component here; more on how I get around that later. I've gravitated towards rum, not only because it's cheap, but because this drink is intended to represent Magic Kingdom's Adventureland, of which Pirates of the Caribbean is a key component. In order to make the rum get along nicer with the rest of the cocktail, I've cut about a quarter of it with brandy.<br />
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The brandy here need not be an excellent one; Paul Masson makes a surprisingly good California brandy which is spiked with a bit of actual cognac, called "Grand Amber" and it can be obtained for less than the cost of a Big Al Trading Pin. Of course, if you have a bit of Hennessy or Martell laying about, it won't hurt the final mix either.<br />
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Personally I suggest you save your money for a excellent rum, which must be of a Jamaican variety and have a good amount of that island's characteristic pot still "funk". The best choice here is Smith & Cross, which is expensive but makes a truly nectarous punch. I've also had good luck with the Plantation line; their flagship offering as well as their O.F.T.D. have enough of that chewy heft to cut through the sugar. In times of extreme duress, you can cut a smooth dark rum like El Dorado with a bit of Wray & Newphew White Overproof, which is a great funky mixing rum, but it won't quite have the same luscious texture.<br />
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<b>Six of Weak</b><br />
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Time to add some Magic Kingdom to our punch, and there's nothing more Magic Kingdom Adventureland than the Orange Bird. Originally I was experimenting with orange sodas such as Fanta here, but they simply drowned out the delicate balance of spirit and lemon I had worked so hard to get to. Orangina, the driest of the sugary orange sodas widely available on the market, was also far too sweet here.<br />
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Thankfully. San Pellegrino is distributed in even the most humble hamlet, and their dry orange soda - San Pellegrino Arancia - has barely any sugar in it and did the trick nicely. If you have a favorite Italian-Style dry soda in stock, it may be substituted. I also had excellent luck mixing various sodas as well as trying out combinations such as blood orange and ginger ale, but none quite matched the clean citrus flavor of the Arancia.<br />
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<b>Finishing Touches</b><br />
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With a sturdy framework established, it was time to try variations. I tried to add cherry notes reminiscent of Hawaiian Punch or the Singapore Sling through Cherry Heering, Marascino and Kirsch, but all of these simply muddled the existing flavor. Ditto attempts to introduce pineapple juice, which is simply too thick and distinct to integrate into the punch. Gin, Benedictine, spiced rum, and absinthe similarly failed to perk up my punch in any appreciable way.<br />
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Instead I found the best option to put some life back into it was through the simple addition of fresh citrus. Since there's already rum in the glass, I found it best to cut a wedge of lime, run the cut edge of the lime around the rim of the glass or punch bowl, squeeze the fresh juice into the punch, then drop the spent wedge in as garnish.<br />
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It was this combination of three citrus flavors - lemon, lime, and orange - that really pushed the punch over the top, making it redolent of tropical shores without being cloying. It is, as they say, almost as much fun as New Year's Eve in the orange groves.<br />
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<b>Construction</b><br />
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Here we go, and we're going to be doing this with Instagram-friendly photos to show everyone just how easy it is to make the Sherbet. You want to gather up two very large lemons, a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, a muddler, and weigh yourself out four ouches of sugar.<br />
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For the sugar, you can use refined white sugar, but I found I liked Florida Crystals, not just because Adventureland is in Florida, but because they add a nice complexity to the sherbet. You can go overboard and use Sugar in the Raw here, but it will take much longer to dissolve. You need a nice fine-grained sugar.<br />
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If you don't have a muddler, you can use anything that will allow you to squish the lemon peel and release the juice, such as the bottom of a glass jar or a heavy spoon.<br />
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Pare off the lemon peel in as much of a single, continuous strip as you can. Leave as much of the white part behind as you can. If you're used to making lemon and orange twists at home for martinis and old-fashioned, you may surprise yourself with how easy you will find this.<br />
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The long strips are more for ease of retrieval down the line, so if you have trouble making the long peels, don't worry - you can strain them out later.<br />
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Dump on your sugar and muddle the peels a little bit. You don't need to go crazy here, just get everything nicely combined.<br />
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Put aside your lemon-sugar and juice your lemons. You want to reserve as much lemon juice as you had sugar, so in this case, 4 ounces. I like to use 2 ounces of sugar and 2 ounces of lemon juice per lemon, which will get me close to that nice 1:1 ratio.<br />
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Okay, you're done for now. Go water the lawn, make a drink, or play with your dog. Go away for about 45 minutes, when you come back, you should see this:<br />
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This is one of those cases where a photo isn't nearly as obvious as this is in person, but the sugar should be very saturated with lemon oil and the whole bowl should have a nice clean lemony scent. Now to combine the juice into the sugar.<br />
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I've found the easiest way to do this is to dump the whole contents of the bowl into a tight lidded jar, add the lemon juice, and shake it. Leave it out on the counter, and every time you walk past, shake it again. Very soon, you'll notice the sugar is fully integrated into the juice. Now you can fish out the spent lemon peels and pop your sherbet into the fridge.<br />
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Ready for a drink? Measure it out thusly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>JUNGLE NAVIGATION CO. PUNCH </b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
.5 oz oleo-sacchrum<br />
1.5 oz strong rum (Smith & Cross)<br />
.5 oz brandy (California)<br />
2 - 3 oz dry orange soda (San Pellegrino Arancia)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>cut a lime wedge, rub it on rim of glass, squeeze juice into punch</i></blockquote>
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If your sherbet and soda are nice and cold, no ice is needed. You don't need to put this in a shaker and strain it off; everything can simply be combined into a glass and, if you like, stirred. If you use a short glass, you'll find the simple action of adding each ingredient, especially the carbonated soda, combines everything just fine. I like this with more like 2.5 ounces of the soda, but experiment and see what works for you. Always start with less; you can't un-dilute your punch.<br />
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If you want to make your sherbet into a shrub, to your 4 ounces of sherbet add 12 ounces (a cup and a half) of rum and 4 ounces (half a cup) of brandy. Shake, then refrigerate in bottle until ready to use.<br />
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--<br />
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I named this after the Jungle Navigation Company because, much like working at the Jungle Cruise, it's sweet and tropical but it will lay you out if you're not careful. Despite being nearly half alcohol, the lemon oil and sugar takes the edge off the rum to such a degree that by the time you've had three of these, it's far too late. What I'm saying is: <b><i>approach with caution!</i></b><br />
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The whole thing can be built in a bowl and will serve, say, six adults to various degrees of lubrication; if you do that you can build the punch right in the same bowl as the sherbet. It may be hard to get the sugar to dissolve in the lemon juice without the use of force in a sealed jar, which is why it was common in the 18th century to add a bit of boiling water to the punch bowl (say, 2 ounces) to mix the whole thing up.<br />
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In my opinion, if you're going to go through the trouble to get you and your friends good and drunk on punch, it's worth taking the time to assemble the bottled shrub as specified above and then cutting it with around 2 cans of the dry orange soda. Again, start with less and adjust to taste.<br />
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The glasses used should be very small, around 2 ounces each, not only to encourage conviviality around the bowl, but to help temper the urge towards excess. If you stop by a thrift store, you should be able to procure a punch bowl and set of glasses for relatively cheap.<br />
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There are two other entries in the "Let's Have A Drink On It!" series: <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-have-drink-on-it-howling-dog-bend.html">The Howling Dog Bend</a> and <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-have-drink-on-it-seven-seas-drink.html">Seven Seas Drink</a>. If you have a favorite WDW cocktail that you think is worth reworking, suggest it below!FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-86221638469133673342018-10-12T00:45:00.000-04:002018-10-12T00:45:45.916-04:00Magic Kingdom in Early 1972Let's take a break this month and enjoy some vintage photography.<br />
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I don't do this sort of thing all that often, not only because it's fairly time consuming, but most often vintage vacation slides aren't all that great. There's almost certain to be a wide array of throughly mediocre parade and Jungle Cruise shots, and what with the state of photography until the late 80s, most often blurry or out of focus.<br />
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But sometimes you luck out, and you come across a batch of slides not only properly exposed and well framed, but which capture interesting and relevant details of the parks, and this is what I have for you today. I bought these slides from Mike Lee, who had given up on properly digitally scanning them, and after sorting out all of the various vacation trips into neat categories it was clear these were both ambitious and interesting. Let's take a look.<br />
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We first encounter our heroes in the Hub, where they are preparing for the day.<br />
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This shot provides not only an excellent view into the vacant rear expanse of tomorrowland, but the light catches on the waterfall just right and really drives home how cool those must have looked when they were operating properly. Within a few months Disney would drain these and install little bumps all down the surface of the falls to make the water more visible, which really only had the effect of getting everything around them wet. But in the first months of 1972, you can really see this feature working properly.<br />
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The Grand Prix was their only shot in Tomorrowland.<br />
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There probably isn't a worse attraction boarding area at Magic Kingdom, then or now. In 1973, the attraction would be refurbished and murals would be added to those plain rear walls. Every so often, I see a photo like this that reminds me that the boarding area's sole decorative embellishment - that car on a tiny pedestal along the rear wall - has been there fire nearly five decades.<br />
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Up until the Indy car sponsorship of the 90s, the spotter on the elevated platform would wave a big checkered flag and everyone would pull out of the load area at once, which was a cool touch. I guess in defense of the Grand Prix, real life race tracks aren't very attractive either.<br />
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On to Fantasyland, with some fun character shots.<br />
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You can tell this is an early 1972 set because throughout our heroes are posing holding the large fold-out Magic Kingdom map. The first GAF Guide was not printed until Spring 1972, so early visitors either had to spring for the large fold-out wall map or use the map printed in Walt Disney World News.<br />
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Here's Kids of the Kingdom performing at Fantasy Faire. At this point they may still have been known as The Kids Next Door.<br />
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This is the exact lineup of performers who also appear at The Top of the World at the end of The Magic of Walt Disney World, which I think is pretty cool.<br />
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Fantasy Faire was a bandstand with a raising and lowering stage, exactly like the one still in use at Disneyland Tomorrowland. Anybody who insists that the Haunted Mansion's stretching rooms had to be redesigned to go up due to the water table, remind them that Fantasy Faire and Tomorrowland Terrace used identical Otis piston elevator platforms in 1971.<br />
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Fantasy Faire continued to host performing groups and stage shows until it was demolished to make way for Ariel's Grotto in 1994, which itself was demolished for New Fantasyland in 2009.<br />
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On to Liberty Square!<br />
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I'm not sure when the stocks were widened to allow you to stick your head in them, probably within the first few months after opening. If there any Disney thing that's been more widely copied than this simple gag?<br />
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If you look waaaaay in the background, you can see the white construction wall surrounding the Frontierland Train Station.<br />
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The Haunted Mansion's rain canopy would not begin installation until March or April 1972.<br />
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I love these early shot of the Mansion way out on the edge of nothing. The glass windows were originally red, but they were changed at some point early on. When the facade was rebuilt in 2016, they brought the red panes back, which I thought was a great touch.<br />
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Here's a rare view from the line for the Hall of Presidents! This is around the west side of the building, between the colonial home facades and the "village green". The green would be partially removed to build the covered waiting area later that year, and fully removed to be replaced by the current circular planters and tables by 1980.<br />
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Off to Adventureland...<br />
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If you don't recognize this band stand, I posted a lot of information about it earlier this year.<br />
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Standing in line for the Jungle Cruise. Notice that Disney has split the courtyard with benches and trash cans, forcing exiting traffic to proceed up the hill towards the Treehouse. You can also see those butane torches that used to burn all over Adventureland. I remember them lasting until the late 90s, but I'm not sure when they went away for good.<br />
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The photos from the Jungle Cruise trip was nearly a total bust, underexposed and uninteresting, though there is this evocative shot of Schweitzer Falls from the rear of the boat:<br />
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But not all was a loss, because our heroes stopped to pose for this superb shot of the drumming tikis, the best of its type I've ever seen:<br />
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It looks like it's astro-turf on the ground around the tikis. This would be relocated nearer the Tiki Room in just a few months, but it does look really fun to go into this circle. Marc Davis was a very underrated designer of simple interactive elements.<br />
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Over at the Tropical Serenade, it's February or March 1972 and still no Barker Bird. I believe it was somebody in Operations who made the call to add him to draw attendance to the show; it was definitely in place by June 1972.<br />
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Nearby, Country Bear Jamboree is the runaway success of Magic Kingdom! One interesting but little-reported detail is that originally, Tropical Serenade was an E-Ticket and Country Bear Jamboree was a D-Ticket... until January 1972, when the ticket prices of the two attractions switched! Hall of Presidents and Mickey Mouse Revue did the same thing at the same time, for pretty much the same reason.<br />
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I love this shot. I've seen hundreds of vacation slides and only these folks thought to photograph that indelible part of any theme park trip - waiting in line. Entertainment guides from early 1972 call these folks the "Mariachi Band", although the 1972 "A Musical Souvenir of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom" lists them as Mariachi Chapparal. The group that performed at the Contemporary was officially known as Los Gallos, but they probably shared personnel.<br />
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The facades of both Bear Band and Jungle Cruise were intended to house performing groups in this way, although the Adventureland Steel Band would only perform above Jungle Cruise for one day before being moved elsewhere. I've also seen a "Safari Band" performing on the veranda above the Juice Bar at the entrance to Adventureland. I think this is a very clever way to provide musical entertainment without having to stop the park in its tracks.<br />
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It's getting late at Magic Kingdom and the lights are on now, so after a brief visit with Brer Fox and Brer Bear it's time to head back home on the monorail.<br />
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Thanks for joining our unnamed heroes on their adventure through Magic Kingdom as it was almost 45 years ago, and thanks to our heroes for thinking to take such fun, interesting photographs! I have a few other similar posts on this site's Walt Disney World History Hub, so if you enjoyed this there's more to be seen out there! until next time!FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-1182294004280564342018-08-24T11:39:00.001-04:002023-01-02T17:05:51.233-05:00The Music of the Tropical Serenade<div><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">This post was updated with new information on January 2, 2022.</span></b></div><div><br /></div>🎶 <i>Let's all sing like the birdies sing...</i> 🎶<br />
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No, not <i><b>that</b></i> music of the Tropical Serenade. Today let's get detailed and talk about the music that played outside of the attraction throughout its lifetime.<br />
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Tropical Serenade is just about the only WDW attraction which has had an authoritative original BGM available online since the 90s - or, at least, what was widely accepted as authoritative. As part of the early legitimate loops available through collector's circles such as the Main Street USA music, King Stephan's Banquet Hall and Adventureland Veranda, the "Sunshine Pavilion BGM" was vouched for by several sources, and How Bowers <a href="https://kingdomofmemories.com/listen-to-the-original-tropical-serenade-sunshine-tree-terrace-loop/">recently released a live recording</a> made in the 90s which confirms its authenticity.<br />
