Recent content by HBG2

I wouldn't hold my breath. (1) WDW's Connie has always looked much better than DL's, (2) the new bride wasn't cheap, and installing the Pepper's effect was a pane in the glass, and (3) the reception of the new bride has been tepid at best.

And if you ask me, they should have put in the Man in the Web instead of the HBG. That way, each US park would have a distinctive character with a similarly mysterious origin. Foxxy has been complaining about the Disneylandification of WDW for a long time, and in the case of the HM it's dead on...

HMF tipped me off that the HBG discussion was waking up again over here and suggested I stop by. So yeah, pretty much everything I wanted to say about the WDW HBG I've said at the Long-Forgotten blog, but the main issue that forced the placement where he is, is money. The thing is HEAVY and...

Thanks, Goof.

Out of the blue... ...the ocean blue that is. Yo ho yo ho The article even mentions Jean Lafitte in passing, and "a rather astonishing number of bottles."

I'm getting some traffic from over here, so I thought I'd drop in and respond to some of the comments. First of all, I still maintain that there was nothing silly in the first half of the ride. "Humor" and "silly" are not synonymous. The epitaphs in the graveyard are macabre, grim...

Speaking of the "Disneyfication" of existing literature, I think the world owes a big thank you to Disney for saving a lot of valuable things from slipping into obscurity. For a long time (and this was still true when I was younger), people would sneer at Disney for dolling up and toning down...

Just to piggyback on that, who is it that keeps tabs on the scuttlebutt out there? Is it a loose, haphazard thing or are there guys upstairs who make it their job to sorta monitor the chatboards? Or is it just individual artist Imagineers who may or may not pay attention? We're often told...

Eddie left a comment at my blog earlier today that brings up an interesting point. He related how a veteran Imagineer from "back in the day" told him recently that Marc Davis used to interact with attractions as they were being built. As a stage or set began to take shape, Marc would note...

At Anaheim, they're both at 21-degree angles. The first drop is 52 feet and the second is 37 feet.

Eddie, I don't know if you've seen THIS or commented on it. Rolly Crump is becoming more active these days (he's on Facebook, finally). His take on DL is interesting. He's very much of the mind that the smallness and intimacy of DL in comparison to the other parks is a major plus ("Disneyland...

For the moment. A Disney park is a very long term investment. They'd be insane to build one anywhere in that part of the world.

Those are perhaps the most futile of all park-related "What would Walt do?" questions. Remember that DL was 11 years old when Walt died. He never had to deal with "classic attractions," park nostalgia, rides that generations had grown up with. He never had an old park.

Heh. It wasn't always something as small as salt and pepper shakers, either. I've seen more than one pic from the 50's with a modern metal rowboat, complete with outboard motor, parked insouciantly in Fowler's Harbor. That's good old unpredictable reality for you. Seems like Walt was both...

I notice in the videos that when the ghosts are viewed at an angle (like looking backward across the mirrors at doombuggies behind you), they look pretty flat. Can any of you who have seen the effect in person speak to that? How fully three-dimensional do they look?