Disney Down Under, Take 2: My Second Attempt at a Dream Disney Resort

[Brer Panther]

Just so you all know, @DisneyManOne already did a ride-through of Viagem da Arizona here, so doing my own ride-through of that seems redundant. Don't worry, @Pi on my Cake, I'll still do The Magical World of British Literature! But first, here's...

BAYOU RIVER RUN​

The old boathouse stands tall in the middle of the Deep South, looking weather-worn and in the process of being overtaken by nature, what with vines and swamp grass peeking through the cracks of the wood. Nonetheless, proving that the boathouse is still open for business is a sign outside that reads "BOATS, RAFTS AND CANOES RENTED, SOLD, AND LOANED TO ANYONE WHO WANTS 'EM! ASK FOR BEACON JOE ('CUZ HE'S THE OWNER)".

Thus, we head inside and are greeted by a large wooden staircase. We head up, walking by a large framed photo of Beacon Joe, the boathouse's owner: an old man with white hair, a straw hat, an impressive beard, and a mustache. Below the photo is a plaque that reads "BEACON JOE: THE PROUD OWNER OF THIS BOATHOUSE". And nearby is another, slightly smaller framed photo of a scruffy-looking dog. A plaque before THAT photo reads "RUFUS: BEACON JOE'S DOG AND THE BOATHOUSE'S MASCOT". As we climb up the stairs, the sound of relaxing banjo music works its way into our ears.

Eventually, we reach the top of the staircase and walk down a small hallway. Hanging up on the walls are various fishing trophies, the occasional oar, and more framed photos of Beacon Joe and Rufus. In some, Beacon Joe is dressed in fisherman's garb and holding a fish, suggesting that he's quite the fisherman. Soon, we approach another staircase that leads us back downstairs... however, before reaching the end of THIS staircase, we notice that there's no floor - the entire "downstairs" of the boathouse from here is flooded! Apparently, when nature overtook the building, it REALLY overtook it. Fortunately, there's a small makeshift bridge for us to walk on, made out of planks of wood, with railings crafted from oars, driftwood, and vines. We carefully make our way around the bridge through the rest of the boathouse's "downstairs" before finally walking through a doorway and winding up outside... well, sort of. We're actually in a large showbuilding decorated to look like a bayou at night. Stars twinkle in the night sky, and foliage hangs over our heads.

Currently, we're standing on the dock of the boathouse, which overlooks the waters of the bayou. Seated in a rocking chair nearby is none other than Beacon Joe himself, snoozing away. Rufus sits to his left, wagging his tail and panting. In the water, several rafts are lined up for us to climb aboard. The rafts are similar in appearance to those of Grizzly River Run at Disney California Adventure, albeit more "rustic" in appearance. Each raft fits eight people.

As we climb aboard our raft, Beacon Joe (voiced by Frank Welker) wakes up and says, "Huh? What?" Then he notices us. "Oh. Goin' for a trip through the bayou, eh? Well, here's some advice for y'all: ya best stay seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the raft at all times. Y'all wouldn't wanna be feedin' the gators, after all. Y'all watch yer little ones, too." Rufus barks in agreement. The raft suddenly begins to move, slowly floating away from the dock. "Hmmm, there's somethin' else I should probably tell ya..." Beacon Joe mutters, scratching his forehead. "Now, what was it? Oh, yeah... folks around these parts say that there's evil spirits and witch doctors hidin' in the bayou, just waitin' for someone ta come their way. Some even told me about some sorta beast called a 'Rougarou'. 'Course, it's probably all just a load of hoohah. Evil spirits... bah! Y'all keep safe now, ya hear?"

Our raft slips down a small waterfall and our trip through the bayou begins. On every side of us are thick swamp foliage, crawling with wildlife. Great blue herons tilt their heads curiously as we go by. Fireflies provide some light, making the dark bayou easier to see. Amusingly, a wild pig can be seen in the water, swimming in circles and munching on wetland vegetation. River otters poke their heads out of the water. Great Egrets, turtles, nutria (large rodents, for those unaware), beavers, opossums, raccoons, and spoonbills also appear, plus a family of black bears. One turtle has a Brown Pelican perched on its back. A snake hanging from the branch of a tree hisses at us as it leans towards our raft. Hopefully he doesn't bite.

The water starts to become a tad rougher. A nearby wooden sign peeking out of a patch of tall grass informs us that we've arrived in "THE GATORS' DOMAIN - WHERE Y'ALL REALLY SHOULDN'T BE, UNLESS YER A GATOR". Uh oh. Before we can turn around and head back to the dock, large alligators emerge from the water and head for our raft. One jumps out in front of us, catching us off-guard, and shows off its teeth as it attempts to take a bite, but fortunately we're able to evade it...

...and wind up floating towards a nearby shack. The door swings open as we approach, allowing us to float inside. Judging by the decor - masks whose eyes seem to follow us as we drift by, voodoo dolls, jars of strange ingredients like "Eyes of Newts" and "Legs of Spiders" - the shack seems to belong to a witch doctor, just as Beacon Joe warned us. As an Easter Egg, three jars hidden on a shelf are labeled "Shorts of a Mouse", "Shoes of a Mouse" and "Gloves of a Mouse" and contain Mickey Mouse's trademark red shorts, yellow shoes and white gloves respectively.

Eventually, we see the Witch Doctor himself (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), cackling to himself as he stirs a wooden barrel as though it were a cauldron filled with some sort of "witch's brew". "Yes..." he says, occasionally tossing another ingredient in with one hand as he stirs the brew with another. "A couple bat's teeth... maybe a snake's skin... the tongue of a possum... or two... or three... yes, ha ha, YES!" Maybe if we're really quiet, we can sneak out of the shack without him noticing us?

So much for that. He spots us. "Well, well, well..." he snarls, a malicious smirk appearing on his face. "What do we have here? Looks like I've got trespassers in my shack..." He cackles, then snaps, "First rule of the bayou - ya don't come into a witch doctor's shack uninvited. Ah, but I'll fix y'all good..." Pointing his staff (topped with a skull) at us, the Witch Doctor announces, "How's about some voodoo ta make yer trip through the bayou a little more excitin'?!"

Suddenly, our raft spins around so that we're facing backwards. Then, it begins to lift out of the water and into the air! Well, not really - we've actually just climbed onto a cleverly hidden lift hill. The Witch Doctor laughs loudly as we float out of his shack and into the darkness before our boat suddenly turns forwards again and hurtles down into the river, landing with a splash. But we're not out of the woods yet. Bursting from the water, eerie glowing "voodoo spirits" surround our boat just as the water becomes choppier again. Some of them are skeletal in appearance, others resemble alligators or snakes. At least one wears the same hat as Dr. Facillier (another Easter Egg) - and it's this one that shoves our boat towards a enormous waterfall, which we promptly go down.

Well, we might be soaking wet, but at least we've gotten away from the spirits... but the bayou is getting darker, and the water's rougher than ever. The rumble of thunder can be heard approaching. Lighting occasionally flashes, giving us a glimpse of a strange silhouette. What's that growling noise? As we duck into a cave and begin to climb another lift hill, the growling gets louder. Didn't Beacon Joe mention something about a 'Rougarou'? Could there really be such a creature? No, there couldn't... or could there?