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Co-incidentally, Ryan Komitor, who recently did an incredible job rounding up <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-adventureland-veranda-jack-wagner.html">all of the original Adventureland Veranda music</a>, pointed me in the direction of a fairly obscure Criterion Records release, <i>The Beat of Tahiti</i>. It's unpolished, in situ records of Tahitian drumming, but most importantly it provided the two missing tracks for the Sunshine Pavilion BGM.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Sunshine Pavilion BGM 1971 - 1998</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Voodoo Bamboos [Edited] [2]<br />
02. Kawohikukapulani [1]<br />
03. Fautaua (Rain) [Edited] [5]<br />
04. Bora Bora [Edited] [5]<br />
05. Kalua [3]<br />
06. Trade Winds [4]<br />
07. M' Bira [3] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[1] <i>Hawaiian Sunset</i> by Arthur Lyman (Hi-Fi Records, SR807)<br />
[2] <i>Night of the Spectre</i> by Chaino (Tampa Records, TP-4)<br />
[3] <i>Primitiva</i> by Martin Denny (Liberty)<br />
[4] <i>Soft Hawaiian Guitars</i> by the Hawaii Calls Orchestra (Capitol)<br />
[5] <i>The Beat of Tahiti</i> (Criterion Records TT-170) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Compiled by Jay, wedroy1923, and Ryan Komitor</i></blockquote>
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This loop is commonly labeled as being from 1971, a date I accept in the absence off any more compelling evidence. As I’ve hopefully repeatedly demonstrated on this site, the music rollout at Magic Kingdom for the first few years was messy and sporadic, and nailing down dates is largely an exercise in frustration. However, Disneyland had been using music in the lobby areas of their attractions more or less since the 60s, so I think it’s reasonable to assume that Disney prioritized waiting area loops over generalized area loops and that Jack Wagner would have cranked this out to be ready for the October 1971 debut. If this is true then this is probably his original exotica loop.<br />
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Like other early 70s loops, such as those for the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-adventureland-veranda-jack-wagner.html">Adventureland Veranda</a> and <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-early-music-of-liberty-square.html">Liberty Square</a>, it’s a surprisingly conceptual loop, not at all like the aural exotica wallpaper he would create for later Adventureland music projects. We know this because his loop for the Disneyland Tiki Room Lanai, created in 1976, also still exists, and it’s a totally different creature.<br />
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The Sunshine Pavilion loop intersperses aggressive, almost dissonant drumming tracks with the standard exotica music you’d expect to hear outside of a Tiki Room. What first seems to be an odd choice gains more meaning once you realize that these drumming tracks were not easy to find; the first track, by weirdo experimental drummer Chaino, is a very close edit of a very specific section of one track from one very obscure album. Jack didn’t have much room for error in editing this, because just seconds on either side of the section he used are the sounds of panting and screaming!<br />
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Two selections from "<i>The Beat of Tahiti</i>”, which is more of the sort of thing you’d expect the Smithsonian to release than a proper music album, are followed by a Martin Denny track which begins with drumming in a similar tempo, creating the illusion that the aggressive island drums fade into an exotica reverie. The final track, another Martin Denny confection, is again heavy on the percussion, climaxing with a flurry of drum beats to herald the start of the pre-show.<br />
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I think the idea here was predicated on the entry area of the attraction being a Balinese pagoda, and perhaps related to the pre-opening term of the central feature of the Sunshine Pavilion itself being a “Ceremonial House”. That is one place you would expect to hear exotic drumming, and threading the exotica music through jazz and authentic folk music recordings is an interesting idea. I don’t think Jack totally pulled off the idea, mind you, but it’s a deceptively carefully crafted piece of work.<br />
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UPDATE: I found some extra information in a recent research dive that pieces together some more information. According to the Tampa Tribune, Dec 22 1974, while discussing the Florida Citrus "reception room", they mention in passing...<div><blockquote><i>“Sounds come sifting through from the pre-show area, where guests to the entertainment attraction are plied with Polynesan-style music, punctuated at intervals by an Anita Bryant recording, “Meet me in the shade of the Sunshine Tree…”</i></blockquote></div><div>This would be from her 1967 album "The Sunshine Tree", first song on Side B, "Sunshine Tree", which you can hear here: </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="318" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HOumQMo3HBE" width="382" youtube-src-id="HOumQMo3HBE"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>If we add this 2:20 song to my existing 15:20 reconstruction, we get 17:40. The show runs 17:13 on the original soundtrack LP. So there's good evidence that this was in the original 1971 loop, either at the start or the end. My money would be on it appearing at the start of the loop, but you never can tell. Since the Clyde & Claude toucan pre-show runs about 5 minutes, it's impossible to tell if the music simply looped endlessly while the pre-show was not running or if it restarted every time the theater show was activated. While I worked at Under New Management in the late 00s it restarted with the show, but significant work was done on the show infrastructure in the early 80s (when this song was likely deleted) and I'm no longer 100% confident that it would have worked in exactly the same way.</div>
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Under New Management was a bad idea for a bad show, but one element that took the sting out of it was that the attraction received an absolutely phenomenal waiting area loop. In the generation since Jack created his first exotica loop, Tiki culture had died on the vine and then come roaring back to life - right about the same time the Tiki Room had gone UNM. The incubator of the Tiki revival was Southern California, so somebody inside WDI knew what they were up to here. Instead of drumming interspersed with leisurely island music, the new waiting area loop was a glorious crescendo of the patron saint of exotica lounge - Martin Denny.<br />
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Beginning with a track in which Denny and his percussionists were merely the supporting act to Arthur Lyman, the group’s signature jungle howls and wails build and build, leading up the original single version of Denny’s immortal <i>Quiet Village</i>. The track manages to be fun, kitsch, and melodic all at once while blending a near history of lounge exotica music into a cohesive whole. I worked at Under New Management for a while, and while I can confirm that audiences simply didn’t like the thing, I was pleased that the sacrifice of my sanity for a few months more than prepared me to rebuild this waiting area loop from memory.<br />
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Oh, and after all of that rich atmosphere building by the music and architecture, then the waterfall opened and the talent agents of Iago and Zazu would bicker at each other. You know, fun!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management Waiting Area Music </b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Taboo [1]<br />
02. Martinique [2]<br />
03. Love Dance [2]<br />
04. Quiet Village [2] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[1] <i>Exotic Sounds of Arthur Lyman</i> by Arthur Lyman (Legacy International)<br />
[2] <i>Exotica: The Best of Martin Denny</i> by Martin Denny (Rhino) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Playlist compiled by Jay</i></blockquote>
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Under New Management was also the recipient of another unlikely first, the first and only Tiki Room to ever have an area loop. This played out of the exactly one speaker situated on the facade pointing out towards Adventureland, and after the construction of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin was mostly inaudible. For the identification and preservation of this information we can thank Jay at Magic Music, who spent many no doubt painful months compiling the data.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management Area Music </b><br />
Running time: approx. 52:44 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
01. Jungle River Boat [02:32] [2]<br />
02. Bwana A [03:08] [1]<br />
03. Moon of Manakoora [02:34] [3]<br />
04. The Enchanted Sea [01:57] [2]<br />
05. Moon Over a Ruined Castle [02:56] [1]<br />
06. Hawaiian Paradise [02:44] [3]<br />
07. March of the Siamese Children [01:29] [2]<br />
08. Dahil Sayo [02:28] [1]<br />
09. Jungle Flower [01:47] [2]<br />
10. Magic Islands [03:37] [4]<br />
11. Hawaiian War Chant [02:33] [3]<br />
12. Escales [02:26] [2]<br />
13. Ye Lai Sian [02:48] [1]<br />
14. Oahu (My Lovely Island Home) [02:47] [3]<br />
15. Baia [03:15] [2]<br />
16. Yellow Bird [02:32] [1]<br />
17. My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawai'i [02:34] [3]<br />
18. Aku Aku [02:37] [2]<br />
19. Tropical [02:51] [4]<br />
20. Aloha Nui Loa [02:50] [3] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[1] <i>Exotic Sounds of Arthur Lyman</i> by Arthur Lyman (Legacy International)<br />
[2] <i>Exotica: The Best of Martin Denny</i> by Martin Denny (Rhino)<br />
[3] <i>Hawaiian Songs for Dancing</i> by Guy Lombardo (Decca)<br />
[4] <i>Legend of Pele</i> by Arthur Lyman (Rykodisc)</blockquote>
In the absence of a live reference recording of this material, I don't think a reconstruction is ever going to be possible. As I mentioned, the music was practically inaudible in the park, and the only track I can ever remember hearing clearly is the Guy Lombardo version of Hawaiian War Chant. I'm only halfway positive that the Lombardo tracks were edited to remove their vocals, and unlike with the pre-show music, my memory here is fuzzy enough that I'd rather not trust it.<br />
<br />
However, for posterity's sake, here is the Guy Lombardo <i>Hawaiian Songs for Dancing</i> album, which seems to have never been re-released in any form, preserved in amber in amazing 1949 low fidelity!<br />
<br />
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<br />
In 2005, Disneyland’s Tiki Room got a top to bottom overhaul which included the retirement of the old Jack Wagner waiting area music from 1976 and the introduction of a new loop of Hawaiian Guitar music. This same loop was copied over to Magic Kingdom in 2011 with the reopening of the original show there, <a href="http://dlrmusiccompendium.blogspot.com/2014/03/enchanted-tiki-room-lanai-area-music-ca_6244.html">where it plays on to this day</a>.<br />
<br />
That’s 50 years of Enchanted Tiki history for you, and like all of us, there’s a lot of highs and a lot of lows too. Let’s hope the music plays on and on.<br />
<br />
<i>Do you like exotica and mood music? I've got a treat for you, because there's a treasure trove of playlists and reconstructions just like this as well as other resources over on our <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">Theme Park Music page</a>!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-45541111097358451042018-07-13T01:51:00.000-04:002018-07-13T01:51:33.381-04:00A Personal Magic Kingdom Wish ListOne of the troubles with writing a blog like this is that although the posts that I push out onto it stay there to be read in the future, one can't go back even a few years without immediately starting to find ideas and assumptions that I wouldn't make today. Passport to Dreams has been a terrific forum for me to clarify thoughts and reach conclusions about things, but the whole trouble is that the more you know, the more you're positive that you don't know, and I think anything written before around 2010 or 2011 these days is a little suspect.<br />
<br />
For example, talking to others and doing my own research into the Walt Disney World of the past has permanently undermined my faith in personal nostalgia. It doesn't take too much digging to find opinions of those fans that preceded you that undermine your own; the vocal supporters of If You Had Wings have all but buried the internet legacy of Delta Dreamflight, an attraction I thought highly enough of to make lyrics from it the very title of this blog. But once you start going back even further, to previous generations of fans, the waters become even murkier; how do you reconcile the fact that there are those who feel that the removal of Nature's Wonderland and installation of Big Thunder Mountain permanently ruined Disneyland? There are, presumably, even older fans than that who felt that Disneyland really started to go downhill when comedy elephants were added to the Jungle Cruise.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIS-JAYzbMjcyIc71xeaHgYpQjsg8vtWdf1Dp0tkoJmXc4MKwFL_H6DHED4nIN1DdhzsP3X0LWXm99acRv6DYJjUHTK3ynm0AI92rTZgVAumJwqZn36_IDz7STMsolYma0pfJ/s1600/14054688891_22b6186a92_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="577" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIS-JAYzbMjcyIc71xeaHgYpQjsg8vtWdf1Dp0tkoJmXc4MKwFL_H6DHED4nIN1DdhzsP3X0LWXm99acRv6DYJjUHTK3ynm0AI92rTZgVAumJwqZn36_IDz7STMsolYma0pfJ/s400/14054688891_22b6186a92_b.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THE FOUNTAIN AT<br />
THE BASE OF THE SKYWAY PYLON<br />
IS RESTORED" - me in 2003</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And yet, and yet. At the same time, I'm now seeing what's happening to the fans of the stuff that came after my glory years. There are those nostalgic for the 1994 Tomorrowland Transit Authority narration, gone since 2009 and which I personally hated. There was, believe it or not, an online furor over the removal of the gaudy 90s decorations inside World of Disney. But it's hard not to look upon such things with a generous eye; after all, I hated when <i><b>my</b></i> stuff was removed, and the generations before me hated when <i><b>their</b></i> stuff was removed.<br />
<br />
And so this post is something I maybe might have written in the early days of this blog in a radically different way. I've been putting it off for years for just such a reason, and only recently have I finally felt like I've made peace with the fact that all of the stuff that was so sacred to my childhood wasn't necessarily integral to that of others', never mind those who are children right now - today (Star Wars fans take note).<br />
<br />
Which <i><b>itself</b></i> is a long winded way of saying that I feel like I'm finally ready to make this list something other than a long list of demands for the return of every last thing removed from Magic Kingdom since 1990. That is almost certainly what it would have been in 2007, and possibly in 2011. I've seen similar lists from younger folks who want, say, every single thing done to Fantasyland to be recalled and see the clocks turned back nearly exactly as possible to 1971. There are, to be sure, a good smattering of pet peeves to be found, but hopefully balanced with a good amount of experience and a healthy skepticism that not all changes are by definition terrible even if they are not <i><b>per se</b></i> terrific.<br />
<br />
The one stipulation I've placed is to consign myself to the realm of the reasonably practical with the park as it exists right now. If I were given carte blanche and a limitless budget, I certainly would love to bring back every quaint shop and attraction of Main Street, but I'm also not convinced that would be anything but a largely symbolic victory. Fifty years changes a place and a culture, and it is not my job here to rail against that. So instead I've presented a list of nine reasonably possible alterations that I feel would tangibly improve the Magic Kingdom of 2018.<br />
<br />
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<b>Tomorrowland Theater Problem</b><br />
<br />
So one of the big problems inherent in the design of Magic Kingdom is that they radically underestimated who would actually show up to the darn thing. Despite the success of Disneyland and the test balloon of the World's Fair, in the end Disney erred on the side of elaborate theater attractions, predicting that Magic Kingdom would attract an older crowd that just wanted to get out of the damn sun.<br />
<br />
That's not quite what happened. In order to close the gap between what was on offer and who was there, in the years between 1972 and 1975 Disney promoted some pretty odd things as "thrill" attractions, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Star Jets. The problem wouldn't be fully resolved until the 1980 opening of Big Thunder Mountain.<br />
<br />
One odd result of of this miscalculation in the 60s is that every single Magic Kingdom area except for Adventureland has a massive theater right at its entrance. This isn't so obvious now, but perhaps no other area is as burdened by this as Tomorrowland. Since the 70s, guests have had to keep walking past two variously unappealing theatre shows to get to the good stuff. Disneyland has always had two similar buildings at its entrance, but at least one of them has always been some sort of ride!<br />
<br />
The Circle-vision theater is a bit more flexible due to its size, but the Flight to the Moon space to the north has always been more problematic. Redoing the space into Alien Encounter and then Stitch did not solve the problem, and Disneyland opted out of the whole mess by shuttering their twin theaters and then turning them into a pizza parlor.<br />
<br />
After 50 years it's time to admit that enough is enough and abandon the theater concept at the front of Tomorrowland. While the Alien/Stitch building isn't large enough to accommodate a dark ride, what it <b><i>could</i></b> accommodate is a lengthy queue, dark ride boarding area, and a few scenes. From there, Disney could wall off the front of Tomorrowland and dig a tunnel connecting the two show buildings, allowing vehicles to travel to the much larger Circle-vision theater space for the bulk of the ride. Riders could enter thru the Stitch building and exit thru the Circle-vision building, which would be pretty cool, I think.<br />
<br />
And while we're at it, it's probably time to close the 20-year-old Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin around the corner. As the oldest and worst of all of the Buzz shooting rides, it's out of place and there's already a Toy Story shooting ride in another park. I'd close and gut the whole thing, perhaps splitting the difference between the Circle-vision space for the two rides.<br />
<br />
There could even be a room where the two rides share a show scene - how cool would that be? Imagine seeing two different dark rides interacting with the Peoplemover running above them.<br />
<br />
To be clear, I'm not expecting a great new concept dark ride here, but simply <i><b>any kind of ride</b></i> would be a better use of the space that what they have now. Have a cute Stitch ride on one side and a Big Hero Six ride on the other. Or perhaps The Cat From Outer Space. Um.... Unidentified Flying Oddball maybe? ....Disney really kinda sucks at creating sci-fi movies, y'know?<br />
<br />
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<b>Grizzly Hall Rescue</b><br />
<br />
Disney does not know what to do with Country Bear Jamboree, and this is a problem.<br />
<br />
Bear Band has always been one of those "you get it or you don't" things, and the fact that things have gotten this bad is not all that surprising. In the days when Disney heavily marketed Country Bears, inside the park and out, the show could make a respectable showing, but now that it's competing with two of the biggest attractions in the park just down the street, people no longer feel like they have time to discover Country Bear Jamboree. Everybody reading this blog probably knows (or has been in the past) one of those people who walked clear by it, never giving it a second thought. When I tell many people that Country Bear Jamboree is one of my favorite things, the incredulous look I get speaks volumes.<br />
<br />
But the fact is that those who do go in to see it tend to enjoy it more often than not, and having sat through probably hundreds of showings of the bears, I'm here to tell you: especially in the original 15 minute version, the show flat out <b><i>works</i></b>. It's weird for a few minutes, but when audiences finally surrender to its weirdo charms, it always brings down the house. Al Bertino and Marc Davis really knew their stuff. This, coupled with the recent cultural shift away from irony, places CBJ in a position to continue to be a minor favorite.<br />
<br />
