Stay tuned here for my upcoming ride for Lady and the Tramp! I plan on putting a lot of effort into this ride and my walk-through of it, and I welcome any feedback you all will have for me! Also, feel free to throw some ideas here for a Lady and the Tramp ride, and I may use it in my final idea. Thanks, pals, and keep on Imagineering!
I think I want the queue to be the Darling's House, but it depends on the direction that I end up taking with this ride. Currently, I have two big ideas of what I want to do:
- Create a boat ride Lady and the Tramp ride that highlights the portion of the movie between Lady getting the muzzle taken off and her being sent to the pound. This part of the movie is where Tramp takes Lady out for a "date night", starting at Tony's with the famous spaghetti scene and ending with a romantic evening through a beautiful park. This version of the ride would have a very romantic tone, unlike anything that we have seen in a Disney park. I would want this version to be like a "Tunnel of Love" type indoor ride with jaw-dropping scenery. This ride would rely far less on animatronics and more so on creating an emotion through visuals.
- Create a trackless dark ride that loosely follows the story of the whole movie. This version, on the surface, seems more simple, but it would actually be a little complicated. Most Disney dark rides work because they are able to show a lot of action with many different characters. The problem with Lady and the Tramp is that the whole movie revolves around very few characters: Lady, Tramp, Jim Dear, Darling, Jacques, Trusty, and the dogs at the pound.
With the first approach, I envision the ride vehicles to be simple boats that could float down a gentle stream in a park; nothing too fancy. With the second approach, my first thought is for the ride vehicles to resemble horse-drawn carriages, similar to those used in the movie time period and location (early 1900's in New England).
As I post this, I just finished watching the whole movie and taking notes on it, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I had not seen Lady and the Tramp in quite a while, and I had forgotten how truly charming this movie is. The music is wonderful, the animation still looks fantastic, and the story is so adorable (I mean, its dogs falling in love! How much cuter can you get?). If you haven't seen this movie in a while, I highly recommend it.
Wow. I have to say - this is the second time I am writing this post. The first time, the nostalgia and emotions overwhelmed me (just kidding, the website froze on me and I lost all my work
)
However, I did get a little worked up over this idea. See, after my extended leave of absence on the forums, this idea never left my mind. Every now and then it would crop up and tell me, "Hey! you never finished me! I have such potential!" In my humble opinion, of all of my ideas on the forums, this was the best, and it was definitely my personal favorite concept.
If I were to complete this ride (and I
will), I would go with option "1" I had listed way back in the day. I love the concept of a Disney ride totally based on romantic love; to my knowledge, it is still an idea that hasn't really been fleshed out on these forums (if I am wrong, please link me to the ideas!). I would want this ride to be like the old-school, carnival Tunnel of Love rides. In fact, I had also imagined a park designed entirely on the themes of Main Street USA and Paradise Pier in which I think this ride would stylistically fit.
Lady and the Tramp may not be Disney's best movie, but gosh darn it, if you get a chance, re-watch it! The charm it exudes is so strong. And, come on, the scene at Tony's has got to be in any top 10 list of most memorable Disney movie scenes -
In fact, this video on YouTube
perfectly matches the scenes that I would want in this ride:
Just bury yourself in the gorgeous artwork, the charming atmosphere, the harmonies, the old-school choir harmonies in the second half. Folks, they just don't write music like this anymore!
And at 2:20 in the video, you can see my ride vehicle of choice: Swan Boats! Just like the Tunnel of Love rides from yester-year. Maybe it's just me, but I can close my eyes and envision the mood, feel, and tone of this attraction easily. I would also use parts of the lush orchestration from the overture from the film throughout the ride and in the queue:
I would have the queue and boarding area of the ride be closely adjoined to Tony's Restaurant (very similar to the Blue Bayou in Disneyland as it looks over Pirate's). The ride would be completely enclosed almost exactly like the beginning of Pirate's in DL, with a false night sky throughout:
Just imagine Tony strolling around with his accordion and Joe with his mandolin, wandering the restaurant, serenading guests. The highlight of this restaurant would be a miniature live show, with a trained Cocker Spaniel and a mutt for Tramp, who come out to eat some spaghetti as Tony and Joe play "Belle Notte" around a pup sized table!
The ride would meander around the restaurant, coming to an animatronic scene in an alley with Lady and Tramp enjoying their meal with Tony and Joe's rendition of "Bella Notte." Then, as the ride rounds the corner through a small black tunnel, the ceiling would open up to a night sky in a gorgeous New England park (1:40 in the first video). The orchestration softly continues in the background, as riders are treated to Lady and Tramp's late night date: paw drawing in drying cement (1:48), chasing fireflies in the trees (2:00), pass under the bridge as Lady and Tramp cross over watching swans and lilies in the water (2:12), culminating with a shot of the full moon with silhouette statues of lovers gazing at the night sky with Lady and Tramp on a distant hillside (2:40, picture above). With a little Disney magic (clever placement of bushes and trees
) each scene with the puppy lovers would have their own animatronics to play their midnight shenanigans.
At the last scene, just as the boat enters a dark tunnel, a sign alerts riders of the Kiss Camera! And again, with a little Disney magic, the camera is positioned in such a way that the dark tunnel the boats just entered provides a natural heart shaped frame for the shot!
The exit queue would, of course, take you to the gift shop in the dog pound, with instrumental versions of "He's a Tramp" and other similar jazz tunes to entertain you as you look at your Kiss Cam photos and buy other Lady and the Tramp merchandise. The cages in the dog pound gift shop would house animatronics of the dogs tapping their tails and howling along to the music!
This way, we get to enjoy the fun scenes in the pound too (which in the movie actually aren't so fun because Lady was captured by the dog catcher).
A fitting way to re-acclimate the lovers to the fun feel of a Disney park!
Wow. Typing this out was so much fun! This was the perfect way to relax in the hotel for my business trip. I'm actually glad that the website crashed with my first version. Retyping a lot of this made me really solidify my ideas! I hope you all enjoy it!
HOWEVER...
This ride needs a name! Help me out in the comments with your feedback and name suggestions!!
?