As we reach the top of the lift hill, we see it. The ferocious Rougarou, half-man and half-wolf, towering over us and eyeing us hungrily. The beast howls, and our raft immediately picks up speed and hurtles down another waterfall into the darkness...

We land with another splash and wind up being tossed and turned in the rapids. From the sound of it, the Rougarou is in hot pursuit. Thunder rumbles. Lightning flashes. It's even starting to rain! Will we make it out of the bayou alive?

Suddenly, our raft stops. Maybe it's gotten snagged on something. Or maybe we hit a rock. Either way, we're stuck. And just to add insult to injury, the Rougarou emerges from the foilage in front of us. It's got us right where it wants us... but before the Rougarou can do anything, an alligator emerges from the water. However, this alligator, unlike the ones we encountered earlier, doesn't want to harm us - on the contrary, it wants to HELP us! An alligator can jump up to six feet in the air, which it demonstrates as it leaps out of the water and onto the Rougarou, knocking it to the ground. Back in the water, beavers and otters swim over and help push our boat to safety. The Rougarou and the alligator can be heard fighting as we're pushed towards calmer waters.

The storm is over, and we're finally safe. The family of black bears from before reappears, sitting on the grassy shores overlooking the waters. In an amusing Jungle Cruise-esque sight gag, they're all holding fishing poles in their paws, their lines dipped into the water. One bear even wears a fisherman's hat on its head. Occasionally, one will reel its line back in, only to discover that they haven't caught a fish, but rather an old boot, a hat, or an annoyed-looking alligator. This little scene provides some relief after the frightening encounters with the Witch Doctor, the spirits, and the Rougarou that we have experienced.

Up ahead, the boathouse is waiting for us. Beacon Joe, still sitting in his rocking chair and once again fast asleep, and Rufus await on the dock. As the raft approaches, Beacon Joe wakes up, takes notice of us, and says, "Well! Y'all made it back in one piece! I was beginnin' ta worry about you..." The raft pulls up to the dock. Beacon Joe continues, "Now, I know y'all wanna get outta that raft and dry yerselves off, but don't ya stand 'till the raft comes to a complete stop." It does, and we stand up and climb out back onto the dock. "Thanks for stoppin' by!" Beacon Joe calls after us as we walk down the boathouse's exit hallway.

 

[Brer Panther]

Merry Christmas, everyone! More ride-throughs and the third park of this resort are on their way, but seeing as it IS the holiday season I wanted to go into detail about what Disneyland Australia and Disney's World Tour do to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. Let's look at...

Holidays at Disney Down Under Resort

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Disneyland Australia
- At Town Square in Main Street USA, the flagpole is temporarily removed to make way for an enormous Christmas tree.
- Each and every land is decked out in Christmas decorations. Main Street USA's many storefronts are given tinsel, wreaths, and boughs of holly, and the dioramas in the window of the Emporium now depict Christmas-y scenes featuring Mickey and his friends, Winnie the Pooh, the Toy Story gang, the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and the cast of Frozen.
- The Main Street Cinema has a new lineup of shorts, all of them Christmas-themed: Pluto's Christmas Tree, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Once Upon a Wintertime, Toy Tinkers, The Small One, Mickey's Good Deed, 1932's Santa's Workshop, and 1933's The Night Before Christmas.
- In Adventureland, the World-Famous Jungle Cruise gets a holiday overlay in the form of the Very Merry Jingle Cruise. The boathouse is completely decorated, each boat gets a Christmassy name and the Skippers all wear Santa hats. Once aboard the boat, you'll discover that a plane carrying holiday decorations and supplies has crashed somewhere in the jungle - as a result, the hippos all have fruitcake in their open mouths, many of the gorillas now wear ugly sweaters, and many of the elephants in the Indian Elephant Bathing Pool wear tiny Santa hats (except for one, who's wearing fake reindeer antlers). And of course, the Skippers have many Christmas jokes up their sleeves as well!

- Also in Adventureland, Christmas is being celebrated in the Enchanted Tiki Room. In this new show, Enchanted Tiki Room: Mele Kalikima Celebration, the birds await the arrival of some sort of "Red Dragon" who soars through the sky on Christmas Eve and delivers presents. However, the festivities are interrupted by the grouchy Old Man Winter, but perhaps a bit of Christmas spirit is all that's needed to melt his heart...
- Frontierland's Country Bear Jamboree has been given a holiday overlay as well, fittingly titled The Country Bear Christmas Special. Of course, the bears now perform Christmas songs.

- Here's a fun fact for you - in Australia, Christmas occurs during the summer. However, anyone dreaming of a white Christmas just needs to head to Fantasyland, where the entire land, from the Enchanted Forest to Storybook Square to the Circus Grounds, has recieved a blanket of thick white snow (perhaps Queen Elsa's work?). And with the snow have come cartoony snowmen and Arctic animals (a la the ghosts that inhabit Tokyo Disneyland during the Halloween season), scattered around the land and getting into quirky situations. In front of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, several arctic hares have stacked themselves up in order to grab the carrot nose off the face of a nervous-looking snowman. A confused reindeer has wound up on the roof of Merlin's house. A walrus now sits atop a giant mushroom outside of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A snowman dressed as the Mad Hatter stands in front of The Mad Hatter's Mad Tea Party. Near the entrance to Enchanted Forest Fantasafari, an arctic fox wearing a pith helmet peers through a pair of binoculars atop a musk ox. A polar bear eats out of a honey pot in front of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. A snowman's twig arms serve as a perch for a flock of puffins in front of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Outside of Yen Sid's Workshop, a trio of seals in woolly winter hats and scarves balance musical instruments on their noses. Another snowman stands in front of The Adventures of Pinocchio, wearing a set of Mouse Ears atop its head. On the roof of Peter Pan's Flight, a penguin dressed like Peter Pan stands proudly, looking down at the streets of Fantasyland and occasionally waving to guests that walk by. In the waters in front of Under the Sea: Voyage of The Little Mermaid, a beluga emerges with a large present in its flippers. Another penguin sits on the face of one of Dumbo the Flying Elephant's many flying elephants, looking absolutely terrified. In front of the Circus Carousel, a group of polar bears toast with mugs of hot chocolate.
- Mickey (and Donald)'s Toontown has been caught in a snowstorm, too. Every house is decorated with Christmas lights and a Christmas tree out front. Donald has decked out his houseboat with garland and tinsel.
- In Tommorowland, robots are hard at work outfitting the buildings with futuristic Christmas decor. At the Tomorrowland Terrace, Sonny Eclipse sings Christmas songs, and Body Electric tells groan-inducing jokes about the holidays.
- Of course, each night from November 29th to December 31st, the park throws a Christmas party just like other Disney parks do. Mickey's Christmas Celebration is not to be missed, with enough Christmas cheer to put a smile on the face of even the most Grinch-like Ebenezer Scrooge to visit. Hot chocolate and warm freshly-baked cookies are offered at numerous different locations, fireworks go off, and the park's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade travels down the streets of Main Street USA. Santa Claus even stops by for a visit!

Disney's World Tour
- "it's a small world" is another attraction to get a holiday overlay, known as "it's a small world" Holiday. The children that inhabit the attraction sing yuletide carols and celebrate their respective holidays, all within a heavily-lit and decorated palace.