Notice those words: minor favorite. Disney, for their part, has decided that the problem with Country Bear Jamboree is Country Bear Jamboree, and various efforts have been initiated in the past 15 years to introduce newer country music, or have the bears sing Disney songs, or turn the thing into "American Idol".<br />
<br />
But here's the thing, is that <b>you can't make Country Bear Jamboree into the afternoon parade</b>. It's never going to be a massive crowd pleaser, because by its very nature it's very, very weird. Country Bear Jamboree is a cult favorite, except Disney insists on treating it as a box office disappointment. The problem here isn't Country Bear Jamboree, but Disney.<br />
<br />
Specifically it's the Disney who has insisted, more and more, that guests turn themselves into type A psychopaths, planning meals, lodging, and even attraction times down to the smallest detail. Given how stressed they've made everyone, and given that the attraction always was sort of a cult item, fewer and fewer guests are going to be in a position to give it a chance.<br />
<br />
Disney already tried to fix the problem, by cutting down the show - from 15 minutes to a measly 10. This ignores the problem totally, because it again assumes there this is some wide, popular appear to be extracted from a cult attraction. There isn't, and those who liked it fine as it was are now less likely to stop by, while doing nothing relevant to draw in those new viewers it needs. Given that Disney is now looking at messing with the show again, more catastrophically, it obviously didn't work. It's time to save Grizzly Hall.<br />
<br />
Country Bear Jamboree is never going to be the headliner attraction Disney wants it to be, and any further changes risk messing it up even worse than it is already - they don't make Disney like this anymore, and nobody has ever improved on a Marc Davis <b><i>anything</i></b> by changing it. <b>Ever</b>. So what if, instead of trying to turn the show into something it isn't, we found a way to change the conversation around it?<br />
<br />
If people aren't willing to take the time to see Country Bear Jamboree, then what needs to be addressed is its role as a "value proposition". It's a 10 minute show, inside in the air conditioning, which is a fraction of the time the average guests spends standing outside having a nervous breakdown in the July heat. If they don't see the value proposition in getting out of the heat for any reason, then perhaps they need added incentive.<br />
<br />
So my idea is to turn Grizzly Hall into an ice cream parlor.<br />
<br />
No, seriously. Imagine taking out the back wall of the lobby so when you enter, you can see into the theater. There's now an old-fashioned saloon bar dispensing soda and ice-cream, and the seating area is the theater. Rip out all of the benches, and have multiple tiers of big comfortable booths with charging stations facing the stage. Oh, and every 30 minutes or so, the show begins!<br />
<br />
This way everyone could have everything. Those not interested in the show can come and go as they wish, but those who would enjoy the show but would never otherwise made the time to see it can discover it as an <i><b>added value</b></i> to relaxing indoors with some ice cream. And those of us who love the show can "Rent Space" in the theater by buying some food. And, most importantly, the show would finally be turning an actual profit and pulling its weight in the park.<br />
<br />
Who knows, maybe with all of those positives we can even get a longer version of the show back.<br />
<br />
<b>Ghostly Grievances</b><br />
<br />
Okay, here's some petty stuff. I said I had some, so let's get detailed!<br />
<br />
I think the 2007 Haunted Mansion refurb is one of the best Disney attraction redos ever, and secured a future for this beloved attraction. But that doesn't mean everything's exactly perfect. And here are a few of my pet peeves I'd personally love the address about my home away from home.<br />
<br />
The first isn't so much a peeve as it is just something I still don't understand. In 2007, the Graveyard vocals were finally fixed and synchronized after about 15 years of being all over the place, which was great. But for some reason, they replaced most of the vocal tracks with new ones!<br />
<br />
I don't think the new vocals are awful or anything, but I still don't understand why this was done. I don't even think it dramatically changes the ride experience, but the sheer weirdness of even thinking of doing something like that still just nags at me.<br />
<br />
My second grievance is at the start of the attraction. Until 2007, Haunted Mansion kicked off with a slow crawl past some creepy portraits with follow-you eyes. I loved this introduction to the ride, setting to my mind the perfect tone of the house being alive and watching you. I don't think the replacement scene is bad, but what puzzles me is that the portraits were relocated to the barren Load area but the eyes were covered up!<br />
<br />
I think if anything the effect would be even better on foot, and give people something to really enjoy while in line to get on the cars. I'm positive that this one isn't WDI's fault, though - I suspect that Operations requested the effect be axed under the belief that such an interactive effect would cause a bottleneck. I'd like to point out that such an effect has worked fine at Disneyland since August 1969 without causing a bottleneck, but given that Ops themselves insist on running the attraction improperly, stuffing far too many people into each Stretch Room and therefore causing a bottleneck, perhaps their wishes shouldn't carry so much weight.<br />
<br />
My final gripe is a bigger one, and it has to do with something that I do think negatively affects the attraction. In 1969, Claude Coats was given a chance to re-think the Mansion for Florida, and made a number of improvements which I think make the MK model the definitive version of the attraction.<br />
<br />
One of the biggest changes was in the Corridor of Doors, which dramatically improved the impact of the scene. Now lit in oppressive red, the scene was given a visually improved breathing door effect and a new climax, as a dead looking pair of hands are prying the top of the final door off its hinges. To my young mind this was an iconographic high point of the attraction, a moment where it really felt like the Haunted Mansion was a direct and immediate threat.<br />
<br />
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<br />
It also greatly improves the end of the scene. At Disneyland, few guests notice the last breathing door on the left because their attention has been directed off to the right. When the Doombuggies pivot past the final door and turn to face the clock, most people naturally keep looking straight ahead instead off looking down to see the bulging effect. Moving the main punctuation up to the top of the door simply stages the effect where most are prepared to see it, and also prepares you to be looking up in time to see the clock. The effect was a sudden, startling flash as you realize that the ghosts are getting ever nearer to you.<br />
<br />
Well, in 2007 they removed the red lights - and they removed the hands. I was told at the time that an executive inside WDI decreed that no ghosts should be seen before Madame Leota summons them, to which I say fine - but that also means you've gotta take the hands off the coffin a few feet away. Personally I think the hands were a great touch, and as something drawn by Marc Davis and okayed by Claude Coats, I trust the opinions of those guys more than anyone else. I'm resigned to never seeing the blood red lighting again, but let's bring back the hands, please?<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNg8t_EgV9iC8jUVoRV_YeRnKmC14ZcBaqlq_hBUR1KiwdQoRfeFab80CHR9KtOnE72koLEIb4NAQFDZbwWTCVEXvR-ix1meu3AzbnuPJLg8HP_qYkpwEZ5DH636ggq06cQHV/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-07-07+at+10.34.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="793" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNg8t_EgV9iC8jUVoRV_YeRnKmC14ZcBaqlq_hBUR1KiwdQoRfeFab80CHR9KtOnE72koLEIb4NAQFDZbwWTCVEXvR-ix1meu3AzbnuPJLg8HP_qYkpwEZ5DH636ggq06cQHV/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-07-07+at+10.34.52+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tokyo's version shows how the gag looked in context, video by LMG_Vids</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Oh, and you know the changing portrait in the Foyer? It's projected from the rear, and bounced off a mirror, meaning it's flipped twice and is seen from the right way around from the guest side. In 2007, somebody forgot about this, and flipped it to account for the rear projection, but not the mirror. He's been facing the wrong way for 11 years.<br />
<br />
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<b>Pirates' Slow Slide Into Incoherence</b><br />
<br />
One thing that I feel gets short attention in Disney circles is the role of Walt Disney and his studio in the cycle of American art we retrospectively call the Golden Age of Hollywood. Many elements of this man's career that seem incomprehensible to those of us looking back eight decades later are rather typical if we compare him to the likes of Daryl Zanuck or Louis B Mayer. The thing is, without certain contexts, we run the risk of making too much hay out of something that the larger culture of the era took for granted. And one of those facts of life of making movies once upon a time was the Production Code.<br />
<br />
The Production Code was the result of one of those times where society is struggling with the normative changes brought about by a booming but still young Industry. Because Cinema was a media form that could reach such groups as women, children, and immigrants, the result was a morals panic in 1922 and again in 1934, each time bringing new standards for motion picture producers to abide by and increasingly strict controls.<br />
<br />
Because Disney produced animated cartoons - not musicals and crime pictures - the influence of the Code is rarely discussed in relationship to his productions. But it was such a pervasive influence on popular culture that it created norms which would have seemed so obvious to not even be worthy of mention. And in the case of criminal behavior, the Production Code is entirely clear: if you break the law, you've got to pay the consequences. Usually this simply meant killing off the villain at the film's end in a way which seemed either accidental or coming about of their own doing. This is why so many classic Disney villains fall to their deaths: the hero really couldn't just outright kill them without needing to, under the Code, be killed off themselves.<br />
<br />
Which is really one way of saying that the Morality Play construct of Pirates of the Caribbean, rather than being some grand artistic statement as it's been made out to be <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2011/08/fire-in-night-pre-eminent-attraction-as.html">by writers such as this one here</a>, may not have even been a consideration in 1966. Pirates were bad guys, so they must come to a bad end. And for audiences and storytellers who grew up during the enforcement of the code, it would have been simply a matter of course to be concerned with depicting this: of course the pirates must die, it's simply the way it is done!<br />
<br />
But that's only half of the story. Come now and let's jump forward in time about forty years, when a new Pirates of the Caribbean is being created that caters to the expectations of a new audience.<br />
<br />
This audience has grown up accustomed to films where the main characters may be not all that sympathetic and where evil is not always punished. For this audience, it makes sense to present pirates not as criminals, but as fantastical creatures from a storybook come to life. But more than anything there's one concept which the entirety of this new Pirates will be staked on: the notion of the anti-hero - a character type not seen in a single Disney film of the classic era.<br />
<br />
And that, more than anything, is the thing which totally disrupts Pirates of the Caribbean, and why Jack Sparrow seems to so totally change the meaning of the attraction. The entire <i>concept</i> of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is that piracy is bad and immoral and crimes will be punished, whether that be exploding in a burning warehouse, being stabbed over a treasure chest, or slowly dying in a cave full of pilfered treasure. But the mere existence of Captain Jack Sparrow suddenly turns a clean, clear group of villains into a group of villains where... some of them? Aren't bad either?<br />
<br />
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Add to this the fact that Barbossa, a fairly clear cut bad guy in the first film, himself returned in later films as a Jack Sparrow-esque antihero and is depicted as actually leading the band of Pirates that attack the town on-ride. Instead of getting the feeling that these crimes are being created by a disrupting force, identifying characters audiences have already accepted in other media forms as the driving characters in the story necessarily changes the inflection of the actions.<br />
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And then there's the merchandising, which regrettably plays a role in all of this too. Now to be clear, it's not like Disney hasn't always been selling pirate hats and swords and letting children buy them and run around the park pretending to stab each other. I was purchased a tiny metal pirate gun when I was five and I used it to shoot all of the animals on the Jungle Cruise. Kids will be kids. However, for a long time Disney has really been pushing the angle of "join the crew", no more so that at The Pirate's League, where boys and girls can be made up into pirates and pirate-princesses or mermaids. There's also an interactive Adventureland game where you band together with Jack Sparrow to search for treasure. The emphasis, time and time and time again, is on joining the crew, the same crew that we can see on the ride burning down a city!<br />
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The moment you back away from the position that the ride was designed under - that pirates are bad news - is the moment when you then open up the possibility for debate of "well if the Pirates are such fascinating fantastical beings, then why are they doing such awful things?" and that's when you start losing the heart of the ride. Are we supposed to admire the pirates? Are they heroes or villains?<br />
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It's clear that WDI's position is that instead of a morality play, Pirates of the Caribbean is an action-adventure, an action-adventure to fit with the popular action-adventure films of its era. Jack Sparrow is like a layer of sweet frosting plopped on top of this brooding atmospheric rock. It may make it more fun, but it doesn't mean its a cupcake.<br />
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I think the Magic Kingdom version is nearer to that action-adventure than the others, and pretty much always has been. But if they're going to commit to that tone, then more work needs to be done not only to clarify who exactly is supposed to be the good guys and who is supposed to be the bad guys, but how all of this fits together.<br />
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I'd do this by bringing back a new version of the Blackbeard captain in Bombardment Bay and losing all of the mentions of Jack Sparrow in the well scene. You can then take Jack Sparrow out of the well scene and move him upstairs, near the start of the ride, where he can establish that he's looking for the gold - a motivation consistent with his character in the films - and perhaps hint that the caverns are haunted. If the queue were then re-worked to make it clear that you are in a fort and the pirates are coming to attack the town, then we could have an unbroken chain of action from the start of the ride to the end. Add some exciting music to the exit and you've got an action ride.<br />
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Of course the real question is whether at this point it's worth redoing the ride to better present the film material at all. Prior to the 2006 reform, Jack Sparrow mania was at a fever pitch, but already the films have receded from the public eye. WDI removed the Davy Jones waterfall from Disneyland this past year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see most of the film materials slowly being phased out over the next decade. It may seem like commerce beats art more often than not, but one nice thing about art is that it tends to last and last while profits fade.<br />
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At a bare minimum, MK Pirates needs help on its setup. The current attraction gives no real hint that you're supposed to be entering a fort being attacked by pirates, and the loss of the firing roof cannons does nothing to help this. Additionally, the queue was redone in 2006 and the Glendale-based design team slapped the Pirates Overture music all over the entire queue, totally messing up the creepy tone that had been established since opening day and drowning out the dialogue establishing that the pirates are coming to attack further into the queue. Since the roof cannons were refurbished to make them part of the Jack Sparrow game, turning those on a constant loop, returning the "Pirates Arcade" music to just the entrance tunnel, and turning up the volume of the queue dialogue are three 100% free things WDI could do tomorrow to improve the front part of that attraction.<br />
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<b>Consider the Background</b><br />
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Given that I'm <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">pretty well known for this these days</a> maybe this isn't so surprising but I really wish somebody would sit down and rethink the area music at Magic Kingdom from the ground up. I don't think parks per se need to constantly be evaluating their musical background, but Magic Kingdom has overall made fairly few changes to the locations and kinds of music they play since the 1990s, and I think this can lead to bad "legacy" changes sticking around longer than necessary.<br />
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For instance, all of watercraft that ply Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon are trapped in the early-00s "Radio Disney" mode, and the result is I think fairly embarrassing. Relaxed instrumentals and perhaps ocean-going music really would do a better job setting the atmosphere for these minor vehicles. Similarly, especially given that new ones are supposedly en route, not playing up-tempo music on the monorails is really a lost opportunity. These sort of minor improvements can really help set expectations and pace the experience, so you don't have the absurd juxtaposition of, say, playing 90s pop covers on a ferry boat that moves at a snail's pace.<br />
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Similarly, I think Magic Kingdom overall needs a total rethink in the sound department. Some areas, like Liberty Square, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, or the Tangled bathrooms, are perfectly fine, while others I think really could be improved with new music selections. Given that the expanded Hub area seems to belong as much to Fantasyland as Main Street, stately music would go a long way towards improving the feeling of that area. Similarly, Cinderella Castle has been playing the Disneyland Paris castle area loop since at least the mid-90s, and for that castle the choice is entirely wrong. For the first 20 years, Cinderella Castle played a short vocal version of "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes", and all it takes is a trip to Tokyo Disneyland to hear what an impact that track has in situ.<br />
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In other cases, I think less music would be just as effective. Frontierland can keep its upbeat Western music around the entrance, but there's an opportunity here to create a more dynamic soundscape, perhaps with plunked banjos or honky tonk pianos coming from upstairs windows. How cool would it be to walk along the Rivers of America at night and hear the crickets and frogs of the Mississippi instead of the hum of Florida cicadas?<br />
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Similarly, Adventureland has been playing upbeat drumming and steel drum music since 1993, another track taken over wholesale from Disneyland Paris, and it does nothing to set the tone. Languid exotica music as well as some strategically placed speakers on the landscaped hill across the moat playing jungle bird calls would really bring the area to life, setting the correct mood of mystery that's being missed right now.<br />