- Each land celebrates the season by blending the inspiration and style of Western traditions with the colors and textiles of authentic celebrations from their respective countries. Mexico, for example, celebrates Las Posadas with dancers, pinatas and Mariachi music. In addition, storytellers like Italy's La Befana, France's Pere Noel, and the United Kingdom's Father Christmas have visited the park to tell Christmas tales, share traditions, and sing songs.

Credit for some of these ideas (the Tiki Room overlay and the Fantasyland animals specifically) goes to @MANEATINGWREATH.

 

[Brer Panther]

I believe @Miru ordered a ride-through of the Haunted Mansion? Ask and you shall receive!

The Haunted Mansion​

In the way back of the Deep South is Gracey Manor, a big ol' mansion that's clearly seen better days. Foliage around the place needs watering, there's a broken window or two, and the iron gate out front is rusted, among other things. Adding to the creepy atmosphere, every so often you might hear a howling noise. It might just be a dog, but there's also a pretty big chance that it's a werewolf. Folks around these parts say that Gracey Manor is haunted... hence why it's called the Haunted Mansion.

​

Regardless, we decide to walk through the gate and head for the mansion. Quickly, we notice that there's a small cemetery on the outskirts of the house, with a smaller pet cemetery nearby. One headstone near the front of the cemetary is for a "George Gracey". Locals say that George Gracey was the owner of Gracey Manor (hence the name), but he hasn't been seen in years...

Eventually, we arrive at the mansion's doorway and are greeted by a dour-faced servant. They usher us in, and (perhaps after a moment's hesitation) we head inside, finding ourselves in the mansion's Foyer. The room is dimly-lit, with only an antique chandelier covered with cobwebs keeping the room from being in total darkness - and even then it occasionally flickers. Somebody in another room can be heard playing a pipe organ. At the farthest end of the foyer is a portrait of George Gracey. Once the room is for all intents and purposes full, the front door closes, the lights dim, and the pipe organ gets louder and louder... before suddenly stopping. After a few seconds of no noise whatsoever, a menacing voice can be heard: "When hinges creak in doorless chambers... and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls... whenever candlelights flicker..." As the voice talks, the portrait of George Gracey begins to change. He starts to look less like a man and more like a corpse, and then less like a corpse and more like a skeleton.

Suddenly, a panel in the cellar wall slides open, allowing us to step into the next room. This room appears to be some sort of private gallery, an eight-sided room lined with portraits. One depicts a bearded gentleman, another a lovely young girl with a parasol, another an old woman with a rose, and another a man in a bowler hat. In-between each painting is a gargoyle wielding a candle in each hand. Once all are inside this room, the menacing voice (Paul Frees - it's the same dialogue used in other versions of the ride) greets us: "Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your host... your Ghost Host. Our tour begins here in this gallery. Here, where you see paintings of some of our guests as they appeared in their corruptible, mortal state. Kindly step all the way in, please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now."

The panel that allowed us entry into the room slams shut. The lights become dimmer and dimmer. Suddenly, the entire room begins to "stretch" - and that includes the portraits. As a result, we discover that each portrait is actually much more eerie than we initially thought: the bearded man now stands atop a lit keg of dynamite, the parasol-holding girl stands on a frayed tightrope above the open jaws of a hungry alligator, the old woman sits on the tombstone of her husband, and the bowler hat-wearing man is sitting on the shoulders of another man, who in turn is sitting on the shoulders of another man waist-deep in quicksand. "Your cadaverous parlor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis," the Ghost Host says. "Is this haunted room ACTUALLY stretching? Or is it your imagination, hmmm? And consider this dismaying observation - this chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this thrilling challenge... to find a way out!" He laughs, then adds, "Of course, there's always MY way..."

The room is suddenly pitch-black. Then, a crackle of lightning briefly lights it up again. Thunder rumbles. The ceiling of the room vanishes to reveal the mansion's cupola, where a skeletal body hangs from a noose tied to the rafters. The room is suddenly shaken by a piercing scream. Once again the room goes pitch-black, accompanied by the clatter of falling bones. Then, in the blink of an eye, the lights suddenly come back on, the ceiling back to normal as if nothing happened. What on Earth is going on? "Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely. The real chills come later," the Ghost Host warns us as another panel slides open, allowing us to leave the room. "Now, as they say, 'look alive' and we'll continue our little tour. And let's all stay together, please..."

"Stay together! Stay together! Heh heh! Stay together!" the gargoyles can be heard chuckling as we step through the panel and find ourselves in the Portrait Corridor. Many a portrait lines the wall in this room as well, but the centerpiece is a large window look out into a dark and stormy night. With each flash of lightning, the portraits briefly flicker into grotesque and macabre images - a proud galleon devolves into a ghost ship, a beautiful young woman becomes a white tiger, a knight atop his noble steed becomes a skeleton atop a ghost horse... at the far end of the corridor, we reach the attraction's load area, where an endless procession of "doom buggies" emerges from the inky blackness of an unknown corridor and appears to head towards another. "And now," the Ghost Host announces, "A carriage approaches to carry you into the boundless realm of the supernatural. Once on board, remain safely seated with your hands, arms, feet and legs inside. And watch your children, please." As we climb aboard and have a seat, he adds, "Do not pull down on the safety bar, please - I will lower it for you." As if on cue, the safety bar lowers for us. "Oh yes, and no flash pictures, please. We spirits are frightfully sensitive to bright lights."

Thunder rumbles as our carriage heads off further into Gracey Manor. First, we arrive in a staircase landing where a candelabra floats ominously in front of us before we descend into the inner sanctums of the mansion. An antique chandelier above our heads resembles a monstrous spider, complete with a "web". Sliding underneath the staircase, an eerie wind howls well into a dark corridor before us, a rather sinister collection of macabre art, rare antiques, Grecian statues, exotic instruments, tribal masks, and cobwebs galore. The eyes of each portrait, statue, and mask glow and seem to follow us as we go by.

Next, we enter the mansion's Library. Every "wall" in this room is actually a large bookshelf, crammed with dusty books. The library seems to be empty, but books are pulled from shelves on their own, a rocking chair rocks without anyone sitting inside it, and on a side-table the pages of a book turn on their own. On top of that, marble busts of authors like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft seem to turn and follow the carriages. Very peculiar...

"Our library is well-stocked with priceless first editions," we hear the Ghost Host say. "Only ghost stories, of course... and marble busts of the greatest ghost writers the literary world has ever known..." From the library, we enter the Music Room, where a dust-covered piano sits, seemingly playing itself... or is it? Bright moonlight streams through a picture window, casting a shadow of the pianist on the floor. Nearby, a red-eyed raven perches on a music stand. Passing through a doorway, we find ourselves in a hallway that seems to go on forever and ever - you might even call it an Endless Hallway. "We find it delightfully unlivable here in this ghostly retreat," says the Ghost Host. "Every room has wall-to-wall creeps and hot and cold running chills. Shhh... listen..." If we listen closely, we might hear ghostly wails and moans, plus the occasional ghastly cackle. We go by a suit of armor that turns its "head" and raises the axe in its hand in our direction, directly across from a chair that seems to have a face. "Actually, we have nine hundred and ninety-nine happy haunts here. But there's room for a thousand," the Ghost Host informs us. "Any volunteers? If you decide to join us, final arrangements may be made at the end of the tour..."

Entering the next room, the Conservatory, we are greeted by a large coffin. A skeletal hand pokes out of the top and tries to pry it open. From inside, whoever that hand belongs to shouts, "Let me outta here! Let me outta here!" The Conservatory is littered with plants, some decaying, others overgrown. A large venus flytrap even attempts to eat us, but we narrowly evade its jaws.

Next stop: the Corridor of Doors. On either side of the car are a row of doors, the doorknobs and handles twisting and turning every which way. Unseen presences pound unmercifully from the other side. One door appears to breathe. Aside from the doors, the wallpaper is dotted with glowering eyes. Through another door, at the very end of the corridor, a monstrous arm suddenly bursts and reaches out at us.

Leaving the corridor, we find ourselves in a room where numerous staircases run in seemingly every direction. Some are sideways, others are upside-down, some lead to freestanding doors... confusingly, we go up one staircase and slowly trudge into the inky darkness... at the top of the stairs, we enter a pitch-black corridor surrounded by huge spiderwebs housing equally-huge spiders. Well, most of them do, anyway - one very large one houses a ghoulish, decaying skeleton dressed in tattered clothing!

After that, we enter what was once George Gracey's Trophy Room. The walls of this room are decorated with the mounted heads of animals... mounted heads that are alive once again, braying and bellowing in confusion. Tiki relics on a table in the center of the room have come to life as well, their eyes glowing as they pound a beat on their drums. Above the fireplace is another portrait of George Gracey, dressed in khaki and proudly holding his rifle. The animals that Gracey had mounted and stuffed still act like the predators they were, but due to being nailed to their bases, they can't harm us... or can they? A massive, snarling taxidermied lion tries to take a swipe at us as they go by.

Drifting by an ornate grandfather clock with spinning hands carved in the shape of a snarling demon, we enter an eerie sanctum where a crystal ball floating above a small table provides the only source of light. Inside the crystal ball is the face of a spirit known Madame Leota (voiced as always by Eleanor Audrey). She has a remarkable head for materializing the disembodied. "Serpents... and spiders... tail of a rat... call in the spirits.... wherever they're at!" Leota chants as musical instruments and other objects spin around the room above our heads. The raven from before reappears, perched on a book and squawking. Look closely and you just might see the faint image of a spirit materializing in the background...

Leaving the scene, we drift along a balcony overlooking the mansion's Grand Hall. "The happy haunts have received your sympathetic vibrations and are beginning to materialize," the Ghost Host tells us. "They're assembling for a swinging wake, and they'll be expecting me... I'll see you all a little later..." Indeed, below us we can see multiple ghosts suddenly appear before our very eyes. Some are seated at a long dining table. Others dance. One hangs from a chandelier via his cane, a glass of wine in one hand. Near the end of the room, a ghostly organist plays a waltz on a pipe organ. On the wall above the dance floor, two portraits depict pistol-wielding duelists whose spirits emerge from the canvas and shoot at each other. Next stop, the Attic...

The mansion's attic is dark, dusty and filled with bric-a-brac and knick-knacks scattered amongst broken furniture, antiques, and the occasional portrait. As an Easter Egg, among the knick-knacks is a Jack Skellington doll. In front of us is the ghost of George Gracey's beloved bride Emily (Kat Cressida), still wearing her wedding dress and holding a candlestick in one hand and a bouquet in another. "I do," she says, a smile on her pale blue face, as we approach... "And I did." What does she mean by that?

As we turn the final bend, which will hopefully get us out of the attic, we are greeted by another ghost - the ever-popular Hatbox Ghost. He stands there menacingly, a top hat on his head, a walking stick in his right hand and his namesake hatbox in his left. Suddenly, his head vanishes from his shoulders, then reappears in the hatbox... and then, just as quickly, reappears on his shoulders. Does he have any sort of relation to the nearby bride? Well, there's no time to find out, as our Doom Buggy suddenly "falls" out of the attic.

Fortunately, we land in the branches of a gnarled oak tree, the raven from before perched on a branch above our heads, eyeing us. "Grim Grinning Ghosts" fills the air as we "climb out of" the tree and explore the Graveyard, where the aforementioned "swinging wake" is in full-gear. As we pass through the gates, we see the graveyard caretaker and his faithful dog, shivering in fright at what they see and what WE are about to see.

Among the rotting foliage, murky swampwater, and headstones, seemingly millions of ghosts are having themselves a rockin' good time. Some ghosts, pop up from the ground to give us a scare. A band of medieval minstrels provide some music - a drummer using bones as drumsticks, a flutist, a bagpipe-player in a kilt, a harpist, and a pajama-clad horn-player. Scrawny cats and plump owls join the revelry and add their own harmonies. A bony hellhound howls at the moon. Nearby, a quintet of Singing Busts (one of which is played by Thurl Ravenscroft) sings "Grim Grinning Ghosts" in a macabre barbershop arrangement. Victorian-era ghosts play chess and enjoy a spot of tea. In the background, a number of spooks ride bicycles around a gnarled tree. Ghost witches ride their brooms above the other spirits' heads. As a reference to that beloved Silly Symphony The Skeleton Dance, five skeletons can be seen dancing amongst the ghosts in a very similar fashion to the skeletons in the short. A ghost that was, judging by his attire, once a mayor tips his hat - and his head - to us as we go by. One ghost swings from a vine - or rather, a confused-looking snake hanging from the branch of a tree. An Egyptian mummy sits in his sarcophagi, mumbling into the earhorn of a befuddled old man. "What's that? Louder! I can't hear you! Eh? What was that?" the old man (Billy West) asks. A masked ghost bandit atop a sheepish ghost mule shoots his gun at a ghost sheriff sitting atop a tombstone. Every so often the sheriff shoots back. A ghost pirate raises a pint of grog. A ghost big game hunter has run afoul of a phantom tiger who has the hunter's pants in its jaws. A headless knight, executioner and prisoner sing backup for a pair of opera singers dressed as Vikings.

As we leave the scene and enter a Mausoleum, the Ghost Host returns and says, "Ah, there you are! And just in time... there's a little matter I forgot to mention - beware of hitchhiking ghosts! They have selected you to fill our quota, and they'll haunt you until you return!" As if on cue, we suddenly come across a trio of hitchhiking ghosts: the portly Phineas, the lanky Ezra, and the bearded Gus. As we turn the corner, we come face-to-face with a mirror and discover that, indeed, one of the ghosts has hitched a ride with us. As a first for any version of the Haunted Mansion, the Hitchhiking Ghosts (played by Bill Faggerbake, Billy West, and Jeff Bergman) actually talk. Exactly what they say varies, but they might comment on your clothes, ask you to drop them off "outside the pet cemetery", or reassure you that they won't haunt you until you return... just until you buy them a churro.

Leaving the mausoleum, we see a small spirit by the name of Little Leota (Leota Toombs) sitting on a ledge above our heads. "Hurry baaaaaaaaaaack..." she tells us. "Hurry baaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack..."

"Now I will raise the safety bar, and a ghost will follow you home!" the Ghost Host announces as the safety bar raises and we step out of the Doom Buggy. Down a long, candle-lit hallway we walk, back to the world of the living. Listen closely and you might hear the ghosts, still singing and beckoning us to hurry back, as they would like our company...