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To be abundantly clear here, I don't think every track needs to be changed at Magic Kingdom, never mind changed back to what it was in the 70s and 80s. There's plenty of places where what's playing there now is as good or better than what was used there before, such as Tomorrowland. And while I'd jump at a chance to return the WEDway music to its ride, I think the 2003 Tomorrowland music does such a good job setting the correct tone that there's no need to change it again. But there's other areas of the park where the design of the area says one thing and the music says another, and I think bringing those into closer harmony would really improve things for everybody.<br />
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To give just one more example, MGM / Hollywood Studios recently had the entire entrance of that park totally redone from a musical perspective with an integrated "vision", and the effort made a huge difference. Music can improve or detract even when the design of a park remains static, but I think Magic Kingdom feels like a very different place than it did even ten years ago, so there's a real opportunity to improve here.<br />
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<b>That Dumb Hub Stage</b><br />
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Yes, it's back. <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/08/ten-big-design-blunders-at-magic-kingdom.html">Already my number one remaining complaint about this park</a>, I still think the Hub Stage is a terrible, terrible decision, and on top of that, doesn't even make much sense for the theme park built in Florida. Do people really enjoy standing in the absolutely merciless sun to watch the 30 minute long shows that happen here?<br />
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A few years back, Disney announced they were going to build a new indoor theater off Main Street, a decision I applauded. The project hasn't moved forward, leading to online rumors of cancellation. I really do think that, given the choice between standing out in the sun and sitting indoors to watch a Mickey Mouse show, most guests will choose the latter. Given all of this, I'm hopeful that the Main Street Theater is simply delayed, or will return in a better form, and that once open it will start reducing Entertainment's absurd reliance on a hub stage. I think the hub stage would be a nice venue for band performances, or seasonal events, but it's time to stop pretending that this dreary slab of fiberglass is remotely an appropriate location for staging increasingly long and elaborate shows.<br />
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If nothing else, if the number of shows on the Hub stage were even at a bare minimum halved, this would allow time for Operations to bring out those Main Street Vehicles, which Magic Kingdom's Main Street hurts for badly. If it were up to me to start from scratch I'd lose the Hub stage permanently and build a theater facing the castle where the poorly-utilized Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station is, but really any move forward on this totally senseless arrangement is a good one.<br />
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<b>Restore the Peddlar's Passage</b><br />
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Did you know that Liberty Square had two of its buildings cut fairly late in the game? They were right across from each other, near the Riverboat Landing, and while one of these has <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2009/06/park-mystery-history-lesson.html">received its very own write-up on this blog nearly ten (ack) years ago</a>, it's the one across the way that I'd like to focus on here.<br />
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The north side lost building of Liberty Square (above) was originally intended to feature artisan crafts like woodworking and blacksmithing, and when it was cut, designers replaced it with a short-lived open green space. This stuck around for maybe a full year total, when the constant out of control queue for the Hall of Presidents required that the south half of it be turned into a covered queue for the attraction. It stayed like this for some time until the grass was paved over and replaced with a bunch of circular planters, which is the arrangement that's still there to this day. Over the years it's hosted various popcorn wagons and merchandise options, before settling into its current role as an outdoor food market circa 2002.<br />
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So here's an situation where Magic Kingdom has been utilizing a building they have no real need of, a covered queue with an open air network of umbrellas and random tables, for a perfectly good purpose, but due to the very nature of its temporary setup, not doing it as well as it could be done. And here's the thing: there's already a 100% attractive structure that was designed 50 years ago by John Hench and Herbert Ryman that's just sitting in their archives unused.<br />
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So what I'd do is pull the blueprints, make the necessary adjustments for modern accessibility, and put it up on the spot of the old queue and circular planters. The same food options can be offered in the interior space, with the added benefit of not needing to operate at reduced capacity when it rains every day.<br />
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Oh, but the thing is that the design benefits to Liberty Square would be huge. Designed to resemble a charming series of colonial cottages very much like the ones behind the Liberty Tree, it would restore one of the biggest cuts to the design of Liberty Square when the building got the axe: the narrow, atmospheric alley that was supposed to run between the side of the building and the Hall of Presidents, an area called the <b><span style="color: blue;">Peddlar's Passage</span></b>. Liberty Square has always been charming, but imagine an opportunity to bring back an intimate alley from the designers of New Orleans Square that was lost for 50 years while also serving to improve an existing problem area in a way that Disney is actually honestly prepared to spend money on these days. The blueprints exist in the Archives in Glendale. This could be real.<br />
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<b>The Rivers of America and Railroad</b><br />
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I long ago decided that I really have no interest in working for Imagineering, so for those of you who do and are fighting the good fight: I salute you. But if I could join and do just one thing, one single thing I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to redesign isn't a new Horizons or Mr Toad or Journey Into Imagination, it's the Rivers of America and Walt Disney World Railroad at Magic Kingdom.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Ze8bp_H8ZHlX-ByAhyphenhyphenMtSrLZABRBhc4wgWnEYvz2sQhZN2Ds_BGDhhK4Yyx6abTN_S9shi3xyfSA9YQLcXmhte01UQY2RTAZrWOQtkxgE3B-EL-sM2cUpRC_glv7ikr_cnV5/s1600/wdwrr.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="627" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Ze8bp_H8ZHlX-ByAhyphenhyphenMtSrLZABRBhc4wgWnEYvz2sQhZN2Ds_BGDhhK4Yyx6abTN_S9shi3xyfSA9YQLcXmhte01UQY2RTAZrWOQtkxgE3B-EL-sM2cUpRC_glv7ikr_cnV5/s400/wdwrr.JPG" width="362" /></a></div>
The Railroad in particular has always been a real wasted opportunity at Walt Disney World, although I do prefer it to the slightly more elaborate Railroad in Paris, which never quite creates the feeling of removal that makes the WDWRR so interesting. Pretty much all of the railroad rides except for Florida's is landlocked, and as a longtime Magic Kingdom rider I find something evocative about riding the rails at night, where the forest surrounding the back of the park really feels endless. As a result my redesign of the Railroad would probably be vastly simpler than most: just a few simple gags here and there to keep interest high without spoiling the atmosphere. I'd for sure send the train through a new tunnel which would block out<a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/08/ten-big-design-blunders-at-magic-kingdom.html"> that terrible overpass on the edge of Fantasyland</a>, I'd also theme the rear of the Pirates of the Caribbean show building that everybody sees plain as day before the tunnel, but the rest would be simple atmosphere building stuff.<br />
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For instance, it would be nice to see a jungle animal or two as we pass through the "outskirts of Adventureland", and I think Disney missed a huge opportunity when they cut up the plane from The Great Movie Ride into pieces and tossed it out instead of moving it to sit alongside the railroad tracks for clever visitors to ride the Jungle Cruise and finds its rear half.<br />
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The back stretch of Magic Kingdom has always just been sort of a nothing area, and in the early days this was even presented as "a view of untouched Florida". Today it's seen more as "the outskirts of Fantasyland", which is absurd, but if that's what it is, that's what it should look like. I'd move the rattlesnake and frog-on-a-stump vignettes to be nearer to the Frontierland area, nearer to the Indian village, and do something with the idea that Fantasyland is somehow supposed to be nearby. Perhaps some fantastical boats plying the retention pond, or, to play into the idea that this its way outside the "nice" areas of Fantasyland, some crumbling castle walls would add a sense of romance and mystery.<br />
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The tunnel that goes under the overpass could be claimed to be part of the mine of the Seven Dwarfs, and have a jeweled forced perspective tunnel that leads off in the direction of the new coaster. Another approach that would be interesting is to imply that the villains hang out way outside here; Stromboli's wagon parked alongside the river or Prince John's carriage from Robin Hood would be a cool touch. Honestly, the area's so green and underpopulated that it would be super cool to pass by Robin and Little John hanging out around their camp.<br />
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Past Tomorrowland, the Railroad provides views of the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Contemporary, making it the only castle park to really try to integrate the railroad, park, and resort area into one scenic view, but I've always thought more of an effort to imply that we're getting closer to Main Street, and that the Main Street Citizens come hang out here, would be cool. It can be something as simple as a Model T Ford parked underneath a tree with a picnic set up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice shot of the boat, but don't forget the "dangerous" floating logs!</td></tr>
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I feel that the Rivers of America needs far less work, although an extensive re-landscaping would be great. The real trouble with the Rivers of America is that a "hazard" scene was removed in 1972, although the ride has continued to pretend that this part of the River is somehow dangerous. Originally the scene was a bunch of branches sticking up out of the river (left), a detail lifted from Mark Twain's<i> Life on the Mississippi</i>. The branches went away almost immediately, and since then they're been pretending that underwater shoals are the reason we're supposed to be concerned. The trouble is that underwater shoals look like nothing, whereas branches are at least a good visual indicator of a threat, so the scene doesn't work at all. Something needs to be installed to look at between the Burial Ground and Pirate's Cave, and additionally I've always felt that expanded propping along the shoreline of the Haunted Mansion was a missed and obvious opportunity.<br />
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Another thing I'd like to do is install a number a "show" boats in the river alongside Liberty square, to better carry the idea that it and Frontierland and supposed to be bustling port towns. This idea went away when the Keelboats did, but some prop tall-masted ships sitting alongside the docks of Liberty Square would really tie together the north part of the land. Oh, and of course, something needs to be done about that burning cabin. I don't care if it never burns again, but it needs to be fixed up and turned into something attractive to look at if that's the case.<br />
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This has been a longwinded and fanciful ramble, perhaps more than any other in this list but I think it's nice to point out that even without a Primeval World diorama and fancy Star War-blocking waterfalls, there's no reason why simple additions couldn't turn both of these attractions into real winners.<br />
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<b>And One Last</b><br />
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Okay, one last petty one. I love Magic Kingdom Small World, and I don't care if you don't like it, or think that Disneyland's is better. I love this ride. But in the otherwise excellent 2005 refurbishment, why on earth would they remove this absolute masterpiece of a visual gag from the final scene?<br />
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You laughed, admit it. It's still funny. Bring it back.<br />
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<i>If you enjoy long winded design essays like these, then you should check out our <a href="https://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-theory-hub-page.html">Theme Park Theory Hub Page</a>, where there's a lot more like this. Thanks for stopping by!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-48079409227837989292018-06-15T00:43:00.000-04:002018-06-15T00:43:36.687-04:00Marc Davis' Adventure House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You don't often get to break the news on genuine lost classic attractions. Although unbuilt concepts are still a matter of particular interest for certain Disney fans, the deeper you dig, the more often it seems that there was less there than meets the eye, or that the information usually presented about these things online is less than accurate. If this information has been circulating unchecked for many years, more often than not that information is more fiction than fact, which is one reason I spent so much space clearing up misconceptions in my piece on <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/all-about-western-river-expedition-part.html">Western River Expedition</a>.<br />
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But what if there were a lost attraction that was not only compelling, but conceptually fairly complete and mostly unknown? Wouldn't that be really worth the effort to dig into, the make its secrets public?<br />
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About five years ago, I first began to hear about a Marc Davis walk-through attraction intended for Fort Wilderness called Adventure House. I began to gather information and what loose scraps of art I could track, not certain if I would ever be able to share anything about this attraction, until last year I was finally able to obtain at auction what turned out to be an early outline draft of the project. From there, pieces began to fall into place and the forgotten story of Adventure House could now be told.<br />
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In the years since, a few pieces of information have become available through the various fan events and Disney history sources, but I don't believe that anybody has yet done justice to this fascinating design concept. So, after much research and patience, I'm proud to present a look at one of the most singular efforts of one of Disney's best and brightest. It's time to welcome Adventure House into the fold.<br />
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<b>Fort Wilderness' Frontier Town</b><br />
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The year was 1976, and Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World was riding high.<br />
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The Bicentennial years of 1975 and 1976 had been red letter years for Disney following the tourism downturn spurred by the 1973 oil crisis. The hotels were full, the parks were busy - it was those years that allowed Disney to move forward on Epcot. 1974 at Fort Wilderness had seen the debut of Pioneer Hall and the wildly successful Hoop De Doo Revue. The Fort Wilderness Railroad had been up and running for a few years, and the crown jewel of Fort Wilderness had debuted in 1975 - River Country, an innovative and richly themed water playground for its day.<br />
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In other words, as much as the Contemporary and the Polynesian, Fort Wilderness was growing into its own unique destination, with its own set of recreations and attractions for vacationers. While side wheel steamboats brought boat loads of visitors to Treasure Island across the way, plans at WED were stirring to add even more unique offerings to Fort Wilderness to eat 70s guest time and dollars.<br />
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In truth, such plans had existed long before. As far back As 1972, Disney was trumpeting plans to expand the northern section of Fort Wilderness, which had always been called "Settlement" but which hosted little besides a beach, petting zoo and boat dock. The 1972 Annual Report goes into the most detail:<br />
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<i>"Early in 1973, a narrow-gauge steam railroad with Victorian-style open air cars will begin transporting guests along a three mile loop of track between their campsites and the campground's reception, recreation and entertainment areas. By next summer, the steam train will also connect with the new Fort Wilderness Stockade and Western Town where complete, dining, shopping, and entertainment facilities are being built in phases."</i></blockquote>
It shows just how much potential Disney saw in the fairly underdeveloped and remote Fort Wilderness that scarcely a single Annual Report passed in the duration of the 70s where they did not mention elaborate plans for the area. In 1974, they speak of the possibility of developing a ticket book for the campground attractions, and in 1975 they report:<br />
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<i>"118 additional campsites will be constructed during the coming years which will bring the total available to 832 by June, 1976. That same month, a major extensive themed area for water recreation will open at Fort Wilderness. This will enable the company to establish a new revenue center at Walt Disney World. A variety of new admission ticket is being developed, which should also stimulate additional use of the Fort Wilderness Steam Trains, Treasure Island, and the other recreational facilities at Fort Wilderness. These will be available not only to guests of the campgrounds, but to hotel guests and others from all over Central Florida."</i></blockquote>
In 1976, Disney's still beating the drum for the Fort:<br />
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<i>"Already the company's 'Imagineers' are at work designing new attractions for River Country, possibly to include more water slides, an additional raft ride or a two-man boat ride. Ft Wilderness itself is slated for further expansion in the near future. Plans call for a Frontiertown, a new recreational complex and still more campsites."</i></blockquote>
It's not tough to read between the lines and conclude that WDP saw the possibility to add an extra day to the vacations of visitors, a major concern through the 70s and 80s and something that the Lake Buena Vista complex was only halfway successful at doing. They were looking for ideas, and at some point, Marc Davis began suggesting them. His idea was to build a fun house.<br />
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<b>The Roost</b><br />
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The initial proposal was for a massive red barn, which is easy to see sitting in well with the down-home atmosphere for Fort Wilderness. The caption of the art is "A kind of indoor 'Tom Sawyer Island'", which is as fair a pitch as I've seen. By 1976, the red barn was gone, and the concept for what would soon become known as Adventure House would be much more developed.<br />
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Assisting the core team of Marc Davis, Al Bertino and Wathel Rogers was WED newcomer Gary Goddard, who typed the June 1976 memos which outline the status of the project. It is through these memos that we have insight into the initial ideas for Adventure House.<br />
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Hotel Name: <u>The Roost </u></blockquote>