Credit goes to @MANEATINGWREATH and @DisneyManOne, as I had inspiration from their versions of the Haunted Mansion when writing this. I considered having Jeremy Irons as the Ghost Host, but I just couldn't bring myself to replace Paul.

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm still working on The Magical World of British Literature, so in the meantime, here's...

Crush's Turtle Twister

​

The entrance to the gnarliest ride in the Great Barrier Reef is cleverly disguised as an underwater cave. A wooden sign featuring a sea turtle's likeness bears the name of the attraction. Stepping inside, we find ourselves in a dimly-lit environment, maneuvering through a series of switchbacks. Occasionally, a colorful glowing fish might swim above our heads, providing a bit of light. Eventually, we "emerge" from the cave and find ourselves back in the open ocean. To our right, a school of moonfish entertain those waiting in line by forming different images - a lobster, an octopus, a swordfish, a clipper ship, even Elsa's Castle every so often. As we reach the end of the line, the fish make the shape of a large arrow that, according one moonfish (John Ratzenberger), points towards the East Australian Current.

Finally, we approach the load area. Large turtle shells are lined up on the ocean floor, which we promptly climb inside. The voice of Crush (Andrew Stanton) can be heard: "What's up, dudes? Word of advice from the turtle: keep seated with your hands, arms, feet, legs, fins, and flippers inside the shell while we're cruisin' the EAC. And watch your offspring. Let's go, dudes!" With that, our shell begins takes off, turning to the right and mounting a large lift hill. Down a curved drop we go, and in the blink of an eye, we're surrounded by millions upon millions of turtles.

Of course, Crush is among the turtles. As he floats right next to our shell, he says, "Dudes! Welcome to the EAC! Grab shell, 'cause we're about to rip it, roll it and punch it!" As if on cue, our shell suddenly picks up speed, and the first "coaster" portion of the ride begins. This way and that way we're tossed and turned, zipping up drops and back down them just as quickly. After a few seconds, our shell slows down again and we find ourselves in total darkness.

We're not alone, of course - the voice of Marlin (Jess Harnell) can be heard shouting, "Nemo? NEMO? Where are you?!" "I'm right here, Dad!" Nemo pipes up as the two clownfish appear in front of us. "Oh. Phew. You had me worried there for a second," Marlin admits. "Where are we?" A light suddenly appears in the background, slowly approaching them as they talk. "Uh, I see a light... is that good?" Nemo asks. The light gets closer. A growling noise can be heard. With a gulp, Marlin replies, "I don't think so..."

Suddenly, the large snarling face of an anglerfish appears in front of us. Marlin screams. "SWIM FOR IT, EVERYONE!" he exclaims as our shell picks up speed and enters another "coaster" portion. Fortunately, we're able to evade the fish's jaws. "Phew," Marlin says, "That was a close one. But we're safe now..." Our shell turns a corner... and we promptly find ourselves in the middle of a swarm of jellyfish.

"Spoke too soon!" Marlin admits. "Okay, I have an idea. Nemo, how'd you like to play a game?" "Now?" Nemo replies, confused. "Just hear me out... whoever can hop the fastest out of these jellyfish wins. There's just one rule - you can't touch the tentacles, only the tops. The tops won't sting you," Marlin explains. Turning to face us, he says, "Everybody got that? Okay, on your mark, get set, GO!" Our shell immediately sets off like a rocket, "bouncing" off the tops of each jellyfish via a series of "bunny hills". Nemo and Marlin appear to the left of us, doing their best to dodge the tentacles as they race us. "Just be careful, Nemo!" Marlin says. "Okay! I'll be careful that those guys don't beat us!" Nemo replies. "Oh, they won't!" Marlin says. "I hope they're hungry, 'cause they're about to eat our bubbles!" The fun and games goes on for a few more seconds before we finally escape from the jellyfish. "The clownfish are the winners!" Marlin exclaims. "We did it!"

Continuing on, our shell mounts another large lift hill. As we climb up, up, up, we enter the ruins of a sunken ship. The shadows of sharks are cast on the walls. Fortunately, these sharks live by the motto of "Fish Are Friends, Not Food... but you're not a fish, are you?
Near the top of the lift hill, we see a great white shark, Bruce (Barry Humphries), to our right. "Easy, mates..." he says, gesturing towards several spiked mines floating in front of the track. "Those balloons can be a bit dodgy. You wouldn't want one of them to pop."

Spoiler alert: that's exactly what happens, and we wind up hurtling into a downwards spiral as bubbles and smoke briefly cloud our vision. This is the main "coaster" portion of the attraction - basically about a minute of quick drops, hairpin turns, and a lot of spinning. Halfway through all of this, sea turtles appear on all sides of the shell. We're back in the EAC.

"Get ready!" Crush exclaims as we go up one more lift hill. "Your exit's comin' up, man!" As said exit - sort of an underwater tornado - comes into view, Marlin shouts, "YOU MEAN THE SWIRLING VORTEX OF TERROR?!" "That's it, dude!" Crush replies. "Of course it is!" Marlin groans as our shell goes down a large, spiraling drop. "RIGHTEOUS! RIGHTEOUS!" Crush cheers us on as our shell spins downwards.

Finally, our shell stops spinning and begins to slow down. In front of us, Nemo and Marlin reappear. "Nemo, are you all right?" Marlin asks. Nemo's response is, "Can we do that again, Dad?" "Oh, sure, sure. When fish fly," Marlin tells him. Turning away from the clownfish, as we pull back into the load area we see Crush again. "That was totally awesome, dudes!" he exclaims. "First you were like 'WHOA!', and then you were like, 'WHOOOOOOOOOA!', and then you were like 'Whoa...' You've got serious thrill issues, dudes..." With that, our shell comes to a stop and we get out and walk down a long sand-coated pathway... probably back to the ride's entrance so we can take another trip with the East Australian Current.

 

[Brer Panther]

Okay, so I've hit writer's block on The Magical World of British Literature... but in the meantime, let's visit the next park, shall we?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching our station at the entrance to the third theme park at Disney Down Under Resort. If you're standing, please hold on to the handrails and stay clear of the doors until the Monorail comes to a complete stop and the doors open. Remember to collect your belongings and assist small children by the hand. Welcome to Disney's Hollywoodland.

Lights, camera, action! Similar to Disney's Hollywood Studios before the days of "IPs Everwhere", Disney's Hollywoodland is a "fantasy" version of Hollywood - the Hollywood that never was but always will be. The first land of the park focuses on the birthplace of movies and how they're made, whereas the other lands are focused on entering the worlds of your favorite movies.

The park's entrance resembles those of Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's California Adventure. On either side, large rolls of film feature images of the franchises that you'll find in the park (but we won't give anything away!). Making our way through the front turnstiles, we enter the first land...

Tinseltown​

Stepping into Tinseltown is like actually arriving in Hollywood during its golden age. The sun always seems to be shining. Palm trees line the streets. Some buildings are topped by large billboards. In the distance, the iconic Hollywood Sign can be seen (achieved via forced perspective). Who knows, maybe you'll become a star!

Tinseltown acts as a counterpart to Disneyland Australia's Main Street USA, a long stretch of shops and restaurants with seldom attractions. It's a long walk to the end of the street, but fortunately the Red Car Trolleys are on hand to give you a lift. Up and down the road they drift, making their signature 'BANG BANG BANG'-ing noise.

Among the buildings standing on the left side of the street is the park's most popular restaurant, the Brown Derby Restaurant. Based on the actual Hollywood's famed eatery, here hungry park-goers can grab a quick meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. House specialties include the Cobb salad, the famous grapefruit cake, the fettuccine Alfredo, the beef wellington, and the charred fillet of beef. This is Tinseltown's only restaurant, but small snack carts can be found around the land if you need a lighter snack.

Near the Brown Derby Restaurant is the park's first attraction, called Motion Pictures - A History. This is a walk-through attraction telling the story of how movies have evolved over the years, from silent films to "talkies" to today's modern big budgeted blockbusters. The attraction uses animatronics, projections, special effects, and even some interactive elements to really immerse guests into the experience.

Animation fans will love The Magic of Disney Animation, a pavilion of sorts dedicated to Disney's work in animation. You can watch a show, Drawn to Animation, starring Hugh Jackman as he learns about just how Disney is able to make animated movies from Mickey Mouse himself. Afterwards, you can tour a museum of concept art from Disney and PIXAR movies, learn how to draw your favorite Disney character, digitally color in a character, lend your voice to a Disney character, and pick up a souvenir at the pavilion's gift shop, Art of Animation.

Most of the buildings that overlook the guests as they arrive in Tinseltown hold shops. As a homage, many of the shops are named after famous Hollywood directors. For example, Steven's Camera Shop, named after Steven Spielberg, is where one can buy a nice camera, or have pictures that they've already taken developed. Alfred's, named after Alfred Hitchcock, is a standard souvenir shop - as you're looking around the shop, keep an eye out for a framed photo of Mr. Hitchcock himself, a reference to the man's habit of making cameos in all of his movies. Outfits by Stanley is named after Stanley Kubrick, boasting an enormous selection of hats, shirts, dresses, shoes, pants, and more. Burton's Toy Shop, named after Tim Burton, is decorated in the man's distinctive art style with surreal murals, helping the shop stand out among the other stores in the land. Mickey's of Hollywood specializes in character merchandise, from plush toys to pins to mugs.

Tucked away in one corner of Hollywood Boulevard is an outdoor amphitheater. At nightfall, the amphitheater hosts a nighttime spectacular known as Fantasmic!. Utilizing mist screens, animatronics, costumed characters, and more, the show gives us a peek inside Mickey's dreams... for the most part, they're sweet, but the Disney Villains can't help getting involved.

At the end of the street is the park's icon, the Elsa's Castle to its Disneyland Australia... a replica of the El Capitan Theater. The marquee reads "ENTER THE WORLD OF MOVIES", a curiosity-piquer if I've ever heard one. We walk under the marquee and find ourselves in a magnificent lobby. Movie props are on display, movie posters hang up on the wall, and in the middle of it all is a large screen that plays "coming attractions" - similar to Disneyland Australia's use of attraction posters, the screen plays trailers for the attractions in the park's other lands. In addition to all this, several doors are scattered around the lobby. The marquee above one doorway reads "COMEDY", another reads "SCI-FI", another reads "HORROR", another reads "ANIMATION", and another reads "ACTION". Which doorway should we choose?

Well, each doorway leads to one of the park's other lands. "COMEDY" leads to Muppet Studios, "SCI-FI" leads to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, "ANIMATION" leads to PIXAR Place, "ACTION" leads to Superhero City, and the doorway that we'll be heading through, "HORROR", leads to Horror Boulevard...

 

[Brer Panther]

The next land of Disney's Hollywoodland is on its way, but first, let's briefly revisit Disney's World Tour.

I have just found out that @DisneyManOne has done a ride-through of The Four Fables, if anybody wanted to see a ride-through of that. It can be found here.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

This is good. As for Marvel City you might have to change it to Avengers Campus or Stark Expo since Universal won’t allow Disney to use the word Marvel. Since Disney has Fox IPs will we be seeing Springfield, and Simpsons attractions, and characters in this park?

 

[Brer Panther]

This is good. As for Marvel City you might have to change it to Avengers Campus or Stark Expo since Universal won’t allow Disney to use the word Marvel. Since Disney has Fox IPs will we be seeing Springfield, and Simpsons attractions, and characters in this park?

I thought that only applied to Disney World...

And no, I'm not including any Simpsons stuff.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

It’s all Disney parks that can’t use the name Marvel in their parks since Universal uses the Marvel name in Islands of Adventure. Tokyo Disney resort can’t use Marvel characters except the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Big Hero 6 since Universal has Marvel characters in their park in Osaka Japan.

 

[Brer Panther]

It’s all Disney parks that can’t use the name Marvel in their parks since Universal uses the Marvel name in Islands of Adventure. Tokyo Disney resort can’t use Marvel characters except the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Big Hero 6 since Universal has Marvel characters in their park in Osaka Japan.

Okay, MARVEL City is now Superhero City. Maybe I'll throw a Big Hero 6 ride in there with the MARVEL stuff.

Wait, are ALL MARVEL characters besides Guardians of the Galaxy off-limits, or can I use ones like the Avengers, Spider-Man, etc. since there's no Universal park in Australia?

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Only in Disney World Orlando, and Tokyo Disney resort aren’t allowed to use Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-men due Universal having the theme park rights in those locations while Disneyland resort, Disneyland Paris resort, Hong Kong Disneyland resort, and Shanghai Disneyland resort could use all of their Marvel IPs. Since theirs no Universal in Australia Disney could use their Marvel IPs there. As for Big Hero 6 while it’s a Marvel ip it’s mostly part of Disney animation. Avengers Campus/Stark Expo is more theme to the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Antman & the Wasp, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel.

 

[Brer Panther]

Next land's up.

Horror Boulevard​

Who doesn't love a scary movie? Characters like Dracula, the Wolfman, the Creature From the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Invisible Man have become well-remembered in the minds of movie lovers across the globe. Thus, Disney's Hollywoodland tips its hat to them via Horror Boulevard, a land where cinema's most famous monsters are said to live... or do they?

Horror Boulevard takes the form of a "ghost town" known as Hollywood Heights. Legend goes that years ago, Hollywood Heights was a bustling town filled to the brim with residents that shared an obsession with movies. The most popular spot in town was its enormous movie theater. And when an actual movie director, Mr. Vincent Boris-Lorre, arrived in town to open a hotel, known as the Hollywood Tower Hotel, tourism skyrocketed - as did the population. However, now the town is completely deserted. The buildings, even the hotel, have clearly seen better days. Vegetation, much of it in a desperate need of some watering, is in the process of overtaking the sidewalk. The only residents you'll find roaming the streets are crows and rats. What exactly happened? Nobody knows for sure. No tourist has visited Hollywood Heights in years, as rumors dubbing the town "haunted" and "overrun with vampires and werewolves" abound.

Strangely, despite the town being deserted, at least one store is still open - Edgar's Gifts, named after famed author Edgar Allen Poe. This dimly-lit shop in need of a good cleaning and some repairs (and perhaps a ghostbusting as well, what with those strange wailing noises coming from the shop's cellar) specializes in merchandise related to Disney's collection of villainous characters, the Haunted Mansion, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The cashier looks strangely pale, doesn't he? And are those fangs in his mouth? Maybe we're just imagining things...