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<u>Suggested Exterior Appearance:</u> a wilderness attempt at a fine hotel. A conglomeration of several architectural styles of the times, with certain sections almost out of place with the others. A lot of "units" that give the silhouette a look of many towers and additions to the main structure. Three stories high, it is covered with whirligigs and weather-vanes that make the entire structure a constant show </blockquote>
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<u>Characters: </u>Our hosts are the original builders of the hotel, Jasper and Maude. Jasper is meek and mild mannered and a "tinkerer" who has created many of his own "inventions" and additions to the hotel, including the whirligigs that abound on the roof of the building. </blockquote>
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Maude is a heavy-set, strong lady who likes her pet chickens very much, and is a hero-worshiper who has named many hotel rooms after her idols. </blockquote>
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<u>Themeing Overall:</u> The entire hotel is filled with Maude's chickens who rooster wherever they feel like it. These chickens cluck, squawk, sing and talk - depending on their mood. All over the hotel, these hens provide gags and comments on the various experiences. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u>Theming - Individual Rooms:</u> Each room has its own character in terms of the design and function within the hotel. In addition, a number of rooms are named after Maude's famous guests, Paul Bunyan, Ichabod Crane, Johnny Appleseed, etc. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The overall feeling of the hotel is that there was a genuine attempt at creating the best hotel ever - but that in the building of it, things were not completed to exacting specifications. If it looked good to Jasper and Maude, they nailed it down and painted it.</blockquote>
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We're in Marc Davis territory here for sure. Jasper and Maude are nothing but the latest version of Marc's beloved henpecked husband jokes that were the basis for so much of The Haunted Mansion, except in this case with a twist on the story of Jack Spratt. And yet other details here are suggestive as well - the eccentric architecture, for one. It's easy to imagine a high victorian interior somewhere between Grizzly Hall and The Haunted Mansion, with the eccentricity of a low budget Winchester Mansion. The chickens, too, bring to mind the aborted idea to have a raven narrate the Haunted Mansion.<br />
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But just as worth noting here is the preoccupation with American folk stories, which is as significant a signpost for late Marc Davis material as any. After America Sings, Marc went all in on Americana at WED, and the result was some of his most intriguing work. In the early planning for EPCOT, he had created a concept for an attraction at the United States pavilion, based on characters such as John Henry, Ichabod Crane, and Captain Ahab. A later version of this attraction used noteworthy historical Americans, and under a different team would mutate into The American Adventure.<br />
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And of course, we need look no further than Western River Expedition and the proposed "Land of Legends" at Disneyland for the connections to Adventure House to run deep. For more on both of those, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/all-about-western-river-expedition-part_29.html">see my article here</a>.<br />
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Guests entering what was then known as The Roost would be greeted by the ghosts of Jasper and Maude on a balcony above the Registration Desk, setting the scene and backstory for the attraction to come. The project memos include a long script for this gag, of which this excerpt will be enough to give an idea of it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>(Maude is seated in a rocking chair with a pet rooster on her lap, which she pets as she speaks. Both Maude and Jasper appear and disappear as Pepper's Ghost illusions) </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u>Maude:</u> You might be wondering' 'bout all these here chickens.. well, when we first moved out here, all them wilderness varmints outside wanted to sink their teeth in our hens ... so we just moved 'em inside to be safe and they been here ever since ... I even lost count count of all them cluckers... but anyway, that's why we call this place 'The Hotel Roost'. </blockquote>
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<i>(She pats the Rooster's head) </i></blockquote>
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<u>Maude:</u> Tiger here is my pet and he's the great, great Grandfather of the whole flock... Say 'Hello' to the people, Tiger! </blockquote>
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<i>(Tiger roars like a lion)<br />(Jasper reappears) </i></blockquote>
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<u>Jasper:</u> Did you call, dear?</blockquote>
Once through the pre-show, guests were to be unleashed on a variety of interactive walking attractions, such as Maude's Kitchen (slanting room), Hall of Doors, Earthquake Room, Mirror Maze, Dosi-Doe Balcony (an exterior balcony with a shaking floor), The "Prairie Schooner Hall" which would sway from side to side, Jasper's Attic, a laundry-chute slide, and an upside-down dining room. Several of these are tentatively outlined in the memos, including:<br />
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<u>Maude's Kitchen</u>, where hens lay eggs into Jasper's "egg mover" and appear to roll uphill, another gag where water runs uphill, and two chairs that are actually boxes and thus are impossible to get out of. This strongly suggests that Marc was very familiar with the Haunted Shack at Knott's, and is also confirmation that he had a hand in the design of the Mystery Mine on Tom Sawyer Island.<br />
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<u>The Barrel Room</u>, with barrel tops spinning on the floor and teetering barrels on the walls. The central area includes a large spinning floor with a stack of barrels topped by a drunken chicken who sings. Various barrels have sound effects from inside them such of gurgling or hiccups.<br />
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<u>Paul Bunyan's Bedroom</u>, a tall room where the entire floor is a "quilt" - and a huge bounce mattress. On the wall are three huge paintings of Paul, Babe the Blue Ox, and his axe.<br />
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<u>The Hall of Doors</u> was to be the main showcase of Wathel Rogers' projection screen technology, where various doors would open onto gags, such as a door marked "Exit" that would appear to open onto an oncoming train, or Rain and Thunder behind a door marked "Florida Room". Another door marked "Rest Room" would open onto a single chair, and one labeled "No Smoking" would have the figure of a man who sprays water at the viewer - presumably, behind a glass panel. At the end of the hall were to be two elevators that would appear to take viewers up or down but actually go nowhere.<br />
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<u>Windwagon Smith's Nautical Quarter</u>, a circular room with windows looking out onto Frontier Town, with various cranks and levers that would spin and rotate the weather vanes on the exterior of the house.<br />
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Other rooms were already running into issues or seemed to be conceptual dead ends. A mirror maze was to have two dead-end areas where projections of fluttering bats and the headless horseman throwing his pumpkin were to be triggered, and another, the Dark Maze, to be experienced entirely through touch, is exactly the sort of thing that theme parks can't do. Memos also indicate that in mock-ups they were having trouble with the first illusion room, the Perspective Hallway. There's no real hint as to what it's intended to be, but my guess is it's some kind of spin on the "diminishing mine shaft" on Tom Sawyer Island.<br />
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In any case, it seems clear that these and other concerns caused Marc and Al to do a radical re-think of the concept for The Roost, which led to some of Marc's finest and craziest ideas for WED.<br />
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<b>Adventure House</b><br />
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The largest distinction between the Adventure House and Roost version of the attractions comes down largely to interactivity. A lot of The Roost was the kind of classic fun house attraction that was already dying out, with shaking stairs, rocker panel floors, and crazy mirrors. Marc's final concepts seem to ditch the hotel theme and double down on the weirdness - gags and illusions in the style of the Haunted Mansion.<br />
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This was a long time coming and a return to form for Marc. He had always kept a torch burning for the walk-through version of the Haunted Mansion, having been sufficiently impressed by Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey's ghostly sea captain vignette to find ways to insert the character into the final attraction. Marc even wrote several drafts of a walk-through version of the Haunted Mansion, the version where "The most dangerous ghost in the Mansion" turns out to be the host.<br />
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Later, Marc developed a huge number of gags for Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom, most of which were very interactive in nature - slides, trees to climb, etc. His influence in the final product is most keenly felt in Injun Joe's Cave and the Mystery Mine, although I've never been able to determine if he actually oversaw these.<br />
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So Adventure House is a fascinating look into ideas that one of WED's best designers had been ruminating on for years. Let's go inside, shall we?<br />
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The waiting area carries over Marc's roosting hens, this time as a sort of time piece - each time a hen lays an egg, it drops into a basket and the bell rings. When one of them plays three eggs, the bell begins ringing rapidly and the portrait of Maude and Jasper comes to life for the pre-show!<br />
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Note the benches here that expand or sink - another one of Marc's clever re-utilizations of an existing WED effect, in this case the inflating seats from Flight to the Moon. It's also a premonition of the Adventurer's Club, of course.<br />
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After the pre-show, groups are admitted to the Library, where presumably a Cast Member will give a short safety spiel, before releasing them into the attraction through a door at the back of the room. Notice that the "perspective hallway" has been abandoned, and that the "prairie schooner hall" is now the introductory effect of the attraction, viewed from the stationary hallway outside. Unlike at the Haunted Mansion, this hallway is truly endless!<br />
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Between each major scene, Marc designed short hallways to link the experiences, some of them fairly simple, others truly strange and baroque. He specified that each hall be treated with sound-proofing material, to give the effect of going from very loud gag rooms to dead silent hallways. It seems likely that as guests wind through Adventure House, the linking hallways would become increasingly abstract, until the walls and floor were painted in Escher-like patterns in eye-popping red and black.<br />
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The room sequence here is nothing but a good guess, by the way. If a document exists specifying order and layout for this version of the show, it has not yet surfaced.<br />
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The first scene seems to still be the Dining Room, but instead of a tilt room it's now a visual gag where an overhead bucket system carries food above the dining room table while model trains on the table top carry platters of food in and out of the kitchen. This was to followed up by a Kitchen scene where the buckets appear to glide out of an old-fashioned larder cabinet, heading out to the Dining Room full of food and returning empty! Nearby, a water pump pumps water by itself and kettles rattled on the stove - effects recycled from the Carousel of Progress, and which Marc first attempted to re-use in the Haunted Mansion.<br />
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Marc specified that the model trains should make the same sound as full-sized locomotives, by the way!<br />
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Next, guests would descend into the greenhouse, full of goofy and leering "man-eating plants". The floor here was intended to be a soft material, and covered by a low layer of fog! Again, the links both to the Tiki Rom, Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise are unmistakeable - Marc even designed a belching man-eating plant for the Florida Jungle Cruise that didn't make the final cut.<br />
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Upstairs now to Jasper's Den, the new tilt room illusion. The centerpiece of the room is now a billiards table where the balls appear to roll uphill. Note the fish tank with a full-size shark swimming inside - not only a vestige of Wathel Rogers' projection scenes which once were a key part of The Roost, but a good example of Marc's problem solving ability. No doubt through testing and application of the screens in attractions like If You Had Wings, Marc was keen to find a way to make the technology appear more "real". Placing the screen behind an aquarium filled with seaweed and bubbles would diffuse the image just enough to turn it from yet another obvious screen into a real illusion.<br />
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The other gags in here are decent, such as the cat terrified of the bear rug. The cat is direct from Pirates of the Caribbean, and another example of cost-saving measures designed into the attraction. The clock pendulum is supposed to animate at an angle that implies the room is tilting the opposite direction of the way it is, which is a nice touch.<br />
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More total weirdness, the Photography Studio has cameras set up on each side of room, alternately flashing. Each time they flash, the "shadows" of various ghouls illuminate the walls, slowly fading out. This was likely intended to be a simple effect achieved with slides or cutouts mounted behind scrim walls on the left and right - dead simple, but very interesting.<br />
<br />
Here's two of my favorite Marc gags of all time. Not everything the man came up with was a winner, but if anybody ever claims he wasn't as sharp at the end of his career at WED as he was at the start, you have my permission to wave these under their noses. Let's take a peek inside the Guest Room at Adventure House.<br />
<br />
Guests entering immediately hear loud snoring and spot a huge shape asleep under the covers - it's a bear! His huge expanding belly and paws can be seen, moving in time with the snoring. The sound is so severe that every time he inhales, the room's ceiling pulls down, and every time he exhales, it shoots up away from the floor!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDKcQmNbKZv-FwHoR6pekk9g_tA3rFYx0w3aGupRFE4norjUidjlUU4BATf5NTANmoN4hPvVjnHCTZiw5Dp4BCtnx8iXJ8ZqAs7lEELQtEql8yYydUgCqOzHWqiu11tciDCK-/s1600/AH+Bear+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="626" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDKcQmNbKZv-FwHoR6pekk9g_tA3rFYx0w3aGupRFE4norjUidjlUU4BATf5NTANmoN4hPvVjnHCTZiw5Dp4BCtnx8iXJ8ZqAs7lEELQtEql8yYydUgCqOzHWqiu11tciDCK-/s400/AH+Bear+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
A nearby chest of drawers opens and closes in time with the snoring, as well as a swivel mirror that is pulled towards and away from the bed. A cross-stitch sampler above the bed reads "MANY BRAVE SOULS ARE ASLEEP IN THE DEEP".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthDipuUZ2lecwC_YUrAMmM1Bwq7UBCiYHl7P6rSewFEg8THI6WTJ2694nyGJ2La3QJkjME0xB9ByBp8FDuUuh5E2B2I50mgeZw1uOAMvEb2E0As4MnWg6YzjTo2W5BS0U-_y0/s1600/AH+Bear+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="913" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthDipuUZ2lecwC_YUrAMmM1Bwq7UBCiYHl7P6rSewFEg8THI6WTJ2694nyGJ2La3QJkjME0xB9ByBp8FDuUuh5E2B2I50mgeZw1uOAMvEb2E0As4MnWg6YzjTo2W5BS0U-_y0/s400/AH+Bear+2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Did you see it? Did you make the connection? It's the Stretch Room.<br />
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One thing that impresses me so much about this gag is the the Stretch Room is one of those things that's so iconic, so memorable, that nearly everybody who attempts to do a spin on the illusion just ends up repeating it. You can spot a stretch room knockoff immediately.<br />
<br />
But here's a spin on the basic illusion that has nothing to do with changing portraits or vanishing ceilings. Marc is, as far as I know, the only person to ever come up with a viable alternative on the illusion that actually brings something new to the table. Oh, and it's really funny to boot.<br />
<br />
From there, guests walk into the Bathroom. On their left is a bath tub with a curtain drawn around it; a dress hangs on the curtain and we can hear high, opera singing coming from the tub. The path bends around the tub to the left and reveals:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j_4Uj3HSdLIGAVhRbunW3CJY5FXyvDGgnS9TAFyeUi2XPsEPMf5xCDASuX1RvlrRj6-Nsflgm9H3wpkv6zREPlv4Mz_4cuw7scjtSWcXccxUE6I0N7qM-2yZOc63agd9Nk2e/s1600/AH+Croc+Web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="550" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j_4Uj3HSdLIGAVhRbunW3CJY5FXyvDGgnS9TAFyeUi2XPsEPMf5xCDASuX1RvlrRj6-Nsflgm9H3wpkv6zREPlv4Mz_4cuw7scjtSWcXccxUE6I0N7qM-2yZOc63agd9Nk2e/s400/AH+Croc+Web.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Again, the staging here is simply superb. Marc had really been digging into how to direct guests through theme park spaces throughout the 70s, and his use of a Claude Coats-style "reveal space" here is extremely effective. Budding and current theme park designers take note: this is the way you set up and pay off a joke.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirA-6uW-n437HQEzZ8sFPih8nK5zyPaLOI2E-DJ9C6shhtU0ISN6SJQKH8X0W5u4jxrD1TiFRdKCbDTHkj3yLAoX1cQDS7pRCc65t2_7YyxVBITeWxOQndXA-s1CZSWeX7nZc/s1600/AH+Library+Web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="978" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirA-6uW-n437HQEzZ8sFPih8nK5zyPaLOI2E-DJ9C6shhtU0ISN6SJQKH8X0W5u4jxrD1TiFRdKCbDTHkj3yLAoX1cQDS7pRCc65t2_7YyxVBITeWxOQndXA-s1CZSWeX7nZc/s400/AH+Library+Web.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's an odd concept for a library with tilting walls; as the walls tilt forward, books slide out of the shelves and stop, then slide back in as the wall tilts away. Not nearly as effective as the "Prairie Schooner Hall" and Guest Bedroom gags, but still interesting.<br />
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There's also an updated take on the mirror maze, with Maude, Jasper, and Tiger appearing and disappearing through the maze:<br />
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The final room appears to be an Attic, with a hooting owl, player piano, and busts that come alive and talk. In this case, the idea is pretty much identical to a scene in the old outline, which reads:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The effect of the room is to be a feeling of crawling in, around, over and through various articles of furniture, props and assorted units. The room should be designed with primarily younger ages in mind, but structurally it should support the weight of whoever might want to make their way thru it. [...] Basic experience is to enter the "obstacle course" by entering the open front of a trunk and then proceeding through a multilevel series of tunnels, bridges and platforms [...] Last effect is a short, straight slide into a pile of plastic eggs (chickens are above, squawking)."</blockquote>
Yes, it's a kid's playground. You can see the trunk entrance to the left and the adult walkway off to the right. Presumably all of the other various illusions would be present to keep the adults amused. Next time Disney opens a pedestrian play area in one of their parks, remember that Adventure House found a way to make it unique.<br />
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<br />
<b>The End of Adventure House</b><br />
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It's hard to know exactly why projects never get off the ground at Disney, even less so back in the 70s when all we have left is art. Adventure House seems to at least had the support of some in WED, enough for Marc and Al Bertino to be mocking up sets and mazes and running tests on effects, which is nearer to actual realization than something like, say the Snow Palace came.<br />