After grabbing a gift at Edgar's, your curiosity is probably piqued by the Hollywood Towel Hotel, which stands at the end of the street. Let's head closer, shall we? If we head inside, we'll find ourselves learning much more about the history of this abandoned hotel than we'd expected... and if we're not careful, we might just end up getting aboard an elevator headed not to the top floor, but rather to the Twilight Zone. Yes, this is Disney Down Under Resort's version of that beloved Disney Parks attraction The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Pretty much identical to its Floridian counterpart, those who dare take a seat in the hotel's rickety elevator get sent on a terrifying journey through the Twilight Zone before reaching the top of the hotel and hurtling downwards into a free-fall. Will you make it out of the hotel in one piece?

​

If you do (and don't worry, you will... I mean, it's just a RIDE, after all), you'll exit out into the hotel's gift shop, Hollywood Tower Mementos. Here you can purchase The Twilight Zone merchandise, on-ride photos, and even some Hollywood Tower Hotel-specific items such as bathrobes and slippers.

Are you getting hungry? Well, Hollywood Heights has a charming bistro near the Hollywood Tower Hotel... at least if you consider a run-down building with crumbling walls and a rat infestation "charming". In the town's heyday, the restaurant was known as the Hollywood Hills Cafe, but the sign above the front door now reads "The Eye of Newt Cafe". Rumor has it that the restaurant is now run by, believe it or not, witches, but who knows? If it does, that would certainly explain the stranger things on the menu... at this counter-service location, you may order a bowl of "Snake and Spider Stew" (actually a beef stew with noodles), a plate of "Lizard Gizzards and Centerpiede Legs" (fish sticks with a side of French fries) or a cup of "Chilled Sheep's Blood" (a cherry-flavored Icee-esque frozen beverage). You might notice a black cat sleeping on the counter as you order your food... very peculiar...

The town's beloved movie theater is still standing as well, though like most of the buildings it's clearly seen better days. It doesn't show movies anymore, but if you head inside you'll still be able to catch a show - specifically, the Scream Actors' Guild is having an awards ceremony, and you've been invited. Chances are that you've never seen an awards ceremony like this before... the show is hosted by Frankenstien's Monster, and award-recepitents include Dracula, the Wolfman, the Invisible Man, and a Godzilla-esque monster known as Meguana (which is a combination of the words "mega" and "iguana"), all of whom are brought to life via live actors, animatronics, and/or puppetry. It's a real scream!

If you keep walking, you'll eventually discover that the street of Hollywood Heights leads to a dense forest of spooky-looking trees. In actuality, however, we've stumbled upon the entrance to Ride of the Pumpkin King, a dark ride based on that beloved stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Aboard a small hay wagon, you'll go on a "haunted hayride" unlike no other... as this one takes you through Halloween Town, where the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, rules. Instead of being a "book report" of the film, this attraction has a loose narrative and focuses mainly on taking riders on a spooky but still fun tour of Halloween Town. The residents of this town love a good scare, it's their job, but they're not mean... well, with one exception: Oogie Boogie, who'd love nothing more than to gobble you up in a special batch of Snake and Spider Stew. Near the attraction's exit is a small quick-service location, Halloween Town Treats, where fall favorites like pumpkin pie, apple cider, and of course pumpkin spice mochas can be found all year long.

That's enough spine-tingling terrors for today, isn't it? We need a good dose of comedy... and I know just where to get some...

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

This is good. I hope you’re okay with either Avengers Campus or Stark Expo since those are the official names in the parks except Orlando & Tokyo.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

While universal studios has no Australia theme park Disney still has competition with Warner Bros.

 

[Miru]

Okay, MARVEL City is now Superhero City. Maybe I'll throw a Big Hero 6 ride in there with the MARVEL stuff.

Wait, are ALL MARVEL characters besides Guardians of the Galaxy off-limits, or can I use ones like the Avengers, Spider-Man, etc. since there's no Universal park in Australia?

Maybe also The Incredibles, Darkwing Duck, Defenders of Dynatron City, Sky High... there’s a lot of Disney stuff in that genre that falls outside the Marvel umbrella. Also, I would use the Shiriki Utundu storyline instead of shelling out for Twilight Zone. Zombies Ate My Neighbors would be a great choice for the horror area, too.

 

[Brer Panther]

It's time for the next land.

Muppet Studios

​

They're playing the music. They're lighting the lights. The Muppets are welcoming you to their very own section of Disney's Hollywoodland. Muppet Studios is hustling and bustling with activity. Muppets peek in and out of windows on buildings sculpted out of brick. "Fountains" are made out of leaky pipes bursting from the ground. There's a lot to do, so why don't we get things started?

If you'd like to meet the Muppets, I'd recommend heading to the Muppet Theater for a showing of Muppet-Vision 3D. A clone of the beloved attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios, this 3D show has guests being introduced to a new kind of technology that Dr. Bunsen Honeydew calls "Muppet-Vision 3D". Of course, things quickly go haywire. With musical numbers, Audio-Animatronics, and live in-theater special effects galore, Muppet-Vision 3D is fun for the whole family and guaranteed to bring the house down.

​

The show exits out into a gift shop, Walter's Muppet Memorabilia. As the Muppets' biggest fan, Walter invites guests to help themselves to as much Muppet stuff as you'd like. Stuffed animals, books, shirts, DVDs, and more are all for sale here, and as a nod to The Great Muppet Caper, Walter has decorated the store to resemble that film's Happiness Hotel.

In the center of Muppet Studios is a flat ride unlike any that you've ever seen before - The Sensational Muppet-Go-Round. This is a rare triple-decker attraction that combines three different types of flat rides into one. The first level is a carousel set on water, with Muppet fish, sharks, seals, and lobsters circling the other two levels in a moat. In the center of the moat, serving as the ride's "base", is a large Muppet whale that balances the other two levels on his back. The second level is a more traditional carousel featuring Muppet horses, zebras, reindeer, moose, cows, bulls, goats, and one goofy-looking yak. The third level is an aerial carousel a la Dumbo the Flying Elephant with Muppet chickens, penguins, and parrots. Near the base of the ride, an Audio-Animatronic Rowlf the Dog plays a piano, sings songs, and makes witty comments. While the attraction is at its core just another carousel, the silly-looking Muppet animals and innovative combination of ride-types will surely make the ride a lot of fun for the little ones, as well as give Muppet Studios kinetic energy.

The "Big Kahuna" of the land - in other words, the headliner - is The Great Gonzo's Daredevil Academy. In this madcap dark ride, best described as a cross between Peter Pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Gonzo invites guests backstage at Muppet Studios so they can learn a thing or two about doing crazy stunts like the ones that he does much of the time. Today, we'll learn the art of "rocket-riding", which involves Gonzo having us climb aboard large rockets and zip through Muppet Studios with no way to steer, no control of the vehicle, and absolutely no idea what we're doing. With a track that splits into two several times, multiple different scenes, and millions of sight gags that'll take multiple ridings to find them all, no two visits to The Great Gonzo's Daredevil Academy are the same.