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It's easy to see what the thinking was. A trip to Discovery Island, River Country, and a lap through Adventure House and dinner at the Hoop-De-Doo is a full day for anyone, and the notion of there being an actual Disney-style full attraction to take in may have just been the thing to start diverting traffic in that direction that turned the combination River Country / Island ticket into an actual full day draw.<br />
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Personally, I think something like Adventure House still has a place at Walt Disney World. Any modern version would need to have a wheelchair route that goes around the most significant obstacles, but that seems to have been the plan anyway - early memos mention a "chicken route", marked with statues of pointing chickens, for those who preferred to watch but not interact. In almost every other way the idea makes sense: the illusions are low-maintainence, and there's no ride vehicles to break down. I could see this attraction doing very well at Disney Springs, where some families seem to be at a loss for things to do. If it cost, say, $5 a person to go into Adventure House, it could be a low operational cost, high-profit attraction.<br />
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As for Marc, Adventure House was near the end of his career for WED before his retirement in 1978. Towards the end of his career, Marc's ability to get new projects off the ground was dramatically compromised, which must have been a frustration for a gifted designer who once had Walt Disney's ear. Although brought back after retirement to help design Tokyo Disneyland, his last significant new project for Disney was The World of Motion, which was publicly credited only to Ward Kimball until fairly recently.<br />
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And just like that, the man who put more "Disney" into Disney than probably anyone other than Walt Disney was gone. When you consider exactly how much the humor and characters Marc worked on still defines what Disney is - from Thumper to Cinderella to Tinker Bell and Maleficent onto the Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, his influence is still huge and unavoidable.<br />
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Since I first found out about Adventure House I've been working diligently to make this material as public as possible. I would not have been able to succeed without the help of those in "The Chummery", Mike Lee, J.M. Jr., "OrangeBird517", "WDWSkip01", and more. Thank you everyone!<br />
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<i>Ready for more WDW History? Check out our hub page, covering <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">all sorts of forgotten Walt Disney World obscurities</a>.</i><br />
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<i>For more Marc Davis check out our individual hub pages on <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/haunted-mansion-hub-page.html">The Haunted Mansion</a>, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/pirates-of-caribbean-hub-page.html">Pirates of the Caribbean</a>, and the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/01/jungle-cruise-hub-page.html">Jungle Cruise</a>. Happy adventuring!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-33361282138702483542018-05-25T02:45:00.000-04:002018-05-25T02:45:36.200-04:00The Secret Recording Career of George BrunsOne of the troubles with being canonized as a Disney Legend is that all of the rest of your life's output tends to become a sidenote to that studio in Burbank. There's a handful of artists like Rolly Crump and Walt Peregoy who were busy enough and rebellious enough to avoid total identification, but it's no coincidence that when we think of Disney Legends from Walt's time, we're thinking mostly of loyal Disney lifers like Frank Thomas and John Hench.<br />
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And then there's George Bruns, who probably ranks third in the Disney pantheon behind Charles Wolcott and the Sherman Brothers in establishing what Disney "sounds like". He wrote The Ballad of Davy Crockett, the bass inflected soundtrack to 101 Dalmatians, and the soothing, mysterious music heard in The Jungle Book. He wrote the original score heard in Pirates of the Caribbean, which to these ears may be the finest attraction soundtrack ever. His jazzy inflection of bluegrass means that his layered, toe-tapping orchestrations for Country Bear Jamboree haven't dated a lick in a half century.<br />
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But what isn't well known is that George continued to record other material before, during, and after his career at Disney. It may not be well known, but it's out there. So this time at Passport to Dreams we're going to be looking at and listening to the unknown recording career of George Bruns.<br />
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<b>Early Life and Dixieland</b><br />
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Born in Oregon in 1914, the earliest places you can hear George Bruns doing his stuff is in Dixieland and Jazz recordings from the 1940s. The group he seems to have been most associated with was The Famous Castle Jazz Band, where he played lead trombone. The Castle Club was a nightclub south of Portland, and seems to have been famous and popular as a location for great jazz. Here's George on trombone in a 1949 recording:<br />
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He also seems to have appeared with jazz legend Turk Murphy on a handful of recordings around the same time, sometimes on bass and sometimes on trombone.<br />
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It seems fairly clear that before Castle Club, George had organized his own group of musicians as "George Bruns and His Jazz Band", and they had recorded a number of tracks for the famous Commodore jazz label out of New York. I can't find any evidence that these recordings were actually released at the time, and the only reason we know they exist is due to a pricey and out of print 60 LP (!) reissue of Commodore's entire library in 1990. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Complete-Commodore-Jazz-Recordings-Volume-III/release/7598527">George appears in Volume III of the set</a>, which means he made the recordings sometime between 1938 and 1943. I tried to track down a library copy of this set to heard these recordings, but it seems that somebody with more patience or deeper pockets than I will have to be up to the task.<br />
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Which brings us to our first recovered recording, and the sad fact is that I have no idea when or where it was made, however it makes more sense to group it with these early Jazz recordings than the later ones, as we'll soon see. But first I have to explain how the heck we even have it.<br />
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In the mid-60s, Reader's Digest got into the business of promoting and selling huge boxes of LPs all under a certain theme. The original examples, such as a box devoted to Swing music or light classical music, were actually produced by other companies and sold by Reader's Digest through a mail-in voucher. They were enough of a success that Reader's Digest was producing several "theme" sets a year, and continued to do so well into the 80s on LP, 8-track, cassette, and eventually CD.<br />
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The company Readers Digest eventually settled on contracting to create these sets was RCA. RCA already had a massive back catalog of releases because they operated a program in the 50s and 60s very similar to the Columbia House CD programs of the 90s - where new albums would be sent to you directly, monthly. As a result RCA recorded a lot of albums that never saw general release outside of special "RCA Music Service" shipments, and probably sat on many more without ever releasing them. It was primarily this back catalog of recorded music that filled out the Reader's Digest "theme" LP sets, especially the early ones.<br />
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Which is how George Bruns managed to appear in a Reader's Digest compilation album, Gaslight Varieties, released in 1969.<br />
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1. The Cakewalk in the Sky 00:00<br />
2. Down South 02:44<br />
3. Any Rags? 05:32<br />
4. Kentucky Babe 08:06<br />
5. I Love My Baby 10:40<br />
6. At A Georgia Camp Meeting 13:30<br />
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Gaslight Varieties is pretty interesting to Disney fans - besides the Bruns tracks, there's a lot of Thurl Ravenscroft and Mellomen tracks throughout - but interesting isn't the same as actually being very good. RCA tended to use second best options when compiling these sets to keep costs down, and the result is albums that quickly wear out their novelty and have no real sense of progression.<br />
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Because of the way RCA structured these albums, we have only one side of one record of Bruns playing Ragtime music - the other side was never released. It's impossible to tell when this was recorded, and there are no personnel credits besides "George Bruns and his Rag-A-Muffins". We're not even sure what the album was supposed to be called, although RCA named that side of the record <i>"Ragtime, Yessir!"</i><br />
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But at least get have six good tracks of previously unheard George Bruns music out of it! It's good stuff, wonderfully "hot" jazz similar to his work with the Wonderland Jazz Band on the famous "Deep In The Heart of Dixieland" Disneyland LP.<br />
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<b>To The Tropics</b><br />
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George eventually provided jazzy music to several UPA cartoons before being scooped up by Disney and embarking on the recording career we know him for today. And despite his busy career writing music for dozens of Disney projects, he found the time to produce and record a tropical easy listening record!<br />
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As part of the background music for the Ford Magic Skyway at the 1964 World's Fair, George recorded a piece of music called "Moonlight Time In Old Hawaii", which he later expanded out to a full size album, released by Vault Records in 1969 or 1970.<br />
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This record is at least somewhat famous in Disney circles today for its use at the Adventureland Veranda in the 80s. It's also tough to say if it was really ever properly released at all - Vault, as a record label, was floundering in the late 60s, and ever copy of "Moonlight Time" that I've ever seen has its "Promotional Copy" sticker still attached. This scarcity and its mild fame in Disney circles has driven up its prices on the secondary market. Thankfully, Chris Lyndon beautifully restored a transfer of my copy, so now you can enjoy it whenever you like:<br />
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Side A<br />
1. South Seas Island Magic (0:00)<br />
2. Hawaiian Paradise (2:52)<br />
3. Moonlight and Shadows (5:40)<br />
4. To You, Sweetheart, Aloha (8:28)<br />
5. Paradise Isle (11:24)<br />
6. Song of Old Hawaii (14:36)<br />
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Side B<br />
7. Blue Hawaii (17:04)<br />
8. Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii (20:01)<br />
9. Sweet Lelani (23.:24)<br />
10. Aloha Nui Hawaii (26:38)<br />
11. My Tane (29:30)<br />
12. Ka Pua (The Flower) (33:16)<br />
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Now, I may be biased, because I obviously liked this well enough to seek out a copy and have it preserved, <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-social-history-of-background-music.html">and I also have a weakness for atmosphere music</a>, but I think this is a terrific exotica record. There's nothing quite like the soothing strings and languid pace of this music to make you slow down and relax when you need it. It's a shame it never got a real release of any kind, and that its one release has a cheap stock photograph from Pan American for a cover.<br />
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The world may have whipped clear past <i>Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii</i>, but I'm pleased to have helped it continue to weave its spell over listeners in the digital age.<br />
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<b>Retirement and Beyond</b><br />
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Our final record is a treat, and one I'm very pleased to have been able to "rescue" for posterity. After his retirement from Disney in 1976, George moved back to Oregon and taught at a local college part time. And he recorded one last record, the delightfully titled <i>"Have A Good Time With Big George Bruns"</i>.<br />
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It's tough to say if George explicitly intended this to be a testament record, but that's what it plays as: a summation of his whole career, mixing hot Dixieland jazz riffs with Disney tracks in equal measure. The albums begins with "Happy Rag", familiar from a million Disney promotional films, and ends with the theme music to The Love Bug. Throughout, he includes such deep selections as "Inky the Crow" and "Ah, See the Moon", a total nonsense song he wrote with Ward Kimball for Ludwig Von Drake!<br />
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But the real stand out aspects to <i>Have A Good Time</i> are its inclusion of an electric organ and Lou Norris - a jazz singer who adds a lot to the "throwback" numbers on the record. I can't determine if Miss Norris ever made another recording, so it's more likely that George met her locally at Sandy Hook. But she has a terrific voice, and it's easy to see why Bruns included a prominent credit (and caricature) of her on the cover.<br />
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That cover was drawn by famous cartoonist Virgil Partch, by the way, who is miscredited on the album sleeve as "Virgil Parks".<br />
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Side A<br />
1. Happy Rag (Bruns) 00:00<br />
2. You’re Gonna Be Sorry (Bruns) 02:57<br />
3. Inky the Crow (Bruns) 05:53<br />
4. Please Come Back Big Daddy (Hilton-Bruns) 09:00<br />
5. Have A Good Time (Bryant-Bryant) 11:59<br />
6. Ah, See The Moon (Bruns-Kimball) 14:57<br />
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Side B<br />
7. When You’re Gambling (Fisher-Goodwin-Shay) 18:04<br />
8. Where Has The Melody Gone (Hilton-Bruns) 21:04<br />
9. Wabash Blues (Meinken-Ringle) 23:41<br />
10. Mama’s Gone Goodbye (Bocage-Piron) 26:44<br />
11. Uptown Downtown Man (Hilton-Bruns) 30:02<br />
12. Herbie (Bruns) 33:20<br />
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As with everything George Bruns left us, it's a spritely, upbeat listen - craft and entertainment value seamlessly blended. Like all three of the albums we've looked at here, it received a minor and local release, if any at all, and coming across a copy isn't easy.<br />
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So give these albums a listen, and I'm sure Mr. Bruns will be smiling somewhere knowing that people are still enjoying his efforts five decades later. Here's to you, Big George.<br />
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<i>Do you love theme park and atmosphere music? Then hop on over to our <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-park-music-hub-page.html">Music Hub</a>, where dozens of obscure tracks - and the stories behind them - are preserved!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32105106.post-39539356457988193942018-04-20T01:34:00.000-04:002018-04-20T01:34:35.804-04:00The Forgotten Shops of Adventureland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the main attractions that Disneyland pioneered was the concept of themed merchandise; that an area which appeared to be the Old West should sell leather goods, coon skin caps, and toy rifles. Although the masterpiece of such theming is probably New Orleans Square, one early and elaborate effort, the one that probably more than any other made the idea stick, was the Adventureland Bazaar across from the Jungle Cruise. Like Tomorrowland's Art Corner or New Orleans Square's One-of-a-Kind shop, the Bazaar was as much an interactive exhibit as it was a shopping experience, a chance to see some unique items and immerse in an environment. Featured areas included Polynesia (hawaiian shirts and dresses), India (etched brass), Asia (exotic imported items), and the Guatemalan Weavers.<br />
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Magic Kingdom would both expand and repeat much of the success of these Disneyland shops, and indeed had its own Adventureland Bazaar and more. But the Bazaar still stands at Disneyland - or, at least, the shell of it is still there, although it's now filled with the same Disney stuff everywhere else sells. But the Bazaar, and practically all of the original Adventureland shops at Magic Kingdom are gone, and have been gone for nearly two decades now. That's a long time, long enough for many fans who never set foot inside the House of Treasure to grow to adulthood.<br />
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We are dedicated as always to attempting the stem the tide of forgetting on this blog, and having been made aware that many not too much younger than I don't even know what the shape of these original Adventureland pseudo-attractions were like, the time to assemble and preserve this information was upon us. So set your time machines to the early 70s and let's discover those forgotten shops of Adventureland!<br />
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<b>The Bazaar Complex</b><br />
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We're going to begin with the most difficult of these areas to mentally reconstruct, which was the central Adventureland Bazaar, in the center of Adventureland near the Sunshine Tree Terrace. This area was destroyed for good back in 2001 when The Magic Carpets of Aladdin was installed, totally changing the relaxed vibe of central Adventureland. The Bazaar complex was made up of five shops surrounding a central open air courtyard.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxIl0JCiLupd0R0ypvSY4d1h_2fBSuC9sz1jJx88PeX5zqEDyNP9pQYcdeo-S3R6LWnO1v2qe5RNd233vGx433k8mwNctMyAlg0vMQg2OnC7BpJ5TGJ0I99L0Z0-Yv1UCsywS/s1600/AL1191-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="750" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxIl0JCiLupd0R0ypvSY4d1h_2fBSuC9sz1jJx88PeX5zqEDyNP9pQYcdeo-S3R6LWnO1v2qe5RNd233vGx433k8mwNctMyAlg0vMQg2OnC7BpJ5TGJ0I99L0Z0-Yv1UCsywS/s400/AL1191-07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://disneypix.com/">DisneyPix.Com</a></td></tr>
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Also included was a tall, pink covered area very much like the glass canopy over by the Adventureland Veranda that today acts as the entrance area to the Skipper Canteen. This was the original home of J.P. and the Silver Stars, Adventureland's steel drum band. When the drums were not set up, this was the de facto entrance to the Bazaar courtyard. In later years, as the steel drum band was more frequently seen in Caribbean Plaza, this area became home to exotic bird displays and, inevitably, merchandise.<br />
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Here's J.P. and the Silver Stars doing their thing in 1971. This is the Band Stand / Gazebo on the left of the picture above. Check out the awesome chandelier above them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLB8hblpAPMZkTI3v3_2MINz7Sagw3FkesVx9-_sr8qOEqbn1DDhWuuLkq_j9kbCudqmGz9SuVlhDXUquE4kMzOyQGKV1VRB4SlMLQB_DmCo48ILlMWf24m3uoHcC5ADhw63Tp/s1600/Oct_71_Black_b022.jpg-nggid047391-ngg0dyn-1335x898x90-00f0w010c010r110f110r010t010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1200" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLB8hblpAPMZkTI3v3_2MINz7Sagw3FkesVx9-_sr8qOEqbn1DDhWuuLkq_j9kbCudqmGz9SuVlhDXUquE4kMzOyQGKV1VRB4SlMLQB_DmCo48ILlMWf24m3uoHcC5ADhw63Tp/s400/Oct_71_Black_b022.jpg-nggid047391-ngg0dyn-1335x898x90-00f0w010c010r110f110r010t010.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://retrodisneyworld.com/">retrodisneyworld.com</a></td></tr>
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Alternate access to the central courtyard could also be achieved through a narrow covered passage that squeezed between the Band Stand and the Tiki Tropic Shop, seen here in a 1974 view.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5FlPNez5JANjPqxjIdxzxXz4f0b6Y4R1PDCQJ2Akb2dBFpJKT2MG0cdlsC6I6NqokEnoVuA0p2RO2OWyMoOD5fsPnodmNcix0SuTfFGG8LcQV0-ZKLUKe9SC0zzTz-iOafc/s1600/Side+Door+74.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="800" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5FlPNez5JANjPqxjIdxzxXz4f0b6Y4R1PDCQJ2Akb2dBFpJKT2MG0cdlsC6I6NqokEnoVuA0p2RO2OWyMoOD5fsPnodmNcix0SuTfFGG8LcQV0-ZKLUKe9SC0zzTz-iOafc/s400/Side+Door+74.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Or by walking straight through Traders of Timbuktu.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZS-W4xx-Cbx56Gk0YiSab8A2WjFe-aYOu46mlhwNBZ1vsdEMQo6GYT5MvgYobCzhqKHmFMaVhNOc8hkePGdrvZ656Du10aqiQj9yPDdLTX5Cr1Rb8bkJqtgTE6NQhLJCjq_X/s1600/Traders+to+Courtyard+72.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="894" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZS-W4xx-Cbx56Gk0YiSab8A2WjFe-aYOu46mlhwNBZ1vsdEMQo6GYT5MvgYobCzhqKHmFMaVhNOc8hkePGdrvZ656Du10aqiQj9yPDdLTX5Cr1Rb8bkJqtgTE6NQhLJCjq_X/s400/Traders+to+Courtyard+72.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Inside the central courtyard, moving from West (Tiki Room side) to East (Swiss Family Treehouse side) were three doors leading into the various rear shops. Starting near the breezeway, we have the other entrance door to the Tiki Tropic Shop:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpuTAAUerX0TTBMz_EkTfWTCvLAQ6RawZlvqzgtxfJ-A2F5teyXQs3iBirKrSNgXQZXmmk3_4xeNFaI9n2EgPIhyphenhyphennCdD5wMJ3h2aDRkdBGrJ3T9vIzAh3f68i7X1f9H440Opx/s1600/AL1980a-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="502" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpuTAAUerX0TTBMz_EkTfWTCvLAQ6RawZlvqzgtxfJ-A2F5teyXQs3iBirKrSNgXQZXmmk3_4xeNFaI9n2EgPIhyphenhyphennCdD5wMJ3h2aDRkdBGrJ3T9vIzAh3f68i7X1f9H440Opx/s400/AL1980a-08.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://disneypix.com/">DisneyPix.Com</a></td></tr>
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(That little covered area between the two potted plants has an ornate door below it, which leads to a small backstage hallway that connects the Tiki Tropic Shop and Magic Carpet, as well as an elevator that can take you down to the Utilidor and stock rooms.)<br />
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Next to that is the main entrance to The Magic Carpet, with its impressive tower and moorish window:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJXvW4YFiY-p74TZK1nB3jpf-Em6iLIdWUl0MWEq5I8wisdVt214drV_JhLx89jbJKhbZH10vvvxtveJed65JQ1WPRDjx5EjeFxZkHfhgJL7OAstHbW-sbrBrpiUEbLR6753a/s1600/78MagicCarpet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="774" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJXvW4YFiY-p74TZK1nB3jpf-Em6iLIdWUl0MWEq5I8wisdVt214drV_JhLx89jbJKhbZH10vvvxtveJed65JQ1WPRDjx5EjeFxZkHfhgJL7OAstHbW-sbrBrpiUEbLR6753a/s400/78MagicCarpet.png" width="278" /></a></div>
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Here's some guy checking out the weird little animal figures in the window from the 1972 Pictorial Souvenir:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4M_kl3VKh2lrHRQrRkmGqFYzeXnyESzv73cdO_N6Ry6Yqu82q-CQy-uuCrGsKpIAqYOqHYh15t6OWizylLuU3gaSIsHt7mVo6YVnO13wrwV1IKpaOBmWqPm-Eai7KN5CLxPO/s1600/Carpet+Window+72.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="807" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4M_kl3VKh2lrHRQrRkmGqFYzeXnyESzv73cdO_N6Ry6Yqu82q-CQy-uuCrGsKpIAqYOqHYh15t6OWizylLuU3gaSIsHt7mVo6YVnO13wrwV1IKpaOBmWqPm-Eai7KN5CLxPO/s400/Carpet+Window+72.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's the view he would have had, looking from the Magic Carpet into the courtyard, towards the rear entrance to Traders of Timbuktu. This is the same door we were inside, four pictures up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnJYjg47SZvOgZLvwwg__1mtxldjuS7x3enQG6opnrBJLznPd7va9tRKNiWOo8D7zVEedltHWU2os5yjDvJlHS1HDDkroWDGNoxLiawZngvTr_WWOXeodLL9ijfcX3wLKLjaw/s1600/Carpet+to+Courtyard+72.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="992" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnJYjg47SZvOgZLvwwg__1mtxldjuS7x3enQG6opnrBJLznPd7va9tRKNiWOo8D7zVEedltHWU2os5yjDvJlHS1HDDkroWDGNoxLiawZngvTr_WWOXeodLL9ijfcX3wLKLjaw/s400/Carpet+to+Courtyard+72.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Just past the main entrance to Magic Carpet was another entrance, although it led to a part of the shop more correctly known as Oriental Traders, Ltd:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPvVIrlxOA2EQYrLHmnnL-y0V-Bpe61Rcl80EPmPAXaBQoSmr-Gzst2v-j7tASCNEkbzg09ZZUIVyaFlkG552gtiUQdvytbaVealmGYWlUWai0iqADb6hLunVSSBshn5p_2Uk/s1600/AL1980a-09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="491" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPvVIrlxOA2EQYrLHmnnL-y0V-Bpe61Rcl80EPmPAXaBQoSmr-Gzst2v-j7tASCNEkbzg09ZZUIVyaFlkG552gtiUQdvytbaVealmGYWlUWai0iqADb6hLunVSSBshn5p_2Uk/s400/AL1980a-09.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://disneypix.com/">DisneyPix.Com</a></td></tr>
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Here's a map to help you visualize all of this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFl7ImorUwEyGS1s0Tr6BQT8hbf07n8XUQx-FOcH3xAppYkT8OCnVEjMloGG_cUo9ytJlNVAbKIzoef7QYorNz9WVO3wXhKTb858wX_cbwdfjhLP8ge5On7G7NFWfO4nC3fSt/s1600/Bazaar+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1600" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFl7ImorUwEyGS1s0Tr6BQT8hbf07n8XUQx-FOcH3xAppYkT8OCnVEjMloGG_cUo9ytJlNVAbKIzoef7QYorNz9WVO3wXhKTb858wX_cbwdfjhLP8ge5On7G7NFWfO4nC3fSt/s400/Bazaar+Map.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Island Supply pretty much still exists, and the patio that once connected it to Tropic Toppers is still there. Most of Tropic Toppers has been walled up, and the bit that still remains spits you out into what was once the side entrance to Traders of Timbuktu instead of allowing you to continue into Oriental Imports as it once did.</div>
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So now that we know what we're talking about, let's take a closer look!</div>
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<b>The Forgotten Shops of Adventureland</b></div>
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<b><u>Tropic Toppers</u></b></div>
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Opened: October 1971</div>
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Closed: 1988</div>
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Became: Zanzibar Shell Company</div>
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This sunny patio mostly specialized in hats and toy jungle animals, appropriate to the Jungle Cruise entrance, which it pretty much directly faced. Disney had a LOT of hat shops prior to the 90s, and this was Adventureland's. Hats!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmMaFmBbArKXXHfn421CvNp53UWcjfjt4JOZDlyoodnbzSnZCSK0Ykn8-nqxz5PSsYDXjajiPgvl9FEuVd-H7Sga43k9RrZM3II7fv4FLcbmfYyvzBw8p3Q9zlg410D-Dc7Jt/s1600/TropicToppersHQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="890" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmMaFmBbArKXXHfn421CvNp53UWcjfjt4JOZDlyoodnbzSnZCSK0Ykn8-nqxz5PSsYDXjajiPgvl9FEuVd-H7Sga43k9RrZM3II7fv4FLcbmfYyvzBw8p3Q9zlg410D-Dc7Jt/s400/TropicToppersHQ.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Oriental Imports, Ltd.</u></b><br />
Opened: October 1971<br />
Closed: 1987<br />
Became: Elephant Tales<br />
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The first of the rear complex of shops, Oriental Imports was a showcase of eastern silks and inlaid woods, and pretty much anything that could be manufactured in Japan or China. Steve Birnbaum writes in 1982: <i>"This shop, hung with silk-tasseled oriental lanterns, stocks the sort of goods that merchants in Hong Kong sell in quantity: lovely satin change purses and eyeglass cases [...] and hand-gilded and engraved copper plates."</i><br />
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The shop was accessed by a ramp from the rear of Tropic Toppers down into the central sunken area; note the elevated area behind the half-wall on the right of this photo. Actually, note the half-wall on the right of this photo generally, because we'll be seeing it again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvJNSEcGgtxp-TItg95Yo9qCSTXuvwgdp3nhaWV9703wWTLAYAUSrRpgrfXqNF2xu2FY4rnOIw3uLPXwj4soEEzU0EPWA6r0rcTnijKYaqNpqLzA1XZ-ky9uHGADcXj7aqPGJV/s1600/Oriental+Imports%252C+Ltd+%25281981%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="850" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvJNSEcGgtxp-TItg95Yo9qCSTXuvwgdp3nhaWV9703wWTLAYAUSrRpgrfXqNF2xu2FY4rnOIw3uLPXwj4soEEzU0EPWA6r0rcTnijKYaqNpqLzA1XZ-ky9uHGADcXj7aqPGJV/s400/Oriental+Imports%252C+Ltd+%25281981%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The Magic Carpet</u></b><br />
Opened: October 1971<br />
Closed: 1987<br />
Became: Elephant Tales<br />
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Flowing from Oriental Imports and through a door, The Magic Carpet, despite its name, offered very few carpets and more brass and inlaid pearl items, including a huge Taj Mahal music box. Here's some folks enjoying it in 1972 - notice the nearly identical merchandise display fixtures that we saw in Oriental Imports above, as well was the return of our odd painted animals from the Moorish window.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V2HEHt_7yPFRv9Vyir7fdYaslMDcz_WX31ME4OElEQskkl_RIJqb14BWf1LI5AUqQThXCIv6naYmOWYWbkWrLx0PgSu-TGu0OBlWPnFPh3Z4dTlMV0UC9BdKp9d2eX4Xzr9A/s1600/Magic+Carpet+Int+72.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="756" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V2HEHt_7yPFRv9Vyir7fdYaslMDcz_WX31ME4OElEQskkl_RIJqb14BWf1LI5AUqQThXCIv6naYmOWYWbkWrLx0PgSu-TGu0OBlWPnFPh3Z4dTlMV0UC9BdKp9d2eX4Xzr9A/s400/Magic+Carpet+Int+72.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Traders of Timbuktu</u></b><br />
Opened: October 1971<br />
Closed: Late 2000<br />
Demolished<br />
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The most distinctive of the original shops, Traders of Timbuktu housed African wares under a rich green hexagonal dome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifbMISRlFuQn5UhxUOWEtMcoqKij-xap2HY7CdXkhCxmQDFyli2sSvgOO4pzSdCcTdrTj3zVst02Dfg1a-PXy7ZS1haihgk03pxV3Boy9YAMOTEjgt8Yhl17DBrFnjNY_xl0k/s1600/Traders+of+Timbuktu+02+%25281981%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="851" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifbMISRlFuQn5UhxUOWEtMcoqKij-xap2HY7CdXkhCxmQDFyli2sSvgOO4pzSdCcTdrTj3zVst02Dfg1a-PXy7ZS1haihgk03pxV3Boy9YAMOTEjgt8Yhl17DBrFnjNY_xl0k/s400/Traders+of+Timbuktu+02+%25281981%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Consisting of two rooms, a flow-through larger room and a smaller cash wrap room pictured above, the store was stocked with the sort of merchandise you find everywhere at Animal Kingdom these days.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmG29lgvGg0CpAJXJWw_QW98a0NfxnuWQyn_PQHc02VICN9qWNclGGtXMXjpxTRszmO_ddMgoGXwxTHRb8iENt-bs1FB-9s9SuGir_976UKGwY_GxmCvVrrt7Mx3VwJaWmg4I/s1600/Traders+of+Timbuktu+03+%25281981%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="855" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmG29lgvGg0CpAJXJWw_QW98a0NfxnuWQyn_PQHc02VICN9qWNclGGtXMXjpxTRszmO_ddMgoGXwxTHRb8iENt-bs1FB-9s9SuGir_976UKGwY_GxmCvVrrt7Mx3VwJaWmg4I/s400/Traders+of+Timbuktu+03+%25281981%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This part of the structure, as well as the Band Stand and breezeway alongside the Tiki Tropic Shop, were totally demolished as part of the construction of Magic Carpets of Aladdin, seriously compromising the intended aesthetics of Adventureland.<br />
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Here's a shot by Mike Lee in 1994 showing the later incarnation of Traders of Timbuktu with a good deal more bric-a-brak nailed to the walls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_N9ati8JxmXRbd3ktavhrBsaxe2PhQOO1d7Anne7twb0mc1ZUwIda77UBTw0hxae9GUGXAXXbGi90euqXgqYsJ9sBS0Jfhtu-hBOlftKqSych1PkuF89_uYAcU0rbp9SyclT/s1600/Traders+Nov1994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="1600" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_N9ati8JxmXRbd3ktavhrBsaxe2PhQOO1d7Anne7twb0mc1ZUwIda77UBTw0hxae9GUGXAXXbGi90euqXgqYsJ9sBS0Jfhtu-hBOlftKqSych1PkuF89_uYAcU0rbp9SyclT/s400/Traders+Nov1994.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Tiki Tropic Shop</u></b><br />
Opened: October 1971<br />
Closed: Late 2000<br />
Became: Backstage Office<br />
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Surprisingly given its microscopic size, one of the longest lived of the Adventureland shops was the Tiki Tropic Shop, which sold Polynesian and Hawaiian shirts and dresses, similar to shops at the Polynesian Village.<br />
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I will warn you first that much as everything else at Magic Kingdom, the 90s were not kind to the Adventureland shops. By late in the decade, the once vibrant paint has been faded to dull colors and the merchandise had begun to slide into increasingly suspicious directions. Here's a shot of the Bazaar complex in 1994 and you'll see what I mean:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvo4lehcVmKbkv4VXX2v0YQUH9R8VJ0VOOFNjsn6BE-naBw6D69zAectcBdYYfHQBhGCcrTSIqxRI5q02X_8Y_lIh-cBBXcykjk8vDBazW9vg-ck4VuIYTC90QZ0Ha9nizEoB/s1600/ADV+12+Nov+1994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1600" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvo4lehcVmKbkv4VXX2v0YQUH9R8VJ0VOOFNjsn6BE-naBw6D69zAectcBdYYfHQBhGCcrTSIqxRI5q02X_8Y_lIh-cBBXcykjk8vDBazW9vg-ck4VuIYTC90QZ0Ha9nizEoB/s400/ADV+12+Nov+1994.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I bring this downer up here because the only photos I have of the Tiki Tropic Shop are from the same era, and to put it lightly this is not a pretty sight.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaG5LYxkFPW_L1kp9MjG076dxPp8BSvwBjpDTyMPadabTGsTwgU8YvscanLGxNhJanOrBrjZW3B6HSVjPsuyaAmJ2aJnXeLo3w5eI_CEJp22fyvbckPmRjwwQt2UYB1LEbazB/s1600/Tiki+Tropic+Shop+12+Nov+1994+c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaG5LYxkFPW_L1kp9MjG076dxPp8BSvwBjpDTyMPadabTGsTwgU8YvscanLGxNhJanOrBrjZW3B6HSVjPsuyaAmJ2aJnXeLo3w5eI_CEJp22fyvbckPmRjwwQt2UYB1LEbazB/s400/Tiki+Tropic+Shop+12+Nov+1994+c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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If you replace the gaudy 90s shirts with aloha shirts and leilani dresses and subtract the 90s "beach bum" props, you can get an idea of what this used to look like.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaj83_TSn2OrAv5NW0iq2FVAXgxtc-7qOFS82wFuIOR1AilaYHZVR2t20O-BG57oxbycgLCEnPZJZG_7uct9d33FIUrQsLEYogHayD8Ok0dJeN3aFnzn0i3JAZ_rwNnE9dTbyH/s1600/Tiki+Tropic+Shop+12+Nov+1994+d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaj83_TSn2OrAv5NW0iq2FVAXgxtc-7qOFS82wFuIOR1AilaYHZVR2t20O-BG57oxbycgLCEnPZJZG_7uct9d33FIUrQsLEYogHayD8Ok0dJeN3aFnzn0i3JAZ_rwNnE9dTbyH/s400/Tiki+Tropic+Shop+12+Nov+1994+d.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The chandeliers are the same beautiful brass lotuses that hang outside the Enchanted Tiki Room.<br />
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Tiki Tropic continued peddling garish 90s 'tude until the Bazaar complex was demolished to make way for Magic Carpets of Aladdin. The exterior door facing the Tiki Room was walled up and converted to a planter, the side door became a merchandise shelf. This left only the interior cast member access door seen in the first photo here, which led to the backstage hallway that connected Tiki Tropic, Magic Carpet, and the Utilidor. The room was gutted, repainted blue, and became a computer office for Merchandise managers.<br />
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That's all of the original Bazaar shops, but our story doesn't end here, because in the 80s a few of the shops changed theme.<br />
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<b><u>The Zanzibar Shell Company</u></b><br />
Opened: 1988<br />
Closed: 2000<br />
Became: Zanzibar Trading Company<br />
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A conversion of Tropic Toppers, Zanzibar Shell Company came into being with the retirement of ticket books at Magic Kingdom and the conversion of the Adventureland ticket booth into a shop selling all of the Jungle Cruise-related hats and wares that Tropic Toppers used to specialize in. Instead, shells and shell-based jewelry and wind chimes became this shop's stock in trade.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhkZ2Fj1sjnMIyT12kV5xHGJywTFhHC1W1IdcgSAr4cg4oJDpVzbJTIHJe5OTo3QVViKJA5dU7vBS_uKBwYa-DIFFCJkKHcEgWaFV5N2254MNaelUqy4YT0z8FBbebOBl2QUH/s1600/Zanzibar+Shell+Traders+01+%25281992%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="859" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhkZ2Fj1sjnMIyT12kV5xHGJywTFhHC1W1IdcgSAr4cg4oJDpVzbJTIHJe5OTo3QVViKJA5dU7vBS_uKBwYa-DIFFCJkKHcEgWaFV5N2254MNaelUqy4YT0z8FBbebOBl2QUH/s400/Zanzibar+Shell+Traders+01+%25281992%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's our only good view of the original interior, probably only lightly changed from its days as Tropic Toppers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZOUqN5LHecZ6DZY0zLDGyqsGoxD8K_ltN0I_f_oA7FsdZ99u_Ndkp3Cobgd4RrA9QujIkbROzD8Bc-rBqgLqoRMXODJxqlra3xkLq6JIZ2KAO0dgVWw0-ET_ZENQ_Ovn1rhq/s1600/Zanzibar+Shell+Traders+02+%25281992%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="848" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZOUqN5LHecZ6DZY0zLDGyqsGoxD8K_ltN0I_f_oA7FsdZ99u_Ndkp3Cobgd4RrA9QujIkbROzD8Bc-rBqgLqoRMXODJxqlra3xkLq6JIZ2KAO0dgVWw0-ET_ZENQ_Ovn1rhq/s400/Zanzibar+Shell+Traders+02+%25281992%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the late 90s with the rise of Paul Pressler and the then-new insistence that every part of Magic Kingdom individually turn a profit, out of the way shops like Zanzibar Shell Traders were converted into merchandise stock rooms. The existing merchandise was pushed out onto the shaded porch area of Traders, and the rear room became an offstage space. This new incarnation was called Zanzibar Traders and continued in operation until fairly recently, when it was turned entirely into shaded seating.<br />
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<b><u>Elephant Tales</u></b><br />
Opened: 1987<br />
Closed: Early 2000<br />
Became: Merchandise Stockroom<br />
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In the 80s, Oriental Imports and The Magic Carpet were combined into the more explicitly safari-themed Elephant Tales. This mostly involved hanging props from the ceiling, converting the more modernistic light fixtures to a hodgepodge of "themed" ones, taking down the wall between the two shops, and stocking more of what Traders of Timbuktu was already selling.<br />
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By the 90s, Elephant Tales had morphed into a catchall shop, selling Princess dresses and lots and lots of Aladdin and Lion King toys. Here's a shot Mike Lee took in 1994, taken from NEARLY the same location as the shot of Oriental Imports:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOnINgV6UiVKc2hRwc0eJX1ewUBOvZ6NYO-o5BUQqP822WAPm1duUF0JyMmnpi_V5CwP04hXMJhY5d9bXafPkSQ3aZzsSbaIE-xbwH_0oPQLkSPGO5UBzdLxqNKZJoPBiIUY_/s1600/Elephant+Tales+Oct1994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1600" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOnINgV6UiVKc2hRwc0eJX1ewUBOvZ6NYO-o5BUQqP822WAPm1duUF0JyMmnpi_V5CwP04hXMJhY5d9bXafPkSQ3aZzsSbaIE-xbwH_0oPQLkSPGO5UBzdLxqNKZJoPBiIUY_/s400/Elephant+Tales+Oct1994.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can see that some of Oriental Imports' old merchandise has been repurposed. You can also see the elevated area behind the half-wall I pointed out to you earlier. Off to the right is the ramp down into the shop. If you squint close, at the top of the ramp you can see a painted mural of a tropical scene that's still visible today at Magic Kingdom:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1IchHFgqFKYIBQ9ZdGs3zC4JS62EJoUEK3hEg48bR9Z73XPFi38aSnrf1gXnrcH8YOhQ3Zu1QGUzp22j0WPWsnzVJlrJqzZ8Wno-3k_EivFRfS4kHIztV94yn8y_euK9CmTi/s1600/DZ0Q8nSVQAAZ8ef.jpg-large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1IchHFgqFKYIBQ9ZdGs3zC4JS62EJoUEK3hEg48bR9Z73XPFi38aSnrf1gXnrcH8YOhQ3Zu1QGUzp22j0WPWsnzVJlrJqzZ8Wno-3k_EivFRfS4kHIztV94yn8y_euK9CmTi/s400/DZ0Q8nSVQAAZ8ef.jpg-large.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Up in Elephant Tales' raised area, notice all of the leftover Magic Carpet stock.. this was in 1994, so this brass stuff had been hanging around for six or seven years by now!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0p3DHDeYO78ZIcFZqN_iBHpYLQ-Jki2j68uBTESF6-AU5rsvzlGFKbMtIxu22BboO7nV-9OJyg6CO9R9DdAZFoFmD7GJxEPxOWqSZFagx_7BRhycPXkrSaB4JpHQjciLnkMH/s1600/ADV+Merch+int+me+28+Oct+1994+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0p3DHDeYO78ZIcFZqN_iBHpYLQ-Jki2j68uBTESF6-AU5rsvzlGFKbMtIxu22BboO7nV-9OJyg6CO9R9DdAZFoFmD7GJxEPxOWqSZFagx_7BRhycPXkrSaB4JpHQjciLnkMH/s400/ADV+Merch+int+me+28+Oct+1994+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This was the former Magic Carpet area, nearer the Moorish window. Magic Kingdom really began to take down walls in their retail locations in the mid 80s, bringing them closer in look to the Department Store style favored by the EPCOT Center shops. The Emporium had all of its interior walls removed around the same time, too:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1fCZpZvlaB9DTgdSftANAXuNYciKhZMh2YjxE9EBFu2GAA6aVUNyTeee32xXFjSyKnC6A2I_v_0XPbaiUK6HNpegQKlpsgN0CsTNXKDjE0YaJk5dh7GR-7TLa3qysTt0GOT8/s1600/ADV+Merch+int+me+28+Oct+1994+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1fCZpZvlaB9DTgdSftANAXuNYciKhZMh2YjxE9EBFu2GAA6aVUNyTeee32xXFjSyKnC6A2I_v_0XPbaiUK6HNpegQKlpsgN0CsTNXKDjE0YaJk5dh7GR-7TLa3qysTt0GOT8/s400/ADV+Merch+int+me+28+Oct+1994+b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Elephant Tales hung in, on and off, until it was shuttered and became a stock room for the new Argrabah Market built in 2001 to accommodate The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.<br />