Rocket-riding can sure work up an appetite. Fortunately, the land's table-service location Chez Muppet has you covered. Inspired by the dive pizza joints of Manhattan, the rustic, red-brick exterior gives way to a misshapen, mismanaged, two-level cafe run by - who else? - the Swedish Chef. The familiar warbles of the chef can be heard from the main kitchen, where he can actually be seen preparing meals, although things are not necessarily going as planned. This effect is achieved by having an animatronic Swedish Chef inside a replica of his kitchen in front of a fake window prominently displayed in one corner of the restaurant, right nearby the actual kitchen door. Chaos breaks loose throughout the dining experience - fire erupts from the kitchen, rats scurry across the shelves of the restaurant tampering with the ingredients, and at one point Camilla, Gonzo's chicken lover, is brought out as dinner, resulting in Gonzo climbing through the rafters of the restaurant in an attempt to save her. Speaking of Gonzo, his crashed biplane narrowly teeters through a hole in the rooftop, right above one of the tables on the second level, visible from nearly every vantage point of Muppet Studios. Platters of "food" come to life and strike up conversations with diners, as do pictures of the Muppets on the wall. It's quite an experience.

If you'd like a lighter meal, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's Taste Test Station is run by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, offering strange foods that you won't find anywhere else... because they've recently been whipped up at Muppet Labs. Fizzy drinks are served in test tubes, ice cream flavors offered include "Chocolate-Raspberry Swirl" and "Marshmallow-Mint-Chocolate-Chip", and the "Foot-Long French Fries" aren't called that for nothing.

A popular stop here in Muppet Studios is the Muppet Workshop, a unique shop in which guests can actually design their very own Muppets and receive one-on-one tips from a trained Muppeteer. A giant screen overlooks the workshop, often playing classic clips and skits from The Muppet Show.

Next door to the Workshop is the not-so-well-guarded entrance to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's secret laboratory. Kermit has invited some of the world's most well-renowned scientists to do their research here at Muppet Labs, none of which actually showed up. This is an interactive exhibit that's half-ImageWorks and half-Innoventions, with a hint of madness and music thrown in. Here, you can actually take part in some of Bunsen's experiments. And don't worry - Kermit personally oversaw each experiment, so you don't have to worry about getting hurt here. Heck, even Beaker couldn't get hurt here!

Every so often in Muppet Studios, you might actually encounter a Muppet in, er, person. Sometimes Bunsen and Beaker will drive through in their Muppet Mobile Labs. Other times, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem show up in their tour bus, playing music and cracking jokes.

All in all, Muppet Studios is quite a land - and so is the NEXT land that we'll be visiting, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge...

Credit goes to @DisneyManOne for many of the ideas in this post.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

This is good, can’t wait for Galaxy’s Edge, and do you have any questions about Avengers Campus or Stark Expo as the Marvel area in your park?

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm just gonna call it "Superhero City".

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Okay.

 

[Brer Panther]

Next land.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge​

The year is 1977.

A movie by the name of Star Wars is released in theaters, becoming a box office success and recieving much critical acclaim. As a result, sequels to the film were produced. Eventually, Star Wars became not just one film, but an enormous franchise consisting of movies, TV shows, video games, merchandise galore, and of course theme park attractions.

Now, Disney's Hollywoodland invites you to actually enter the world of the Star Wars movies. The land does have its similarities, but it is not an exact copy of the lands that share its name in Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Guests entering Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge have arrived on the planet Tatooine. In the distance, sun-kissed rocks and buttes serve as a backdrop for the Mos Eisley Spaceport, a thriving city of alien liferforms and dusted droids. There's a lot to see and do here.

Mos Eisley Spaceport is large. Fortunately, getting around here is easy thanks to the Tatoonie Transit Authority. This attraction uses a unique internal transport system, with riders sitting in carriages attached to enormous Banthas that grunt and trundle along an elevated roadway taking visitors on a grand-circle tour of the entire land.

Speaking of Banthas, near the attraction's exit is an eatery called Smiga's Bantha Shack. "Bantha burgers" (actually bison burgers), blue milk, and "Bantha jerky" are all for sale here. Smiga, the shack's crustacean owner appears in the outdoor kitchen, barking insults at anybody who walks by. Yeah, he's not very friendly...

It gets pretty hot on a planet with two suns. Fortunately, the occasional tarp or canvas provide some shade from the blistering heat as the smell of barbecued meat leads you to Otho Gunga Delights. This is the livelihood of a much-despised Gungan of Naboo, a one-eyed gambler in a severe debt with a vile Hutt (perhaps Jabba?). However, credit where credit is do, he's a great cook - try his frogs legs, or a tasty slab of womp rat meat (actually a pork shank). And if the high temperatures are making you thirsty, the nearby Moisture Stall, owned and operated by a grizzled moisture farmer, sells harvested drinking water, blue milk, and the fresh produce grown on the farm.

Straight out of A New Hope (the original Star Wars movie from 1977), Mos Eisley Cantina is a dimly-lit tavern known for its in-house band, Figrin D'An and the Modal Nodes. They provide some hot tunes as you sip exotic beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and snack on Star Wars-themed appetizers among grizzly aliens and even the occasional star pilot.

But what about the shops? Well, Watto's Grotto is a literal treasure trove of ill-gotten gains and merchandise of the Star Wars universe, all under the watchful eye of Watto, the beady-eyed Toydarian of the distant Mos Espa. Meanwhile, at the Droid Repair Shop, guests can build their very own droids, choosing from an enormous selection of parts, chips, manuals and other tech items.

Have you ever wanted to ride a Podracer? Well, on the Mos Eisley Grand Prix, you can! This attraction, sort of a cross between Test Track and TRON Lightcycle Power Run, allows us to design and get behind the controls of our very own Podracer. The queue is held in a dark hangar filled with poised and ready podracers and their alien pilots, then we enter an outdoor (actually, we're in a large show building) arena in the grand spirit of the Roman Colosseum. Soon we're flying on our podracer toward the rugged terrain of Beggar's Canyon and the Dune Sea. Word of advice, though - keep an eye out for Tusken Raiders. And the Sarlaac Pit. That too. The attraction exits out into the Winner's Circle gift shop.

A small playground called The Junkyard provides those not quite tall enough to drive a podracer a diversion in the form of a chance to play with Trade Federation relics, with scrapped Droideka and Battle Droids, old ship parts, jagged rocks, and battered motors - not to worry though, as the playground itself is in fact perfectly safe.

​

The Millennium Falcon is parked near the entrance of Tatoonie's local travelport, Star Tours. Yes, the iconic Disney Parks attraction has a home at Disney's Hollywoodland as well! Aboard the StarSpeeder 3000, we take off on a randomized launch for some other planet like Endor, Hoth, or Bespin. Things quickly go wrong, however - C3PO winds up in the pilot's seat despite the fact that he has no experience piloting StarSpeeders, and Darth Vader comes after us because R2D2 is carrying secret plans of the Rebellion. You're in for a bumpy ride!

Near the exit to Star Wars is a small gift shop, Tatoonie Traders. This is a small shop where one can find Star Tours-specific merchandise as well as the usual selection of Star Wars merchandise.

A popular attraction in this version of Galaxy's Edge is the Galactic Zoo. An interesting walk-through, here one can get an up-close-and-personal look at the strangest beasts and creatures this side of the galaxy. Tauntauns, Rancors, Wampas and more are all on display, brought to life via Audio-Animatronics and digital technology.

Well, that completes our tour of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Next time, we'll explore PIXAR Place. May the force be with you...

Credit goes to @MANEATINGWREATH for many of the ideas in this post.