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<b><u>Colonel Hathi's Safari Club / Island Supply</u></b><br />
Opened: Late 1972<br />
Became: Island Supply, Ltd<br />
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<a href="http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/safari.htm">As documented by Mike Lee</a>, the Safari Club was originally intended to be Adventureland's Arcade - and it was, for less than a year, until it was abruptly closed and reopened as a shop in late 1972 or early 1973. Birnbaum describes the shop in 1982 as being "summer stuff", and by the early 90s when I remember it it was selling rainforest-themed items and small garden fountains. By the late 90s it had switched to selling swimwear and "beach" themed items.<br />
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The shop did receive the same ludicrous "beach" overlay that Tiki Tropic did, included the well-remembered game of hopscotch printed on the floor called "Island Hop". With the exception of the blue ceiling and beach theme, this interior was basically unchanged since its days as an arcade:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIK7pJLl7uBt2aqsP-i3jsMTQGIbiUxIx6_HPh1TOLUaSkwjAW-rsxkPgrO-s4ReBPe68QDYzOkpHwEmUO46wPicTsPTBs509Smwe_E2AXJv52FkywJ-Zf_7dJyD0gqN-A5Fk/s1600/island_supply_company_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="969" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIK7pJLl7uBt2aqsP-i3jsMTQGIbiUxIx6_HPh1TOLUaSkwjAW-rsxkPgrO-s4ReBPe68QDYzOkpHwEmUO46wPicTsPTBs509Smwe_E2AXJv52FkywJ-Zf_7dJyD0gqN-A5Fk/s400/island_supply_company_003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In early 2015, Island Supply was converted into a Sunglass Hut location. As we've seen earlier in this article, selling vaguely themed "beach" stuff is not a new concept in Adventureland. The interior is still basically the same as it always was.<br />
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<b><u>Bwana Bob's</u></b><br />
Opened: 1985<br />
Closed: 2000<br />
Relocated Elsewhere<br />
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The original Adventureland ticket booth, Bwana Bob's was repurposed in the 80s to sell vaguely Jungle Cruise-related knick-knacks. Here it is as a ticket booth in the early 80s:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFnjYnkgCBLiGhxOcBRKpWrBmn-Is_IUbb4HQd85Xw-jMEfVOX0gn_MRuH96rOOovgjo8-e6DKnpNEGNZDiC0FeHP0nK6Mtuj-t4nkxlSTz70vm-IwQMMJgj8cOj_e8q1ZQ1b/s1600/Adv+Ticket+Booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1372" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFnjYnkgCBLiGhxOcBRKpWrBmn-Is_IUbb4HQd85Xw-jMEfVOX0gn_MRuH96rOOovgjo8-e6DKnpNEGNZDiC0FeHP0nK6Mtuj-t4nkxlSTz70vm-IwQMMJgj8cOj_e8q1ZQ1b/s400/Adv+Ticket+Booth.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And as Bwana Bob's in 1988, thanks to Mike Lee:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0__lkf6nwSM4ZyzwakVZjetRMh0BmjMT79Ia72ujLkTYiAP58347relAZ7WKzJNq4zd0Cz7LvutMfNJ76IxawtTcnJ5RS_21pdlI2TuNZvBzBR5WduqSfnUwH5Su5hyphenhyphenED4_Sc/s1600/Bwana+Bob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0__lkf6nwSM4ZyzwakVZjetRMh0BmjMT79Ia72ujLkTYiAP58347relAZ7WKzJNq4zd0Cz7LvutMfNJ76IxawtTcnJ5RS_21pdlI2TuNZvBzBR5WduqSfnUwH5Su5hyphenhyphenED4_Sc/s400/Bwana+Bob.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bob's also makes a quick appearance in the 1990 A Day at the Magic Kingdom souvenir VHS:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1d2scd0oMlANk7RVmFuA07YtXpn14e2tC55Tk0LMwzx4vFRR9NUrtGftlXgXqf3_dJUAeUYNkCDEbkIyfZ0wLyOrow2YZDhz4RSKowDrK1HuOANHBTMWVrjPndodNKNz94yPe/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-04-15+at+11.00.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="777" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1d2scd0oMlANk7RVmFuA07YtXpn14e2tC55Tk0LMwzx4vFRR9NUrtGftlXgXqf3_dJUAeUYNkCDEbkIyfZ0wLyOrow2YZDhz4RSKowDrK1HuOANHBTMWVrjPndodNKNz94yPe/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-04-15+at+11.00.37+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Don't worry dad it's only a fake snake!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The original structure was demolished to make way for The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and in the process "moved" nearer the Adventureland Bridge in the early 2000s.<br />
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<b>The Forgotten Shops of Caribbean Plaza</b><br />
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Caribbean Plaza opened in 1973 with a much reduced version of its central anchoring ride, but in many other ways it was attempting to be as fully realized an area as New Orleans Square at Disneyland, containing five trickling tile fountains, three secluded courtyards, and a number of exotic shops to wander through. A lot of this has been chipped away today and many have forgotten how nice Caribbean Plaza was supposed to be, so let's move on from Adventureland to its neighbor for a quick look at what was there originally.<br />
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<b><u>Plaza Del Sol Caribe</u></b><br />
Opened: 1973<br />
Still in Operation<br />
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The Plaza Del Sol, today simply known as the "Pirates Shop", may have been the original gift shop that an attraction exited into, but it was once quite different than it is today. Originally as much of an atmospheric area as a gift shop, it sold Sombreros, silk flowers, pirate heads carved into coconuts, pirate swords, hats, as well as wind chimes and other "patio" pieces.<br />
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There were very few freestanding merchandise display racks, with the merchandise overflowing from carts, similar to the visual presentation of the Plaza De Los Amigos at EPCOT Center. Indeed, the overall impression was as much an inviting plaza, similar to the one the attraction enters through, as it was a gift shop.<br />
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Inevitably, this could not last forever, and by the time the 90s has rolled around, the Plaza shop was becoming increasingly cluttered with both Pirate and faux "caribbean" items, making it more of a true shop and less of an atmospheric walk past a trickling fountain. The writing was on the wall...<br />
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<b><u>The House of Treasure</u></b><br />
Opened: 1973<br />
Closed: 2001<br />
Became: The Pirates League<br />
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Originally, if you wanted to buy Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, you had to go into the House of Treasure. This high ceilinged, atmospheric shop had three entrances: the high traffic one from the Plaza Del Sol Caribe, one facing north that spit out by the Caribbean Plaza pay phones and a shaded porch, and a rear exit that flowed into the secluded courtyard alongside the Pirates of the Caribbean queue, with the Fuente de Cielo azul.<br />
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When it was in operation, this was probably my favorite shop in Magic Kingdom. With walls lined with Spanish royal flags and decorative shelves stocked with pirate treasure, it reminded me of being inside the treasury room that appeared at the end of the attraction.<br />
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House of Treasure was shuttered following the 2001 recession, and by 2003 its main entrance has ominously become home to a dressing room, sealing off the rest of the area. It never returned. In 2009, the space become the pirate-themed version of Fantasyland's popular Princess makeover experience, The Bippity Boppity Boutique.<br />
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The Pirate's League, although beautifully themed, has never found the widespread success the Bippity Boppity Boutique has. When Disney closed the House of Treasure, they tore out the heart of Caribbean Plaza, and it's never quite been the same. I await the day when somebody in merchandise with real vision will turn this back into a shop that's accessible to everyone. Given that asking Disney to open a shop is something they'll happily do at any time, this evocative space shouldn't be closed off the way it is today.<br />
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<b><u>The Pirates Arcade / Laffite's Portrait Deck</u></b><br />
Opened: Late 1974<br />
Closed: Late 90s<br />
Became: Merchandise Stock Room<br />
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Many of you know about or remember the House of Treasure, but have you thought of the gift shop on the other side of the Plaza recently? In late 1974, this small space, tucked between the main walkway of Caribbean Plaza and the restrooms, had replaced The Safari Club and become Adventureland's main arcade. Around 1978, the Pirate Arcade changed names, and was now known as Caverna De Los Pirates. By 1980, the arcade games were cleared out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_r-PLU9TOOsAQ747tCDPkmAn3Mmb3p30pOQ6ROC3Y4fnMLurTFSRH_GLoUPOu7UpkOMDtn-AAwQ0-4v_w3bHfwcKAqPSaL98XpLm1j3gRlHwmufDCioHvV7uwGn0h67TPGIDh/s1600/caextlpd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="823" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_r-PLU9TOOsAQ747tCDPkmAn3Mmb3p30pOQ6ROC3Y4fnMLurTFSRH_GLoUPOu7UpkOMDtn-AAwQ0-4v_w3bHfwcKAqPSaL98XpLm1j3gRlHwmufDCioHvV7uwGn0h67TPGIDh/s400/caextlpd.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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What replaced it was an uncharge experience where guests could don pirate garb and get their photos taken in front of two backdrops: a tropical beach overflowing with treasure, or the deck of a sailing galleon. Similar to a photo experience on Main Street and frankly probably "inspired" by Knott's Berry Farm, Lafitte's Portrait Deck hung around at least until the early 90s.<br />
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Originally featuring sculpted pirates, the location later began printing cartoon characters on top of photos, such a pirate Mickey and the Little Mermaid.<br />
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By the mid-90s, Lafitte's Portrait Deck had become an unnamed side-adjunct to the Plaza Del Sol Caribe, selling pirate swords, hats, and other stuff. In the late 90s, it was closed and became a merchandise stock room.<br />
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<b><u>The Crow's Nest</u></b><br />
Opened: 1988<br />
Closed: 2010<br />
Became: A Pirate's Adventure Game<br />
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A tiny little shop that opened next to the Frontierland Train Station and survived its demolition and relocation, The Crow's Nest offered film and disposable cameras, as well as being a drop-off spot for the park's in-house express photo developing service (such things did exist!).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtuxNNA5vgZcKIhQYK9epkuGhyphenhyphenzVWIwaXusq3XkiOgdcmzFavu3c6J_0BX3w0B_Z8oDHDTyKZd6oWaX3s2Wt-NsMGjhmW6zncQtlwn62Hf2uyUufJIaTbRJxgg3dhAsjfQJKl/s1600/SS+-+The+Crow%2527s+Nest+%2528January+2010%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="600" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtuxNNA5vgZcKIhQYK9epkuGhyphenhyphenzVWIwaXusq3XkiOgdcmzFavu3c6J_0BX3w0B_Z8oDHDTyKZd6oWaX3s2Wt-NsMGjhmW6zncQtlwn62Hf2uyUufJIaTbRJxgg3dhAsjfQJKl/s400/SS+-+The+Crow%2527s+Nest+%2528January+2010%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mainstgazette.com/">Main Street Gazette</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It had a tiny interior, with a register on the rear wall in front of a number of backlit photos of Magic Kingdom such as the castle and Splash Mountain. With the decline of film cameras and the exit of Kodak from the park as sponsors, the little hut became a quick stop for autograph books, toys, and toy guns. In 2010 it closed and became the "headquarters" for a Jack Sparrow themed interactive game, A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas.<br />
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<b><u>The Golden Galleon & La Princesa de Cristal</u></b><br />
Opened: Early 1974<br />
Closed: 1998<br />
Became: El Pirata Y El Perico Seating<br />
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The two most obscure Caribbean Plaza shops may be so for good reason. The area across from Pirates of the Caribbean was originally intended to be a shopping complex with a snack bar in front; the snack bar would eventually grow to take over its neighboring shops. In 1982, Steve Birnbaum describes El Pirata Y El Perico as offering "ham and cheese submarine sandwiches, hot dogs, burritos, hot pretzels, brownies, and ice-cream bars" - fairly standard for Disney snack stands of the era, where everything came directly out of a fridge or warming tray.<br />
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Just past the main entrance to El Pirata, near the large arch that anchors the rear of Caribbean Plaza, is a large planter with walkways on either side of it as well as an open space that leads directly back towards an isolated courtyard that sits between the original locations of The Golden Galleon and La Princesa de Cristal. Today, this space is jam packed with tables, but imagine for a moment if instead it was an open space, with signs in the planter directing you back to the courtyard where you would discover yet more quaint and interesting shops. This is how it was in 1973, and how it remained until, along with so many other interesting features of Walt Disney World, was tossed out unceremoniously in the late 90s.<br />
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The shop on the left was the Golden Galleon, home to gold, brass, and jeweled decorative fixtures. Anchored by an antique diver's helmet, the shop sold brass fittings, door stops, wall plaques, mirrors, ship's wheels, and spyglasses. It also featured a large number of authentic ships in bottles and, at least in the early 70s, was home to a large collection of authentic and reproduction scrimshaw!<br />
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Across the way, La Princesa de Cristal was another Arribas Brothers location, very much like the ones that still exist on Main Street, in the Mexico Pavilion, and elsewhere. La Princesa was notable for specializing in crystal reproductions of sailing ships, ranging in size from a few inches to a few feet long. I haven't ever found anybody who took a photo of this location.<br />
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Here's a view looking into Golden Galleon:<br />
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That door and arch still exists, below the Caribbean Plaza arch. Modern park goers will be confused by a sunlight coming in the rear of the shop, but the 1998 expansion of Pecos Bill in Frontierland swallowed up a sunny courtyard that used to sit between Frontierland and Caribbean Plaza.<br />
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That 1998 expansion of Pecos Bill is what finally sealed the fate of Golden Galleon & La Princesa. Foods took over pretty much the entire western end of the west side of Magic Kingdom, filling in all of the space surrounding Pecos Bill which used to be open patio seating, and pushing into The Mile Long Bar at the exit of Country Bear Jamboree in the process. La Princesa was "upgraded" to a green-fringed cart which sat just outside its former digs, while El Pirata expanded to fill what was previously two shops. The crystal shop became home to a topping bar and restrooms, and Golden Galleon was converted to seating and connected directly to Pecos Bill via a ramp.<br />
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The timing of the conversion for El Pirata was not fortuitous. Park attendance was already slipping following years of eroding fan goodwill during the 90s, and the opening of Animal Kingdom did not grow attendance as expected but instead cannibalized the other three parks. Following the dip in tourism following the 2001 terror attacks, El Pirata went on seasonal operation and has never really came back.<br />
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In late 2005, Magic Kingdom toyed with offering El Pirata as a buffet location. Catered by the Contemporary, the buffet was operated for a few weekends. The topping bar was cleared out of the La Princesa space, hot food was brought in, and steaks were grilled in the courtyard. It never returned.<br />
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In February 2011, El Pirata Y El Perico received a name change and new theme: Tortuga Tavern, with a vaguely defined tie-in with a line of Captain Jack Sparrow young adult novels being published at the time. The cosmetic overhaul did nothing to change the location's fortunes. This "restaurant" has rarely been open two months out of the year for nearly 20 years now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OAAdOf3mz_-CEm72HLBVggn22pv1if5TRNWyQsRzn-0nj69QAhIcahttBP8aVDU8Ts35aQya8VkqCIHH6U9_ThdLEN2A934BKn_-_KS0HFJze3LjTpxXsD1OCnAHS_zyj-4X/s1600/g4205.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1402" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OAAdOf3mz_-CEm72HLBVggn22pv1if5TRNWyQsRzn-0nj69QAhIcahttBP8aVDU8Ts35aQya8VkqCIHH6U9_ThdLEN2A934BKn_-_KS0HFJze3LjTpxXsD1OCnAHS_zyj-4X/s400/g4205.png" width="350" /></a></div>
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There's no reason that Disney needs to waste all of this valuable real estate - it's hard to imagine that clearing out The Pirate's League and reopening it as a store would make that location any less profitable than it is now. La Princessa de Cristal is never coming back, given that it now houses two restrooms, but the former The Golden Galleon space sometimes isn't even open when Tortuga Tavern is. Merchandise across Walt Disney World has been experiencing something of a renaissance lately, and specialty shops like Memento Mori or the Dress Shop regularly set social media ablaze with new and exclusive merchandise offerings.<br />
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It's hard to see that a new line of Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise offered in either of those two spaces wouldn't do well. More importantly, reclaiming House of Treasure and Lafitte's for merchandise sales would both help traffic move through the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean and restore much of the charm of the area that's been lost.<br />
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As for the Adventureland Bazaar, it's safe to say that for now removal of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin is unlikely. However, there's still the old Magic Carpet / Elephant Tales space sitting right behind and connected to the operating Adventureland shops. Again, an exclusive line of Jungle Cruise and Tiki Rom merchandise in this location could do well, adding some prestige to this very compromised area and the semi-hidden nature of the location wouldn't matter much in the era of social media marketing.<br />
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Given that Disney just spent the better part of a decade rebuilding Downtown Disney into the high-end retail mecca of Disney Springs, it seems strange that so little attention is being paid to underutilized areas of their keystone park that were intended to offer the kind of varied, exclusive, themed shopping experience that Disney can deliver. These spaces are sitting there, just waiting for somebody to come along with the imagination to use them properly.<br />
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<i>Special thanks to Mike Lee, Todd McCartney, Whit Elam, and many others who contributed to this article.</i><br />
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<i>Want more <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">vintage Walt Disney World history</a>? We have an entire indexed archive of that, right here on the <a href="http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/01/walt-disney-world-history-hub.html">WDW History Hub</a>!</i>FoxxFurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.com